After stumbling on a new kind of search engine for faces, we called privacy journalist Kashmir Hill. She’s been reporting on the very sudden and unregulated rise of these facial search engines. Here’s the story of the very first one, the mysterious person who made it, and the copycats it helped spawn.Support the show: searchengine.show
Aug 11
A road trip through the data center debate
The midterms are approaching, and as the discourse heats up, one of big new villains is: a kind of building. Data centers. Reporter Jasmine Sun took a road trip through two swing states to meet the people living at the center of these debates, and to understand where this all mig ... Show More
40m 31s
Aug 6
The machines are learning… to do crimes?
For the first time, an AI model has autonomously hacked a company. This week, an evolving story, a postcard from a strange, frightening moment in the story of our technology.A big week for AI denialism by Casey NewtonIts AI agent spent days hacking a company, but sources say Open ... Show More
37m 58s
May 2022
Kashmir Hill: Reporting from the Future
<p>Putting herself as she says, “inside the tech worlds to come,” reporter Kashmir Hill explores how the technology that’s making our lives easier is also eroding our privacy. Her experiences are both amusing and downright scary.</p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz compa ... Show More
42m 8s
Dec 2020
What is a weapon in the Information Age? | Sharon Weinberger
From microscopic "smart dust" tracking devices to DNA-tracing tech and advanced facial recognition software, journalist Sharon Weinberger leads a hair-raising tour through the global, unregulated bazaar of privatized mass surveillance. To reign in this growing, multibillion-dolla ... Show More
12m 2s
Feb 2024
Kendall Jenner, AI and Sex Before OnlyFans
How is technology shifting how we think about sex? Can our virtual lives shape sex IRL? To explore these questions, Vanessa travels back to the 90s, recalling the week she spent at the very first cam girl house. Then she investigates the origins of chatroom sex and an early incid ... Show More
32m 25s
Dec 2020
In Machines We Trust: No Face... No Service
Facial recognition technology is being deployed in housing projects, homeless shelters, schools, even across entire cities—usually without much fanfare or discussion. To some, this represents a critical technology for helping vulnerable communities gain access to social services. ... Show More
24m 10s