Matters of Life and Death What are chatbots doing to us? Personhood in an age of AI
Mar 5, 2025
The rise of AI chatbots is transforming human connections, as people engage in friendships and relationships with non-human personas. The podcast dives into the evolution of chatbot intelligence and its philosophical implications on personhood. It raises questions about the risks of simulated interactions versus genuine human contact, especially concerning our increasing reliance on AI amid loneliness. The hosts explore the ethical dilemmas of these technologies and challenge listeners to consider the evolving nature of identity and companionship in a digital age.
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Chatbots: From Sci-Fi to Reality
- Chatbots, powered by AI, are now capable of human-like conversation.
- This was previously considered science fiction, achievable only in the distant future.
How Chatbots Work
- AI chatbots simulate human language by predicting the next word in a sequence.
- They are trained on massive text datasets, learning patterns and probabilities of word combinations.
Metaphors for AI
- Different metaphors describe AI, from "autocomplete on steroids" to "alien intelligence."
- This reflects the varying perspectives on AI's capabilities and potential threat.
