Lee Rainie, Director of the Imagining the Digital Future Center for Elon University

"AI" companions are becoming more popular and some people are turning to find comfort these bots, some even considering these bots friends that understand them better than people. Lee Rainie, Director of the Imagining the Digital Future Center for Elon University joins Tony Riggsbee to discuss new poll on “The Rise of AI Companions.” the results of this study, and how these bots are designed to flatter you as a way of keeping you talking to them.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Sep 4, 2026

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Lee Rainie, Director of the Imagining the Digital Future Center for Elon University

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