How to Replace Friends with Chatbots and The Rise of the Social Media Underdogs with Jag Sharma, Jen Campbell, Jason Kapadia and Felina Tan - E86

Who needs friends? For the low price of an AI subscription fee, you could have all the friends you need…

Chatbots are taking the roles of friends, lovers, parental figures, therapists, mediators and career coaches, but is the tradeoff of convenience sapping our humanity from us?

We dive into a very real conversation about fake conversations on Disconnected this week, as we also set our sights on alternatives to X, from BlueSky in the west to China’s new 500m user ‘underdog’...

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This episode of Disconnected covers:

  • The AI companions sapping our humanity from us

  • How AI can be used to teach social skills for neurodiverse people

  • Whether BlueSky is a viable alternative to X, or just like everything else

  • China’s new social media ‘underdog’, and whether we should be supporting it

Episode Highlights:

“You could have AI companions for laughs instead of a mate at the pub, or a partner to boost your ego - it’ll be a psychiatrist’s dream!” - 7:30 - Jen Campbell

“AI could analyse communication patterns to offer real time advice during conflict, helping couples navigate disagreements. Basically, you're arguing with your spouse and the talking AI in your house becomes the mediator.” - 15:15 - Jag Sharma

“Is University going to be around in 10 years’ time? I feel like it's so antiquated now, and the more and more I see with AI, I just don't think it's going to be around for that long.” - 21:50 - Jason Kapadia

“I'm seeing from BlueSky, and even from Threads, it's really refreshing. I think they're trying to win back the hearts and minds of users who miss the old Twitter.” - 29:35 - Felina Tan

Links & references:

Jen Campbell:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-m-campbell/

Jag Sharma: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jagsharma

https://www.instagram.com/jagsharma/

Jason Kapadia:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonkapadia/

https://www.instagram.com/jasonkapadia/

Felina Tan:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/felinagabrielletan/

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Grok Goes Rogue, The Death of Humane AI, and Our Social Media Saviour: Snapchat with Jen Campbell and Jag Sharma - E87

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Meta Abandons Content Moderation, the UK’s AI Music Crisis, and Grok Learns to Talk Dirty with Jag, Jen and Jason - E85