This chapter features a conversation about artificial intimacy with a renowned psychotherapist, exploring how technologies like AI companions and chatbots are redefining human relationships. The discussion critiques the technology sector's oversight of interpersonal dynamics and the implications of relying on artificial substitutes for genuine connection.
[This episode originally aired on August 17, 2023] For all the talk about AI, we rarely hear about how it will change our relationships. As we swipe to find love and consult chatbot therapists, acclaimed psychotherapist and relationship expert Esther Perel warns that there’s another harmful “AI” on the rise — Artificial Intimacy — and how it is depriving us of real connection. Tristan and Esther discuss how depending on algorithms can fuel alienation, and then imagine how we might design technology to strengthen our social bonds.