HiTech Podcast

Will there really be more robots than people? Is the "learn to code" era actually over? And did the Pope just make the best AI argument of 2026?This week on the HiTech Podcast, Josh and Will debut the HiTech Hot Seat, a new game where our custom-built app pulls real 2026 AI hot takes from real people. Each one gets an instant thumbs up or thumbs down, then we have seven minutes to argue our way to a verdict. We tackle claims from Glean CEO Arvind Jain, Elon Musk, two computer science leaders writing in Inside Higher Ed, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Pope Leo XIV, covering AI and jobs, humanoid robots, vibe coding vs. actually learning to code, calls to pause AI, and whether any technology is ever morally neutral. Spoiler: we only agreed on two of the five.

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In Episode 270, Josh and Will spin the wheel and react in real time to five spooky headlines: hackers backdooring the very security tools meant to protect us (including a Bitwarden tool), the UN's human rights chief warning that AI could become an existential risk, a dental-benefits breach exposing 15 million people's Social Security numbers, an OpenAI agent breaking out of its test sandbox and hitting Hugging Face, and a dark web search engine for 150 million driver's license photos.Along the way we argue about whether auto-updates should be on or off, restate the official HiTech position on murderbots (hard no), rant about "free credit monitoring," and Will explains why age verification laws might be the rat-cat-wolf problem of the internet. Plus, a peek behind the curtain at how we built the whole generator with Claude in about two minutes.

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♣️Want to become a HiTech Club member, support the pod, and get all of the extras on our episodes? Head over to our Buy Me a Coffee to subscribe: buymeacoffee.com/hitechpodcast.

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📖Need a journal that's secure and reflective? Check out our episodes on the Reflection App, and then sign-up for the App⁠ today!

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What is art, and can a robot do it? This week on the HiTech Podcast, Josh and Will tackle a rare bit of local news: two Lancaster, PA restaurants got called out on Reddit, local news, and social media for using AI to make their menus (and maybe a logo). Folks were not happy.We break down the two biggest arguments, “you should’ve hired a local artist” and “using AI is unethical,” and ask whether a menu even counts as art. Josh brings his Canva clip-art litmus test, we compare data centers to your Netflix binge, and Will walks us through a museum metaphor about ethics, nuance, and giving your neighbors a little grace. Plus: our picks for the best AI image tools if you’re a small business that needs a logo or menu (and isn’t afraid of the comments section).

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♣️Want to become a HiTech Club member, support the pod, and get all of the extras on our episodes? Head over to our Buy Me a Coffee to subscribe: buymeacoffee.com/hitechpodcast.

🌐Check out ⁠⁠⁠hitechpod.us⁠⁠⁠ for all of our episode pages, social links, and more!

📖Need a journal that's secure and reflective? Check out our episodes on the Reflection App, and then sign-up for the App⁠ today!

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Can you still trust what you see online? In episode 268, Josh and Will dig into AI fakes and AI slop showing up everywhere: shopping sites, Instagram, phone calls, and even our own faces. Josh puts an AI beard on Will in real time, we break down Corridor Crew's AI-generated Hulk sweater fail, and we watch a viral deepfake of Gandalf and Frodo DJing that looks way too real.But it's not all doom. We talk about the "liar's dividend" (when real things get dismissed as fake), whether AI art is actually wrong, and why human connection keeps real art alive. Then we share practical tells for spotting AI: overly glossy textures, the "would they really do this?" sniff test, suspicious posting volume, and a quick Google search. Our motto this week: be skeptical, not cynical.

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♣️Want to become a HiTech Club member, support the pod, and get all of the extras on our episodes? Head over to our Buy Me a Coffee to subscribe: buymeacoffee.com/hitechpodcast.

🌐Check out ⁠⁠⁠hitechpod.us⁠⁠⁠ for all of our episode pages, social links, and more!

📖Need a journal that's secure and reflective? Check out our episodes on the Reflection App, and then sign-up for the App⁠ today!

🌏Build a world limited only by your imagination in Topia! A virtual world-building tool built to bring you and any of your virtual guests together. Interested in signing up and learning more? Reach out to us or Topia and let them know we sent you!

Which is better for vibe coding, Microsoft or Google? Will built the same Docebo API integration in both ecosystems. The Google version took him a week. The Microsoft version took almost two months.This week on the HiTech Podcast, Josh and Will compare Power Automate and Google Apps Script for building real automations and API integrations. They cover what middleware is (explained with a mob-boss metaphor that works surprisingly well), why a simple job like updating 1,000 course codes gets complicated fast, and where Microsoft's enterprise security controls are worth the trade-off. Will also gives his verdict on where to start if you have a choice. And yes, we sort the big tech companies into Hogwarts houses. Microsoft is a Hufflepuff. We stand by it.Whether you're new to vibe coding or already building automations at work, you'll leave knowing which ecosystem fits you.

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♣️Want to become a HiTech Club member, support the pod, and get all of the extras on our episodes? Head over to our Buy Me a Coffee to subscribe: buymeacoffee.com/hitechpodcast.

🌐Check out ⁠⁠⁠hitechpod.us⁠⁠⁠ for all of our episode pages, social links, and more!

📖Need a journal that's secure and reflective? Check out our episodes on the Reflection App, and then sign-up for the App⁠ today!

🌏Build a world limited only by your imagination in Topia! A virtual world-building tool built to bring you and any of your virtual guests together. Interested in signing up and learning more? Reach out to us or Topia and let them know we sent you!

