Cameras in stores aren’t anything new—but these days there are AI brains behind the electric eyes. In some stores, sophisticated systems are tracking customers in almost every imaginable way, from recognizing their faces to gauging their age, their mood, and virtually gussying them up with makeup. The systems rarely ask for people’s permission, and for the m ... Show More
Nov 12
What it’s like to be in the middle of a conspiracy theory (according to a conspiracy theory expert)
Mike Rothschild has spent years studying the rise of QAnon and antivaccine conspiracism. After his house in Altadena, California, burned down, he found himself mired in similarly sticky webs of misinformation. This story was written by Mike Rothschild and narrated by Noa - newsov ... Show More
23m 7s
Feb 2024
The Life Scientific: Michael Wooldridge
Humans have a long-held fascination with the idea of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a dystopian threat - from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, through to the Terminator movies. But somehow, we still often think of this technology as 'futuristic', whereas in fact, it's already woven ... Show More
27m 20s
Dec 2023
Michael Wooldridge on AI and sentient robots
Humans have a long-held fascination with the idea of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a dystopian threat: from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, through to the Terminator movies.But somehow, we still often think of this technology as 'futuristic': whereas in fact, it's already woven in ... Show More
37m 55s
Apr 2021
Why Your Ecommerce Platform is Still at Risk, with Otto Founder and CEO, Maggie Louie
<p><strong>Maggie Louie </strong>remembers the moment her career changed forever. Working with the <i>L.A. Times</i> on digital and mobile products, Maggie, now the founder and CEO of <strong>Otto</strong>, remembers a friend asking her to look into an issue they were having with ... Show More
47m 52s
May 2022
Another setback for facial recognition technology
This week Dr Stephanie Hare, author of Technology is Not Neutral, and Dr Rick Muir, of the Police Foundation, discuss whether facial recognition technology can ever be used in a way that satisfies regulators. Shiona McCallum speaks to Olympian Jess Ennis Hill about period trackin ... Show More
22m 59s
Sep 2023
Be My AI: When innovation and privacy clash
An AI-powered tool helped blind people make sense of the world - then ran into privacy concerns. Be My AI user, the BBC's Sean Dilley, in Washington DC, tells us what happened next. A rare interview with the boss of Spotfiy, Daniel Ek, who tells us there is a place for AI in musi ... Show More
27m 15s
Apr 2023
What’s the future of retail shopping? Snap bets on virtual try-on tech.
Snapchat made its name with silly augmented-reality filters, or lenses, as it calls them. In recent years, it’s expanded into shopping, enabling users to try on clothing, jewelry and makeup in the app. The company, now called Snap, has started selling this technology to other bus ... Show More
15m 1s