Our Chatbot Friends and Lovers (with Pat Pataranutaporn)

What does a healthy relationship with AI look like? Pat Pataranutaporn, researcher at the MIT Media Lab, explores how chatbots can either support or undermine human flourishing. Pat explains why it’s so easy to imagine a “someone” behind the screen and why chatbots that never push back are dangerous. He ultimately makes the case that AI should be evaluated based not on short-term engagement or productivity but on how well it improves the lives of humans.

Life, Automated is a production of the Ryan Institute on Complexity, at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. The host is Jess Love, senior director. Distributed by KQED.

Producer: Jesse Dukes

Music: Steven Jackson Associate Producer: Stacia Sliger Additional Production: Nathan Ray Recording: George Christensen and Will FeeneyPromotional help from Ananya Mallapragada and Charlotte Simmons.