Exploring the Features and Relationships of the Chatbot Replica

In this episode, Sven and John talk about relationships with machines. Can you collaborate with a machine? Can robots be friends, colleagues or, perhaps, even lovers? These are common tropes in science fiction and popular culture, but is there any credibility to them? What would the ethical status of such relationships be? Should they be welcomed or avoided? These are just some of the questions addressed in this episode.

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Recommended Reading

• Evans, Robbins and Bryson - 'Do we collaborate with what we design?'
• Helen Ryland - 'It's Friendship Jim But Not as We Know It: A Degrees-of-Friendship View of Human–Robot Friendships'