Sherry Turkle

Can AI companionship cure loneliness – or deepen it? For some, artificial intelligence tools answer questions and make life more efficient. But for others, AI has become a form of companionship – a virtual friend, a therapist, even a romantic partner. I...

It was great to talk about how chatbot relationships change us with @pbsnews.org @wbrangham.bsky.social, Justin Gregg, and Nick Thompson. I'm struck by the irony of social media platforms increasing the conditions for greater loneliness that they then say only a new technology, chatbots, can solve.

A pleasure to be on a panel at the WEF about risks and promise of generative AI where the focus was on what is best for people, not what is best for AIs. Can chatbots be made more transparent if this were truly a design goal? Can we make sites that encourage users to leave them and act in the world?

Need a Break from Your Phone? These Books Can Help.

So thrilled to be in Hope Reese's article on books to help you disconnect. To conversation! Needed more than ever! @hopereese.com

Reclaiming Conversation in the Age of AI Sherry Turkle on AI, empathy, and the fight for human connection

Read it at www.afterbabel.com/p/reclaiming....

I’m so pleased for the publication of the tenth anniversary edition of Reclaiming Conversation, with my new introduction, a warning about our new love affair with artificial intimacy. And so pleased that @jonathanhaidt.bsky.social’s blog, After Babel, has published the new introduction.

Are you talking to technology? If yes, we're interested in talking to you! We are MIT researchers studying how AI chat affects work and family life. We’re especially looking for legal, medical, IT pros—and parents using AI with kids. Interviews are confidential. Email aichatlife@gmail.com to join!

The Human Cost Of Talking To Machines: Can A Chatbot Really Care? As AI systems grow more emotionally fluent, Professor Sherry Turkle warns we may be trading genuine human connection for simulated comfort, at MIT’s AHA symposium.

The launch of AI for human flourishing www.forbes.com/sites/tracey... was a day of great conversations! Thank you, Pattie Maes, @patpat.bsky.social, and @medialab.bsky.social.

Can we design AI to support human flourishing? | AHA Symposium 2025 – MIT Media Lab Can we design AI to support human flourishing?

I am so looking forward to what promises to be a compelling day @medialab.bsky.social. My most cherished colleagues across generations are participating. Learn more at www.media.mit.edu/events/aha-s....