For Tech’s Sake

AI for good? (LIVE! with Dr Abeba Birhane)

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 05:00:00 GMT

To celebrate our 100th episode, we invited our listeners to watch us in action live, with the return of special guest Dr Abeba Birhane, founder of the pioneering AI Accountability Lab. We had fun with a game of Good Tech, Bad Tech (trademark pending) followed by a meaty discussion with Abeba about the morality of AI, the challenge of being a critic of AI, and how she met the Pope and Shaggy (no, really).

We are so grateful to everyone who came out for this live recording, and also to The Digital Hub, and Dee and Oisin from the Beár Bia podcast for making it all possible.

All proceeds from this event went to Medical Aid for Palestinians. Donate at MAP.org.uk.

*** Good things we recommend ***

>> AI Accountability Lab

>> Biology as Ideology by Richard Lewontin

>> Abeba’s reflections on the censorship of her keynote at the AI for Good Summit 2025

>> Kabakoo Academies, blending high-tech and indigenous knowledge in Mali

>> Duck Duck Go, a Google alternative

*** More from us ***

Kelly’s Substack: kellysrubbish.substack.com

FTS blog: for-techs-sake.ghost.io

FTS TikTok: fortechssakepod

FTS Instagram: fortechssakepod

FTS Bluesky: fortechssakepod.bsky.social

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The internet is coiled spaghetti (with Jane Ruffino)

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 05:00:00 GMT

In this episode, Elaine tries to turn Kelly into a subsea cables stan with the help of Jane Ruffino, a PhD candidate who recently visited a ship in the midst of (literally) winding up TAT-8, the world’s first transatlantic fibre-optic cable. Jane enthusiastically shares what we can learn from the subsea cable industry’s ‘minimum necessary technology’ mindset, and why it’s important that the infrastructure and labour that keeps us connected is made visible.

Find Jane on LinkedIn and at CharacterWorks.co.

*** Good things we recommend ***

>> Jane’s superb article in Wired

>> Our podcast episode, The internet under the sea

>> The Undersea Network, a book by Nicole Starosielski

>> Atlantic-Cable.com

>> Derek Cassidy, communication archaeologist

>> Irish artist Fiona Marron

>> Ye Olde Hurdy-Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio in Howth, Co. Dublin

*** More from us ***

Kelly’s Substack: kellysrubbish.substack.com

FTS blog: for-techs-sake.ghost.io

FTS TikTok: fortechssakepod

FTS Instagram: fortechssakepod

FTS Bluesky: fortechssakepod.bsky.social

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Access to AT (with Patrick Fitzgerald and Sarah Boland)

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 05:00:00 GMT

This week, Kelly and Elaine are talking about AT, assistive technology, and how we can all have nicer digital experiences because of it. Our expert guides to AT in this episode are Patrick Fitzgerald, an AT user and DigiCoach for others, and Sarah Boland, an AT facilitator and mentor. We find out some fundamentals for designers and developers to make the web more accessible, as well as some tips for ourselves to be more inclusive with what we post online. Will you take on our anti-Lent alt text challenge?

*** Good things we recommend ***

>> St John of God Liffey Services

>> FreedomTech.ie

>> AccessDesign: An inclusive co-design toolkit

>> Osmo

>> For Tech’s Sake Live!

*** More from us ***

Kelly’s Substack: kellysrubbish.substack.com

FTS blog: for-techs-sake.ghost.io

FTS TikTok: fortechssakepod

FTS Instagram: fortechssakepod

FTS Bluesky: fortechssakepod.bsky.social

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Pokémon Go to train an AI

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 06:00:00 GMT

Pokémon Go collected 30 billion street-level image scans from its players, and now its creators are using that data to help train delivery robots. This prompted Kelly and Elaine to discuss the many ways human labour contributes to AI training, whether we are aware of it or not.

*** Good things we recommend ***

>> Humanitix ticketing

>> Gravity Climbing Centre

>> For Tech’s Sake Live!

>> Svenska Dagbladet’s investigation into Meta’s AI training

*** More from us ***

Kelly’s Substack: kellysrubbish.substack.com

FTS blog: for-techs-sake.ghost.io

FTS TikTok: fortechssakepod

FTS Instagram: fortechssakepod

FTS Bluesky: fortechssakepod.bsky.social

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We need to talk about how we talk about AI (with Prof Aphra Kerr)

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 06:00:00 GMT

Today’s episode is a lesson in AI literacy, busting some myths and revealing the strings behind the magic trick (with a smattering of Irish for Seachtain na Gaeilge). Kelly quizzes Elaine on how we can adapt our language to be clearer in communicating what AI is, and we also speak to Prof Aphra Kerr about the award-winning AlgoWatch project and its efforts to boost literacy among young people.

*** Good things we recommend ***

>> AlgoWatch.eu

>> Elaine’s keynote at CESIcon 2026

>> #DiscussAI

>> Age-Friendly AI

>> Switched On

*** More from us ***

Kelly’s Substack: kellysrubbish.substack.com

FTS blog: for-techs-sake.ghost.io

FTS TikTok: fortechssakepod

FTS Instagram: fortechssakepod

FTS Bluesky: fortechssakepod.bsky.social

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Dubai influencers

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 06:00:00 GMT

We’re back with an all-new season of For Tech’s Sake, just in time for a digital media literacy lesson on the Dubai influencer economy and how this shapes the content you see in your feed. We also have some news about our upcoming 100th episode – but you’ll have to listen to find out about that.

