Tech Life

Latest Episodes:

Charting the true cost of AI Aug 29, 2023

Show notes

This week, the academic Kate Crawford tells us how she travelled the world to find the true cost of AI. Reporter Chris Vallance updates us on a watermark system - developed by Deepmind, Google's AI arm - which aims to show whether an image was generated by a machine or designed by a human. Mansoor Hamayun, Co-Founder and CEO of Bboxx tells us about the company's smart cooking valve, designed to protect lives - and trees - in Rwanda. We speak to Fu’ad Lawal, the founder of Archivi.ng,and archivist Grace Abraham, about why the key to Nigeria's tech future may lie in digitsing newspapers from its past.

(Picture credit: an imagined digital landscape, by Andriy Onufriyenko, for Getty images)

Why do smart speakers get facts wrong? Aug 22, 2023

Show notes

Have you ever turned to a smart assistant on your phone or a speaker to catch up on the progress of a big sports match? During the Women's Football World Cup one popular device failed to recognise the women's semi-final as a football match. We explore why, and other biases that exist in AI. We also answer another listener question to explore AI in drug and vaccine discovery, and meet the people in Malaysia and Japan who are among Wikipedia’s top editors.

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images: Goal picture from the World Cup semi-final match between Australia and England at Stadium Australia on August 16, 2023)

Tech taught me Aug 15, 2023

Show notes

The internet is full of ways to learn, from quick life hacks to new skills. On Tech Life we meet the teacher in Nigeria trying to share IT skills on TikTok to help people get jobs in tech and we hear from people all over the world on what they've learned online. Also in this episode, we speak to the boss of the online moderation company, Sama, who've faced claims from employees that they were traumatised by work reviewing graphic online content. And what next for digital health care in Rwanda after uncertainty at the company Babylon.

Photo: Gerald Anderson/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images. Young people learn future technologies at a robotics and coding workshop in Nairobi, Kenya

Fighting forest fires with technology Aug 08, 2023

Show notes

Juan Lavista Ferres, chief data scientist at Microsoft's AI For Good Lab, tells Tech Life how artificial intelligence can help predict wildfires.

Driverless cars are popping up on streets around the world. But not everyone welcomes them, and some protestors in San Francisco have turned to 'coning'. What's that ? We have a special report.

China is considering a limit on the amount of time children can spend on smartphones. You've been telling us what you think about the benefits and problems of children spending time on the devices.

Manu Chopra speaks to Tech Life about using technology to reduce poverty in India.

And what's the difference between a sentence written by a human and a machine ? We've been looking at some of the answers for you.

(Picture credit: Getty Images)

The cost of data Aug 01, 2023

Show notes

Have you thought about the cost of storing data from your phone or tablet ? We examine what cloud storage costs you financially, and its impact on the environment. In Kenya, a huge cyber-attack targets the government's online services. We hear from some of those affected. Facebook has reached three billion users around the world. We ask what people like about it ? And we have a report on delivering rental cars in Germany, but without any drivers. (Picture credit: Getty Images)

X marks the spot Jul 25, 2023

Show notes

Zoe Kleinman and Shiona McCallum talk about X, the new name for Twitter, as Elon Musk continues making changes at the firm. What will the rebrand mean and where does the platform go next? We also try the eye scanning ‘orb’ that's been created to verify crypto payments. And we’re behind the scenes at CERN in Switzerland and talk to the creator of the AI League game that is accompanying the FIFA Women’s World Cup

(Image: A worker begins removing the sign at Twitter HQ (Justin Sullivan / Getty)

The new world AI is making Jul 18, 2023

Show notes

DeepMind founder Mustafa Suleyman reflects on the AI revolution - and tells us he left the UK for Silicon Valley because it remains the top place for tech talent. But Canada is trying to lure some of those highly skilled migrants away - immigration lawyer Pavan Dhillon explains how. Dr Grace Livingstone joins us from Uruguay to tell us why plans for a Google data centre there are so controversial. And - as AI version of Johnny Cash goes viral - Matt Griffiths from the charity Youth Music tells us why AI is being embraced by young creatives.

(PHOTO: Futuristic digital render with surreal cyber space and big sun, by Getty Images)

The changing social media landscape Jul 11, 2023

Show notes

Meta - the owner of Facebook - has launched Threads, a text-based social media app. Tech Life's correspondent in San Francisco tells us about the launch. And we look at the development of social media with Brooke Erin Duffy, an associate professor in the Department of Communications at Cornell University in the United States. Also in Tech Life, we hear from the chief executive of Nextdoor, who has global ambitions. Where does technology and the law meet ? A question being discussed in Nairobi, Kenya. And artificial intelligence reaches lawn tennis at Wimbledon. PHOTO CREDIT: Dado Ruvić, Reuters.

Elon Musk's Twitter: More changes and more competition Jul 04, 2023

Show notes

Bruce Daisley, a former European vice president of Twitter, talks to Tech Life. We report on scammers using artificial intelligence, bots and books to cash-in. An international firm is measuring clicks and keyboard strokes to make work more productive. And the boss of the global software giant Adobe makes the positive case for artificial intelligence.

PHOTO CREDIT: Gonzalo Fuentes, Reuters.

Can artificial intelligence be a force for good? Jun 27, 2023

Show notes

Scientist, best-selling author and entrepreneur, Gary Marcus talks to Tech Life about the forthcoming global summit looking at AI for good, and the need for regulation. We examine the Wagner Group's use of social media in Africa. How do you encourage teenage girls to take up tech and engineering jobs ? And prize-winning school pupils on making driving cars safer.

(PHOTO CREDIT: BBC. Shiona McCallum meets Gary Marcus on the banks of the Thames, in London,)

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