TechStuff vs. BattleBots

Did your college have a secret society? Well, Stanford has a secret off-campus class training the next generation of Silicon Valley billionaires. And it's literally called "How to Rule the World." Theo Baker arrived at Stanford as an aspiring coder with dreams of building the fut ... Show More

Evan turns his AI-powered voice agent loose on the people who are always at the forefront of technological adoption: the fraudsters and the rip-off artists. How will the scammers and spammers react when they face Evan’s voice agent in a battle of wits? And what happens when they ... Show More

Blue Origin's latest rocket test ended in what the company called "an anomaly" — and what everyone else would call an explosion. Reed Albergotti (Semafor) explains why blowing things up is just part of the process and why the US Space Program is probably going to be fine. Then, K ... Show More

What will we do when robots and artificial intelligences break the law? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss the issue of robot moral and legal agency. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listene ... Show More

Fully autonomous lethal weapons—robots that can select and engage targets without human intervention—are fast becoming possible. They might minimize casualties and protect civilians in times of war. But is it morally wrong to put a computer in charge of life or death decisions? C ... Show More

As the Invention podcast ends, discussions of techno-history become part of STBYM again. So let's explore some past episodes of Robert and Joe's other series. Here's their sidebar with Scott Benjamin about a mysterious death in the history of motion picture technology... Learn mo ... Show More

The killer robots are here and they’re not going away. We’ve all seen footage of the cute robot dogs stumbling around with weapons strapped to their back, and loitering munitions (or so-called “suicide drones”) have become a fixture on the battlefield in Ukraine.There’s a general ... Show More

New bots to make video from text prompts. Fending off the bots from biting your style. Falling in love with the bots. In the streaming wars, the ad supported experiments are working, and pricing power is a thing. And the startup that says it’s about to introduce humanoid bots. Re ... Show More

What if the nations of the Earth solved all their problems with giant robot gladiatorial battles? That’s the concept behind 1990’s “Robot Jox,” directed by horror wizard Stuart Gordon and written by military sci-fi author Joe Haldeman. Join Rob and Joe for a discussion of mech po ... Show More

As the Invention podcast ends, discussions of techno-history become part of STBYM again. So let's explore some past episodes of Robert and Joe's other series. Let's continue with the history of motion pictures... Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwor ... Show More

Why is it so hilarious when robots and artificial intelligence fail? What does it reveal about comedy itself and our technological anxiety? Robert Lamb and Joe McCormick explore in this Stuff to Blow Your Mind two-parter. (originally published 3/28/2019) Learn more about your ad- ... Show More

The robotics industry loves a good, healthy debate. Of late, one of the most intense ones centers around humanoid robots. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices