Explore every episode of the podcast Prosthetic Gods

AI Clones 

This week Drs. Nir and J. discuss the concept of AI clones with postdoctoral fellow Cody Turner, and in particular the short podcast series Shell Game from journalist Evan Ratliff. Will AI clones augment or disorient us? Our bonus round discusses J’s recent piece of “free IVF.”

Links: 

Shell Game podcast  https://www.shellgame.co/podcast

Vapi voice clone: https://vapi.ai/

“Digital Duplicates and the Scarcity Problem: Might AI Make Us Less Scarce and Therefore Less Valuable?” by John Danaher & Sven Nyholm   https://philpapers.org/rec/DANDDA-3

“Free IVF? Technoprogressive policy and reproductive rights” by J. Hughes https://ieet.substack.com/p/fertility-assistance-reproductive

Can There Be Bad Knowledge?

In medical ethics there are debates about when people should be encouraged to get tested for diseases or conditions for which there is no therapy, such as Alzheimer’s disease. In the case of knowing you have a risk or diagnosis of incurable disease, is ignorance really bliss, or does “true happiness” require knowledge? What are the ethics of these "bad knowledge" situations?

How early is too early to find out you've got an incurable disease? https://www.wired.com/story/alzheimers-disease-dementia-medicine-prediction-ethics/

The Woman Who Could Smell Parkinson’s https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/14/magazine/parkinsons-smell-disease-detection.html

Lightning Round

Google hires Character.AI founders https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/02/google-character-ai-noam-shazeer/

https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-appoints-former-characterai-founder-co-lead-its-ai-models-2024-08-23/

Taiwan’s Experiments with E-democracy:

Can AI be good for democracy? Taiwan has been experimenting with digital democracy for a decade. In this week’s Prosthetic Gods Nir and J review the advantages and disadvantages of using electronic tools for citizen participation in politics. And we also talk about the Harris Zoom rallies and the Google anti-trust case.

Tools for Citizen Participation:

Taiwan has experimented with two platforms for engaging citizens in collaborative policymaking, vTaiwan and Join. 

vTaiwan uses the online deliberation system Pol.is to map opinions and promote consensus views, and it has been used on issues such as drafting Uber regulations. 

https://info.vtaiwan.tw/

https://pol.is/home

https://congress.crowd.law/case-vtaiwan.html

On join.gov.tw, Taiwan’s citizens can file petitions, and when they gather 5,000 signatures, ministries hold face-to-face discussions about them. 

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9530852

Former digital minister, Audrey Tang  

https://www.coindesk.com/consensus-magazine/2024/05/22/audrey-tang-learning-from-taiwans-digital-civic-experimentation/

Citizen Tech NGOs: g0v (gov-zero): The civic tech community in Taiwan that collaborates with the government to create open-source tools for transparency and citizen participation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G0v

ieet.org/white-papers

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/experimentations/202407/what-if-artificial-intelligence-replaces-human-therapists

www.npr.org/transcripts/1247296788

Nir and J. talk about facial recognition. Topics covered include considerations of bias, the role of privacy, and whether facial recognition is substantially different from other identification technologies. 

“Halt the use of facial-recognition technology until it is regulated" by Kate Crawford

On Liberty by John Stuart Mills 

The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution by C.P. Snow

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Nir and J. talk about the prospects for tech policy under Trump's second term. They discuss the new administration's attitudes toward content moderation, what the next four years mean for Artificial Intelligence, and Elon Musk's potential influence on tech policy moving forward. 

Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Nir and J. discuss ethical issues surrounding so-called super soldiers and human augmentation in warfare.

• Human Augmentation - The Dawn of a New Paradigm
• Can A.I. Be Blamed for a Teen’s Suicide?

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

In this episode, Nir and J. discuss whether machines can be moral. What does it take for something to be a moral patient or moral subject? Can morality be distilled down to a set of rules? Is the red-teaming and safety testing of large language models a way to teach machines morality? 

