A second season of Suspicious Minds will explore how fears about artificial intelligence are shaping public thinking about the future of humanity.
Agoric Media and Wondermind will launch Suspicious Minds: AI and the Apocalypse on 20 May. The eight-part limited series is hosted by filmmaker and producer Sean King O’Grady.
The new season follows the first run of Suspicious Minds, which examined cases of AI-related psychosis and the wider history of technology-induced delusions. That series was co-hosted by brothers Dr Joel Gold and Dr Ian Gold.
In the new episodes, Joel and Ian return to ask whether widespread fears about artificial intelligence amount to a form of collective psychosis, or whether they represent a different response to real-world risks.
Other contributors include author Dorian Lynskey, philosopher James Cussen and theologian Judith Wolfe.
The series examines the intersection of technology, psychology, politics, theology and history. It also looks at why apocalyptic thinking has persisted throughout human civilisation and how current debates around artificial intelligence fit into that tradition.
Sean said: “Humans have been thinking about a catastrophic end to our species since we first started throwing paint on the walls of caves.
“Each generation believes it might be the last. But I keep wondering, in an era of compounding existential threats, environmental, nuclear, biological, now technological, if this time we might be right.”
Suspicious Minds has previously received two nominations at the Webby Awards. Season two will be available from 20 May wherever you get your podcasts.
