A FIRM favourite of mine is Sideways (BBC Radio 4), with Matthew Syed. It is well-researched, homely, and filled with surprising insights. Episode 70, “Digital Ghosts”, explores the use of AI to mimic a person who has already died. Essentially, a chatbot is created using an approximation of the deceased’s voice, trained on their journals, letters, and/or online content. Once the bot has been created, you can commune with the digital dead to your heart’s content.

Is it cathartic and helpful, or is it problematic? Does it hinder the grief process? This is an important conversation; my only regret is that theology is not considered a lens through which to view this question.

Then I stumbled on an old episode of The Rest is Entertainment (Goalhanger), episode 93, “TV is Dead, but Michael Parkinson is Alive”. This show provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse at a British attempt to create a chatbot of Michael Parkinson. It is not a gimmick: Parkinson’s son is part of the project. They aimed to train AI Parky to interview celebrities, injecting the warmth, curiosity, and disarming approach that the real Parkinson was known for.

I was delighted to discover that Virtually Parkinson (Global Player) is now up and running. AI Parky is becoming more convincing, week by week. The episode that I love the most is, so far, episode 3, in which AI Parky interviews the former Olympic athlete Fatima Whitbread. She takes the premise seriously, and the conversation is, on the whole, rich and moving. After the conversation, the trio of creators analyse AI Parky’s performance.

It is here that I take issue. Rather than overly criticise the flaws in the AI system that they created and were training, they heaped blame on Ms Whitbread, the guest, for long answers and for repeating herself. Nevertheless, it is well worth listening to. The episode with Monty Don is good, too — although he is a little more guarded, and struggles to cross the uncanny valley; perhaps that’s wise.

A novelist that I admire is Naomi Alderman, who has a brilliant series, Human Intelligence (BBC Radio 4), in which she considers disruptors, teachers, and collectors throughout history, from the little-known Peter Ramus, who, through his determined efforts, organised the ubiquitous textbook for learning, to the disruptor Mary Wollstonecraft, who carved out more space for women to exist and operate on their own terms. The collector of words into the first English dictionary was Samuel Johnson. He was untidy, opinionated, and wanted to see how words were part of the living language. These episodes are short, at just 15 minutes; so they can be played while making your sandwiches or doing the laundry.

For a good combination of faith and media, RMC Briefings (from the Religion Media Centre) is your friend. Episode 83 features the journalist and producer Rosie Dawson chairing an expert panel on a range of topics familiar from this publication. Whether it’s grooming gangs, pro-life issues, ceasefires, recruiting a new Archbishop, or the breadth of the Anglican Communion, you will learn and be informed.