Do you trust the answers that AI chat bots like Chat GPT, Claude and Grok tell you? This week, The Interface put entirely fictitious information on the internet, to see if the AI chat bots would show any kind of caution in reporting it as the truth. They did not. Our example was about a made-up hot dog eating championship, but what if other operators out there are steering the AI towards more sinister, but equally untrue, information about health, politics or unregulated products? We ask what checks are, and should be, in place.
Also on The Interface this week: Are data centres eating your hometown? Governments around the world are prioritising planning applications from big tech firms to build the data centres required to power the AI rollout but what is that doing to the local areas where they are being built? And Elon Musk has applied to launched up to a million satellites into space to expand his Starlink internet empire, we ask should one man have the power to switch the internet on and off around the world.
The Interface is your weekly guide to the tech rewiring your week and our world. Hosted by journalists Tom Germain, Karen Hao, and Nicky Woolf, each episode unpacks week-by-week the unfolding story of how technology is shaping all of our futures. No guests. No jargon. Just three sharp voices debating the tech stories that matter - whether they shook a government, broke the internet, or quietly tipped the balance of power.
New episodes drop every Thursday on BBC Sounds in the UK. Outside the UK, find us on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the video version on YouTube (search “The Interface podcast”).
To get in touch with the team - email us at [email protected]
The Interface is a BBC Studios production.
Producer: Natalia Rodriguez Ford
