logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2020
4m 26s

Spotlight: The Social Dilemma

TRISTAN HARRIS AND AZA RASKIN, THE CENTER FOR HUMANE TECHNOLOGY
About this episode

A new documentary called The Social Dilemma comes out on Netflix today, September 9, 2020. We hope that this film, full of interviews with tech insiders, will be a catalyst and tool for exposing how technology has been distorting our perception of the world, and will help us reach the shared ground we need to solve big problems together.

Up next
Aug 14
“Rogue AI” Used to be a Science Fiction Trope. Not Anymore.
Everyone knows the science fiction tropes of AI systems that go rogue, disobey orders, or even try to escape their digital environment. These are supposed to be warning signs and morality tales, not things that we would ever actually create in real life, given the obvious danger. ... Show More
42m 11s
Jul 31
AI is the Next Free Speech Battleground
Imagine a future where the most persuasive voices in our society aren't human. Where AI generated speech fills our newsfeeds, talks to our children, and influences our elections. Where digital systems with no consciousness can hold bank accounts and property. Where AI companies h ... Show More
49m 11s
Jul 17
Daniel Kokotajlo Forecasts the End of Human Dominance
In 2023, researcher Daniel Kokotajlo left OpenAI—and risked millions in stock options—to warn the world about the dangerous direction of AI development. Now he’s out with AI 2027, a forecast of where that direction might take us in the very near future. AI 2027 predicts a world w ... Show More
38m 19s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2020
Wednesday 9/16/20 - The Manipulation Of Social Media (The Social Dilemma Review) Part II
Today's Part II w/ Chief about Netflix's new documentary 'The Social Dilemma'. In Part II we get into how the suicide rates of pre-teens are up astronomically, the problem with everybody having a different newsfeed, what the like button was originally intended for, and more. 
28m 26s
Sep 2020
The Social Dilemma
We tweet, we like, and we share — but what are the consequences of our growing dependence on social media? The documentary-drama, The Social Dilemma, explores the dangerous impacts of social networking by talking to the Silicon Valley insiders who know it best. In this episode, R ... Show More
35m 18s
Jul 2023
The changing social media landscape
Meta - the owner of Facebook - has launched Threads, a text-based social media app. Tech Life's correspondent in San Francisco tells us about the launch. And we look at the development of social media with Brooke Erin Duffy, an associate professor in the Department of Communicati ... Show More
27m 11s
Nov 2023
Is technology our savior — or our slayer? | Ruha Benjamin
When it comes to technology, we're often presented with two contrasting visions of the future: one where technology fulfills all our desires, and another where it leads to chaos and conflict. Sociologist Ruha Benjamin is here with a more radical vision of the future — one where h ... Show More
12m 18s
Jan 2024
Technology and mental health
Technology can pose dangers to our mental health - cyberbullying, social media addiction and disinformation. But can tech help our mental wellbeing ? We explore the issues. Tech Life's Alasdair Keane reports from Las Vegas on a sound system for cars that alters music as the vehic ... Show More
27m 18s
Oct 2023
Latanya Sweeney — On Shaping Technology to Human Purpose
You may not know Latanya Sweeney's name, but as much as any other single person — and with good humor and grace as well as brilliance — she has led on the frontier of our gradual understanding of how far from anonymous you and I are in almost any database we inhabit, and how far ... Show More
1h 1m
Dec 2023
Is technology our savior — or our slayer? | Ruha Benjamin
When it comes to technology, we're often presented with two contrasting visions of the future: one where technology fulfills all our desires, and another where it leads to chaos and conflict. Sociologist Ruha Benjamin is here with a more radical vision of the future — one where h ... Show More
16m 20s
Dec 2020
In Machines We Trust: No Face... No Service
Facial recognition technology is being deployed in housing projects, homeless shelters, schools, even across entire cities—usually without much fanfare or discussion. To some, this represents a critical technology for helping vulnerable communities gain access to social services. ... Show More
23m 25s
Jul 2019
199. Is Tech Making Us- Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid?
Is technology really rotting our brains, destroying our society... or is that what everyone has always worried about with every technological advance, going back to tv, or telephones, or even writing letters? The new book, Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid: Changing Feelings about Tec ... Show More
39m 29s
Sep 2022
Max Fisher: How Social Media Rewired Our Brains (+ Our World)
Max Fisher is a New York Times investigative reporter, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and author of the vitally important book: 'The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World'—a referendum on Big Tech and the social media platforms that that ha ... Show More
2h 24m