Today in Tech

As new generative AI tools come out almost weekly, we are on the cusp of having a generation of humans that will grow up with artificial intelligence, similar to how millennials and ‘GenZ’ kids grew up with mobile phones and social media. What steps will businesses and schools need to take to train Generation AI? Keith talks with Gaurav Rao, executive vice president and general manager for machine learning and AI at AtScale, about the structural changes we’ll see.

What started innocently as a way to ‘personalize’ content has now become extremely divisive in cases. Internet algorithms now control what types of news people consume, what content they can (and can’t) see on social media, and what products they might want to buy. With artificial intelligence now powering more algorithms, could this mean even more problems down the road? Keith chats with Michael Wilkowski, a security and communications expert and CTO of Silent Eight, about the problem and whether there’s any home for humanity.

Despite some recent high-profile missteps, many companies are developing augmented and virtual reality technologies, including Meta and Apple (which calls it spatial computing). With new hardware on the way, are we on the verge of a generational switch that changes how we work, relax and communicate in the future? Keith chats with Zac Duff, co-founder of Jigspace and an industry leader in the AR/VR space, about the prospects for kickstarting this technology.

With new technology and attack methods such as AI voice phishing being used by hackers, the old methods of passwords and authentication may soon be going away. On this episode, Keith chats with Julianna Lamb, CTO and co-founder of Stytch, about new authentication methods that can improve security for end users and companies to help protect account information.

Generative artificial intelligence is providing large and small impacts within businesses as they look to use tools to find new employees and keep the ones they have. Employees within companies are also using genAI in new ways, causing additional legal issues for many companies. Keith chats with Jay Sabin, an employment attorney from Brach Eichler, about navigating through many of these new legal and company obstacles.

New announcements and artificial intelligence integrations by Amazon, Microsoft and OpenAI indicate that the enthusiasm for AI is hitting another wave. Keith and Chris talk about the new image creation tools and other text-based generative AI that will soon be infiltrating your day-to-day work tasks and other parts of your life.

Documents related to the FTC vs. Microsoft case were inadvertently leaked this week, showing plans for a new Xbox, a desire to buy Nintendo and exclusive gaming plans, among other items. This also comes on the heels of a report that Microsoft AI researchers leaked 38TB of employee data. Maybe they need a plumber like Mario to fix the leaks. Plus, would you pay for Twitter/X in order to fight the ‘bots?

Keith and Chris discuss the recent cyberattack against MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, which had one company refusing to pay ransom while another one did. Dynamics of how the hackers were able to get into company systems were also disturbing. Also, we discuss the Google vs. DOJ antitrust trial, whether scientists need to meddle with asteroids, and whether people who work at home have insane energy when they venture out into the public.

Recent news and trends indicate continuing problems around generative AI, such as security issues, the ‘dumbening’ of the tech, cost problems; which leads us to wonder whether we are about to hit the proverbial ‘trough of disillusionment.’ Is this the case or are we just at another plateau, with more greatness to come? Keith speaks with Mike Mason from Thoughtworks and Nicholas Mattei from Tulane University about whether we have reached “Peak AI”.

The September launch event for the iPhone 15 and Apple Watch Series 9 featured several small improvements in performance and features, as well as continued commitment to environmental sustainability. Keith chats with Macworld’s Michael Simon and Computerworld’s Ken Mingis about the highlights and lowlights from the event.