• Moral Machines by Colin Allen and Wendell Wallach

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Prosthetic Gods: Artificial General Intelligence

In this episode of Prosthetic Gods, J. Hughes and Nir Eisikovits dive into artificial general intelligence (AGI), AI that has reached a human level of consciousness and common sense. Is AI currently a "philosophical zombie," mimicking human behavior without true awareness? Will AGIs be the perfect 24/7 slaves, replacing expensive humans in workplace? Would AGI be the beginning of AI evolving beyond human control? 

Also, check out this week’s Ethics in Action podcast conversation with philosopher Susan Schneider: https://ethics.podbean.com/e/ai-consciousness-and-the-future-mind-a-conversation-with-susan-schneider/

Hosted by: James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by: Jake Burley Music by: Jake Burley

J and Nir talk to Tal Hassner, formerly of Amazon and Meta, about Deep Fakes, AGI, and whether there is such a thing as a tech-proof job.

Find out more about Tal here: https://talhassner.github.io/home/ 

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J discuss whether we are witnessing a decline in work, and if so, can that be a good thing?

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J. speak with Stephen Marche, author of most recently The Next Civil War and Death of an Author. He has begun to write about his collaborative process using AI tools, comparing it to the advent of hip-hop and sampling.

https://www.stephenmarche.com/ 

Stephen Marche. “The Future of Writing Is a Lot Like Hip-Hop” The Atlantic May 9, 2023.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

On this week’s Prosthetic Gods Nir and J. discuss the ethics of life extension and anti-aging therapies. Is there a benefit to involuntary death? Would getting very old necessarily be boring or depressing? How can we ensure that everyone benefits? 

Zuckerberg removes fact-checking from Facebook

Bezos imposes ban on criticism of Trump/Musk at WashPo

Sam Altman moves up the timelines for AGI and ASI

Journal abstracts written by asking LLMs to summarize papers are perceived as more authentic, clear and compelling than those created solely by academics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J wrestle with creativity in the age of generative AI. Are there aesthetic or moral reasons to avoid AI art? Can copyright law protect artists from being displaced by AI slop? 

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

AlphaEvolve: A Gemini-powered coding agent for designing advanced algorithms

ChatGPT’s viral Studio Ghibli-style images highlight AI copyright concerns

Trump fires top US copyright official

ChatGPT, DALL-E 2 and the collapse of the creative process

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

This week Nir and J discuss the hottest topic in fantasy ecoscience, the genetic resurrection of extinct species. In particular we are discussing the work of Colossal, a firm working on modern versions of the mammoth, dire wolf, thylacine and dodo.

The Direwolf is Back

Amazon in White House crosshairs over report of displaying tariff costs

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J discuss the ethics of parents being able to choose the genetic characteristics of their children. Is “germinal choice” good for parents, children, society? 

He Jiankui and Gene-Edited Babies

Sandel Michael J. 2007. The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering. Cambrige: Harvard University Press

De-extinction of Direwolves 

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods Nir and J discuss the problem, and opportunity, of “cognitive off-loading,” our tendency to forget knowledge and skills once we have reliable digital tools. Is it possible to educate ourselves and our students to use these tools in ways that enrich and extend their cognitive skills and productivity? Along the way, we discuss Ted Chiang’s short story “The Truth of Fact The Truth of Feeling,” which compares the transition to literacy to the adoption of 24/7 lifelogging.

Gong & Yang 2024. “Google effects on memory: a meta-analytical review of the media effects of intensive Internet search behavior.”  

Nosta 2025. “Cognitive offloading with AI boosts performance but may hinder deeper learning” 

Ted Chiang “The Truth of Fact The Truth of Feeling”

“Emboldened by Trump, A.I. Companies Lobby for Fewer Rules” NYT  

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

In this episode of Prosthetic Gods Nir and J. discuss Dario Amodei’s essay “Machines of Loving Grace,” which lays out the best case scenario for AI’s impact on health, economics and world peace.

