Episode Details

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J discuss the pros and cons of life-tracking or “self-quantification,” with tools like health watches, and the “life-hacking” that these tools encourage, from dieting and exercise to sleep and meditation. How do we know when we are being distracted and made miserable by all this self-knowledge, and when it is helpful? Could AI life coaches, tracking every vital, help us live happier, longer lives? 

• Self-Absorption in the Digital Era: A Review of "Self-Improvement Technologies of the Soul in the Age of Artificial Intelligence" by Mark Coeckelbergh 
• “Know Thyself, Improve Thyself: Personalized LLMs for Self-Knowledge and
  Moral Enhancement,” Julian Savulescu
• Trump administration directs federal health agencies to pause communications
• Stargate AI Iniatitive, Spurned by Musk, Trumped by Chinese DeepSeek Breakthroughs
• China’s cheap, open AI model DeepSeek thrills scientists
• Why everyone in AI is freaking out about DeepSeek
• OpenAI Unveils A.I. Agent That Can Use Websites on Its Own

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits
Produced by Jake Burley
Music by Jake Burley