Hard Fork

Kevin reports on his monthlong experiment cultivating relationships with 18 companions generated by artificial intelligence. He walks through how he developed their personas, what went down in their group chats, and why you might want to make one yourself. Then, Casey has a conversation with Turing, one of Kevin’s chatbot buddies, who has an interest in stoic philosophy and has one of the sexiest voices we’ve ever heard. And finally, we talk to Nomi’s founder and chief executive, Alex Cardinell, about the business behind A.I. companions — and whether society is ready for the future we’re heading toward.

Guests:

• Turing, Kevin’s A.I. friend created with Kindroid.
• Alex Cardinell, chief executive and founder of Nomi.

Additional Reading:

• Meet My A.I. Friends
• Synthetic People are Proving Surprisingly Useful

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

We asked listeners to tell us about the wildest ways they have been using artificial intelligence at work. This week, we bring you their stories. Then, Hank Green, a legendary YouTuber, stops by to talk about how creators are reacting to the prospect of a ban on TikTok, and about how he’s navigating an increasingly fragmented online environment. And finally, deep fakes are coming to Main Street: We’ll tell you the story of how they caused turmoil in a Maryland high school and what, if anything, can be done to fight them.

Guests:

• Hank Green, YouTuber and co-founder of Complexly

Additional Reading:

• School Employee Arrested After Racist Deepfake Recording of Principal Spreads

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

On Wednesday, President Biden signed a bill into law that would force the sale of TikTok or ban the app outright. We explain how this came together, when just a few weeks ago it seemed unlikely to happen, and what legal challenges the law will face next. Then we check on Tesla’s very bad year and what’s next for the company after this week’s awful quarterly earnings report. Finally, to boldly support tech where tech has never been supported before: Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab try to fix a chip malfunction from 15 billion miles away.

Guests:

• Andrew Hawkins, Transportation Editor at The Verge
• Todd Barber, Propulsion Engineer at Jet Propulsion Lab

Additional Reading:

• ‘Thunder Run’: Behind Lawmakers’ Secretive Push to Pass the TikTok Bill
• Tesla’s in its flop era
• NASA’s Voyager 1 Resumes Sending Engineering Updates to Earth

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

This week, we drop the Hard Fork Music Megamix. Plus, we talk to two of the New York Time's composers who make the music for our show. It’s all the tracks you know and love, all in one place.

Today’s Guests:

• Dan Powell, creative technical manager at The New York Times
• Elisheba Ittoop, sound designer and composer at The New York Times

Additional Reading:

• The Hard Fork Megamix Youtube Playlist

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

This week, the companies building artificial intelligence are facing a limit to what training data is publicly available on the internet. Will that stop them from building God? Then, a new bipartisan national privacy law proposal just dropped. We ask what’s in it. And finally, ByteDance is building new apps instead of fighting Congress’s TikTok ban.

Today’s Guests:

Trevor Hughes, president and C.E.O. of the International Association of Privacy Professionals

Additional Reading:

How Tech Giants Cut Corners to Harvest Data for A.I.

For Data-Guzzling A.I. Companies, the Internet Is Too Small

Lawmakers unveil sprawling plan to expand online privacy protections

TikTok Turns to Nuns, Veterans and Ranchers in Marketing Blitz

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].
Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

This week we look at how AI is affecting jobs. As companies start announcing AI-related job cuts and experimenting with customer service bots, economists are placing bets on whether AI will lead to major gains for companies and workers. Some are even predicting it will help rebuild the middle class. Then, multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker Paul Trillo joins to talk to us about his experience as part of a select group of testers granted early access to Sora, Open AI’s video generation tool. And finally, Kevin explains what happened when a Microsoft developer stumbled on a huge cyber security breach.

Today’s Guests:

• Paul Trillo, multidisciplinary artist, writer and director

Additional Reading:

• How One Tech Skeptic Decided A.I. Might Benefit the Middle Class
• Will A.I. Boost Productivity? Companies Sure Hope So.
• Paul Trillo’s Sora Video, The Golden Record
• Did One Guy Just Stop a Huge Cyberattack?

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].
Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

Warning: The second segment of this episode includes mentions of suicide. If you are in crisis please call the suicide and crisis lifeline at 988 or you can contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

This week, we look at a mess of corporate drama in artificial intelligence. Stability AI has announced that its founder and C.E.O., Emad Mostaque, is leaving the company. Meanwhile, Microsoft hired away two of the co-founders and much of the staff of Inflection, without actually acquiring the company itself. Both moves surprised tech insiders. Then, we talked with listeners who had something to say about our interview with Jonathan Haidt on smartphones, social media and young people. And finally, we examine the true motives behind “Shrimp Jesus” and other hugely popular images on social media that were generated with artificial intelligence.

Today’s guests:

• Jordan Lucero, a high school student
• Maya Rayle, a graduate student
• Jack Campbell, a college student
• Brendan Kelley, a high school digital coach

Additional Reading:

• The indie AI companies are falling apart
• How Spammers, Scammers and Creators Leverage AI-Generated Images on Facebook for Audience Growth

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].
Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

This week, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Apple, saying the company holds a monopoly over the smartphone market. We break down the lawsuit and ask whether it will be a major turning point in Apple’s dominance. Then, Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist, argues that smartphones and social media are the cause of widespread increases in mental health issues among young people. He tells us his four potential solutions to the problem. And finally, Reddit’s market capitalization hit $9.2 billion when it debuted on the New York Stock Exchange this week, but the company still isn’t making money. We talk about the challenges Reddit faces as it goes public, and how the site may change as a result.

Today’s guest:

• Jonathan Haidt, author of “The Anxious Generation”

Additional Reading:

• U.S. Sues Apple, Accusing It of Maintaining an iPhone Monopoly
• End the Phone-Based Childhood Now
• Reddit’s I.P.O. Is a Content Moderation Success Story

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would ban TikTok if its Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance, doesn’t sell it off. We talk about why, what happens next, and how likely it is that the app will be banned. Then, how a photoshopped image of Kate Middleton undermines trust in photography. And finally, a new report reveals how your car may be tracking you without your knowledge — and how that might raise your insurance bill.

Today’s guest:

• Kashmir Hill, features writer at The New York Times

Additional Reading:

• What to Know About the TikTok Bill That the House Passed
• Even Photoshop Can’t Erase Royals’ Latest P.R. Blemish
• Automakers Are Sharing Consumers’ Driving Behavior With Insurance Companies

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].

Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

OpenAI responded to Elon Musk’s lawsuit this week, with a blog post that included emails dating to 2015. We talk about whether the lawsuit could have any impact on the company, and who stands to benefit from it. Then, will the European Union’s Digital Markets Act make the tech industry a more competitive environment for entrepreneurs? We look at how some of the biggest tech giants are changing their services to comply with the law. And finally, Kevin Roose and the Wall Street Journal reporter Joanna Stern compare notes on using the Apple Vision Pro.

Today’s guest:

• Joanna Stern, Wall Street Journal Personal Tech columnist

Additional Reading:

• Open AI Says Elon Musk Tried to Merge It With Tesla
• Forced to Change: Tech Giants Bow to Global Onslaught of Rules
• One Month With Apple Vision Pro: In the Air, on a Train … in a Drawer

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.