*** Good things we recommend ***

>> Check out Ned Leddy’s e-waste sculpture in St Patrick’s Park from March 14th to 16th.

>> Spot a fish, ring a doorbell at visdeurbel.nl

*** More from us ***

Kelly’s Substack: kellysrubbish.substack.com

FTS blog: for-techs-sake.ghost.io

FTS TikTok: fortechssakepod

FTS Instagram: fortechssakepod

FTS Bluesky: fortechssakepod.bsky.social

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Prophecy girls

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 06:00:00 GMT

In this final episode of 2025, Elaine and Kelly wonder if being on the naughty list could be a way for tech billionaires to hoard coal resources, and also offer up some predictions for a new year in tech. We’re forecasting legal issues and major market shifts, the spread of age-gating and deregulation, and a reckoning to come for generative AI. We also have a gift guide for the tech lover in your life, and other recommendations that can help you connect with your community IRL.

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Slop ’til you drop

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 06:00:00 GMT

’Tis the season of shopping and scams, so arm yourself with knowledge from the For Tech’s Sake buyer’s guide to what you need to know about online shopping in the slop era. Come for the explanations of TikTok Shop, drop-shipping and scam tactics to watch out for, and stay for the references to ancient memes and Kelly’s tell-all review of a popular Game Boy emulator.

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Say sorry, be nice, stand up for workers’ rights

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 06:00:00 GMT

This week, Kelly and Elaine discuss why a delay in the release of Grand Theft Auto VI to late 2026 might be the least of Rockstar Games’ problems as protests have kicked off outside their offices following the firing of more than 30 employees. Could gamers now boycott a release they’ve been waiting more than 12 years for?

Meanwhile, as yet another tech outage caused widespread ripples across the web, the EU is taking a look at the concentration of power in digital infrastructure.

Also in this episode, we get hands-on with a pair of Meta Ray-Bans and speculate on Snapchat’s potential as a Reddit rival.

Finally, we recommend you check out the research published on Authoritarian-Stack.info and follow Conor McCabe (@conormaccaba) on Instagram for updates on his radical political economy workshops.

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Ryanair’s app trap

Thu, 13 Nov 2025 06:00:00 GMT

This episode may contain a rude word or two when Elaine and Kelly start going off on Ryanair’s decision to force app downloads under the guise of ‘paperless’ boarding (that’s not actually paperless). And rude words are apparently being shadow-banned on Bluesky, while Elon Musk is getting roasted by Joyce Carol Oates on X.

We also make an attempt to rouse EU citizens into a fight for the sanctity of GDPR, muse on whether All’s Fair signals a microdrama trend for TV, and get through some listener feedback on ‘the good guy of tech’ plus a new recommendation to help you understand what data brokers can learn from your online behaviour.

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The good guy of tech

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 06:00:00 GMT

There’s been some Wikipedia drama this week as Jimmy Wales has been doing the rounds on a press tour promoting a book that bills him as ‘the good guy of tech’ – but Elaine and Kelly have a different man in mind for that moniker. Also in this episode, Ekaterina Uetova from the MOvD research project joins us to explain how a group chat might be more motivational than a gamified fitness app.

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Tech Treehouse of Horror

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 06:00:00 GMT

In this very special Halloween episode, Elaine and Kelly are communing with the digital after life and sharing (barely) spooky stories about data from beyond the grave. It’s a bumper episode with a special appearance from researcher Danny Snow, who has been giving digital data a post-mortem examination and proposes how we could donate our data like we donate our organs.

Visit DataDonorCard.org for more information and be sure to check out BetaFestival.ie for our ‘something good’ recommendation.

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Tech will fail and you will die

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Well, our maxim has finally caught up with us. We’re always saying the only certainties in life are that tech will fail and you will die and – while Elaine and Kelly are both still very much alive and well – the tech did fail and we lost an entire episode recording. So now you just have Elaine monologuing about the widespread impact of the 15-hour Amazon Web Services outage this week, and the problem with building an internet that’s just three Big Tech kids in one trench coat. She also has an extra dig at Microsoft for its decision to end free security updates for Windows 10, and shares some rainy day activity suggestions from herself and Kelly.

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Return of the dead

Thu, 16 Oct 2025 05:00:00 GMT

It’s no coincidence that the launch of endless feeds of AI-generated video from Meta’s Vibes and OpenAI’s Sora have coincided with a marked increase in video slop online, but what kind of social media are these platforms creating? One that’s littered with dead celebrities, deepfakes and juvenile humour, normalising the manipulation of a real person’s image just for fun.

In this episode, Elaine and Kelly wonder if Denmark’s proposed new copyright law could be a death knell for “synthetic resurrection” and rampant deepfakes. They also explain why it’s good for electric vehicles to have a digital passport for their battery, bring you an update on the Chat Control debate, and have a great recommendation for book lovers.

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On the campaign ad trail

Thu, 09 Oct 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Tech and democracy expert Liz Carolan joins Kelly and Elaine to explain some new regulations on political advertising hitting the EU this week, right in the midst of an Irish presidential election. These rules have been introduced to minimise political interference and ensure transparency, but the response from platforms is likely to make this situation even murkier.

