The Ghost in the Machine: When Tech Seems to Have a Mind of Its Own

Sometimes, it can feel like tech has a mind of its own — from the smart speaker that suddenly starts laughing, to the chatbots that say oddly human things. On this episode, stories about “the ghost in the machine.” We investigate why a strange man’s name kept appearing in our show transcripts, learn about the long history of tech in horror, and hear the spooky story of an AI agent that went rogue.

• A few months ago, Pulse producer Lindsay Lazarski noticed something strange — a man’s name that kept appearing in our interview transcripts: Aaron Ross Powell. In this homespun mystery, she leads us on an investigation into why this was happening.
• We talk with Aviva Briefel, a professor of English and Cinema Studies at Bowdoin College, about why "possessed" technologies have been such a persistent theme in the horror genre, and what it says about our anxieties related to technological change.
• We’ve all heard about the threat AI might pose to the future of humanity — but what if it went after you directly? Pulse reporter Liz Tung tells the story of Scott Shambaugh, and the vindictive AI agent that tried to take him down.