The Lifecycle of Software Objects (Exhalation) by Ted Chiang

Abu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and Obssa continue their read-through of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Exhalation⁠⁠ by Ted Chiang. They dive into the fourth short story in the collection, The Lifecycle of Software Objects, and explore the realities of forming relationships with artificial intelligence.

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Watch the video version of this episode: ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.youtube.com/@loreparty⁠⁠⁠⁠

Keep up with this season’s reading schedule: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://tinyurl.com/sfbc-season3⁠

(00:00) Intro

(03:01) Summary

(10:52) Our Impressions

(16:40) Abu's Favorite Moment

(18:25) Weakest Story in the Collection

(20:38) The Icky Truth About Marco

(23:15) Can We Have Relationships with AI?

(28:22) The Case for AI Relationships

(35:13) The Case Against AI Relationships

(42:41) There Are No Shortcuts to Relationships

(46:47) Outro

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