- Social:
freelance writer; author "TALK TO ME: Inside Silicon Valley's Quest for Conversation"
Author of “TALK TO ME: Inside Silicon Valley's Quest for Conversation;” Writer for New York Times Magazine, Wired, Popular Science, GQ.
PROFILE
James Vlahos
Guest
FROM James Vlahos
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Dadbot: Keeping dad alive through artificial intelligence We talk to robots like Siri and Alexa. But why can’t we use artificial intelligence to talk to real people, especially those who died? That’s what James Vlahos wondered as he watched his dad die of lung cancer last year. He tinkered with some readily available A.I. technology and came up with something he called a Dadbot. His dad would live forever through artificial intelligence.
To the Point
Pill-Popping Pets More and more people are telling their pets, "Get happy or face euthanasia." Now there's Reconcile , a canine version of Prozac that tastes like beef. Drugs for animal neurosis might sound like a joke, but maybe dogs and cats really do have treatable mental illness. This week's New York Times Magazine featured an article headlined " Pill-Popping Pets ," which begins with Max, a three-year old German Shepherd who's being diagnosed and treated for compulsive disorder. The author is James Vlahos.
Recommended
Design and Architecture
Farewell LA freeways, Peter Shire is back Angelenos don't want more freeways but we seem not to want mass transit either. Metro has killed the 710 freeway extension, and bus and train ridership is down across the region. What's the future of getting around in LA? And, Peter Shire is having a comeback. What attracts a new generation to his playful ceramics and furniture?
Bookworm
Morgan Parker: There Are More Beautiful Things than Beyoncé Morgan Parker says that the poems in her book There Are Things More Beautiful than Beyonce take a stand against the clichés of the dominant culture.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Previewing James Comey's blockbuster testimony Former FBI director James Comey testifies Thursday in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, but his opening statement has been released. In it, he says he felt pressured by Donald Trump to declare loyalty to him and publicly clear him of any wrongdoing in the Russia investigation.