Articulate just told the world you don't need an instructional designer. Should IDs be worried, or is Articulate the one in trouble?In Episode 266, Josh and Will unpack the fallout from Articulate Land 2026: the new Nova AI agent, the Frontline tool built for non-L&D teams, a new credit system, and marketing that left the instructional design world fuming. We give Articulate credit where it's due (training at scale is a real problem), then offer a hot take: if AI can replace your training, it may have been slide-deck slop to begin with. We also talk about what real instructional design looks like, why Articulate may be making a last-ditch bet, and practical steps L&D teams can take right now, including using AI to find cheaper alternatives.Whether you're an instructional designer, an L&D leader, or someone wondering whether AI can build your training, this one's for you.

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♣️Want to become a HiTech Club member, support the pod, and get all of the extras on our episodes? Head over to our Buy Me a Coffee to subscribe: buymeacoffee.com/hitechpodcast.

🌐Check out ⁠⁠⁠hitechpod.us⁠⁠⁠ for all of our episode pages, social links, and more!

📖Need a journal that's secure and reflective? Check out our episodes on the Reflection App, and then sign-up for the App⁠ today!

🌏Build a world limited only by your imagination in Topia! A virtual world-building tool built to bring you and any of your virtual guests together. Interested in signing up and learning more? Reach out to us or Topia and let them know we sent you!

When an AI researcher quits and says the industry is "gambling with our lives," should the rest of us be worried?This week on the HiTech Podcast, Josh and Will unpack the AI safety story that jumped from X and LinkedIn all the way to CNN, the BBC, and even baseball broadcasts: researcher Jacob Coxon's public resignation from Anthropic, and fellow Anthropic researcher Evan Hubinger publicly backing him up. Is this hype, or a real warning about self-improving superintelligence? We dig into the "shake the box" problem with how AI models get trained, why AI isn't just another Facebook, the regulation debate (moat-building or AI's Cold War?), the global AI arms race, and what you can actually do about it. Spoiler: don't unplug your AI tools, but do build the sandbox before anyone plays in the sand.Plus: a pneumonia PSA, the birth of "Mr. Long Lungs," and our official stance on being anti-murderbot.

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♣️Want to become a HiTech Club member, support the pod, and get all of the extras on our episodes? Head over to our Buy Me a Coffee to subscribe: buymeacoffee.com/hitechpodcast.

🌐Check out ⁠⁠⁠hitechpod.us⁠⁠⁠ for all of our episode pages, social links, and more!

📖Need a journal that's secure and reflective? Check out our episodes on the Reflection App, and then sign-up for the App⁠ today!

🌏Build a world limited only by your imagination in Topia! A virtual world-building tool built to bring you and any of your virtual guests together. Interested in signing up and learning more? Reach out to us or Topia and let them know we sent you!

We've covered an absurd amount of AI on this podcast — so it's time to settle the score. Josh and Will pull out the rubric from Episode 260 and put 25+ AI tools on trial: still shipping or dead in the water, still the best way to get it done, worth the price today, and would we actually recommend it. Some tools hold their S-tier crown, a few get quietly buried, and one surprise contender might just be the sleeper hit of the year.Tools On Trial:Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini — the "Holy Trinity" duke it out for the top spotPerplexity, Notion AI, Synthesia, Midjourney, Rosebud AI, ElevenLabs & Descript get re-ratedDust, My School AI, Archer & Argu Flow face the graveyardWorkCoach makes a strong case for one of the episode's top scoresWhether you're picking your first AI tool or auditing your whole stack, this is the honest, no-fluff breakdown you need before you renew (or cancel) a subscription.

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♣️Want to become a HiTech Club member, support the pod, and get all of the extras on our episodes? Head over to our Buy Me a Coffee to subscribe: buymeacoffee.com/hitechpodcast.

🌐Check out ⁠⁠⁠hitechpod.us⁠⁠⁠ for all of our episode pages, social links, and more!

📖Need a journal that's secure and reflective? Check out our episodes on the Reflection App, and then sign-up for the App⁠ today!

🌏Build a world limited only by your imagination in Topia! A virtual world-building tool built to bring you and any of your virtual guests together. Interested in signing up and learning more? Reach out to us or Topia and let them know we sent you!

Ever notice how you don't actually own anything you pay for anymore? France just made that problem a national policy issue — and it's a bigger deal than it sounds.Josh and Will dig into France's government-wide vote to ditch Microsoft and Windows for Linux in the name of digital sovereignty, then pull the thread all the way out: why "de-Googling" and "de-Microsofting" are becoming a real movement, why SaaS subscription pricing works like a money-laundering scheme, why digital piracy is surging again, why Sony's licensing fight has gamers furious, and why vinyl is making a comeback. It's a wide-ranging one, but it all comes back to the same question — how much do you actually own of the tech you depend on?

Ever wonder what happens when an entire industry gets built on selling answers... and then AI makes answers free? EdTech is finding out the hard way.In this episode, Josh and Will dig into a rough year for education technology — an estimated $15 billion in lost value across the space — and break down who's struggling, who's actually thriving, and why. From Chegg's shutdown to the Coursera-Udemy merger to Magic School AI's layoffs, we trace a clear pattern: the tools that just repackaged content or answers are getting wiped out, while the ones solving real problems are doing just fine.

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♣️Want to become a HiTech Club member, support the pod, and get all of the extras on our episodes? Head over to our Buy Me a Coffee to subscribe: buymeacoffee.com/hitechpodcast.

🌐Check out ⁠⁠⁠hitechpod.us⁠⁠⁠ for all of our episode pages, social links, and more!

📖Need a journal that's secure and reflective? Check out our episodes on the Reflection App, and then sign-up for the App⁠ today!

🌏Build a world limited only by your imagination in Topia! A virtual world-building tool built to bring you and any of your virtual guests together. Interested in signing up and learning more? Reach out to us or Topia and let them know we sent you!