There Are No Girls on the Internet

What if the person you're falling for isn't who they say they are, and AI is helping them fool you? Romance scammers are using AI to create fake identities, write convincing messages, and even manipulate Google results to build trust and steal money. In one alleged scheme, a man posing as a San Francisco 49ers player used a Google AI Overview to bolster his fake identity.
But AI isn't just changing how people get scammed. From Tinder and Bumble to flirting with help from ChatGPT, it's increasingly shaping how we meet, date, and connect with real people. Bridget Todd explores what happens when technology can manufacture the very things that make romance feel real, and why verifying someone's identity is getting harder.
Get Bridget’s audiobook Love at First Prompt: AI and the Future of Intimacy at LoveAtFirstPrompt.com
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Prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi want more women to start betting, BUT they’re not necessarily calling it gambling. In part two, Bridget looks at how Love Island, influencers, reality TV, and the language of financial empowerment are being used to bring women into prediction markets, why regulators are fighting over whether these platforms are gambling at all, and what happens when practically anything becomes something you can bet on.
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Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial became something people could bet on through Polymarket. And it’s part of a much bigger push to get women into prediction markets. In part one of our look at the new gambling frontier, Bridget breaks down how prediction markets like Polymarket are turning everything from Love Island and celebrity gossip to politics and real-life tragedy into something you can put money on.

Let us know what you think by emailing hello@tangoti.com or leaving a comment on Spotify.
Follow Bridget: Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Bluesky
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Natural Causes is a podcast about the politics and practicalities of going outside in a world on fire, hosted by Dr. James Stout. It approaches the outdoors, conservation, agriculture, food sovereignty, and Indigenous land rights as interconnected issues. We want to combine unflinching journalism with unabashed advocacy for the land we all share, and welcome everyone into the outdoors and the fight for our public lands. Our shared wild spaces are under threat like never before, from climate change, the Trump administration, and extractive capitalism. Now, more than ever, we need serious journalism and serious solidarity that engages people with the struggle to protect these spaces for generations to come. New episodes weekly.

Listen here and subscribe to Natural Causes on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts!
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Today, July 14th, is the day my audiobook Love At First Prompt: AI and the Future of Intimacy goes on sale!
This audiobook is one of the most personal things I’ve ever made. It’s about loneliness, AI companions, and what happens when technology starts becoming emotionally entangled with our lives.
I spent months talking to researchers, reporters, and people who feel they are experiencing real relationships with AI. I also talked with experts about the risks of people using AI in this way, and the idea that we're so busy gawking at and judging the individuals involved, we're letting the tech companies that actually MAKE these products avoid the scrutiny they actually deserve.
Here is an excerpt from the audiobook featuring our conversation with journalist and cofounder of 404 Media Sam Cole that asks what happens to humans when AI is used for sexual and erotic role play.
You can check out LOVE AT FIRST PROMPT at www.LoveAtFirstPrompt.AI or wherever audiobooks are sold.
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