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Sims, sEMG and soft robotics

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 06:07:13 GMT

Mark Zuckerberg’s live demo of gesture controls for his Meta glasses may have failed, but the underlying technology in the wrist-worn Neural Band, known as surface electromyography (sEMG), made us curious about potential applications in medtech. To find out more we spoke to EMG expert Prof Madeleine Lowery, who explained the differences between using these sensors in the lab or clinic versus commercial products.

Sticking with medtech marvels, we also spoke to Prof Garry Duffy about soft robotics that can squeeze things inside your body – and why that’s a good thing.

Also in this jam-packed episode, Kelly shares her thoughts on what the EA buyout could mean for The Sims and why her current gaming pursuits are taking her offline.

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Terms of abuse

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Platforms are really stretching the bounds of privacy rights with their terms of use these days. With recent changes to terms at Spotify, LinkedIn and Academia.edu in the spotlight, we called on data protection expert Daragh O Brien to give us a steer on how we should navigate impenetrable, and sneaky, user agreements.

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TrumpTok

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 05:00:00 GMT

In this episode of For Tech’s Sake, Elaine and Kelly discuss TikTok’s potential takeover by a consortium of Donald Trump allies, and the uptick of fake online content inflaming the discourse about real events.

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Chat control chaos

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Joining Elaine this week are two special guests on two very different topics. Cybersecurity expert Brian Honan fills us in on what’s going on with the EU’s Chat Control proposal and explains how it could do more harm than good. Then, author Sylvia Leatham discusses her book Chaos Theory, which takes the familiarity of the workplace and mixes it up with a socially awkward robot.

If you want to reach out to your MEP about concerns regarding Chat Control, go to FightChatControl.eu. And head to linktr.ee/SylviaLeatham to find out where you can pick up a copy of Chaos Theory.

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Should we banish AI from work?

Thu, 04 Sep 2025 05:00:00 GMT

We have things to say about another survey, this time all about AI in the workplace. We look at what some other research is telling us about AI adoption and consider the ethics of pushing gen-AI technologies on workers in light of some recent revelations.

We also learn all about peer-to-peer energy sharing from Sweta Malik, a senior power systems researcher at the UCD Energy Institute. And, as usual, we end with our picks of what’s good in the tech world right now, shining the spotlight on some great work from Irish artists.

Content warning: This episode touches on the topics of self-harm and suicide.

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Femtech for all

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Find out about the deep-tech side of femtech from our special guest Dr Tanya Mulcahy, director of Health Innovation Hub Ireland and founder of FemTech Ireland. In this episode we also try to get to the bottom of some bizarre search suggestions on TikTok. And remember to listen to the end for our suggestion of something good you can find online today.

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Looking back in anger

Thu, 21 Aug 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Today is gonna be the day that Kelly and Elaine are gonna throw a look back on a bleak week of tech news, from some shocking revelations over at Meta AI to some concerning behaviour from Stripe’s customer service team. We also look into why VPN advertising has ramped up in Ireland and leave you with something you can use to spend your days in the sunshine.

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Digital sexual literacy

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 05:00:00 GMT

We are delighted to be joined in this episode by Benji Foley, a PhD researcher at DCU's Institute for Research on Genders and Sexualities, who explains the concept of digital sexual literacy and why it’s important we build this up in young people. In particular, Benji’s research looks at digital sexual literacy among young people from the LGBTQ+ community in Ireland, and what he’s learned in the early stages of his research might surprise you.

Kelly and Elaine also look at the release of OpenAI’s new GPT-5 model, a Google Maps blunder that led a women to RTÉ looking for Lidl, some bad maths in the media and billionaire Dermot Desmond’s unrealistic expectations of autonomous vehicles.

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The bloody stream

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s investments in AI military technologies are turning off musicians and listeners. Kelly Earley and Elaine Burke discuss the many ethical issues Spotify’s streaming has waded into and how the algorithmic flow of music has affected their own listening habits, and Kelly floats some alternative options for music-lovers. Kelly also gives us a speedy intro to Formula E and Elaine has a surprising fact that links ’90s punk band The Offspring with some modern medical marvels.

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Palestine: A testing ground for digital rights oppression

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Elaine Burke speaks to Riham Al Faqih, development and outreach director with MIFTAH, a civil society organisation based in Palestine, about digital rights violations committed against Palestinians. Their conversation took place shortly after an internet blackout in Gaza, and highlights how Palestine has become a testing ground for the advancement of surveillance tech.

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What's my age again?

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Kicking off a new season of For Tech’s Sake, hosts Elaine Burke and Kelly Earley discuss recent developments in age verification for social media and online platforms within the EU and the UK. They assess the practical challenges, examine the privacy risks and debate the implications of relying on tech alone to solve this problem.

Listen to the end for our suggestion of something good you can find online today.

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New host, who this?

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 08:00:00 GMT

For Tech’s Sake is back with an all-new series, a brand new co-host and lots more tech stories to talk about.

Join Elaine Burke and Kelly Earley as they look at tech through a critical lens – not evangelising or demonising it, but definitely throwing a bit of shade when it’s deserved.

Instagram

Bluesky

TikTok

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FTS x CONNECT: The secret to a good password

Wed, 11 Dec 2024 05:00:00 GMT

Cybersecurity researcher Dr Hazel Murray has developed a knack for guessing Irish people’s passwords. But is it really our fault that our passwords have become predictable?

