Ethical Machines

About Ethical Machines

I have to roll my eyes at the constant click bait headlines on technology and ethics. If we want to get anything done, we need to go deeper. That’s where I come in. I’m Reid Blackman, a former philosophy professor turned AI ethics advisor to government and business. If you’re looking for a podcast that has no tolerance for the superficial, try out Ethical Machines.

Publisher

Reid Blackman

Category

business · education · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

7 Jun 2024

Latest episode

8 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

35 of 97 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   8 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Seriously? AI Welfare?

   Host [Host Name] interviews Geoff Keeling and Winnie Street, Fellows at the Institute of Philosophy, University of London, about the complex philosophical questions surrounding potential AI welfare.

2. 

   1 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   The Good and Bad of AI Companions

   Host Alex Dobrenko interviews Giada Pistilli, formerly Principal Ethicist at Hugging Face, about the complex emotional bonds people form with AI companions and their ethical implications.

3. 

   24 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT

   The Honesty Crisis

   Host [Host Name] interviews Professor of Philosophy Christian B. Miller about how technology incentivizes dishonesty, leading to a widespread honesty crisis.

Inside a recent episode

Seriously? AI Welfare?

Published 8 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] Is there any particular reason for thinking that the level of consciousness that it would have would rise to the level of moral concern? I think there's a few things to say on this. First, just at the starting point, we're also not only concerned with whether or not AI systems could be conscious. I think one of the key questions is, what is it that actually makes something worthy of moral concern for its own sake and in its own right? And consciousness is one of the plausible properties. Sentience being like the capacity for consciousness, but for some of those conscious states to be positively or negatively valence, like being able to have pleasure and pain states, seems even more likely as a ground for being a moral subject holder than consciousness on its own. […]

Who has been a guest on Ethical Machines

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Geoff Keeling
• Winnie Street
• Giada Pistilli
• Christian B Miller
• Paula Goldman

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.9 / 5

55 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

16 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 37 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

54

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

51

Contact Ethical Machines

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Ethical Machines