Would you date a chatbot? That might sound an unlikely proposition but new research suggests that 1 in 10 Gen Zers has engaged romantically with an AI companion. This looks like the next frontier in internet dating; one that could reshape how our society functions. Or is this just a case of a few weirdos on the web claiming to tabloid journalists that they're married to their iPhone? This week, we'll be trying to unravel some of the mysteries around AI companions and the growing romantic and sexual connections people feel with them.

My guest is James Muldoon, a sociologist based at the University of Essex and author of the recent book Love Machines: How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming Our Relationships. James has been researching this topic for a while now and talking to lots of people who have differing interactions with – and, yes, relationships with – AI companions. The book is packed with interesting case studies, a few of which we’ll touch upon in this conversation, so do stick around and listen.

This is a Podot podcast.

Hosted by Nick Hilton.

With James Muldoon.

Theme music is 'Internet Song' by Apes of the State.

Cover artwork is by Tom Humberstone.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last month, hundreds of anti-AI protestors took to the streets of London to protest the growing ubiquity of the technology. Is this the start of a Ludditesque movement or just a howl into the void? Alys Key – author of the UK 2.0 Substack – was on site, covering the protests for Transformer. In this episode of The Ned Ludd Radio Hour we discuss the protests in London and whether they're a case study for a movement that will accelerate in the coming years. What brings these disparate protestors together? And what can they learn from those in the climate activism world who have gone before them?

Hosted by Nick Hilton.

With Alys Key.

Music is 'Internet Song' by Apes of the State.

Cover artwork is by Tom Humberstone.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is the age of literacy – the primacy of the written word – ending? Put another way, are we entering a new world where frayed attention spans, technological enshittification and political polarisation drive people away from the intentional act of reading, and towards more instantly gratifying cultural forms? Like podcasts…

To discuss all this, I'm joined by by the cultural critic James Marriott and writer and co-director of Galley Beggar Press, Sam Jordison. The dominance of the iPhone, the insidious control mechanism of short-form video, the destabilising impact of endlessly socialised media; all of these things were conspiring to make us less likely to read books. The question, really, is: does it matter? Is this just a natural evolution, as technology has given us increasingly diverse and accessible entertainment outputs, that shouldn’t be fought? Or does the decline in literacy present us with a real risk – that we will lose the critical skills established over the 600 years since Johannes Gutenberg inverted his printing press?

The Ned Ludd Radio Hour is a Podot podcast.

It is hosted by Nick Hilton.

The theme music is by Apes of the State.

The cover artwork is by Tom Humberstone.

PodotPods.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.