Listen to this episode to find out why some of the standards enforced on passwords are actually making our accounts less secure, and what you need to do to start the new year with better password protection.

You can check out ForTechsSake.info for links to more resources, or find out more about CONNECT at ConnectCentre.ie and keep up with their research by subscribing to their newsletter.

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FTS x CONNECT: Quantumania

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 05:00:00 GMT

Are you confused by quantum? You’re not alone! 100 years on and even the science hasn’t settled on quantum mechanics and how they can be applied to technologies such as computing. But how we harness this emergent technology from the outset could have long-term impacts, which is why researchers at the CONNECT Research Ireland Centre for Future Networks and Communications are exploring not just quantum computing and quantum networks, but the policy and communication around such technologies.

So strap yourself in for a world-expanding conversation with Dr Harun Šiljak and Dr Tom O’Dea from the Not a Space Race project, on how we discuss and plan for something that doesn’t exist yet, and the usefulness of interpretations of quantum science in pop culture.

You can check out ForTechsSake.info for links to more resources, or find out more about CONNECT at ConnectCentre.ie and keep up with their research by subscribing to their newsletter.

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FTS x CONNECT: Blowing off some STEAM

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 10:02:45 GMT

From cross-stitching your research proposals to diagramming the quantum internet, there are many ways that art and science can intersect – and it’s when artists in research are treated as equals that you get the best, most transformative results.

Join us for a thought-provoking discussion as we dissect the concept of STEAM and try to word the world better with Dr Jessica Foley and Dennis McNulty from the CONNECT Research Ireland Centre for Future Networks and Communications.

You can check out ForTechsSake.info for links to more resources, or find out more about CONNECT at ConnectCentre.ie and keep up with their research by subscribing to their newsletter.

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FTS x CONNECT: Passports to slow fashion

Wed, 20 Nov 2024 05:00:00 GMT

You know we love sustainability so we were very excited to learn about plans for digital product passports, which could slow down fast fashion, boost our right to repair and help shoppers make more informed choices.

Explaining this transformative tech for us are Dr Grace Walsh and Dr John Dooley from the CONNECT Research Ireland Centre for Future Networks and Communications.

You can check out ForTechsSake.info for links to more resources, or find out more about CONNECT at ConnectCentre.ie and keep up with their research by subscribing to their newsletter.

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FTS x CONNECT: The road to driverless cars

Wed, 13 Nov 2024 05:00:00 GMT

Jenny and Elaine are back in studio and catching up after Elaine was zooming around San Francisco in a driverless taxi. But how close are we to seeing fully autonomous cars on every road? Will Tesla’s Cybercab have enough in its computer vision system to see where it’s going? And how safe are self-driving cars, really?

We put all these questions to Dr Aisling O’Driscoll, a researcher at the CONNECT Research Ireland Centre for Future Networks and Communications. At CONNECT, Aisling is discovering how connecting vehicles to create a vast information-sharing network can help improve autonomous capabilities, as well as overall road safety and transport efficiency.

You can check out ForTechsSake.info for links to more resources, or find out more about CONNECT at ConnectCentre.ie and keep up with their research by subscribing to their newsletter.

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Introducing FTS x CONNECT

Wed, 06 Nov 2024 17:50:47 GMT

For Tech’s Sake is back with a very special mini-series in partnership with the CONNECT Research Ireland Centre for Future Networks and Communications. Starting from Science Week, we’ll be releasing a new episode every week for five weeks, exploring the intersection of science, art and society with CONNECT researchers. In this preview episode, hear from CONNECT’s director Prof Dan Kilper about what to expect.

You can check out ForTechsSake.info for links to more resources, or find out more about CONNECT at ConnectCentre.ie and keep up with their research by subscribing to their newsletter.

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The internet under the sea

Wed, 07 Aug 2024 04:00:00 GMT

Despite all our “wireless” connectivity and “cloud” computing, the internet we enjoy today relies on extensive cables that cross seas and oceans, and our island on the edge of Europe has had a crucial role to play in this global network, both in the past and present. In this episode, we get a history lesson in telecommunications from Deryck Fay, author of Connecting A Nation, who appears alongside Elaine in the upcoming documentary, The Cable that Changed the World. We also follow this development to the present day, and examine Ireland’s continued critical position in protecting the internet’s infrastructure.

The Cable that Changed the World will air on RTÉ One, August 12th at 9.35pm. You can connect with Deryck Fay at DFIT.ie and pick up a copy of his book online or in stores. And check out ForTechsSake.info for links to some of the stories we discussed here.

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Don’t roll out updates on a Friday

Wed, 31 Jul 2024 04:00:00 GMT

CrowdStrike learned some valuable lessons in software deployment recently – lessons that it should have known already, arguably, as they would be concerned golden rules and best practices. Jenny and Elaine talk through the software disaster that was, and the ill-advised gesture of goodwill that back-fired on CrowdStrike. They also have a public service announcement regarding how X is sneakily assuming your consent for training AI for Grok and xAI.

For links to the stories discussed in this episode, check out ForTechsSake.info.

CONTENT NOTE: This episode contains swearing.

