Can AI chatbot companions actually be addicting? When couples have leftover embryos from IVF,

what are the emotional aspects of that dilemma? And a new report on the lack of sunlight in some

U.S. prisons and what that does to inmates. These are the stories we'll cover and will address

some of your, as always, excellent questions.

I'm your host, Scott Ray, and filling in for Sean today is my Talbot colleague in Old Testament, Dr.

Carmen Ims.

This is the Think Biblically Weekly Cultural Update from Talbot School of Theology at Biola University.

Carmen, welcome.

Really glad to have you filling in, looking very forward to hearing your perspective on these stories.

Thanks for having me join you today, Scott.

All right, so story number one, more news about AI chatbots, this time from the New York Times.

A piece entitled, Love is a Drug, AI Chatbots are exploiting that.

The article goes on to describe with the advent of AI companions, including increasingly

some intended to serve as romantic partners, the need to understand the relationship between love

and addiction takes on a new urgency.

We already know that social media can be addicting. Studies show that roughly 15% of Americans are

affected by that, and literally millions of Americans have been engaged with AI companion chat box,

which basically, in most cases, all that requires is installing an app, inputting personal

details and preferences about what kind of personality and looks

the bot should possess, and chatting with it as though it's a friend or a potential lover.

Several studies suggest that A companion's can be addictive, notably around particularly the

chat box replica and soulmate. The article points out that for many people, particularly those who

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