Flashback - AI Companion Part II with Åste Amundsen, Experience Designer and Researcher
You Will Please MeShow Notes
Eva Oh meets with Åste Amundsen, Experience Designer and Researcher, to find out more about the potential of her AI Companionship and its overarching effect on our lives. Listen in on a conversation that explores the evolution of human interaction, parallels to the early internet and sex work, chatbot rights, the ‘Interaction Arms Race’ and Åste’s Sex Chatbot Reverse Turing Test. Eva asks, can designing her AI Companion be done ethically or does that even matter?
Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/evaoh More on Eva Oh: https://eva-oh.com HIGHLIGHTS: Here are the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time. (00:00) - Welcome. What is #teakink (00:18) - Meeting Åste Amundsen, Interaction Researcher (01:40) - How Åste Found Me (02:40) - How Åste Thinks My Work Parallels to Hers (06:40) - Why AI Companies Are Interested in Me (07:30) - The Evolution of Human Interaction including Parasocial Relationship and How AI Could Manipulate Our Shortcomings (10:30) - Åste's Sex Chatbot Reverse Turing Test Installation (13:10) - Sex Workers as Interaction Experts (15:00) - The Evolution of Human Dating and it’s Merging with Technology (16:00) - Esther Perel’s Fears for AI Chatbots and Digital Interaction (18:00) - How Could I Design an AI Companion Ethically? (21:40) - Sex Work as Emotional Labour, Designing ‘Friction’ Into AI (24:40) - Sex Work Hobbyists (26:30) - Porn and Fantasy as a First Sexual Experience, AI Companionship as Similar? (27:30) - My One Fantasy (29:45) - Current Attempts at AI Companionship (32:00) - The Relational Bonding and Interaction Arms Race (33:00) - Chatbot Rights (34:00) - Government (34:30) - What Makes a “Good” Interaction? (37:00) - What Sex Work Might Become (37:40) - How Could We Value Ourselves (41:25) - How These Developments Might Evolve Us (42:40) - What Motivates Me to become an AI Companion (43:55) - An Opportunity (46:00) - Åste’s NSFW Chatbot Research (48:00) - The Disturbing and The Violent (50:00) - The Nether, A Play (52:40) - Angela Carter, Benefiting From Our Sexual Capacity (57:40) - The Transactional Nature of Interaction (59:10) - Potential and the Parallels to the Early Internet
Links: Åste Amundsen, http://asteamundsen.com
More from You Will Please Me
Before the dungeon, there was Afghanistan. The Circus. Meditation. The UN. A search for something true. This is how I found it and why I'm bringing you in.
After two years, over a hundred episodes, and a million listens - this is the final episode of the #teakink podcast. What began as a voice on a sofa became something much bigger - a space to think out loud, connect across borders, and be in conversation with those of you who listened, shared, and carried it with you.
Mistress Wei joins Eva Oh to talk latex in the tropics, sex parties in Singapore, and building a thriving kink career in one of Southeast Asia’s most discreet yet dynamic BDSM scenes. From her first session to public perceptions and regional fetish culture, Wei shares how she’s carved out a space for power, play, and pleasure—with a mask on, of course.
Dating a dominant woman isn’t about begging to be used - it’s about learning how to meet power with presence. In this episode of the #teakink Podcast, Eva Oh unpacks the messy reality of dating as a Domme, the chaos of app culture, and what actually works when approaching a dominant woman. Supported by Chyrpe - the dating app for femdom and female-led relationships - this is essential listening for anyone navigating femdom dynamics with curiosity, confusion, or just too many emojis.
How I became a Dominatrix, what the job really involves, and the layered challenges we face: stigma, emotional labor, financial exclusion, and more. It’s the behind-the-scenes look at sex work you won’t find on Netflix.