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Interviews with experts about the philosophy of the future.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ philosophy of future technology • AI/robot ethics: moral agency, moral status, responsibility gaps • value alignment, control, AI risk/pauses • human–machine relationships • surveillance, privacy, social credit • automated decision-making • GPT impacts on education, economy, healthcareThis podcast features conversations with academics and other experts about how emerging technologies could reshape human life, and how we should think about those changes from an ethical and philosophical perspective. Across the episodes, recurring attention is given to AI and robotics, particularly questions about how to design or govern systems whose decisions increasingly affect employment, education, healthcare, policing, and other high-stakes social domains. A central thread is the “alignment” or “control” challenge: how to ensure advanced systems—especially large language models—behave consistently with human values, despite deep disagreements about what those values are and how they change over time.
The show frequently returns to foundational concepts such as moral agency, responsibility, and moral status. It examines whether machines could count as moral agents or moral patients, whether autonomy creates “responsibility gaps” in law and ethics, and what it would mean to ascribe rights or personhood to robots—often drawing parallels with debates about animals and environmental rights. Related discussions explore the psychology of human–machine interaction, including anthropomorphism, misplaced trust, deference to automated advice, and the social dynamics that emerge when humans treat artificial entities as partners, friends, or even romantic companions.
Another theme is how technology mediates human behavior and identity. Episodes consider behavior-change technologies, surveillance and privacy, social credit systems, and the ways platforms and algorithms can shape opinion formation, conformity, and political freedom. The podcast also addresses “technomoral change”: how new tools can catalyze shifts in moral norms, and whether locking machines to current norms could slow moral progress.
Alongside technology ethics, the feed includes reflective material on academic life, focusing on the ethics of research, teaching, grading, professional norms, and institutional incentives. Overall, the content combines conceptual analysis with applied case studies and policy-adjacent questions about regulation, restraint, and the societal impacts of rapidly developing digital technologies.