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Bot safe for work

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 04:00:00 GMT

In this episode, Elaine and Jenny look at the risks of working with robots – and it’s not just that they might steal your job. For this discussion, they are joined by Tom Deegan, a health and safety consultant at Mackin EHS who has become the go-to guy for risk assessments in workplaces introducing robotics and cybernetics, ensuring that the bots behave and everyone is safe. (You might even say he’s a robo-cop.)

You can find out more about Mackin EHS at MackinConsultancy.com or connect with Tom on LinkedIn. And check out ForTechsSake.info for links to some of the stories – and the many robots – we discussed here.

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Eventosterone and AI-generated hyperslop

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 04:00:00 GMT

This week we are celebrating Irish techin’ legends Réaltra and Dr Lisa Heffernan, for their roles in the ESA’s Ariane 6 rocket launch and LISA mission, respectively. We also have new names for our recent tech bugbears: aggressive eventing and the AI sludge populating the internet.

For links to the stories discussed in this episode, and videos of a giant robot and terrible images generated by AI, check out ForTechsSake.info.

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You can’t mistake our cyberpsychology

Wed, 10 Jul 2024 04:00:00 GMT

We often look at the mental and emotional effects of technology on For Tech’s Sake, and this episode we have expert help in understanding it all in the form of cyberpsychologist Dr Nicola Fox Hamilton, a lecturer on the topic at IADT.

You can follow Nicola on Instagram @nicolafoxh and on X @foxnic, and check out her work on her website, NicolaFoxHamilton.com. And head to ForTechsSake.info for some relevant links and resources.

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Ticking all the boxes

Wed, 03 Jul 2024 04:00:00 GMT

It’s a bold title for an episode in which Elaine didn’t come prepared, but thank god we have Jenny, who’s calling out Perplexity’s plagiarism and hailing the creator of OneMillionCheckboxes.com. And while Jenny is in a trance ticking boxes on the internet, Elaine is also mesmerised by a phenomenon she calls ‘TikTok hands’. She’s also got a terrifying tale of robots with human-like skin and Billy Roll faces.

For links to the stories discussed in this episode, and images of horrifying robot skin, check out ForTechsSake.info.

CONTENT NOTE: This episode contains swearing.

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Algorithms of life

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 04:00:00 GMT

Algorithms – they’re everywhere! But what the hell are they, how much influence do they wield and what makes them tick? This episode we’re joined by Megan Nyhan to explain it all.

Megan is a PhD researcher at D-Real where she is working on a framework for designing ethical and trustworthy AI recommender systems. Be sure to find her on LinkedIn if you are interested in Encode Justice and AI 2030. And head to ForTechsSake.info for all the links and resources for this episode.

CONTENT NOTE: This episode includes some discussion on eating disorders, and if you are affected by or seeking support on these issues, check out these resources from Bodywhys.

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Elephant intelligence

Wed, 19 Jun 2024 04:00:00 GMT

We’ve got all the AI updates covered in this episode, from Apple Intelligence and elephant intelligence to user backlash and self-driving car crashes. And we end with a shout-out for legendary computing pioneer Lynn Conway, who passed away earlier this month.

For links to the stories discussed in this episode, check out fortechssake.info.

CONTENT NOTE: This episode contains some swearing.

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Matters of life and data

Wed, 12 Jun 2024 04:00:00 GMT

In this episode, we're looking at health data all the way from the cradle to the grave, and beyond! Helping us on this journey is Prof Ciara Heavin, co-director of the Health Information Systems Research Centre at University College Cork and founder of CommPAL, a software platform using AI to better allocate specialist palliative care.

Follow Ciara on X @c_heavin and get links and resources for this episode at ForTechsSake.info.

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Canva creates cringe

Wed, 05 Jun 2024 04:00:00 GMT

In this bonus episode from For Tech’s Sake, Elaine and Jenny weigh up whether Canva’s cringe-inducing rap announcement was junk or genius, and stick it to Spotify for junking Car Thing (a decision they thankfully rowed back on after recording).

For links to the stories and embarrassing videos discussed in this episode, check out fortechssake.info.

CONTENT NOTE: This episode contains some swearing.

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Think of the children!

Wed, 29 May 2024 04:00:00 GMT

Everyone's talking about kids and tech, but is the internet responsible for young people's anxieties? And are bans an effective way of moderating behaviour? We looked at the research and spoke to an expert in early childhood education, Paula Walshe, who believes we can do better at teaching positive tech use from a young age.

Paula is a PhD researcher and assistant lecturer with Dundalk Institute of Technology. You can find out more about her work on TheDigitalEarlyChildhoodEducator.ie and you can also check out her own podcast, the ECE Quality Ireland Podcast – and keep an eye out for her book on STEAM in early childhood education coming out later this year.

As always, you can find links to the stories discussed in this episode at ForTechsSake.info.

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Roomba-quality work

Tue, 21 May 2024 23:00:00 GMT

In this bonus episode from For Tech’s Sake, Elaine and Jenny assess where we’re at with the current AI hype cycle (with some help from a scathing op-ed from tech writer Julia Angwin), though they still find some gen-AI to have fun with. There are also more robots to talk about, because we clearly have a type.

For links to the stories discussed in this episode, check out fortechssake.info.

The song, Triumph of the Tech Queen, was made with Suno.

