Do Social Media Bans Work? + A Conversation About A.I. Consciousness + Tool Time
Jul 10, 2026 · 1h 19m
Summary
Hard Fork hosts Kevin Roose and Casey Noon examine the global rise of social media age bans, debating their efficacy and impact on teen mental health. They then interview NYU professor Jeff Sebo about new research into AI consciousness, discussing whether advanced models could possess feelings or warrant moral consideration.
Topics discussed
Intro: Dell Pro ad and Cambridge Optica glasses
Social media bans for teens: Texas, Australia, and loopholes
Debate on teen mental health, phone bans, and AI parental controls
Anthropic's J-Space research and AI consciousness
Interview: Jeff Zebo on AI welfare and sentience ethics
Deep dive: J-Space findings and global workspace theory
Tool Time: Glaze app for vibe coding and Nightwing tracker
AI tools: Voice translation, Gemini Spark, and fact-checking
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