Can Tech Get Rid of Bad Trips?

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. Mike sits down with WIRED's Boone Ashworth and 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 | WIRED
• The CIA Used This Psychic Meditation Program. It’s Never Been More Popular | WIRED
• A Startup Used AI to Make a Psychedelic Without the Trip | WIRED

Please help us improve Uncanny Valley by filling out our listener survey:

https://panel2058.na2.panelpulse.com/c/a/661hs4tSRdw2yB2dvjFyyw

Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from Alexis Ohanian's newest tech venture to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protests.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices