This week, we’re bringing you two A.I.-related stories from our colleagues at The New York Times. First, Rachel Abrams, a host of “The Daily,” talks with the Times reporter Eli Saslow about a woman in a remote part of Washington who is using an A.I. companion robot to keep her independence, and to keep her company. Then, the Times Opinion culture editor Nadja Spiegelman talks to the New Yorker writer Kyle Chayka and the journalist and critic Sophie Haigney. They get into the rise of “taste slop” and what happens to culture if the internet collapses into just a few chatbots that serve us everything. “Hard Fork” will be back with an original episode next week.   Guests: * Eli Saslow [https://www.nytimes.com/by/eli-saslow], a reporter for The New York Times who writes in-depth stories about the impact of major national issues on people’s lives. * Kyle Chayka [https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/kyle-chayka], staff writer at The New Yorker covering technology and online culture. * Sophie Haigney [https://www.sophiehaigney.com/bio], a critic and journalist. Additional Reading: * Can A.I. Make People Feel Less Lonely? [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/28/podcasts/the-daily/ai-robot-elderly-loneliness.html] * What Silicon Valley Is Coming for Next [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/20/opinion/silicon-valley-ai-taste-culture.html] We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/hardfork] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@hardfork]. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts [http://nytimes.com/podcasts] or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher [https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher]. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.