What Are We Talking About When We Talk About AI?
Claim This Podcastby University of Connecticut Humanities Institute
Podcast Overview
<p>Ever wonder why AI conversations feel like people are talking past each other? That's because they are. Join scholars from around the world as they tackle the most important terms in AI—and discover they don't mean the same thing to everyone. From Storrs, Connecticut to Rabat, Morocco, from computer labs to philosophy seminars, we're eavesdropping on the conversations that reveal how different fields understand artificial intelligence. Spoiler alert: the differences matter more than you think. Made possible by funding from CHCI and the Mellon Foundation.</p>
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Publishing Since
9/17/2025
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Recent Episodes
May 19, 2026
Care
Can AI help us solve the crisis of care? Can a chatbot care about a person? What are the limits of technology to find solutions to problems related to care? As part of UConn's Human-Centered AI Initiative, we've brought together a roundtable of scholars from Connecticut to Morocco define “care” within their discipline and discuss what care means when over 30% of AI users turn to their chatbots for therapy or companionship. UConn Humanities Institute and professor of English, Director Anna Mae Duane leads a conversation about AI and care, featuring Ihsane Hmamouchi, MD PhD, professor of Clinial Epidemiology, Université Internationale de Rabat and Michael Lynch, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, University of Connecticut. Learn more about “Reading Between the Lines,” the collaboration between UConn and UIR that produced this podcast: https://humanities.uconn.edu/initiatives/ai-and-the-human/reading-between-the-lines/
May 5, 2026
The Oracle of Chatbot with Michael Lynch
Michael Lynch (UConn) delivers his talk, “AI, Rights, and Epistemic Agency” at the What Are We Talking About When We Talk About AI? Symposium. October 9, 2025 at the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute. In this episode, Michael Lynch presents the philosophical tensions between what has been understood as human rights and agency and how artificial intelligence complicates that relationship. Humans possess an unbelievably powerful capacity to make life plans, engage in projects, and make decisions that serve as the foundation for human rights and agency. For Lynch, the question of how the social integration of these chatbots will impact humans’ epistemic agency is the most pressing when it comes to the rapid expansion of AI usage in the contemporary moment. This epistemic agency is our capacity to know about the world, and that capacity becomes infinitely more complex with chatbots when they move out of the realm of tool used to extend that epistemic agency. As generative AI and chatbots continue to become more widely used, a delicate balance will have to be struck between the desire to know more and the subsequent tradeoff of losing understanding. Prefer to watch? Check out this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Pg71vDhPajU Learn more about “Reading Between the Lines,” the collaboration between UConn and UIR that produced this podcast: https://humanities.uconn.edu/initiatives/ai-and-the-human/reading-between-the-lines/
April 30, 2026
The Revolution Will Be Digitized with John Murphy
John Murphy (UConn) delivers his talk, “The Coming AI Rights Revolution” at the What Are We Talking About When We Talk About AI? Symposium. October 9, 2025 at the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute. In this episode, John Murphy explores the possibilities of what it will mean for humans to be able to merge the analog and digital world in the age of artificial intelligence. He structures his analysis around the “three pillars of civilization” or human rights, property rights, and labor rights, to reflect on how the current analog world is struggling to keep up with the digital world in ways that will directly impact what it means and will mean to be a human. For Murphy, the growth in AI has forced us to push the limits of what it means to be a human and what the legal rights of humanity, property, and labor will look like in an increasingly digital world. Moreover, the question of who will control these technologies and what kind of guardrails will be put in place to regulate them in the future looms as a pressing challenge within the legal realm. However, this caution can be met with a glimmer of hope that current students themselves already understand the consequences of too large an investment in AI. Prefer to watch? Check out this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Cy4ruy3mO5Q Learn more about “Reading Between the Lines,” the collaboration between UConn and UIR that produced this podcast: https://humanities.uconn.edu/initiatives/ai-and-the-human/reading-between-the-lines/
15 total episodes available
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Frequently asked questions
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- What is What Are We Talking About When We Talk About AI??
<p>Ever wonder why AI conversations feel like people are talking past each other? That's because they are. Join scholars from around the world as they tackle the most important terms in AI—and discover they don't mean the same thing to everyone. From Storrs, Connecticut to Rabat, Morocco, from computer labs to philosophy seminars, we're eavesdropping on the conversations that reveal how different fields understand artificial intelligence. Spoiler alert: the differences matter more than you think. Made possible by funding from CHCI and the Mellon Foundation.</p> - How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates daily.
- Where can I listen to this podcast?
This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
- Does this podcast accept guests?
Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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