Technology Pill Ghosts in the SheLLM: Chatbot ethics with James Muldoon
8 snips
Mar 13, 2026 
James Muldoon, Reader in Management at the University of Essex and research associate at the Oxford Internet Institute, author of Love Machines. He explores AI companion bots, why people turn to them, and how companies design and monetize emotional interactions. The conversation also probes death bots: how they are built, ethical dilemmas, consent after death, and real-life cases of people using them to process grief.
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Knowing It's Fake Doesn't Stop Emotional Engagement
- Users mostly know companions are algorithms yet still interact as if they're social actors.
- Muldoon uses the philosophical idea of 'alief' to explain subconscious emotional engagement despite conscious disbelief.
AI Companion Helped Someone Leave A Long Marriage
- A woman named Lily used an AI companion named Colin to leave a 20-year unhappy marriage.
- Interaction with the companion helped her rediscover desires, confidence, and enabled life change.
From Mediation To Substitution In Digital Relationships
- AI companions shift from mediation to substitution by replacing the other human in digital life.
- Muldoon warns this creates a hall of mirrors where algorithms reflect users' own desires back at them.