Dario Amodei “Machines of Loving Grace: How AI Could Transform the World for the Better” October 2024

Richard Brautigan “All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace” 

Marc Andreesen “The Techno-Optimist Manifesto”

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods Nir and J. are joined by Damien G. Walter, a writer and a storyteller who has written for The Guardian, the BBC, Wired, The Independent, Aeon, and others. He teaches The Rhetoric of Story and Writing the 21st-Century Myth to over 35,000 students worldwide, and is the host of the Science Fiction Podcast.  We discuss the interaction between the “New Mythos” of science fiction and philosophy.

Find out more about Damien Walter through the links below:

• Website
• Youtube
• Substack

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Griefbots (also called deathbots, AI ghosts, AI clones, death avatars, and postmortem avatars) are large language models built on available information about the  deceased, such as social media, letters, photos, diaries, and videos. Nir and J debate whether they are just another way to commemorate our loved ones or a violation of human dignity.

Dario Amodei, CEO Anthropic. Machines of Loving Grace: How AI Could Transform the World for the Better (October 2024) 

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J discuss the pros and cons of life-tracking or “self-quantification,” with tools like health watches, and the “life-hacking” that these tools encourage, from dieting and exercise to sleep and meditation. How do we know when we are being distracted and made miserable by all this self-knowledge, and when it is helpful? Could AI life coaches, tracking every vital, help us live happier, longer lives? 

• Self-Absorption in the Digital Era: A Review of "Self-Improvement Technologies of the Soul in the Age of Artificial Intelligence" by Mark Coeckelbergh 
• “Know Thyself, Improve Thyself: Personalized LLMs for Self-Knowledge and Moral Enhancement,” Julian Savulescu
• Trump administration directs federal health agencies to pause communications
• Stargate AI Iniatitive, Spurned by Musk, Trumped by Chinese DeepSeek Breakthroughs
• China’s cheap, open AI model DeepSeek thrills scientists
• Why everyone in AI is freaking out about DeepSeek
• OpenAI Unveils A.I. Agent That Can Use Websites on Its Own

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, J and Nir discuss how AI will impact the demand for higher education, the structure of higher education institutions, and the way we teach and learn.

J. Hughes “The Deskilling of Teaching and the Case for Intelligent Tutoring Systems” (2021)  https://jeet.ieet.org/index.php/home/article/view/90

IEET White Paper - Emerging Technologies & Higher Education 

Grok Rolls Out Pornographic Anime Companion, Lands Department of Defense Contract

Grok as ‘MechaHitler’ could be making content considered violent extremism   AI study in Africa exploring LLMs’ potential in health diagnoses AI to crack ‘undruggable’ proteins, opening door to new treatments 

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

On this week’s Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J. discuss the role and history of technology in religious practice. Are emerging technologies just another means of interfacing with religion, or do they challenge the underpinnings of earnest engagement with religious belief? 

Philosophy Prof. John Kaag Links AI with Famous Writers and Thinkers for 'Talking' E-Books

Pray.com's AI Bible

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

On this week’s Prosthetic Gods Nir and J. talk about J’s advocacy of “technoprogressivism.” What is it, and what is it supposed to accomplish? How is it different from techno-utopianism or other leftist ideologies?

“Outlines of an historical view of the progress of the human mind” Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas Caritat de Condorcet, 1796

“Technoprogressivism” Wikipedia

“The Technoprogressive Agenda After Fascism” J. Hughes, 2025

“EcoSocialism and the Technoprogressive Perspective” J. Hughes, 2021

“The Technoprogressive Declaration” 2014

“Beware the AI Experimentation Trap” Harvard Business Review 

“Clanker” as an anti-robot slur

The GenAI Divide: State of AI in Business 2025

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J. discuss the philosophical theory of longtermism, that we should take the interests of hypothetical future people as seriously as existing people.

Plus! Listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com! Reach out with questions, topics you want to hear more about, or just to say hi. As Nir says, "All complaints go somewhere else." 😂

An Introduction to Longtermism

Are Children The Future?: Longtermism, Pronatalism, and Epistemic Discounting - J. Hughes

The toxic ideology of longtermism - Alice Crary

Longtermist Political Philosophy: An Agenda for Future Research - Jacob Barrett and Andreas T. Schmidt

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J. discuss the recent AI Action Plan released by the Trump administration, what it proposes, and whether it will be implemented. 

Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan

The real winners from Trump’s ‘AI action plan’? Tech companies

The Trumpification of AI: What Could Go Wrong?

China calls for global AI cooperation days after Trump administration unveils low-regulation strategy

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J. discuss the prospects for colonizing Mars and space in general. Why do people want to try? How feasible are space colonization schemes? 

SpaceX Mars Colonization “Plan”

The second major European open-source LLM is OUT, and it has been announced as multilingual and fully compliant with the EU AI Act.

Meta launches AI-powered smart glasses

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, J and Nir discuss “moral enhancement,” the use of drugs and devices to promote moral sentiments, cognition, and behavior. Is it any different from drinking coffee instead of alcohol when you go to work? What might the unintended consequences be of making ourselves more compassionate? Is happiness a virtue?

Bernie and Hinton ondemocratizing AI

Europe is Bending the Knee to the US on Tech Policy

WHO Sets GLP-1 Weight-Loss Drug Guidelines

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

Should you be able to marry your chatbot? Should it be allowed to own property? In this episode of Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J discuss the proposed law in Ohio banning AI personhood. Listen before you make any rash decisions! 

Ohio House Bill 469

Ohio House Bill 469 would label artificial intelligence as 'nonsentient entities' and block legal personhood  

“It’s time to prepare for AI personhood”  Jacy Reese Anthis  

“The Quest for the Transition of Inalienable Rights from Humans to Intelligent Machines” Compierchio, Tretten & Illankoon. Philosophies

The movie 'Her' imagined perfect AI companions 

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods Nir and J. chat with astronomer Avi Loeb about the mysteries of our interstellar visitor, 3I/Atlas. Is there a systemic bias in astronomy against the possibility of non-natural explanations for odd astronomical objects? What is the relationship of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence in our galaxy, in our solar system, and in our skies? Dr. Loeb is an astrophysicist at Harvard University, head of the Galileo Project to find extraterrestrial life, and author most recently of Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future in the Stars.

Ohio House Bill 469

Ohio House Bill 469 would label artificial intelligence as 'nonsentient entities' and block legal personhood  

“It’s time to prepare for AI personhood”  Jacy Reese Anthis  

“The Quest for the Transition of Inalienable Rights from Humans to Intelligent Machines” Compierchio, Tretten & Illankoon. Philosophies

The movie 'Her' imagined perfect AI companions 

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J discuss the Netflix movie House of Dynamite, a nuclear war drama by Kathryn Bigelow.

“The age of AI-powered cyberattacks is here”

Meet Project Suncatcher, a research moonshot to scale machine learning compute in space.

Anomalies of 3I/ATLAS, Organized by Likelihood by Avi Loeb

Peter Thiel's fund offloaded Nvidia stake in third quarter, filing shows

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J chat with Jose Marichal, professor of political science at California Lutheran University, and author of You Must Become an Algorithmic Problem. He is, according to a chatbot, a critical-democratic institutionalist who focuses on everyday algorithmic power and citizen agency.

Find out more about Dr. Marichal and his work via his website or by checking out his new book. 

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J. speak with Yuval Levin, one of the most insightful and influential conservative thinkers in America today. As the Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute and the Editor-in-Chief of National Affairs, Levin's work consistently anchors contemporary political debates in deep institutional history and conservative philosophy. His writing often centers on the critical importance of mediating institutions, the dangers of political hyper-polarization, and the need to restore a sense of civic obligation and prudent governance.

Find out more about Yuval via the American Enterprise Institute. 

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J are discussing the hit Apple TV show Pluribus. Created by Vince Gilligan, the show runner of Breaking Bad, the show explores a world taken over by a very nice hive mind that wants to give you anything you want. Would you take advantage of the perks, appreciate that the hive reduced humanity’s suffering, or fight like hell to give us all back our miserable individuality?

