logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2023
27m 18s

Fighting forest fires with technology

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Juan Lavista Ferres, chief data scientist at Microsoft's AI For Good Lab, tells Tech Life how artificial intelligence can help predict wildfires.

Driverless cars are popping up on streets around the world. But not everyone welcomes them, and some protestors in San Francisco have turned to 'coning'. What's that ? We have a special report.

China is considering a limit on the amount of time children can spend on smartphones. You've been telling us what you think about the benefits and problems of children spending time on the devices.

Manu Chopra speaks to Tech Life about using technology to reduce poverty in India.

And what's the difference between a sentence written by a human and a machine ? We've been looking at some of the answers for you.

(Picture credit: Getty Images)

Up next
Yesterday
Microsoft's big quantum bet
Microsoft unveils a new quantum chip. It's a big moment for the company, as its quantum programme has faced criticism. Is the tech giant's strategy finally paying off? And when will this chip deliver practical quantum computing? The BBC's Technology Editor, Zoe Kleinman, intervie ... Show More
26m 29s
May 26
Teaching in the AI world
We speak to Google about the introduction of artificial intelligence into classroom learning, and what they think this will mean for teachers and pupils.Also this week: Shiona McCallum reports on a new artificial limb which is making a big difference to the life of one man who ha ... Show More
26m 29s
May 19
Myth or mythos: Is the AI cyber threat real?
From fears that a powerful new AI could supercharge hacking, to the ransomware gangs holding our data hostage, we talk to a former FBI expert about the latest cyber threats.Also in Tech Life this week: we hear from a listener who is using dermatology tech to educate schoolchildre ... Show More
26m 29s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2022
Self-driving cars on the horizon?
A recent amendment to a regulation by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) will extend automated driving technology to 130 km/h. The regulation, which will come into effect in January 2023, will set the standard for car manufacturers to develop so-called "lev ... Show More
40m 6s
Mar 2022
Calls for facial recognition tech ban on Brazilian metro
A number of Brazilian civil rights organisations have filed a civil lawsuit against a company operating the São Paulo metro and their use of facial recognition technology. They are calling for an immediate suspension of the technology as well as compensation for moral damages to ... Show More
44m 37s
Jul 2019
199. Is Tech Making Us- Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid?
Is technology really rotting our brains, destroying our society... or is that what everyone has always worried about with every technological advance, going back to tv, or telephones, or even writing letters? The new book, Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid: Changing Feelings about Tec ... Show More
39m 29s
Aug 2023
The disappearing computer -- and a world where you can take AI everywhere | Imran Chaudhri
In this exclusive preview of groundbreaking, unreleased technology, former Apple designer and Humane cofounder Imran Chaudhri envisions a future where AI enables our devices to "disappear" -- seriously, like one day making a phone call on the palm of your hand. He gives a sneak p ... Show More
16m 39s
Jan 2014
Intent
Aleks Krotoski looks at whether we've all become techno-fundamentalists. Do we know what all our technology is for or more intriguingly what it wants?Aleks hears from Douglas Rushkoff about how the whole of the world around us has always been programmed by architects, religion, a ... Show More
28m 1s
Apr 2023
Spotlight: The Three Rules of Humane Tech
In our previous episode, we shared a presentation Tristan and Aza recently delivered to a group of influential technologists about the race happening in AI. In that talk, they introduced the Three Rules of Humane Technology. In this Spotlight episode, we’re taking a moment to exp ... Show More
22m 17s
Oct 2021
Roberto J. González, "Connected: How a Mexican Village Built Its Own Cell Phone Network" (U California Press, 2020)
Connected: How a Mexican Village Built Its Own Cell Phone Network (U California Press, 2020) is the true story of how, against all odds, a remote Mexican pueblo built its own autonomous cell phone network—without help from telecom companies or the government. Anthropologist Rober ... Show More
1h 4m