EPISODE · Oct 31, 2025 · 27 MIN
Go To on Whether We're Still Human if Robots Raise our Babies
from Kelly Corrigan Wonders · host Kelly Corrigan
Babies attach to whoever responds to them—mother, father, grandmother, or machine. Kelly shares anthropologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy's TED talk about what makes humans fundamentally different from other apes: we're "other-regarding," wired to care about what others think and feel. Through 6 million years of evolution, Sarah reveals why shared care isn't just helpful—it's how our species survived. But if babies will bond with anyone (or anything) that's reliably responsive and if AI can be programmed to respond faster and more consistently than exhausted parents, are we about to create a new species? This conversation wrestles with whether our defining human trait—empathy built through messy, imperfect relationships—might disappear before we even realize what we've lost. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What this episode covers
Babies attach to whoever responds to them—mother, father, grandmother, or machine. Kelly shares anthropologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy's TED talk about what makes humans fundamentally different from other apes: we're "other-regarding," wired to care about what others think and feel. Through 6 million years of evolution, Sarah reveals why shared care isn't just helpful—it's how our species survived. But if babies will bond with anyone (or anything) that's reliably responsive and if AI can be programmed to respond faster and more consistently than exhausted parents, are we about to create a new species? This conversation wrestles with whether our defining human trait—empathy built through messy, imperfect relationships—might disappear before we even realize what we've lost. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Go To on Whether We're Still Human if Robots Raise our Babies
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