Future Tense Fiction: Could a Robot Be Your Dogs Best Friend?
On this month\u2019s episode of Future Tense Fiction, host Maddie Stone talks to Andrew Silverman about his short story \u201cFurgen.\u201d\nTucker, the story\u2019s canine protagonist, is the center of his owner Caro\u2019s world. When Caro buys an A.I.-enabled dog trainer that promises to help both her and Tucker live their best lives, everything starts to fall into place\u2014the A.I. takes care of Tucker when he\u2019s sick, trains him to walk without a leash, and even helps Caro get a girlfriend. But as Tucker\u2019s bond with the A.I. deepens, optimizing for their best lives starts to mean something much different than what Caro originally had in mind.\nAfter the story, Maddie asks Andrew about how his own experiences as a dog owner\u2014and a pediatric neurologist\u2014influenced the story. Plus, Maddie talks with canine behavioral scientist Clive Wynne,\xa0who wrote a response essay\xa0to Andrew\u2019s story, about whether a dog could really fall in love with a robot.\nGuests: Andrew Silverman is a pediatric neurologist and the author of \u201cFurgen.\u201d\nClive Wynne is a professor of psychology and director of the Canine Science Collaboratory at Arizona State University. He is also the author of\xa0Dog Is Love: Why and How Your Dog Loves You.\nStory read by Peggy O\u2019Neal\nPodcast production by Tiara Darnell\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices