Radiotopia Presents: Bot Love
5.0/5
Critic Rating
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, hand in hand, with the AI-driven humans they themselves created.
Critic Reviews
Score: 5
Alice Florence Orr • PodcastReview.org • Nov 8, 2023
"Anna Oakes and Diego Senior are the hosts. This duo approach their topic with a sensitivity that evokes shows like Bodies, allowing subjects to tell their own experiences. It’s an intriguing stylistic choice, lending nuance to an engaging and empathetic series that is not without its unnerving moments."
Score: 5
Emma Dibdin • New York Times • Jun 3, 2023
"...unforgettable, and unsettling, Valentine’s Day encounter fueled ongoing debate over the implications of creating A.I. that can bond. “Bot Love” delves into that subject....the show offers a thought-provoking and compassionate meditation on some uneasy questions."
Score: 5
Keelin • Mentally? A Magpie. • Apr 16, 2023
"These are not stand-alone segments and there’s a great flow for a marathon listen. Interviews are crisp and balance out emotions with reality. The range of emotion is surprising, the paths gazed down, yet unexplored, are just as fascinating as the main story. This is a great series for starting points, you can find a thread that Bot Love didn’t do much more than touch on and find yourself down a rabbit hole."
Score: 5
Lauren Passell • Podcast The Newsletter • Feb 20, 2023
"On Bot Love, it feels like they’re telling us a secret. Anna and Diego have the trust of their interviewees and have created an audio series like nothing before. It’s real conversation that sounds like it could be scripted. Put it in the archives to document our struggles to connect in a digital world and the way we use technology to feel loved."
Score: 5
Devin • Podstack • Feb 16, 2023
"The first episode of Bot Love left me a little speechless… but in the best way! If you ever watched Black Mirror, you might know that feeling where it makes you sit back and think about what’s going on in the world, and that’s what this episode did to me....They use those 25 minutes so well and prove that a good story doesn’t need to be long. They use those 25 minutes so well and prove that a good story doesn’t need to be long."
