AI tools want to be your friend or personal assistant

Here & Now Anytime

NPR

News

4.1 • 954 Ratings

🗓️ 9 May 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

An update to Meta's AI chatbot gives users a more social experience, but it'll be a long time before chatbots are able to solve the nation's loneliness crisis. Axios' Ina Fried explains more. And, for as little as $50, you can have a personal assistant. The catch? It's powered by artificial intelligence and records everything you say. The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern wore one for 3 months and shares more. Then, YouTube is officially 20 years old. Author Mark Bergen joins us to reflect on the video-sharing platform.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for here and now anytime comes from MathWorks, creator of MATLAB and Simulink software for technical computing and model-based design.
0:09.2	MathWorks, accelerating the pace of discovery in engineering and science.
0:13.8	Learn more at MathWorks.com.
0:16.0	Before we start the show, you might have heard that President Trump has issued an executive order seeking
0:21.5	to block all federal funding to NPR. This is the latest in a series of threats to media organizations
0:28.6	across the country. Millions of people like you depend on the NPR network as a vital source of news,
0:36.4	entertainment, information, and connection.
0:39.2	And we're proud to be here for you.
0:41.3	But now we need you to be here for us.
0:44.6	It's time to join the movement to defend public media.
0:48.3	Visit donate.npr.org.
0:51.8	And thanks.
0:53.3	WBUR Podcasts, Boston.
0:58.8	There's a chance to do this right, but I'm not convinced that with no guardrails,
1:04.2	the Silicon Valley in general and meta and specific will do it right.
1:08.3	Technology moves fast, regulation moves slowly. And sometimes it feels
1:13.0	like we're all just along for the ride. It's Friday, May 9th, and this is here and now anytime from
1:18.9	NPR and WBOR. I'm Chris Bentley. Today on the show, three conversations about how big tech is changing our lives
1:34.8	and blurring the lines between reality and the digital world. We'll hear about new
1:40.4	wearable devices that can record everything you say and use AI to help manage your life.
1:46.6	If I said something in this conversation, like, you know what, I'm going to get back to you on
1:50.6	sending you that recording. It would add that to my to-do list. Cool or creepy? Also, YouTube
	...

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