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Internet of trash

Wed, 15 May 2024 04:00:00 GMT

Did you know there are bins in Dublin connected to the internet? They are part of what’s known as the internet of things, or IoT, which is turning into something of an internet of trash for reasons other than the bins. To explain this, we have Prof Dirk Pesch, the director of Advance CRT, which is a Science Foundation Ireland centre for research and training focused on advanced networks for sustainable societies.

You can follow Dirk on X (@DirkPesch) and you can find links to the stories and silly things discussed in the episode at ForTechsSake.info.

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Interstellar space and a doorbell for fish

Wed, 08 May 2024 04:00:00 GMT

In this bonus episode from For Tech’s Sake, Elaine is joined by special guest host Dr Jessamyn Fairfield, a physicist and performer of science stories. Jessamyn came to talk about the co-founder of LinkedIn being cringe with his AI double and the incredible story of how NASA has managed to get Voyager 1 back online, even though it’s in interstellar space. Meanwhile, Elaine has some stories about sus social media activity in Ireland, a Miss AI beauty pageant, and a doorbell you can ring to help fish get through a Dutch dam.

For links to the stories discussed in this episode, and more, head to ForTechsSake.info.

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Trust the (democratic) process

Wed, 01 May 2024 04:00:00 GMT

2024 is a major year for voters worldwide, but with tech being used to push all sorts of manipulative messaging and agendas, how can we trust what we see online during an election cycle? In this episode, we have Liz Carolan explaining how she remains (mostly) hopeful in the face of these threats to democracy, and giving us tips on how to muddle through the misinformation.

Liz is a strategist and campaigner for tech and democracy, and the founder of Digital Action, a globally connected organisation campaigning to protect democracy and human rights from digital threats. Subscribe to her updates at TheBriefing.ie and check out ForTechsSake.info for links to the stories discussed in this episode and more resources.

CONTENT NOTE: This episode contains swearing.

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Make robots hairy again

Wed, 24 Apr 2024 14:33:00 GMT

In this bonus episode from For Tech’s Sake, Elaine and Jenny are laughing at Grimes’s disastrous Coachella set and squealing at an impressive and terrifying new robot from Boston Dynamics. They also take Amazon’s Just Walk Out retail tech to task, chuckle at the reviews of Humane’s AI pin, and discover a new way that AI is being used for good.

For links to the stories discussed in this episode, and the creepy robot video, check out fortechssake.info.

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Fast tech

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 04:00:00 GMT

In this episode of For Tech’s Sake, Elaine and Jenny draw parallels between the tech industry and ‘fast fashion’ – notorious for its short production cycles and disregard for the environment and sustainability. Joining us for this conversation is Luísa Vasconcelos E Sousa, the new country manager of Swappie in Ireland, who introduces us to a more circular alternative for smartphone purchases.

For links to the stories and reports discussed in this episode, and other resources, check out fortechssake.info.

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Techin’ eejits and techin’ legends

Wed, 10 Apr 2024 04:00:00 GMT

In this bonus episode from For Tech’s Sake, Elaine and Jenny single out their techin’ eejits and techin’ legends from recent tech news. Listen in to find out why Elaine is calling for a fight between YouTube and OpenAI, Jenny is mad at AI image generators, and both agree that scarecrows are due an upgrade.

For links to the stories discussed in this episode, and some helpful visual aids, check out fortechssake.info.

CONTENT NOTE: This episode contains swearing.

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AI can be good, actually

Wed, 03 Apr 2024 09:24:00 GMT

We’re back! And we’re catching up on all the AI news, good and bad, that’s been happening. And to prove there really are good applications of AI out there, we spoke to Dr Mark O’Sullivan, co-founder and CEO of NeuroBell, which is developing a device using AI to help detect seizures in newborns. You can find out more about their work at NeuroBell.com.

You can also check out the following stories discussed in this episode:

— The problematic Tessa chatbot: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/06/08/1180838096/an-eating-disorders-chatbot-offered-dieting-advice-raising-fears-about-ai-in-hea

— Tyler Perry’s studio pull-out: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/tyler-perry-ai-alarm-1235833276/

— OpenAI’s Sora videos: https://openai.com/sora

— Why WPP’s partnership with Nvidia is bad news for creators: https://businessplus.ie/tech/ad-tech-nvidia/

— Joe Biden robocalls: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/fake-phone-calls-ai-voice-joe-biden-new-hampshire-us-elections

— Trump’s AI-generated Black friends: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68440150

— Jenny’s interview with Dr Pallavi Tiwari: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/ai-machine-learning-pallavi-tiwari

— AI for Māori language preservation: https://www.newscientist.com/article/0-how-artificial-intelligence-is-helping-keep-indigenous-languages-alive/

— The story behind the development of Charlie Bird’s voice tech: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/future-human-keith-davey-trevor-vaugh-voice-banking-motor-neurone-disease-charlie-bird

— AI for flood warnings: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/flood-warning-system-ai-researchers-ceadar

You can find Conor Nolan’s excellent tribute to the Glasgow Willy Wonka debacle on Instagram (@cheesenolan), and we’ll share the hilarious AI-generated obituary on socials so you should follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.

CONTENT NOTE: This episode contains a brief discussion on disordered eating.

