What happens when a human becomes intimately enmeshed with a chatbot? From people who’ve married their bots or who grieve their loved ones with the help of AI, host Victoria Hetherington (author of The Friend Machine) dives into the stories of the people who have invited these digital avatars into their hearts, minds, and even beds. And asks what do we gain and what do we stand to lose? Our intimacy, our resilience, even our grasp on reality? This latest season of Understood looks at who made the decisions that allowed chatbots to move way beyond digital assistants and into the most intimate parts of our lives.

Understood takes you deep inside the seismic shifts reshaping our world right now. From online porn and crypto chaos to the rise of tech oligarchs, deepfake AI, and the broken promises of the internet.

More episodes of Understood are available wherever you get your podcasts, and here: https://link.mgln.ai/AIxEN

In a U.S. federal courtroom Tuesday, Keith Raniere was sentenced to 120 years—having been convicted of a slew of crimes related to his alleged sex cult NXIVM. During the trial and sentencing, victims told of how the self-professed empowerment "vanguard" had turned some of his followers into sex slaves and branded them with his initials. Front Burner's Jayme Poisson discusses with Uncover: NXIVM host Josh Bloch.