Your Undivided Attention

Silicon Valley's interest in AI is driven by more than just profit and innovation. There’s an unmistakable mystical quality to it as well. In this episode, Daniel and Aza sit down with humanist chaplain Greg Epstein to explore the fascinating parallels between technology and religion. From AI being treated as a godlike force to tech leaders' promises of digital salvation, religious thinking is shaping the future of technology and humanity. Epstein breaks down why he believes technology has become our era's most influential religion and what we can learn from these parallels to better understand where we're heading.Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on X.If you like the show and want to support CHT's mission, please consider donating to the organization this giving season: https://www.humanetech.com/donate. Any amount helps support our goal to bring about a more humane future.RECOMMENDED MEDIA “Tech Agnostic” by Greg EpsteinFurther reading on Avi Schiffmann’s “Friend” AI necklace Further reading on Blake Lemoine and Lamda Blake LeMoine’s conversation with Greg at MIT Further reading on the Sewell Setzer case Further reading on Terminal of Truths Further reading on Ray Kurzweil’s attempt to create a digital recreation of his dad with AI The Drama of the Gifted Child by Alice MillerRECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES ’A Turning Point in History’: Yuval Noah Harari on AI’s Cultural Takeover How to Think About AI Consciousness with Anil Seth Can Myth Teach Us Anything About the Race to Build Artificial General Intelligence? With Josh Schrei How To Free Our Minds with Cult Deprogramming Expert Dr. Steven Hassan 

CW: This episode features discussion of suicide and sexual abuse. In the last episode, we had the journalist Laurie Segall on to talk about the tragic story of Sewell Setzer, a 14 year old boy who took his own life after months of abuse and manipulation by an AI companion from the company Character.ai. The question now is: what's next?Megan has filed a major new lawsuit against Character.ai in Florida, which could force the company–and potentially the entire AI industry–to change its harmful business practices. So today on the show, we have Meetali Jain, director of the Tech Justice Law Project and one of the lead lawyers in Megan's case against Character.ai. Meetali breaks down the details of the case, the complex legal questions under consideration, and how this could be the first step toward systemic change. Also joining is Camille Carlton, CHT’s Policy Director.RECOMMENDED MEDIAFurther reading on Sewell’s storyLaurie Segall’s interview with Megan GarciaThe full complaint filed by Megan against Character.AIFurther reading on suicide bots Further reading on Noam Shazier and Daniel De Frietas’ relationship with Google The CHT Framework for Incentivizing Responsible Artificial Intelligence Development and UseOrganizations mentioned: The Tech Justice Law ProjectThe Social Media Victims Law CenterMothers Against Media AddictionParents SOSParents TogetherCommon Sense MediaRECOMMENDED YUA EPISODESWhen the "Person" Abusing Your Child is a Chatbot: The Tragic Story of Sewell SetzerJonathan Haidt On How to Solve the Teen Mental Health CrisisAI Is Moving Fast. We Need Laws that Will Too.Corrections: Meetali referred to certain chatbot apps as banning users under 18, however the settings for the major app stores ban users that are under 17, not under 18.Meetali referred to Section 230 as providing “full scope immunity” to internet companies, however Congress has passed subsequent laws that have made carve outs for that immunity for criminal acts such as sex trafficking and intellectual property theft.Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on X. 

Content Warning: This episode contains references to suicide, self-harm, and sexual abuse.Megan Garcia lost her son Sewell to suicide after he was abused and manipulated by AI chatbots for months. Now, she’s suing the company that made those chatbots. On today’s episode of Your Undivided Attention, Aza sits down with journalist Laurie Segall, who's been following this case for months. Plus, Laurie’s full interview with Megan on her new show, Dear Tomorrow.Aza and Laurie discuss the profound implications of Sewell’s story on the rollout of AI. Social media began the race to the bottom of the brain stem and left our society addicted, distracted, and polarized. Generative AI is set to supercharge that race, taking advantage of the human need for intimacy and connection amidst a widespread loneliness epidemic. Unless we set down guardrails on this technology now, Sewell’s story may be a tragic sign of things to come, but it also presents an opportunity to prevent further harms moving forward.If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, you can reach out to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988; this connects you to trained crisis counselors 24/7 who can provide support and referrals to further assistance.Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_RECOMMENDED MEDIAThe first episode of Dear Tomorrow, from Mostly Human MediaThe CHT Framework for Incentivizing Responsible AI Development Further reading on Sewell’s caseCharacter.ai’s “About Us” page Further reading on the addictive properties of AIRECOMMENDED YUA EPISODESAI Is Moving Fast. We Need Laws that Will Too.This Moment in AI: How We Got Here and Where We’re GoingJonathan Haidt On How to Solve the Teen Mental Health CrisisThe AI Dilemma

Social media disinformation did enormous damage to our shared idea of reality. Now, the rise of generative AI has unleashed a flood of high-quality synthetic media into the digital ecosystem. As a result, it's more difficult than ever to tell what’s real and what’s not, a problem with profound implications for the health of our society and democracy. So how do we fix this critical issue?As it turns out, there’s a whole ecosystem of folks to answer that question. One is computer scientist Oren Etzioni, the CEO of TrueMedia.org, a free, non-partisan, non-profit tool that is able to detect AI generated content with a high degree of accuracy. Oren joins the show this week to talk about the problem of deepfakes and disinformation and what he sees as the best solutions.Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_ RECOMMENDED MEDIATrueMedia.orgFurther reading on the deepfaked image of an explosion near the PentagonFurther reading on the deepfaked robocall pretending to be President Biden Further reading on the election deepfake in Slovakia Further reading on the President Obama lip-syncing deepfake from 2017 One of several deepfake quizzes from the New York Times, test yourself! The Partnership on AI C2PAWitness.org Truepic RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES‘We Have to Get It Right’: Gary Marcus On Untamed AITaylor Swift is Not Alone: The Deepfake Nightmare Sweeping the InternetSynthetic Humanity: AI & What’s At Stake CLARIFICATION: Oren said that the largest social media platforms “don’t see a responsibility to let the public know this was manipulated by AI.” Meta has made a public commitment to flagging AI-generated or -manipulated content. Whereas other platforms like TikTok and Snapchat rely on users to flag.