Good Bot, Bad Bot
Endless Thread shares stories about the rise of bots. They're all over social media platforms, chatrooms, phone apps, and more. How are these pieces of software — which are meant to imitate human behavior and language — influencing our daily lives in sneaky, surprising ways?
Good Bot, Bad Bot | Part VI: The quest to build machines like us
Can a machine think like a human? Can it be conscious? For decades the answer was clear: nope. But artificial intelligence today is challenging that notion. Endless Thread visits Google...
Good Bot, Bad Bot | Part V: Bots that speak the language of love better than you do
If you've ever used a dating app, chances are you've encountered a bot, most likely a fake account or a scammer. But this week on Endless Thread, we investigate a...
Good Bot, Bad Bot | Part IV: The toxicity of Tay
Next up in our bots series, we bring you the tale of Tay, a Microsoft AI chatbot that has lived on in infamy. Tay was originially modeled to be the...
Good Bot, Bad Bot | Part III: Life, death and AI
Next up in our bots series, we explore a growing field of AI: immortalizing the dead through predictive AI text.
Good Bot, Bad Bot | Part II: The future of bots in government
How can bots increase transparency and shine a light on corruption, such as insider trading, among our elected officials? Will bots be put on the ballot in the near future?...
Support WBUR
Good Bot, Bad Bot | Part I: Mental Health and Bot Therapy
For the next few weeks, the Endless Thread team will be sharing stories all about the rise of bots. How are these pieces of software influencing our daily lives in...