Tech Life

Latest Episodes:

Kidfluencers: Do we share too much about kids online? Apr 11, 2023

Show notes

Tech Life looks into the world of Kidfluencers, and asks if too much of children's lives are shared online to make money. We speak to those involved in the industry in India. We also hear how cyber is playing a role in the war in Ukraine and we speak to Bolor Erdene Battsengel about digital life in Mongolia.

How to make sure the whole world benefits from AI Apr 04, 2023

Show notes

Martha Lane Fox reflects on her 30 years in tech, including her front row seat in Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, how she remains one of very few high profile women in the industry, and why we need to make sure the whole world shapes the debate on AI.

Chenai Chair, from the Mozilla Foundation, joins us from Zimbabwe to explain the work they are doing to make sure minority languages are included in digital services.

India business correspondent Nikhil Inamdar tells us about his experience seeing an app which is helping people in poor areas claim vital welfare payments. And Spencer Kelly, from our sister programme, Click, tells us what he found out about the future of food in his trip to the markets and laboratories of Singapore.

(Photo: Martha Lane Fox (L) and Shiona McCallum (R), in London)

Putting Google's AI chatbot Bard to the test Mar 24, 2023

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The search giant is rolling out its challenger in the artificial intelligence arms race, competing against the Microsoft-backed Chat GPT. We take it for a spin, while also looking into the issue of internet shutdowns following a government-backed communications blackout in the state of Punjab in India.

Image credit: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters

ChatGPT: Where will we use AI chatbots next? Mar 17, 2023

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With more announcements about AI chatbot GPT4, we hear how it will be further integrated into Microsoft and speak to Duolingo about how they hope it will help users learn languages. We also explore the fallout in India and South Africa from the US failure of Silicon Valley Bank and our Tech Reporter, Alasdair Keane, speaks to Alpine F1’s Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon on how tech and data is keeping pace with Formula 1 innovation.

(Image: Getty/NurPhoto)

WhatsApp: We speak to boss, Will Cathcart Mar 10, 2023

Show notes

Shiona McCallum is at Meta's London HQ to chat to WhatsApp boss, Will Cathcart. We explore their response to the UK's Online Safety Bill and ask about the future of payments through the app. Also in this episode the latest with TikTok as the platform tries to reassure governments it is taking data security seriously and could the sky be full of drones? We speak to one company who think they'll be doing more deliveries soon.

Image: Getty/NurPhoto

Why are some governments worried about TikTok? Mar 03, 2023

Show notes

We look at why some governments are worried about TikTok. We hear about pregnancy discrimination in tech and an expert tells us about the future of noise.

(Image: The TikTok logo. Credit: Getty Images)

Big Tech's big legal headache Feb 24, 2023

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The US Supreme Court is hearing claims that big tech firms such as Google and Twitter should be considered the publishers of the harmful content that appears on their platforms. Dr. Mary Anne Franks, president of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, tells us how it could change the way the internet works everywhere in the world.

A year on from the Russian invasion of Ukraine we speak to one of the country's thousands of tech workers about how she has adapted to living and working in a time of war - and the government tells us the tech sector has kept growing, despite the destruction and loss of life.

We find out about how some internet users in South Africa have had to become night owls because of the soaring cost of mobile data. And how users can ride a virtual reality jet-ski - just by thinking about it.

(Photo: Attorney Eric Schnapper speaks to the press outside the US Supreme Court following oral arguments in Gonzalez v Google, a landmark case about whether technology companies should be liable for harmful content their algorithms promote, 21 February, 2023. Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Apple workers accuse firm of 'union busting' Feb 17, 2023

Show notes

One employee tells the BBC the tech giant has been attempting to 'scare' staff. The firm says it continues to 'make enhancements to our industry-leading benefits as a part of the overall support we provide to our valued team members.' We'll also hear from the African Tech Summit taking place in Kenya. And we learn how a small team of visual effects artists created the look of the stunning Oscar contender - Everything, Everywhere All at Once - using laptops in their bedrooms.

Image credit: Reuters/ Joshua Roberts

The AI search race is on Feb 10, 2023

Show notes

Three big players in internet search have announced plans to integrate AI but can Google and Baidu rival Microsoft's team-up with ChatGPT? We also explore how old pictures and video are being shared online as from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. And why officials in the UK and US have named seven Russian men as being behind some of the most infamous cyber crime groups of recent years.

(Photo: Microsoft Bing search demonstration at its launch event. Credit: Jason Redmond/AFP)

Sacked Twitter staff take on Elon Musk Feb 03, 2023

Show notes

Several workers are launching legal action against Twitter. It follows a round of mass lay-offs at the social media firm last year. We also hear about a BBC investigation which has uncovered Egyptian police using dating apps to hunt LGBTQ people. And how a social video trend is reigniting interest in early 2000s digital cameras.

(Photo: A mobile phone showing Elon Musk's face on the screen. Credit: Dado Ruvić/Reuters)