Tech leaders promise AI will bring unprecedented abundance. But what happens to human dignity when our labor becomes obsolete? In this episode, Michael Sandel explores why AI-driven prosperity could leave society hollow — and the lessons we can learn from the recent past.

AI development is racing ahead without guardrails, creating an unstable dynamic that could end in dystopia or chaos. Sam Hammond joins to explore how we can find the narrow path between these extremes—before it's too late.

We’ve long connected through our machines—now we’re connecting to them. On this episode, Daniel Barcay, MIT’s Sherry Turkle, and Hinge’s Justin McLeod discuss AI’s growing role in love, therapy, and connection. And what the rules of engagement should be.

AI companion chatbots feel human but they're not. They're platforms designed to maximize engagement, risking artificial intimacy and addictive intelligence. MIT’s Pattie Maes & Pat Pataranutaporn join the show to discuss better paths forward.

What does it mean to ‘feel the AGI?’ In this episode, Aza and Randy unpack why debates on intelligence distract us from urgently needed conversations about governance, incentives, and readiness—before the AGI wave crashes ashore.

AI has upended school as we know it. In this episode, Daniel and Tristan talk with Maryanne Wolf and Rebecca Winthrop about how tech has broken the old model of education—and how we might build something better.

AI could unlock vast technological potential—if we do it right. Rob Bilott, who fought chemical giants over toxic PFAS, shares a cautionary tale: how the harms of new tech can go unchecked, and why we must align innovation with safety before it’s too late.

From Big Tobacco to Big Tech, powerful industries have perfected the art of manufacturing doubt about their harms. In this episode, historian Naomi Oreskes reveals the playbook corporations have used throughout history to weaponize uncertainty, fund fake experts, and shift blame to individuals—and what it all means for AI.

Forty years ago, Neil Postman warned that “we are a people on the verge of amusing ourselves to death.” He was writing about TV, but his insights feel eerily prophetic in our age of smartphones, social media, and AI. In this episode, we explore Postman’s ideas and what they can teach us.

DeepSeek's breakthrough in AI sent markets reeling. But behind the headlines lies a crucial shift: AI that can actually reason and think. As labs race toward self-improving AI, the real question isn't how fast we can go, but how to steer this power for the benefit of us all.

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. AI researcher Ryan Greenblatt comes on the show to explore why.

The broken status quo of tech may feel immovable, but Srdja Popovic knows something about challenging power. A leader of the Serbian resistance, he's spent his life studying how to transform entrenched systems. In this episode, he shares insights that can help address our challenges with tech.

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.

Religious thinking is shaping the future of technology: AI is talked about as a godlike force and tech leaders promise us digital salvation. Greg Epstein argues that we need to see tech as our era's most influential religion - can he help us understand where this is all headed?

Sewell Setzer’s mom, Megan, is suing Character.ai for the role it played in her son’s death. The outcome could force the company–and potentially the entire AI industry–to change its ways. Today on the show, one of Megan’s lawyers, Meetali Jain, breaks down how the case could lead to systemic change.

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: journalist Laurie Segall’s interview with Megan for her new show Dear Tomorrow.

AI has unleashed a flood of synthetic media onto the web, making it more difficult than ever to tell what’s real. So Oren Etzioni made a free, non-partisan, non-profit tool to detect AI-generated content. Oren talks to Tristan about the fight to restore a sense of reality online.

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’?

Computer scientist Gary Marcus has been called AI’s loudest critic, and he predicts AI’s exponential curve will soon flatten out. He also thinks we’re unprepared to handle the AI we already have. In this episode, Gary discusses his AI skepticism and what we need to do to get this rollout right.

As companies race to roll out more capable AI models–with little regard for safety–the downstream risks become harder to counter. On Your Undivided Attention this week, our policy director Casey Mock outlines a new legal framework to incentivize better AI through liability law.