Hard Fork Hard Fork

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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