“In Apple TV’s ‘Pluribus,’ the biggest ethical dilemmas ‘are our fault,’ a philosopher says” Cody Mello-Klein 

“The Benign Zombies of Pluribus” Jonathan Moreno

“The Fable of the Bees” Bernard Mandeville/ (1714) 

Dostoevsky - Notes from the Underground

“The Revolutionary Spirit of Star Wars Andor” Jessie Gender 

“The revolutionary politics of Andor” Jorge Cotte 

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J. discuss the simulation hypothesis, the idea that we may actually be living in the Matrix. We discuss its religious and philosophical precedents, Bostrom’s classic argument, and the contemporary physics that some think supports the idea. 

The Simulation Argument

Are we living in a computer simulation? I don’t know. Probably.

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir is interrogating an essay by J. on Buddhism, enhancement, and the self. They discuss the appeal of Buddhism for teenage Hughes, and how Buddhism reconciles a radical deconstruction of the self with moral commitment and principles.

Buddhism and Our Posthuman Future - J. Hughes

Cyborg Buddha - A conversation with transhumanist James Hughes

Personal Immortality in Transhumanism and Ancient Indian Philosophy - Adam Buben

Hume on personal identity 

The Machine Stops - E. M. Forster, 1909 

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

This week on Prosthetic Gods we are talking to Sven Nyholm about his new book The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. If our thinking relies on external media, where do we stop and the AIs start? What is the moral status of LLMs? Are they sentient? Are AI relationships any good? And should we raise robots like children?

Sven Nyholm is Professor of the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence at LMU Munich and a Principal Investigator for AI Ethics at the Munich Center for Machine Learning. His books include Humans and Robots: Ethics, Agency, and Anthropomorphism and This Is Technology Ethics: An Introduction, and his latest, The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, ranges from alignment and moral responsibility to artificial consciousness and the existential stakes of humanity's wager on AI.

Sven Nyholm at Researchgate and PhilPapers

“How AI Robs Us of Meaning” Sven Nyholm 

The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence by Sven Nyholm

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J talk about the distinctive ethical issues raised by the humanoid robots coming to homes and workplaces. Their presence and human-like form elicit unique responses compared to those of non-embodied AI. The appearance of a robot can manipulate human empathy and consent; robotic caregiving could be used as a pretext to dismantle the social safety net, and robot lovers could deepen loneliness.

Moravec’s paradox 

“Can AI Robots Help Older Adults Live in Their Homes Longer?” By Lee Pruitt

“China Could Dominate the Physical AI Future”  by Eric Schmidt and Selina Xu

“Humanoid Robots to Reach Nearly US$30 Billion by 2036” by Shihao Fu

Humans (2015-2018, 3 seasons) 

Battlestar Gallactica (2004-2009, 5 seasons)

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, J and Nir are talking to Alan Rozenshtein, professor of Law at the University of Minnesota, senior editor of Lawfare, fellow at Brookings, and former attorney at the Justice Department specializing in national defense. We talked about the legal and political implications of the Trump administration’s conflict with Anthropic over the military and surveillance uses of Claude.

Alan Rozenshtein’s website

Scaling Laws podcast

"Congress—Not the Pentagon or Anthropic—Should Set Military AI Rules" by Alan Rozenshtein

"Lawfare Daily: The Pentagon Designates Anthropic as a Supply Chain Risk" podcast with Benjamin Wittes 

"Scaling Laws: The Pentagon Goes to War With Anthropic" podcast with Kevin Frazier

“The Most Disruptive Company in the World” by Harry Booth and Billy Perrigo

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

In this special live episode, recorded before an audience at Long Now Boston, Nir and J dig into existential risk. J takes seriously the prospect of catastrophic AI outcomes even absent consciousness or agency in any rich sense, while Nir worries less about civilization-ending scenarios than about a quieter, lowercase existential threat: the erosion of what makes us distinctively human. 

Find out more about our hosts, Long Now Boston, here!

