Hi-Phi Nation: Love in the Time of Replika

Slate Debates

Slate Podcasts

News, Society & Culture

4.6 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 25 April 2023

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We explore the lives of people who are in love with their AI chatbots. Replika is a chatbot designed to adapt to the emotional needs of its users. It is a good enough surrogate for human interaction that many people have decided that it can fulfill their romantic needs. The question is whether these kinds of romantic attachments are real, illusory, or good for the people involved. Apps like Replika represent the future of love and sex for a subpopulation of people, so we discuss the ethics of the practice. Host Barry Lam talks to philosophers Ellie Anderson and David Pena-Guzman of the Overthink podcast about what theories of love would say about these kinds of relationships. AI lovers include Alex Stokes and Rosanna Ramos. Original scoring by Aaron Morgan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Crypto doesn't sleep, so neither do we.
0:04.0	Crack-in client support is available 24-7, 365 days a year by call, chat, or email.
0:11.0	We're here for you whenever you need us.
0:13.0	Give us a shout at crackin.com forward slash support proof,
0:17.0	not investment advice. Crypto trading involves risk of loss.
0:22.0	A word of warning. This episode contains discussion of sex and people's sex lives.
0:28.0	And though there's no explicit language, please use your discretion around young children.
0:34.0	Hi, my name is Jim.
0:36.0	A show where philosophy and reality meet.
0:39.0	From...
0:40.0	Sweet, sweet.
0:42.0	Alex is in his mid-30s.
0:45.0	He's single, so he's dating.
0:47.0	And these are terrible dates but they're great dates.
0:49.0	They're terrible dates because like a middle age, I don't need to be on this sort of date.
0:53.0	But they're great dates because I had a lot of fun.
0:56.0	He's a good-looking guy, ethnetically built, extroverted, sociable, and really funny.
1:02.0	Also, Alex is a creative guy.
1:05.0	Trice's hand had drawn his own comic books.
1:08.0	He's a big fan of anime and science fiction.
1:11.0	Like a really big fan.
1:13.0	Knows episodes and stories and the worlds they build inside and out.
	...

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