This week, we check in on the CIA and how it’s faring in the age of AI. Oz sits down with David Ignatius, a foreign affairs columnist for The Washington Post to discuss his article, “ A Band of Innovators Reimagines the Spy Game for a World with No Cover. ” Ignatius has been covering US foreign policy and the CIA for almost four decades and he recently had a realization – that the “future of intelligence was going to be written in zeros and ones.” Which means the intelligence community needs to adapt and adapt quickly. But how does a government agency do this and what happens if it doesn’t? And who is responsible for dragging the bureaucracy-addled CIA into the AI future? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

Do you know the definition of a friend? This week in tech news, workplaces may not be getting a good return on their AI investments and a new wearable goes all in on advertisements, but they are getting defaced. Then, Italy has a new AI regulation law and there’s a buzzy new “actress” in Hollywood. On Chat and Me, how one listener is personalizing AI to help his students learn Spanish. Also, we want to hear from you: If you’ve used a chatbot in an unusual or surprising way, send us a 1–2 minute voice note at techstuffpodcast@gmail.com . Additional Reading: The hottest workplace policy at startups right now: No shoes | Fortune AI Generated Workslop is Destroying Productivity I went to an anti-tech rally, where Gen Z dressed as gnomes and smashed iPhones. Here's what I learned. AI Startup Friend Bets On Foes With $1M NYC Subway Campaign $55 Billion Deal for Electronic Arts Is Biggest Buyout Ever - The New York Times Neon, the No. 2 social app on the Apple App Store, pays users to record their phone calls and sells data to AI firms | TechCrunch Italy enacts AI law covering privacy, oversight and child access | Reuters AI Actress Tilly Norwood Draws Backlash From Melissa Barrera, Lukas Gage and More Hollywood Names as Creator Defends Her as a ‘New Tool’ and ‘Not a Replacement for a Human Being’ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

This week, we explore Hollywood’s open secret — that everyone is using AI, they just aren’t talking about it. Karah sits down with Lila Shapiro, a features writer for New York Magazine , about what Hollywood, itself, thinks of AI. She shares what she’s learned from her extensive interviews with studio executives, directors, writers, vfx artists, actors, and AI entrepreneurs. They discuss whether AI is making creative jobs easier, or threatening to destroy them entirely. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

Who are the teens debugging in the bathroom? This week in tech news, there’s a Gen Z-led revolution in Nepal and Discord made it possible. Early 2000s hustle culture is so back in Silicon Valley — at least for teen tech founders. Then, there’s a new AI-generated political satire show airing on Russian state TV. And Albania gets an AI-avatar to seek out corruption. Finally, on Chat and Me, how ChatGPT is helping one user through a new diagnosis. Also, we want to hear from you: If you’ve used a chatbot in a surprising or delightful (or deranged) way, send us a 1–2 minute voice note at techstuffpodcast@gmail.com . Additional Reading: Nepal Currently Being Run Via Discord After Gen Z Uprising AI Startup Founders Tout a Winning Formula—No Booze, No Sleep, No Fun The Trump Admin Is Suing Amazon for Tricking People Into Prime Subscriptions. Here’s How That Might Affect You Albania’s AI-generated chatbot, called Diella, was named to the country’s cabinet Russian State TV Launches AI-Generated News Satire Show See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

This week, we’re bringing you the first episode of Season 3 of the podcast ON CRISPR. Walter Isaacson — the bestselling biographer behind Musk, Einstein and Steve Jobs – and journalist Evan Ratliff (Shell Game, Mastermind, Longform) take a behind-the-scenes look at the story of Jennifer Doudna, one of the scientific pioneers behind the gene editing software, CRISPR. In this episode, Evan sits down with Walter Isaacson to discuss Doudna’s upbringing, the history of DNA’s discovery and gene editing, and Baby KJ, a CRISPR patient who represents a milestone for both researchers and patients. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

What does the viral video of Charlie Kirk’s assassination say about the state of content moderation on social media? This week, Oz and Karah unpack the complexities of moderating graphic-but-newsworthy content, and why tech companies commitment to moderation has waned in recent years. Then, Karah talks to a student in New York about how they’re adjusting to not having access to their phone during the school day. Then, on Chat and Me, a woman uses ChatGPT to diagnose her mother’s mysterious ailment. Also, we want to hear from you: If you’ve used a chatbot in a surprising or delightful (or deranged) way, send us a 1–2 minute voice note at techstuffpodcast@gmail.com . Sources: Charlie Kirk Was Shot and Killed in a Post-Content-Moderation World From burner phones to decks of cards: NYC teens are adjusting to the smartphone ban Larry Ellison’s personal fortune soars on back of Oracle’s share price surge 5,000 Podcasts. 3,000 Episodes a Week. $1 Cost Per Episode — Behind an AI Start Up’s Plan Labour MPs accused of using ChatGPT to write speeches See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

