Technology is opening up new possibilities for physical, sexual and romantic relationships with astonishing speed. But is seeking human connection virtually a positive step forward or are we stunting our intimate lives? In this episode, meet a cyber BDSM couple who use tracking technology to fulfill their master slave relationship; an eligible bachelor in Japan who has fallen in love with a virtual girlfriend; and a revenge porn victim whose life was upended when her private naked photos were published online.
Technology is evolving from an external tool we wield when needed to an always-there presence that is with us, on us, even inside of us. As we become more and more wired, are we becoming digital devices ourselves? In this episode meet a Swedish mom who implanted an RFID chip as a lifestyle choice; a filmmaker who lost his eye in a gun accident and replaced it with a camera; and the so-called "world most connected man," who uses between 300-700 tracking and life logging systems to monitor every aspect of his life.
The digital era gives rise to unprecedented opportunity to exploit, and be exploited. Troves of child pornography are available at the click of a mouse. Who are these children - and who profits from their abuse? While facilitating the darker side of our impulses, technology is also being touted as a cure to rehabilitate predators. In this episode meet the children who are forced to perform sex acts on camera; people who use the same technology to protect kids and nab the perpetrators; plus, a pedophile who reveals the roots of his addiction.
The Internet is an uncontrollable labyrinth of content and imagery that operates under loose laws and partial anonymity - a new frontier where people can do anything and see anything, whether they should or not. In this lawless landscape, who's in control? The protectors? The abusers? In this episode meet the content moderators who watch the worst of the Internet so you don't have to; a convicted hacker whose punishment was the virtual prison of the unplugged; plus, a blackhat hacker who encrypts and holds computer files hostage.
The Internet promises us escape from reality. We can go places we never thought possible and express ourselves as never before. But as we sit in our homes surrounded by screens, are we free... and safe? In this episode meet a woman pulled into an online cult from the safety of her bedroom; a former pilot who suffers from Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity and can only find relief in the absence of electricity and wifi; plus, a quadriplegic who uses cutting-edge adaptive robotics and virtual reality to transcend his body's limitations.
The Internet enables us to connect with people, images and information in ways that were unimaginable 30 years ago. But with every click we are re-wiring the physical structure of our brains. Are we evolving or actively de-evolving down a dopamine-laced click-hole? In this episode meet a 17-year-old boy struggling with an addiction to online pornography; autistic technologists in Silicon Valley who are turning their genetic variation to an advantage; plus, Nootropics, a class of cognition-enhancing supplements that claims to rewire the brain.
We all project images of ourselves online - a curated identity that defines how we want to be perceived. But what temptations exist to embellish and what are the dark implications? In this episode, enter the world of Cyberbanging, where inner city youth are using social media to brag, conspire and incite violence; two African-American women bloggers who have turned the table on the trolls who threaten them; and the creator of Abdullah X, an online character who's trying to keep Muslim kids from falling under the spell of Islamic extremists.
The Internet is changing everything: providing voice to the voiceless, undercutting power - yet also creating new means of control as forces push back against authority. In this episode meet an abuse victim and activist who uses technology to document and report police abuse; the heir to a rabbinic dynasty who's turned away from Brooklyn's Hasidim after finding a world he never knew existed online; and an entrepreneur whose 3-D printing technology enables building untraceable, undetectable guns from the comfort of your own home.
Rapid technological advancements are allowing machines to divine the inner workings of our minds like never before. Now that we have given the machines the keys to our mind, what happens next? In this episode, meet Harmony, the world's first artificially intelligent sex robot; a woman who spends her days and nights uploading her mind to the algorithm; and a family whose lives were torn apart by over a decade of war - only to be saved by virtual reality.
Online, any of us can become judge, jury and executioner. But in this ever-shifting digital world, how do we draw the line between the rule of law, and a digital lynch mob? In this episode, an amateur sleuth seeks justice in the case of a young woman's mysterious death - only to discover that the accused killer is the real victim. Elsewhere, a digital activist takes a stand for social justice then finds himself forced to choose between prison and exile.
Our lives revolve around money. But a new world order is emerging, one with the power to create currency and bypass governments and regulation. In this episode, enter the world of digital money: from the recesses of the dark net marketplace to workers in China excavating a new form of money; to 'bitcoin miners' struggling to cope with a potentially volatile algorithm; to a young cam worker whose sexual fetishes link them all together.
The internet was hailed for democratizing ideas. But it is also an arena where conspiracy theories and polarizing echo chambers thrive. In this episode, meet an Alt-Right organizer who's using his social network to urge online sympathizers to join his real world rebellion; the desperate parents of a 17-year-old girl, brainwashed into posting White Nationalist YouTube videos; plus, an American-born former Al-Qaeda recruiter who's had a prolific effect on support for jihad.
Our face is our most distinguishable feature. But to machines, our face is data and it's being transformed into a faceprint in somebody else's database. In this episode, meet a man whose life was ruined after facial recognition technology tied him to a crime he didn't commit; a father who's wired his home with face recognition technology to keep his autistic daughter safe; plus, exclusive access to the FBI Biometric Technology Center, where over half of American's biometrics have been uploaded into a database.
The digital era offers us new technologies to protect ourselves, but are these devices defending our homes or making them more vulnerable? In this episode meet a woman whose home is invaded by a Ratter, a digital stalker who gains entry through her laptop; enter a neighborhood where residents are battling over proposed camera surveillance to monitor everyone's coming and goings; and a sex offender who received the ultimate punishment for invading his victims' privacy - life under constant surveillance.
Communities are the bedrock of society - physical spaces where residents share a collective purpose and common goals. But the internet has given rise to a new kind of community where lies and hate can flourish. In this episode meet a would-be utopia in Spain where civic life is managed on Twitter; a teacher who becomes the target of a digital lynch mob; and the father of a school shooting victim who must prove to the internet that his son existed.
Humans are social beings - but what happens when the emotional bonds that bind us together are threatened by forces we cannot see or touch, or worse, replaced entirely by the network? In this episode, meet a woman who has programmed her dead friend into a chat bot so he can live on forever; a Japanese family who has adopted a childlike AI robot as a member of their tribe; and a desperate mom turning to spyware to track her teenager's every move. Season finale.
