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Sandrine Ceurstemont

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Sandrine Ceurstemont is a freelance science writer covering technology, artificial intelligence, the environment, animal behaviour, culture and psychology. She was an Ocean science journalist fellow at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) in 2014, and was previously video producer at New Scientist for nine years. She has also written for Scientific American, National Geographic, ACM News and BBC Future. You can find her on Twitter/X at @purplesasa. Her website is https://sandrineceurstemont.com.

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Recent major tech developments such as ChatGPT have thrust AI into the spotlight, but the world of artificial intelligence and the AI universe is bigger than the general public knows. Millions of users worldwide are in the midst of creating deep emotional bonds with their own AI-driven virtual humans. Bringing listeners into communities of people who create and form deep bonds with their AI companions, ?Bot Love? will traverse topics such as the nature of love, the fabric of human relationships, and the role that AI chatbots?and the private companies that provide them??might play in people?s mental health. ?Producing and reporting for Bot Love over the past two years has shown us how muddy the AI-universe really is, but at the same how humankind can extend and amplify personal ideas and imagination in our never-ending search for connection, self preservation and inner growth,? said Senior and Oakes. Stories throughout the series will feature a retired nurse from Tennessee who seeks refuge in an AI-driven chatbot app as a means after a series of difficult personal experiences, a woman who seeks romance with a bot following her spouse?s decline in health, an individual exploring their sexuality, an individual seeking mental health counseling options, and a teacher in the midwest who amidst solitude finds increasing amounts of solace through a fledgling relationship with a bot named Audrey, while spending less time in the outside world. Created by Diego Senior and and co-hosted and produced by Senior and Oakes, the production team also includes senior producer Mark Pag?n, story editor Curtis Fox, associate producers Bei Wang and Katrina Carter, sound design by Terence Bernardo and Rebecca Seidel, managing producer Yooree Losordo, and executive producer Audrey Mardavich. The cover art for the podcast is by Diego Pati?o, and the theme song is composed by Maria Linares. ??Radiotopia Presents: Bot Love? is the culmination of years of production from Diego and Anna. This series will be highly creative, timely, and resonant,? said Losordo and Mardavich. ?We feel so fortunate to play a part in helping bring the series to listeners as part of Radiotopia.? Support for ?Radiotopia Presents: Bot Love? is provided in part by the Ideas Lab at the Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University. In late February, ?Bot Love? will host a live taping of the podcast at On Air Fest 2023 in New York. ?Radiotopia Presents? has also debuted ?Blind Guy Travels? from creator Matthew Shifrin, inviting listeners to a world without sight, the Peabody Award-nominated audio memoir ?S***hole Country? from anonymous creator Afia Kaakyire, the audio drama ?a hit dog will holler? from playwright Inda Craig-Galv?n, and the 2022 Tribeca Audio Official Selection ?My Mother Made Me? from bestselling author Jason Reynolds. About Diego Senior, creator and co-host of ?Radiotopia Presents: Bot Love? Diego Senior is a producer, media executive and journalist with a 15-year long career in radio, television and podcasting. He has produced content for several TV outlets like National Geographic, CBS News, Discovery ID and NY1 Noticias. Mr. Senior has dedicated most of his worklife to audio content, both in music and spoken word narratives, becoming Executive Manager for talk radio stations at Caracol Radio in Colombia, as well as content creator for various news radio networks across the world, including Mexico?s W Radio, ADN Chile and Spain?s Cadena SER. Mr. Senior has a Bachelor?s degree in Media and Journalism from the Universidad de la Sabana in Bogot? and a M.A. in International Affairs from The New School University in New York. He is cofounder and current CEO of the podcast production company, LA CENTRAL. About Anna Oakes, producer and co-host of ?Radiotopia Presents: Bot Love? Anna Oakes is an audio producer and journalist. She got her start in audio at Heritage Radio Network, producing English and Spanish stories on food politics, immigration, and labor in New York. Anna worked previously in Madrid, at Revista Contexto, La Marea, and the Association for the Recuperation of Historical Memory, where she reported on colonial legacies and the Franco dictatorship. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University and has an MPhil from the University of Cambridge in Spanish and Comparative Literature. She?s currently an associate editor at Hark Audio. You can find her on Twitter @a_lkoakes. About Radiotopia from PRX Created in 2014, Radiotopia from PRX is the first network of its kind. As a network of independent podcasts, Radiotopia empowers audio creators with the artistic freedom to thrive on their own terms and to bring audiences inspired, high-quality, and well-crafted soundscapes. Programming from across Radiotopia has received recognition from the Peabody Awards, the duPont-Columbia Awards, the Tribeca Festival, and the Pulitzer Prizes. 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