Over the last few decades, our relationships have become increasingly mediated by technology. Texting has become our dominant form of communication. Social media has replaced gathering places. Dating starts with a swipe on an app, not a tap on the shoulder. And now, AI enters the mix. If the technology of the 2010s was about capturing our attention…

AI companion chatbots are here. Everyday, millions of people log on to AI platforms and talk to them like they would a person. These bots will ask you about your day, talk about your feelings, even give you life advice. It’s no surprise that people have started to form deep connections with these AI systems. We are inherently relational beings, we …

What does it really mean to ‘feel the AGI?’ Silicon Valley is racing toward AI systems that could soon match or surpass human intelligence. The implications for jobs, democracy, and our way of life are enormous. In this episode, Aza Raskin and Randy Fernando dive deep into what ‘feeling the AGI’ really means. They unpack why the surface-level debat…

AI has upended schooling as we know it. Students now have instant access to tools that can write their essays, summarize entire books, and solve complex math problems. Whether they want to or not, many feel pressured to use these tools just to keep up. Teachers, meanwhile, are left questioning how to evaluate student performance and whether the who…

Artificial intelligence is set to unleash an explosion of new technologies and discoveries into the world. This could lead to incredible advances in human flourishing, if we do it well. The problem? We’re not very good at predicting and responding to the harms of new technologies, especially when those harms are slow-moving and invisible. Today on …

One of the hardest parts about being human today is navigating uncertainty. When we see experts battling in public and emotions running high, it's easy to doubt what we once felt certain about. This uncertainty isn't always accidental—it's often strategically manufactured. Historian Naomi Oreskes, author of "Merchants of Doubt," reveals how industr…

Few thinkers were as prescient about the role technology would play in our society as the late, great Neil Postman. Forty years ago, Postman warned about all the ways modern communication technology was fragmenting our attention, overwhelming us into apathy, and creating a society obsessed with image and entertainment. He warned that “we are a peop…

When Chinese AI company DeepSeek announced they had built a model that could compete with OpenAI at a fraction of the cost, it sent shockwaves through the industry and roiled global markets. But amid all the noise around DeepSeek, there was a clear signal: machine reasoning is here and it's transforming AI. In this episode, Aza sits down with CHT c…

When engineers design AI systems, they don't just give them rules - they give them values. But what do those systems do when those values clash with what humans ask them to do? Sometimes, they lie. In this episode, Redwood Research's Chief Scientist Ryan Greenblatt explores his team’s findings that AI systems can mislead their human operators when …

The status quo of tech today is untenable: we’re addicted to our devices, we’ve become increasingly polarized, our mental health is suffering and our personal data is sold to the highest bidder. This situation feels entrenched, propped up by a system of broken incentives beyond our control. So how do you shift an immovable status quo? Our guest tod…

2024 was a critical year in both AI and social media. Things moved so fast it was hard to keep up. So our hosts reached into their mailbag to answer some of your most burning questions. Thank you so much to everyone who submitted questions. We will see you all in the new year. We are hiring for a new Director of Philanthropy at CHT. Next year will …

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' promis…

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 fi…

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'…

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 democrac…

Historian Yuval Noah Harari says that we are at a critical turning point. One in which AI’s ability to generate cultural artifacts threatens humanity’s role as the shapers of history. History will still go on, but will it be the story of people or, as he calls them, ‘alien AI agents’? In this conversation with Aza Raskin, Harari discusses the histo…

It’s a confusing moment in AI. Depending on who you ask, we’re either on the fast track to AI that’s smarter than most humans, or the technology is about to hit a wall. Gary Marcus is in the latter camp. He’s a cognitive psychologist and computer scientist who built his own successful AI start-up. But he’s also been called AI’s loudest critic. On Y…

AI is moving fast. And as companies race to rollout newer, more capable models–with little regard for safety–the downstream risks of those models become harder and harder to counter. On this week’s episode of Your Undivided Attention, CHT’s policy director Casey Mock comes on the show to discuss a new legal framework to incentivize better AI, one t…

[This episode originally aired on August 17, 2023] For all the talk about AI, we rarely hear about how it will change our relationships. As we swipe to find love and consult chatbot therapists, acclaimed psychotherapist and relationship expert Esther Perel warns that there’s another harmful “AI” on the rise — Artificial Intimacy — and how it is dep…

Today, the tech industry is the second-biggest lobbying power in Washington, DC, but that wasn’t true as recently as ten years ago. How did we get to this moment? And where could we be going next? On this episode of Your Undivided Attention, Tristan and Daniel sit down with historian Margaret O’Mara and journalist Brody Mullins to discuss how Silic…

