Kate Darling: Social Robots, Ethics, Privacy and the Future of MIT | Lex Fridman Podcast #329
Kate Darling is a researcher at MIT Media Lab interested in human robot interaction and robot ethics. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
– True Classic Tees: https://trueclassictees.com/lex and use code LEX to get 25% off
– Shopify: https://shopify.com/lex to get 14-day free trial
– Linode: https://linode.com/lex to get $100 free credit
– InsideTracker: https://insidetracker.com/lex to get 20% off
– ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/lexpod to get 3 months free
EPISODE LINKS:
Kate’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/grok_
Kate’s Website: http://katedarling.org
Kate’s Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/grok_
The New Breed (book): https://amzn.to/3ExhBuf
Creativity without Law (book): https://amzn.to/3MqV5F3
PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8
RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/
Full episodes playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4
Clips playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeciFP3CBCIEElOJeitOr41
OUTLINE:
0:00 – Introduction
1:46 – What is a robot?
17:47 – Metaverse
27:09 – Bias in robots
40:51 – Modern robotics
43:24 – Automation
47:46 – Autonomous driving
56:11 – Privacy
59:37 – Google’s LaMDA
1:04:24 – Robot animal analogy
1:17:28 – Data concerns
1:35:30 – Humanoid robots
1:54:31 – LuLaRobot
2:03:25 – Ethics in robotics
2:18:46 – Jeffrey Epstein
2:52:21 – Love and relationships
SOCIAL:
– Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman
– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman
– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman
– Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman
– Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/lexfridman
– Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman
@lexfridman
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
Here are the timestamps. Please check out our sponsors to support this podcast.
0:00 – Introduction & sponsor mentions:
– True Classic Tees: https://trueclassictees.com/lex and use code LEX to get 25% off
– Shopify: https://shopify.com/lex to get 14-day free trial
– Linode: https://linode.com/lex to get $100 free credit
– InsideTracker: https://insidetracker.com/lex to get 20% off
– ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/lexpod to get 3 months free
1:46 – What is a robot?
17:47 – Metaverse
27:09 – Bias in robots
40:51 – Modern robotics
43:24 – Automation
47:46 – Autonomous driving
56:11 – Privacy
59:37 – Google's LaMDA
1:04:24 – Robot animal analogy
1:17:28 – Data concerns
1:35:30 – Humanoid robots
1:54:31 – LuLaRobot
2:03:25 – Ethics in robotics
2:18:46 – Jeffrey Epstein
2:52:21 – Love and relationships
@mrsavocado-j5w
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
💦 I❤️MUSIC 🍀
@MsAvocado-o5z
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
💦..Holy✌️Otto..🏖️ lol 🍀
@jimreinhart9539
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
Was she manipulating you wearing the Justin Bieber tshirtin the
previous interview? She denied her tits, did you find her robot like in this interview?
@glennrm42
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
Ridiculous! An advert every 10 minutes. I wonder if Lex knows how bad it is?
@NTruske
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
I gets the idea permeating all their talk on the soupy corporate tech environment culture they exist in & brain storm about at MIT & how to create a fake edgy corporate lawyer complaint ad agency Disney fantasy world that draws people in – sucks people in to their CIA controlled weaponized monetized commercialized AI version of the Global Gulag they are creating & how to do this in a warm loving manner so as to not frighten people too much.
@ricksminecraft
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
When two MIT grads are taking so much time talking about gendering and anthropomorphizing robots, wow our society is so broken.
@ricksminecraft
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
The female voice in something like Alexa is higher pitched and way easier to pick out and hear over the TV or other people talking.
That is why we naturally want it to be female.
I tried all the male voices in GPT and they are way harder to distinguish from background noise .
@ricksminecraft
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
Why is the robot white? Because white is the equal combination of every possible color.
Keep in mind a sheet of paper or a crayon is white; there are no people whose skin literally looks like a sheet of paper.
If you think there are, use a spectrophotometer on them.
@Vicwolfidentropy
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
Kate needs to think about AI solving the world's problems, which are created by humans in part, and wheel chair users will also benefit 🪷
@Vicwolfidentropy
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
Money should not be a factor, you surprised me by considering it!
Love your show, and how it may develop 🪷
@Vicwolfidentropy
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
Lex – love your podcasts, please try to not get hung up on IP, more transparency and less copyright leads to a better society 🎉
@lisamuir4261
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
Lex, you owe me a box of kleenex. Katie, great job on stepping out slowly and not forgetting your safety harness. Quite alot of courage. Agreeing with the two sided aspects. I'm finding the human condition is way more complex as well. Great Rollercoaster with you two on this one.
@naytivlostlastname7632
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
2:23:23 – all of human nature
@naytivlostlastname7632
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
a fascinating loop. we are nothing more than attempts to decentralize ourselves out of entropy
@Librarcade
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
|*____*| <3 robots
@CrispSkimmer
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
What I got from this "I like Marty"
@guytalemans39
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
Great interview as ever! Can someone help me out? The wrtiter from a book mentioned at 59:54. What is her name? (Kate recalls her name). Is he title of the book Weird AI? Thank you!
@danielhill5075
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
Nice interview. Kate is a bit too "woke" for me – but this interview is a good window into how they think.
@jasonbrown7330
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
A robot is a technological device that has the capabilities of locomotion and to manipulate its environment intelligence is not a requirement for a robot specific programming or fundamental bait operations will suffice locomotion is required not that it the whole piece of technology must be able to travel but it must be able to move mobility is definitely a defining characteristic of robots. The ability to make decisions based on input is not necessary either
@sanders-kids-o-rama2797
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
Artificial intelligence will never obtain the depth of human intelligence. It will always be a failure prone shell of a copy. Perhaps for our own demise. The imperfection of humans will never be acceptable to a program. Space oddesy 2024
@sanders-kids-o-rama2797
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
I really didnt enjoy the P.C. she insists on putting forth here. Who cares about robot gender….or gender names ? PC is trying to styme creativity and art here with her. Labored through listening, boycotted the last 30 minutes. Creativity needs no political correctness or current woke-isms attached. Some of us must be easily amused, but I found her less than interesting….and painful to suffer through.
Only a few of his guests have ever bothered me like this, Ive listened to them all.
@jeandaugherty830
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
Another highly educated
CLUELESS yuppie
@checksmecks3344
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
Just get a damn dog. dummies getting robo dogs are ushering in the demise of humans….feel-good fools!
@matthew_wolfman
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
I think this episode is great
@japossert
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
Love the comparison to animals
@mekanickrew1932
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
Dude, it's saying too much, I know, but Kate is perfect 😉
@boulderbuffalo
September 9, 2026 at 9:14 am
"Trash can on wheels" *gasp*… how dare she.