I Am Not a Robot (but My Boyfriend Was)

For a year, tech writer Joanna Stern turned herself into an AI guinea pig. She let artificial intelligence into every corner of her life: testing robot assistants, commuting in autonomous vehicles, reading AI bedtime stories to her children, and even going on a road trip with her AI boyfriend, Evan. That experiment became her new book, I Am Not a Robot. In this episode, Joanna breaks down what we can expect from the next wave of AI technology. (One question hangs over the episode: When AI podcast hosts of the future are interviewing AI guest bots, who exactly will buy the mattresses?) Plus: “rizz camming,” Dua Lipa’s restaurant recommendations, Backrooms, why online reviews are useless, Gen-Z jeans, and more. 0:00 Introduction to the experiment 2:00 Robotics in the home 4:52 The data challenge 7:15 AI's invisible presence 9:00 Self-driving car realities 12:42 The debate over AI's future 16:13 AI in art and music 21:06 The digital twin concept 24:18 Intimacy with chatbots 27:25 AI and mental health 34:00 Educational AI and backlash 37:12 Preparing for the future 40:01 Entertainment and box office 44:15 When AI goes rogue 49:13 AI in politics and privacy 52:45 Surveillance and wearables 55:46 Culture and algorithms 1:06:58 Closing thoughts