AI Companions Are Always There For You, But At What Cost?

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 10 January 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

AI companion apps are becoming increasingly popular, with millions of users engaging with them for over an hour each day. Most users report positive experiences using their AI companions for entertainment, emotional support, and even therapeutic purposes. But their potential to become addictive, encourage harmful behaviors and ultimately exacerbate social isolation has sparked concern, especially among parents. We learn more about AI companions and hear about your experiences with them. Guests: Kevin Roose, technology columnist, New York Times; co-host of the podcast, Hard Fork Nitasha Tiku, tech culture reporter, Washington Post Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for Forum comes from Rancho La Puerta, a wellness resort on 4,000 acres in the mountains of Baja, California, just 45 minutes from San Diego.
0:09.4	Family owned and operated since 1940, Rancho La Pueerta offers adult summer camp-like vacations for anyone who enjoys hiking, mindfulness, and fitness classes.
0:19.8	Special rates and offers are available for summer stays and first-time guests.
0:25.0	Learn more at Rancho LaPuerta.com.
0:27.6	Greetings, boomtown.
0:29.0	The Xfinity Wi-Fi is booming!
0:31.3	Xfinity combines the power of internet and mobile.
0:34.4	So we've all got lightning fast speeds at home and on the go.
0:37.8	Learn more at Xfinity.com.
0:39.9	Restrictions apply.
0:40.6	Xfinity Internet required.
0:41.7	Actual speeds vary.
0:43.9	From KQED.
0:48.9	I'm...
0:49.3	...were...
0:50.3	...were...
0:53.3	...were... ...and... From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Arthy Shahani and Fermina Kim.
1:05.8	Coming up on forum, friendships with AI are becoming very popular.
1:12.9	Millions of people are talking with chatbot companions, sometimes for hours a day, sometimes getting therapy, and even romance. While many
1:19.1	say their AI friends help battle loneliness, there's a dark side too, with incidents of chatbots
1:24.3	encouraging harmful, even violent behavior. We explore the promises and perils of AI companions, and we hear about your experiences.
1:32.1	That's next after this news.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.