Dr. Michael Rea came on the podcast to talk about love for God and Marguerite Porete. The Paper: https://www.michaelrea.org/_files/ugd/c9fdf5_b1399733e73b4f28adf49a0a3048807f.pdf Dr. Rea's Website: https://www.michaelrea.org/ -------------------------------- GIVING -------------------------------- Please consider becoming a Patron! Patreon (Thanks!…

It’s been a year and half since Tristan and Aza laid out their vision and concerns for the future of artificial intelligence in The AI Dilemma. In this Spotlight episode, the guys discuss what’s happened since then–as funding, research, and public interest in AI has exploded–and where we could be headed next. Plus, some major updates on social medi…

Dr. William Lane Craig came on the podcast to talk about the doctrine of the atonement. Reasonable Faith: https://www.reasonablefaith.org/ -------------------------------- GIVING -------------------------------- Please consider becoming a Patron! Patreon (Thanks!): https://www.patreon.com/AdherentApologetics YouTube Membership: https://www.youtube.…

AI has been a powerful accelerant for biological research, rapidly opening up new frontiers in medicine and public health. But that progress can also make it easier for bad actors to manufacture new biological threats. In this episode, Tristan and Daniel sit down with biologist Kevin Esvelt to discuss why AI has been such a boon for biologists and …

In this video, Joshua Yen joined me to discuss Fyodor Dostoevsky. We discussed a variety of topics related to Dostoevsky. Josh's Website: https://josh-yen.com/ Josh's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Phil4All -------------------------------- GIVING -------------------------------- Please consider becoming a Patron! Patreon (Thanks!): https://www.p…

Dr. Eric Reitan came on the podcast to discuss Christian Universalism. Follow Dr. Reitan: https://x.com/reitan66?lang=en Dr. Reitan's Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Eric-Reitan/author/B001JS3CTS?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true -------------------------------- GIVING -------------------------------- Please con…

Will AI ever start to think by itself? If it did, how would we know, and what would it mean? In this episode, Dr. Anil Seth and Aza discuss the science, ethics, and incentives of artificial consciousness. Seth is Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex and the author of Being You: A New Science of Conscious…

Dr. Jefferey Koperski joined me to talk about Christianity and the rise of science. Follow Dr. Koperski: https://x.com/jeffkoperski?lang=en Dr. Koperski's Books: https://www.amazon.com/Books-Jeffrey-Koperski/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AJeffrey+Koperski -------------------------------- GIVING -------------------------------- Please consider becoming a …

Dr. Ryan Mullins joined the podcast to discuss the Trinitarian Processions. We talked about a lot of interesting topics related to this topic. Dr. Mullins' Website: https://www.rtmullins.com/ -------------------------------- GIVING -------------------------------- Please consider becoming a Patron! Patreon (Thanks!): https://www.patreon.com/Adheren…

Climate change, political instability, hunger. These are just some of the forces behind an unprecedented refugee crisis that’s expected to include over a billion people by 2050. In response to this growing crisis, wealthy governments like the US and the EU are employing novel AI and surveillance technologies to slow the influx of migrants at their …

In this video, Emerson Green joins the podcast to discuss his current thoughts on the existence of God. We talk about his story and various reasons that led to his current thinking about the existence of God. Emerson's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@EmersonGreen Follow Emerson: https://x.com/waldenpod?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwg…

Dr. Michael Huemer joined the podcast to discuss the Fine-Tuning Argument. In this video, we discussed the reality of Fine-Tuning and different explanations. Dr. Huemer's Blog: https://fakenous.substack.com/ Dr. Huemer's Books: https://www.amazon.com/Books-Michael-Huemer/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AMichael+Huemer -------------------------------- GIVIN…

This week, a group of current and former employees from OpenAI and Google DeepMind penned an open letter accusing the industry’s leading companies of prioritizing profits over safety. This comes after a spate of high profile departures from OpenAI, including co-founder Ilya Sutskever and senior researcher Jan Leike, as well as reports that OpenAI h…

Right now, militaries around the globe are investing heavily in the use of AI weapons and drones. From Ukraine to Gaza, weapons systems with increasing levels of autonomy are being used to kill people and destroy infrastructure and the development of fully autonomous weapons shows little signs of slowing down. What does this mean for the future of …

Nick Quient runs the YouTube channel New Testament Theologist. In this podcast, I chat with Nick about Hell in the New Testament. Nick's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@NickQuient Follow Nick: https://twitter.com/NickQuient?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor -------------------------------- GIVING ---------------------…

