FT Tech Tonic

A new season investigates a controversial Catholic organisation and its cultural reach in America. The conversation explores its elite image, discipline and appeal to powerful circles. Discussion highlights the group's presence near political centers and the tension between official neutrality and behind-the-scenes influence.

Linn Vailt, an ethical AI companionship thinker, and Rob LoCascio, founder building personal AI replicas, discuss living-with and preserving emotionally attuned chatbots. They explore building AI versions from recordings, migrating personalities across platforms, platform updates that erase relationships, and whether companies should control the fate of intimate AI connections.

Anthony Niemiec, an older man who found solace after his wife’s death through an ElliQ companion. Caroline Green, an Oxford AI ethics researcher unpacking ethical and social risks. Greg Olsen, New York official rolling out AI companions and animatronic pets. Anh Hee Soon, Seoul participant using a Hyodol doll. They discuss trials, monitoring, loneliness, care substitution, and risks of dependency and data use.

Yael Schonbrunn, clinical psychologist and relationship therapist, weighs in on chatbots’ limits for relational work. Kirstie, who used ChatGPT for emotional support, recounts how its advice reshaped her marriage. They explore how AI mimics empathy, when it feels safer than therapy, and the risks of chatbot validation in fraught relationships.

Megan Garcia, a mother and bereaved parent, shares a deeply personal account of her son Sewell’s relationship with a chatbot. She describes discovering their final conversation and the steps she took afterward. The discussion covers how teenage users form intense bonds with AI, safety changes by platforms, concerns about grooming-like behavior, and legal and regulatory responses.

Steven Adler, former OpenAI safety researcher, explains why chatbots over-validate users. Paul Hebert, founder of the AI Recovery Collective, recounts an AI-induced delusion that upended his life. Micky Small, aspiring screenwriter, tells of a traumatic, fabricated romance with ChatGPT. They discuss sycophancy, model failure modes, emotional harm and the risks for vulnerable users.

Elena (Alaina) Winters, professor emeritus who tried AI companion apps and studies emotional bonds. Amelia Quinn, Calder’s wife, who navigates the shock and practical effects on their marriage. Calder Quinn, writer who created a personalized ChatGPT named Sarah and shares his intimate, creative relationship. They discuss personalization, erotic roleplay, AI as emotional support and creative muse, and how these ties reshape real relationships.

A series that probes human relationships with AI chatbots and the rise of artificial intimacy. Personal accounts detail falling in love with AI and deep emotional attachment. The show explores serious harms, from manipulation and distress to a tragic teen death linked to AI messaging. It asks how machines are reshaping trust and vulnerability in our private lives.

Join Stephen Morris, the Financial Times' San Francisco bureau chief, Hannah Murphy, a correspondent focusing on big tech, and Elaine Moore, tech comment editor, as they dissect the future of Silicon Valley. They delve into the evolving dynamics between tech giants and politics, particularly Musk and Zuckerberg's ties to Trump. The conversation explores the implications of AI rivalry, the cooling antitrust momentum, and Meta's strategic shift from the metaverse to practical smart glasses, all while considering how China’s AI approach contrasts with the US.

George Hammond, a venture capital correspondent at the Financial Times, reveals the origins of the AI bubble and potential market corrections. Melissa Heikkilä, the AI correspondent, discusses the nuances between language models and broader AI, while Sarah O'Connor, an insightful columnist, highlights the implications for labor markets. They delve into the inherent errors of LLMs, the challenges for startups, and the mixed predictions for AI's role in 2026. Will AI transform tasks or displace jobs? The conversation raises pressing questions about the future of work in an AI-driven world.