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Elaine and Jenny, your hosts

Wed, 20 Dec 2023 14:16:00 GMT

It’s just us, your hosts, for this bonus episode of For Tech’s Sake. Following on from our round-up of 2023, we’re giving out the For Tech’s Sake awards for Biggest Techin’ Eejit of the Year and Techin’ Legend of the Year, among others.

This episode makes a lot more sense if you’ve listened to episode 15 in our main feed, and here are some other episodes we mentioned that you might enjoy:

— Our robotics episode with Niamh Donnelly: https://pod.fo/e/1fd892

— Our sex-tech episode with Dr Caroline West: https://pod.fo/e/18563d

— Our AI episode with Abeba Birhane: https://pod.fo/e/1856e8

And you can also check out this recent interview Jenny did with Abeba, after her appointment to the UN’s advisory on AI: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/future-human/abeba-birhane-generative-ai-chatgpt-openai-machine-learning

You can find us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice or let us know what you think via fortechssakepod@gmail.com.

Be sure to come back next year for an all-new season!

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What’s another year in tech?

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 05:00:00 GMT

This week it’s just Elaine and Jenny as we round up 2023’s tech news – which took a long time to get through! And even at that, things have changed since this recording and the EU AI Act did in fact enter the next stage of its development, and we’ll be following up on that in the new year.

In the meantime, we have plenty of suggestions to entertain you until we come back with season three.

You might also enjoy reading the New Yorker’s report on the ‘Turkey-Shoot Clusterfuck’, or you can get lost in space while gazing at these images from the James Webb Space Telescope:

— Cat’s Eye Nebula: https://www.jameswebbdiscovery.com/astronomy-news/webb-telescopes-exploration-of-cats-eye-nebula-and-its-galactic-impact

— Pandora’s Cluster: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/james-webb-telescope-pandora-cluster-galaxy-image-nasa

— Tarantula Nebula: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/james-webb-space-telescope-tarantula-nebula

And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.

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Padraig Hennessy, chair of AgTech Ireland

Wed, 06 Dec 2023 05:00:00 GMT

In this extended interview with Padraig Hennessy, chair of AgTech Ireland, you’ll hear more about how he built a successful agri-tech start-up as CEO of Terra Nutritech (from 2:20), as well as Ireland’s role in the global context of sustainable farming and some of the agritech innovations that most excite him (from 19:30).

You can find out more about Terra Nutritech and the other agritech start-ups we mentioned on SiliconRepublic.com, and you can find us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice or let us know what you think via fortechssakepod@gmail.com.

We hope you enjoy this discussion with Padraig as much as we did, and be sure to come back next week for an all-new episode.

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Smart farming

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 05:00:00 GMT

For a sustainable future, farmers need to learn to work smarter, not harder. That’s according to our guest Padraig Hennessy, CEO of agri-tech start-up Terra NutriTECH and chair of AgTech Ireland. And while ‘smart’ often means internet-connected devices and technological wizardry, there’s a lot more to getting agri-tech right than that.

You can find out more about Terra Nutri-tech and the other agritech start-ups we mentioned on SiliconRepublic.com and here are some more links on topics we discussed:

— The cluck translator: https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-chickens-emotions-research-translation-japan-2023-9?r=US&IR=T

— The study on pig emotions: https://science.ku.dk/english/press/news/2022/pig-grunts-reveal-their-emotions

— The hacked John Deere tractor: https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/15/23306650/def-con-hacker-john-deere-tractors-run-doom-right-to-repair

— The study on farmer burnout: https://www.independent.ie/farming/news/more-than-25pc-of-irish-farmers-are-burnt-out-new-research-finds/a1365570023.html

— The right to repair vote: https://www.rte.ie/news/2023/1121/1417605-right-to-repair/

— And our recent robotics episode: https://pod.fo/e/1fd892

We’ll release Padraig’s interview in its entirety in our bonus feed next week, and we’ll be back in a fortnight with an all-new episode.

And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.

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Rachel O’Dwyer, author of Tokens

Wed, 22 Nov 2023 05:00:00 GMT

If you enjoyed our chat about the digital disruption of the value of money, you're in luck because we had a lot more to discuss with Rachel O’Dwyer.

Rachel is a lecturer in digital cultures at NCAD and her recent book, Tokens: The Future of Money in the Age of the Platform, explores the historical concepts underpinning digital money, while looking to the future of transactions.

In this extended chat, we discuss the gendered attitudes to money that prevail, the kids growing up a world of in-game currencies and virtual gifts, as well as the utopianism of rebuilding money as a technology, and its failings.

If you want to jump straight to the stuff that wasn't in the main episode, skip to about 19:30 and then ahead to about 32:15 for more.

You can get Tokens wherever you find good books and you can follow Rachel’s work @rachelodwyer on Twitter.

You might also enjoy a look at the mad Meta ad mentioned at the end of the podcast: https://youtu.be/lfj-QH7IMxQ

You can find us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice or let us know what you think via fortechssakepod@gmail.com.

We hope you enjoy this discussion with Rachel as much as we did, and be sure to come back next week for an all-new episode.

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Money talk

Wed, 15 Nov 2023 10:54:31 GMT

Do you understand money? Neither do we, to be honest. And now that digital platforms are creating their own forms of finance – often without the restrictions of any pesky regulation – the meaning of ‘money’ continues to evolve.