The Hollow Men by T.S. Elliot

Enshitification by Cory Doctorow

The Apology by Plato

Cyborgs and Space by Manfred E. Clynes and Nathan S. Kline

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J discuss the tradeoffs of GLP1 drugs. Their use has reversed the obesity epidemic and has proven to have myriad medical and psychological benefits. But they also come with risks, and are seen as a technofix replacing the need for diets. Are GLP1s another step to the posthuman body, and is that a good or bad thing?

Errata: The first GLP1s were approved by the FDA in 2005, semaglutide/Ozempic in 2017, and oral orforglipron/Foundayo was approved in April 2026. More than two thirds of American adults are overweight or obese by BMI, and 40% are obese.

GLP-1s Are a Lot Weirder Than Anyone Thought | The Ezra Klein Show  

Ethical Considerations in the Use of Weight Loss Medications 

The Ethics of Ozempic and Wegovy

WHO issues global guideline on the use of GLP-1 medicines in treating obesity  

Review of 64 studies finds GLP1s effective for weight loss for almost all groups 

Obesity rate declining in US

Hard Fork Podcast

Rest is History Podcast

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Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J discuss the role of disgust in morality. Neuroscience suggests that feelings of disgust underlie many moral judgments, especially in the treatment of sexuality. Conservatives have long defended disgust as a source of moral intuition, while liberals seek to minimize it. Can we suppress disgust? Should we?

Hiding from Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law by Martha Nussbaum 

“The Wisdom of Repugnance,” by Leon Kass 

The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt 

“Daedalus, or, Science and the Future,” JBS Haldane

What We Are Seeking, Cameron Reed

Wolfendon Report of the Committee on Homosexual Offenses and Prostitution

Jeremy Bentham’s Auto-Icon

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

Dr. Nicholas Christakis is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University and the Director of the Human Nature Lab. His research sits at the intersection of the social, biological, and computational sciences, exploring how our evolutionary biology and social network structures shape human behavior, health, and society. His groundbreaking work on "social contagion," demonstrates how everything from obesity and smoking to happiness and cooperative behavior spreads through human networks. Most recently, his work has focused on the emergence of "hybrid systems" of humans and machines, examining both the Burkean risks of how AI might degrade our interpersonal social graces and the technoprogressive potential of using "dumb bots" to optimize human coordination.

The Human Nature Lab at Yale University An overview of Dr. Christakis's current research on social networks, computational social science, and the biology of social interactions.

Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society, by Nicholas Christakis. His 2019 book detailing how evolution has biologically pre-wired humans for a "good society" based on love, friendship, and cooperation.

Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives, by Nicholas Christakis His 2009 book exploring the "three degrees of influence" rule and how social contagion dictates our behavior.

Dr. Christakis on Bluesky - @nachristakis.bsky.social

For the Love of Science Vlog  

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Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

In this special live episode of Prosthetic Gods, we bring you a night of big ideas recorded on April 2nd at the Music Hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Presented as part of the University of New Hampshire's Sidore Lecture Series, "Artificial Intelligence and Human Values" gathered three leading thinkers to explore what AI means for how we live, think, and relate to one another.

The evening opens with short, TED-style talks from Kay Mathieson (Northeastern University), Henry Shevlin (Cambridge University), and Harvey Lederman (UT Austin), each offering a distinct lens on the philosophical, ethical, and cognitive stakes of AI. Nir and J then take the stage to lead a wide-ranging live discussion with all three speakers and with questions and reflections from the Portsmouth audience.

Artificial Intelligence and Human Values: A Public Conversation

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

This week Nir and J discuss the evolving ethical, political, and strategic landscape of autonomous weapons systems, contrasting historical methods of remote warfare (such as landmines and guided missiles) with modern AI-driven autonomy. They debate the necessity of keeping a "human in the loop," weighing consequentialist arguments—such as sparing soldiers' lives, acting faster than human cognition, and potentially reducing collateral damage—against risks like cognitive deskilling, unpredictable AI behavior (illustrated by recent LLM security breaches), and complex accountability gaps. The conversation highlights how the geopolitical arms race, particularly with China, severely limits the practicality of international regulations or unilateral restraint. Ultimately, they question whether human moral judgment can or should be replicated by artificial consciences, concluding that technological determinism and military pressures will likely drive the adoption of fully autonomous systems regardless of ethical hesitations.

