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Erika and I discuss the double edge sword of AI.  In a world, post covid, with already strained relationships and decreasing social skills do AI chat bots help the lonely? 

We talk cognitive offloading and why outsourcing thinking can quietly erode critical thinking, especially in schools and early professional training. I talk about a disturbing early example from the mid 2010s: suicide hotline chatbot pilots and the shrugging attitude around liability if a vulnerable person is harmed. Erika brings in the clinical angle too, from veterinary medicine to education, where AI can be a helpful tool for cross checking and resource gathering, but becomes risky when people stop building the underlying skill. 

We discuss the addiction mechanics in social media and dating apps, the rise of fake AI profiles, the temptation to use AI for therapy level support, and the privacy risks of recording sessions to auto generate notes and treatment plans. We also cover ways to rebuild human connection without pretending technology will disappear, like grayscale mode, getting back into third spaces, and choosing focused advocacy that creates real community. We close with a few grounded updates and wins, including land protection news, a slow trust cat relationship, and a recovery story that reminds us why real care matters. 

If this made you rethink how you use AI and your phone, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review. What boundary are you willing to try this week?

ChatGPT acted as her therapist for months. It ended in disaster : NPR 

Transcript - Do Healthy Relationships To Chatbots Exist? 

Bridget Todd and the Business of AI Intimacy 

Bridget Todd Doesn’t Trust A.I., But She Told ChatGPT Everything - The New York Times 

How AI quietly undermines the joy and effort of learning: a call for rebalancing education in the digital age - PMC 

ChatGPT produces more “lazy” thinkers: Evidence of cognitive engagement decline | SCALE Initiative 

ChatGPT produces more “lazy” thinkers: Evidence of cognitive engagement decline | SCALE Initiative 

Better Offline 

Glp1s 

Getting Off with the Luddites | Online Only | n+1 | Sarah Thankam Mathews 

Sizia2.9UT.m_Jp 

Protesters halt border wall construction across 3 miles in Lochiel | Santa Cruz County | kvoa.com 

Omaha's largest public school district stops officers from using electric shock gloves - ABC News 

ICE awards $16.7M contract to buy 6,000 pairs of gloves that deliver electric shocks 

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