What happens when machines become funnier, kinder, and more empathetic than humans? Do robot therapists save lives? And should Angela credit her virtual assistant as a co-author of her book?

SOURCES:
- Robert Cialdini, professor emeritus of psychology at Arizona State University.
- Reid Hoffman, co-founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn; co-founder and board member of Inflection AI.
- Kazuo Ishiguro, novelist and screenwriter.
- Ethan Mollick, professor of management and co-director of the Generative A.I. Lab at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
- Ann Patchett, author.
- Kevin Roose, technology columnist for The New York Times and co-host of the podcast Hard Fork.
- Niko Tinbergen, 20th-century Dutch biologist and ornithologist.
- Lyle Ungar, professor of computer and information science at the University of Pennsylvania.
- E. B. White, 20th-century American author.

RESOURCES:
- Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI, by Ethan Mollick (2024).
- "Meet My A.I. Friends," by Kevin Roose (The New York Times, 2024).
- "Loneliness and Suicide Mitigation for Students Using GPT3-Enabled Chatbots," by Bethanie Maples, Merve Cerit, Aditya Vishwanath, and Roy Pea (NPJ Mental Health Research, 2024).
- "AI Can Help People Feel Heard, but an AI Label Diminishes This Impact," by Yidan Yin, Nan Jia, and Cheryl J. Wakslak (PNAS, 2024).
- "Romantic AI Chatbots Don’t Have Your Privacy at Heart," by Jen Caltrider, Misha Rykov and Zoë MacDonald (Mozilla Foundation, 2024).
- Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro (2021).
- The Study Of Instinct, by Niko Tinbergen (1951).
- Pi.

EXTRAS:
- "Are Our Tools Becoming Part of Us?" by People I (Mostly) Admire (2024).
- "Is GPS Changing Your Brain?" by No Stupid Questions (2023).
- "How to Think About A.I.," series by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
- "Would You Rather See a Computer or a Doctor?" by Freakonomics, M.D. (2022).

208. Can A.I. Companions Replace Human Connection? 35:31 Share

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208. Can A.I. Companions Replace Human Connection?