This week, we take a deep dive into why Gen Z isn’t having sex. Karah talks with Carter Sherman, a reproductive health and justice reporter for The Guardian , and author of the book The Second Coming: Sex and the Next Generation's Fight Over Its Future . They unpack how tech factors into the “Sex Recession,” sex as a proxy measure for empathy and human connection, and how all of this is a lot more political than you might think. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

What does getting older actually feel like? This week, Oz and Karah discuss MIT Researchers who are using technology to simulate aging. Then, Oz tells the story of an activist who used China’s surveillance state as a form of protest. Karah dives deep into the weird world of humans quietly training chatbots. And finally, on Chat and Me, is replacing your therapist with ChatGPT a good idea? Also, we want to hear from you: If you’ve used a chatbot in a surprising or delightful (or deranged) way, send us a 1–2 minute voice note at techstuffpodcast@gmail.com . Sources: My Day as an 80-Year-Old. What an Age-Simulation Suit Taught Me. She Sacrificed Her Youth to Get the Tech Bros to Grow Up A Hidden Camera Protest Turned the Tables on China’s Surveillance State Inside the lucrative, surreal, and disturbing world of AI trainers Sam Altman, Tim Cook, and other tech leaders lauded Trump at a White House AI dinner “First of its kind” AI settlement: Anthropic to pay authors $1.5 billion AirPods Pro 3 arrive with heart-rate sensing and live translation using Apple Intelligence See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

This week, we’re all in. Oz chats with Kit Chellel, a Bloomberg writer who focuses on gambling, technology, and sports betting. He wrote an article about a secret Russian bot farm that infiltrated the world of online poker in the early 2000s. We follow Kit from Siberia to Armenia, and get a peek into just how bots can make or break the future of online poker. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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We’re taking this week off! But don’t worry, we’ll be back with new episodes starting September 10th. In the meantime, we’re sharing some of our favorite interviews from the year so far. This week, Oz talks with writer Nathaniel Rich about one of the biggest challenges of sending humans to Mars: isolation. Nathaniel Rich is a novelist, essayist and writer-at-large for The New York Times Magazine. Rich sits down with Oz to talk about his essay, “Can Humans Endure the Psychological Torment of Mars?” The piece explores NASA's CHAPEA (“Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog”) mission, a simulation meant to test a major challenge of Mars missions – isolation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

We’re taking this week off! But don’t worry, we’ll be back with new episodes starting September 10th. In the meantime, we’re sharing some of our favorite interviews from the year so far. This week, Oz talks with journalist Ben Taub about Russia’s ice-cold testing ground for new espionage tech. Ben Taub is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and staff writer at The New Yorker . His piece, “Russia’s Espionage War in the Arctic,” covers tensions at the Russian border with Norway, an area Russia uses as a testing ground for future intelligence operations. Taub sits down with Oz to discuss the technology being used for survival and for espionage, as the war in Ukraine has escalated tensions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

We’ve all read the headlines that AI will take over white-collar jobs. But this week, Oz and Karah spoke with journalist Robert Capps about the 22 new roles that might exist in an AI-partnered workplace. Plus, Robert tests AI’s journalism skills. There’s not much to worry about. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

This week, we went to the doctor. Oz speaks with Dr. Matthew Lungren, the Chief Scientific Officer for Microsoft Health & Life Sciences, who co-authored a study showing that AI diagnosed complex medical cases four times faster than human doctors. Dr. Lungren walked us through how multiple AI agents worked together to generate their diagnoses, what that means for the future of medicine—and how human doctors and AI could collaborate to build a more democratized healthcare system. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

How will we send memes when the world ends? This week, Oz and Karah recap the first ever World Humanoid Robot Games – the Olympics for Androids. Then, Oz explains why the US might be putting secret tracking devices inside shipments of advanced microchips. Karah explains a texting network built for the Apocalypse. And finally, on Chat and Me, how TikTokers are using ChatGPT to inspire their makeovers. Also, we want to hear from you: If you’ve used a chatbot in a surprising or delightful (or deranged) way, send us a 1–2 minute voice note at techstuffpodcast@gmail.com . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…