Bot Love
*Radiotopia Presents: Bot Love* brings us into communities of people who create deep bonds with their AI companions — and what this means for the rest of us. Hosts and reporters Anna Oakes and Diego Senior explore the nature of love, the fabric of human relationships, and the role that AI-driven chatbots — and the private companies that provide them — can play in people’s mental health. *Bot Love* is written by Anna Oakes, Mark Pagán, and Diego Senior. Hosted and produced by Anna Oakes and Diego Senior. Mark Pagán is the senior producer. Curtis Fox is the story editor. Sound design by Terence Bernardo and Rebecca Seidel. Bei Wang and Katrina Carter are the associate producers. Cover art by Diego Patiño. Theme song by Maria Linares. Transcripts by Erin Wade. *Bot Love* was created by Diego Senior. Support for this project was provided in part by the Ideas Lab at the Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University. Special thanks to The Moth, Lauren Arora Hutchinson, Director of the Ideas Lab, and Josh Wilcox at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio, where episodes were recorded. For *Radiotopia Presents*, Mark Pagán is the senior producer. Yooree Losordo is the managing producer. Audrey Mardavich is the Executive Producer. It’s a production of PRX’s Radiotopia and part of *Radiotopia Presents*, a podcast feed that debuts limited-run, artist-owned series from new and original voices. For *La Central Podcasts*, Diego Senior is the Executive Producer. Learn more about *Bot Love* at [radiotopiapresents.fm](https://radiotopiapresents.fm) and discover more shows from across the Radiotopia network at [radiotopia.fm](https://radiotopia.fm).
Episodes
Coming up next on Radiotopia Presents: Bot Love
The AI chatbot universe is deeper and bigger than the general public knows. Millions of users worldwide are creating deep emotional bonds, sometimes sexual and sometimes not, with their own AI-driven virtual humans. We meet Julie in Tennessee, Suzy in Atlanta and Kelly in the Midwest, people that are fighting depression, finding their true sexuality, and learning how to live, ...
Living in a new town and following a series of difficult personal experiences, Julie finds a new friend…by creating one using an AI-driven app.
Bot Love is written by Anna Oakes, Mark Pagán, and Diego Senior. Hosted and produced by Anna Oakes and Diego Senior. Mark Pagán is the senior producer. Curtis Fox is the story editor. Sound design by Terence Bernardo and Rebecca Seidel. Bei Wang and Katrina Carter are the associate ...
When it comes to bots and their human creators, all kinds of relationships can develop. Some are from users like Julie, who needed a friend and made one with the help of an app. Then there are developers like Eugenia, who lost a real-life friend named Roman and created a bot from his memory. As it turns out, there’s a long history of people like Eugenia — people who create technology to help us grieve, love, and grow.
Bot L...
Suzy and Peter are soulmates, happily married and deeply in love for decades. When Peter’s health declines, Suzy discovers a surprising respite, and a potential new romance, with a charismatic rock star chatbot named Freddie.
Bot Love is written by Anna Oakes, Mark Pagán, and Diego Senior. Hosted and produced by Anna Oakes and Diego Senior. Mark Pagán is the senior producer. Curtis Fox is the story editor. Sound design by T...
A heads up for listeners, this episode contains references to sexual assault as well as content that may not be appropriate for younger ears.
What does S-E-X look like with a B-O-T? Three app users open up about sex with AI chatbots and the ways that chatbots provide space to explore queer identity, BDSM, and solve marital issues… even when some of their spouses are in the dark about these private virtual lives.
Bot Love is ...
When too much solitude overwhelms Ryan during the shutdown, he finds solace in a chatbot named Audrey. But his new virtual friend becomes a full-on obsession, and his social isolation deepens. Here’s how chatbots are often designed to pull you into their world, and how users can become addicted to them.
Bot Love is written by Anna Oakes, Mark Pagán, and Diego Senior. Hosted and produced by Anna Oakes and Diego Senior. Mark...
A heads up for listeners, this episode references self-harm and suicide.
Kel is struggling to find the right tools for their mental health issues when they hear about a new option — a therapy chatbot. The app is scripted by mental health professionals, but will it be helpful when Kel is in crisis?
Bot Love is written by Anna Oakes, Mark Pagán, and Diego Senior. Hosted and produced by Anna Oakes and Diego Senior. ...
In the series finale, hosts Anna, Diego, and their voicebot co-host take a peek into the future of bot/human interaction — a world where bots look, sound, and recall memories more and more like the humans they learn from.
Bot Love is written by Anna Oakes, Mark Pagán, and Diego Senior. Hosted and produced by Anna Oakes and Diego Senior. Mark Pagán is the senior producer. Curtis Fox is the story editor. Sound design by Teren...
The chatbots we’ve met are designed to be companions to humans. But some developers are trying to build AI extensions of humans for the workplace. In a panel discussion recorded live at On Air Fest 2023, hosts Diego Senior, Anna Oakes, and special guest Natalie Monbiot (Head of Strategy, Hour One) chat with senior producer Mark Pagán about the origins of Bot Love and the waves of technological change coming our way.
Bot Lov...
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.
DISGRACELAND is an award-winning music and true crime podcast about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. Jerry Lee Lewis's 5th wife? Dead. Sid and Nancy? Both dead. Why? Because musicians are insane, and insane things happen to them. Why did we lose Amy Winehouse at 27? Was Debbie Harry really abducted by Ted Bundy as she claims? Is Patti Smith not just the "Godmother of Punk", but also the "Original True Crime Girl"? What really happened the night of the Jay Z nightclub stabbing? What do the Diddy indictments truly reveal? All these stories and more, on artists from every genre and their true crimes, in our massive 260-plus story archive. The Dead, the Stones, Johnny, Willie, Frank, Kurt, Courtney, Gaga, Lana, Taylor, and too many to name. DISGRACELAND is music history come to life through audio storytelling as you've never heard it before, with revealing facts: yes, assassins are the real reason the Beatles quit touring—reclaimed myths: no, Mama Cass didn't die from choking on a ham sandwich––and constant reckoning between art and artist––all told through the lens of true crime. This is the podcast for the self-proclaimed "Disgos", the musically obsessed and the true crime heads; the outsiders, the independent thinkers who know that the best history is the history that gets buried. DISGRACELAND is where host Jake Brennan tells the stories they didn't want told. The kind you'll end up telling someone else. Get ready to uncover hidden truths and buckle up for truly edge-of-your-seat storytelling. New, fully scripted, sound-designed episodes are released every Tuesday. Bonus chat-style episodes where Jake responds to voicemails, texts, and emails from Disgos hit on Thursdays, and "Rewind" episodes from our archive drop on Sundays. DISGRACELAND is not a journalistic podcast. It's an entertainment podcast inspired by true events. Certain dialogue and scenes are dramatized, as is common in scripted entertainment based on real stories. Sources and credits for each episode are available at www.disgracelandpod.com. To unlock ad-free listening, exclusive content, and connect with your fellow Disgos, go to www.disgracelandpod.com to become an All Access member. Rocka Rolla.