Whether it’s teenagers reviving the Benadryl TikTok challenge or people signing up for an out-of-body experience program previously used by the CIA, some of us are chasing unconventional trips—bad trips, essentially. But these trends are happening at a time when AI companies are also looking to create a “cleaner” trip for users, and others are using AI chatbots to therapeutically guide their psychedelic trips. Host Michael Calore sits down with staff writer Boone Ashworth and senior editor Manisha Krishnan to discuss these trends—and the promises and limitations of relying on tech to avoid bad trips.
Articles mentioned in this episode:
- Young People Are Tripping on Benadryl—and It’s Always a Bad Time
- The CIA Used This Psychic Meditation Program. It’s Never Been More Popular
- A Startup Used AI to Make a Psychedelic Without the Trip
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You can follow Michael Calore on Bluesky at @snackfight, Boone Ashworth on Bluesky at @boone, and Manisha Krishnan on Bluesky at @manishakrishnan. Write to us at uncannyvalley@….com.
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Transcript
Note: This is an automated transcript, which may contain errors.
Michael Calore: Hi, Boone. How you doing?
Boone Ashworth: Hey, Mike, how are you?
Michael Calore: Good. Welcome. This is your first appearance on Uncanny Valley, is it not?
Boone Ashworth: It is. It's really nice to be back in the studio.
Michael Calore: It's good to have you.
Boone Ashworth: Good to be here.
Michael Calore: You're filling in for Lauren this week. She is out meeting the Pope or …
Boone Ashworth: Yes.
Michael Calore: … eating pasta or something. I can't really remember exactly what she's doing over there, but this week, we're going to dive into a subject that I know that you and I are always curious about, and that is the subject of drugs.
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