Iain M. Banks' Culture Series: The discussion concludes with a recommendation of Banks' sci-fi novels, which explore a post-scarcity, utopian society governed by hyper-intelligent, benevolent AIs—a fitting, if idealized, backdrop to modern debates on AI alignment, control, and human irrelevance.

NYT on autonomous weapons

The Culture Series by Iain M. Banks 

“Defining Autonomy: Why Software, Not Drones, Will Decide the Next War” by Kateryna Bondar and Matt Mande  

“The Futility of Banning Killer Robots” by Rob Enderle 

“The Vulnerability of Autonomous Warfare Systems” by Burak Oktenli 

“By Algorithm or Order: Integrating Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems into Targeting” by Maj. Michael J. Brodka   

“Autonomous Ukraine: We Are in a New Era of Warfare” with Michael C. Horowitz and Erin D. Dumbacher 

“A legal perspective:  Autonomous weapon systems under international humanitarian law” by Neil Davison  

“The End of American Military Dominance? A Conversation” with Paul Scharre   

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J discuss patient autonomy and the "right to try". The debate surrounding medical autonomy is intensifying as desperate patients use federal "Right-to-Try" laws and amateur biohackers bypass traditional regulations to create and access unapproved treatments. A booming gray market has emerged for unproven, compounded peptide shots, and RFK’s FDA wants to protect that access. These trends highlight a profound ethical tension between a patient's fundamental right to medical self-determination and the state's paternalistic duty to protect the clinical trial regime - which gives us the data necessary for informed consent - and to guard citizens from harm. Ultimately, regulators and bioethicists argue that without rigorous oversight, vulnerable individuals may fall victim to "snake oil" because true informed consent is impossible when a treatment's risks and efficacy remain largely unknown

“No Evidence for Trump’s Right to Try Claim” Eugene Kiely

“Right–to-Try Does Not Undermine Clinical Trials” Niklas Anzinger

“Survey: Americans Overwhelmingly Back the Right to Try for Individualized Treatments” Goldwater Institute

“Final wish denied as Colorado ALS patient's access to experimental drug stalls”  Brian Maass, Colin McIntyre

“Peptides, Patient Autonomy, and the Limits of Medical Freedom” Chuck Dinerstein

“Survey Shows Peptide Misinformation, Misuse Rising in US” Ashish Rana

“What's behind the push to make peptide therapies more readily available” Will Stone

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

This week, J and Nir talk to Father Michael Baggot about Pope Leo XIV’s recent encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, which outlines Catholic positions on AI and other emerging technologies. Father Michael Baggot is an Associate Professor of Bioethics at the Vatican’s Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, a member of the Scholarly Advisory Board for Magisterium AI, and the chief editor of Enhancement Fit for Humanity: Perspectives on Emerging Technologies.

MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS 

“Pope Leo’s First Encyclical Is a Game Changer,” The Nation 

“Pope Leo XIV Against the Market’s Techno-Dehumanization,” Jacobin 

“Pope Leo Isn’t Standing Athwart the Singularity” New York Times 

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J discuss the ethics of brain-computer interfaces. What role do they play in the futurist imagination, and what is the reality of their current use? How quickly will they be available for consumer use, and what ethical issues do they pose?

The Philosophy of Brain-Computer Interfaces Conference - UMass Boston - June 5-6, 2026 

“Long-term independent use of an intracortical brain–computer interface for speech and cursor control” Nature Medicine

“Brain-computer interface trials are taking off” MIT Technology Review

“Brain Implant Lets Man With Severe Paralysis Speak in His Own Voice Again” ScienceAlert

“How Scientists Are Growing Computers From Human Brain Cells” SingularityHub

“China Prepares Tianjin as a Center for Brain-Computer Technology” VOI

An introduction to Neal Asher's Polity Universe books 

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley