This week, we take a brief detour from our usual themes to explore a question at the crossroads of social ethics and technology: Can humans and robots be friends? We are joined by Ruby Hornsby, doctoral researcher at the University of Leeds, to explore this question. We discuss what friendship really means, why she argues it cannot exist with machines, and why it’s worth asking what friendship and human connection means in the digital age. 

This episode was hosted and produced by Eva Dieteren.

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Ruby Hornsby is a final year philosophy PhD student at the University of Leeds funded by The White Rose College of Arts and Humanities. She researches whether humans can be friends with robots and, more broadly, she is interested in Applied Ethics, Ethics of AI and The Philosophy of Love, Sex and Relationships. Ruby is the post-graduate research assistant for Ethical Dating Online Project (link below),  a network of researchers focused on exploring the ethics of online dating. She is also the founder of Wiser Debate Club, a free monthly philosophical debate club for people aged 60+ which has recently been awarded funding to expand to various UK sites. 

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Resources:

Books

Alone Together (2011) by Sherry Turkle

Machines Like Me (2019) by Ian McEwan 

Klara and the Sun (2021) by Kazuo Ishiguro

Films/TV

Her (2013), dir. Spike Jonze 

Black Mirror: "Be Right Back" (season 2, episode 1) and "Common People" (season 7, episode 1)

Sex actually with Alice Levigne (Alex and Mimi):

Eternal You (on grief bots)

Other

Alaina's Blog

Ethical Dating Online | Insta: @ethicaldatingonline

Centre for Love, Sex and Relationships | Insta: @Leeds_CLSR

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Technecast is a podcast series showcasing research from across the arts and humanities. It is produced by Adrianna Chmielewska, Felix Clutson, Isabel Sykes, Morag Thomas, Olivia Aarons, Eva Dieteren and Pragya Sharma. Fancy turning your research into a podcast episode? We’d be happy to hear from you at technecaster@gmail.com, on Instagram @technepodcast, or on X @technecast.