Tech companies say that AI will lead to massive economic productivity gains. But as we know from the first digital revolution, that’s not what happened. Can we do better this time around? RECOMMENDED MEDIA Power and Progress by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson Professor Acemoglu co-authored a bold reinterpretation of economics and history that will…

Joshua Yen runs the YouTube channel Philosophy for All. In this video, Josh and I discuss his recent conversion to Catholicism. Josh's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj8rOMZgGTuu2VCYb5ZQNuQ Opposing Sides Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj8S949x_pmQpeXFNTWvWOIP7GC-ahU8N&si=HIul07pSIb0evEWj -------------------------------- GI…

Michael Jones runs the YouTube Channel, Inspiring Philosophy. In this video, we talk about different aspects of the Gospels including their origin, historical reliability, and more! Inspiring Philosophy on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@InspiringPhilosophy The Reliability of the Gospels Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1mr9ZTZb3TUDs…

In this interview, I talked with Dr. Brown about the people, events, and ideas that shaped him. Dr. Michael Brown (https://thelineoffire.org/) is the host of the nationally syndicated The Line of Fire radio show. Dr. Brown's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ASKDrBrown/ Dr. Brown's Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrMichaelLBrown Dr. Brown's YouTube: …

Dr. Andrew Brenner is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Hong Kong Baptist University. In this interview, I talk with Dr. Brenner about his recent book. The Book: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/personal-ontology/408BF13B07345FFED9462C290C661610 Dr. Brenner's Website: https://sites.google.com/site/andrewtbre…

Suicides. Self harm. Depression and anxiety. The toll of a social media-addicted, phone-based childhood has never been more stark. It can be easy for teens, parents and schools to feel like they’re trapped by it all. But in this conversation with Tristan Harris, author and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt makes the case that the conditions that l…

Dr. Iain Duguid is professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary. In this interview, we talk about big questions surrounding the Book of Judges. More Information About Dr. Duguid: https://faculty.wts.edu/faculty/duguid/ Big Questions in EVERY Book of the Bible: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj8S949x_pmR9brHqG0K9CyK5ovdI_X9V --…

Dr. Charles Taliaferro is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Emeritus Oscar and Gertrude Boe Overby Distinguished Professor at St. Olaf College. In this interview, I talked with Dr. Taliaferro about the people, events, and ideas that shaped him. More Information on Dr. Taliaferro: https://wp.stolaf.edu/philosophy/charles-taliaferro-profile/ Great…

Beneath the race to train and release more powerful AI models lies another race: a race by companies and nation-states to secure the hardware to make sure they win AI supremacy. Correction: The latest available Nvidia chip is the Hopper H100 GPU, which has 80 billion transistors. Since the first commercially available chip had four transistors, the…

In this video, I talk with Dr. Joshua Rasmussen about his recent book on the nature of persons. We talk about aspects of being human, the origin of persons, and more! Josh's Website: https://joshualrasmussen.com/ The Book: https://amzn.to/43dfshi Follow Josh: https://twitter.com/worldviewdesign?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor…

John runs the YouTube Channel Godless Engineer. In this video, John and I discuss Jesus Mythicism. There is a little bit of explicit language at the 50:15 mark. John's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@godlessengineer Follow John: https://twitter.com/GodlessEngineer -------------------------------- GIVING -------------------------------- Please con…

Dr. Liz Jackson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Toronto Metropolitan University. In this interview, I talk with Liz about her article, "Faith: Contemporary Perspectives." The Article: https://iep.utm.edu/faith-contemporary-perspectives/ Liz's Website: https://liz-jackson.com/ Follow Liz: https://twitter.com/lizjackson11…

Karen Swallow Prior earned her Ph.D. in English at the State University of New York at Buffalo. She is a popular writer and speaker, as well as a columnist for Religion News Service. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Vox, The Washington Post, Christianity Today, and many other places. Her most recent book is The Evangeli…

What does a functioning democracy look like in the age of artificial intelligence? Could AI even be used to help a democracy flourish? Just in time for election season, Taiwan’s Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang returns to the podcast to discuss healthy information ecosystems, resilience to cyberattacks, how to “prebunk” deepfakes, and more. …

Andrew Hronich is a graduate of Liberty University and is currently pursuing his Master’s at Princeton Theological Seminary. In this interview, we talk about a video from Capturing Christianity where William Lane Craig comments on universalism. Original Video: https://youtu.be/uzdEofYQIbA?si=yV1OveTU_rZ2EMp7 Follow Andrew: https://www.instagram.com…