To get our heads around the changing nature of money, we spoke to Rachel O’Dwyer, a lecturer in digital cultures at the National College of Art and Design and the author of Tokens: The Future of Money in the Age of the Platform. Rather than deep-dive on the tech underpinning the likes of digital currencies and NFTs, we explore the cultural notion of value and how the digital world is disrupting and manipulating that.

You can get Tokens wherever you find good books and you can follow Rachel’s work @rachelodwyer on Twitter.

— Here’s a report on the NFT crash: https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/21/95_percent_nfts_worthless/

— Here’s some background on M-Pesa and recent calls for it to be regulated like a bank: https://techcabal.com/2023/03/09/m-pesa-lawsuit/

— And here’s a story from the Silicon Republic archive about Bruce Willis (allegedly) giving out to Apple over iTunes and ownership: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/life/updated-yippee-ki-yay-apple-will-bruce-willis-sue-over-itunes-inheritance

— For further listening you might enjoy our full-length interview with Aoife Barry on shifts in online culture, where we also discussed how the internet is becoming increasingly transactional. This is available for HeadStuff+ Community members right here: https://headstuffpodcasts.com/show/for-techs-sake/episode/v2-3_bonus-aoife-barry-author-of-social-capital/

We’ll also release Rachel’s full interview in our bonus feed next week, and we’ll be back in a fortnight with an all-new episode.

And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.

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Niamh Donnelly, co-founder of Akara Robotics

Wed, 08 Nov 2023 09:04:00 GMT

In this extended chat with Niamh Donnelly, the award-winning entrepreneur and co-founder of Akara Robotics, we learned even more about the challenges of building robots that can work with humans and went through an extensive breakdown of various robots on the market today, from Roombas to robot dogs to creepy humanoids. We also got Niamh to reveal her favourite robot, exclusively for our HeadStuff+ Community listeners. You're welcome!

Jump to 17:15 for all the stuff that wasn’t in the main episode.

And check out these robots:

— Paro, the ‘therapeutic’ baby seal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJq5PQZHU-I

— The incredible realistic robots are Ameca, from Engineered Arts, and Sophia from Hanson Robotics

— And then there’s Digit, from Agility Robotics

— Here’s the story about the robots who formed a Happy Birthday chorus: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/robot-lawnmowers-sing-happy-birthday-mars-curiosity-rover

— And the one about the pizza-making failure: https://www.outkick.com/robot-pizza-start-up-shuts-down-because-they-couldnt-keep-cheese-from-sliding-off/

— And you may also like to listen back to our sex-tech episode, which did mention a very specific type of robot… https://pod.fo/e/18563d

You can find us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice or let us know what you think via fortechssakepod@gmail.com.

We hope you enjoy this discussion with Niamh as much as we did, and be sure to come back next week for an all-new episode.

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Why robot?

Wed, 01 Nov 2023 12:09:34 GMT

Robots are among us, and are likely to become an even more commonplace fixture in our future. But what does it mean to be living and working alongside robots, and what does it take to develop these robots responsibly? We spoke to Niamh Donnelly, co-founder of Akara Robotics, about these challenges and the considerations roboticists need to have for workers and society.

You can check out Akara Robotics’ work and robots at Akara.ai and you can follow Niamh on Twitter at @engineeve.

– Watch clips of the UN AI Summit robot press conference here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_rR1mMjEfE

– Check out this interview with Niamh for pics and video of Stevie the Robot: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/stevie-robot-elder-care-niamh-donnelly

– Here’s Jenny’s favourite hapless hot dog robot: https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/comments/wtyyuj/this_robot_making_hotdogs/?rdt=45333

– And the bipedal who can’t shelve: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzlsvFN_5HI

– And this is the adorable Disney robot Niamh mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cfIm06tcfA

– Read all about the MIT study looking at how to make robots more dexterous on Silicon Republic: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/ai-smoothing-robot-hands-holding-objects-mit-study

– As well as the deployment of robots in United Drug’s Dublin warehouse: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/careers/working-robot-trolleys-united-drug-baldonnel-dublin

We’ll release Niamh’s interview in its entirety in our bonus feed next week, and we’ll be back in a fortnight with an all-new episode.

And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.

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Aisling Murray, Beta Festival founder

Wed, 25 Oct 2023 04:00:00 GMT

We have a whopper of an extended episode for you, with lots of talk on how technology – especially AI – intersects with the world of the arts.

If you’ve already listened to the episode in our main feed, featuring our interview with Beta Festival founder Aisling Murray, here’s where you can jump in for the fresh content:

— At about 8 minutes in, we unpack the use of AI for artistic admin and as a creative choice

— From about 14 minutes in, we get into the legal nitty gritty of fair use and copyright, and the long history of trying to define this going back to the works of Andy Warhol

— Jump to around 47 minutes in to hear more from Aisling on the public appetite for STEM and STEAM engagement in Ireland, and how this has compared with her experience internationally in this field

— And from around 53.30 you can hear about Aisling’s work with the Goethe-Institut on a quantum technology art residency

You can follow Beta Festival @betafest_irl on both Twitter and Instagram, and follow Aisling @murray_aisling on Twitter or @ashomurray on Instagram.

You can find us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice or let us know what you think via fortechssakepod@gmail.com.

Be sure to come back next week for an all-new episode.

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Wherefore art now?

Wed, 18 Oct 2023 04:00:00 GMT

In this episode we look at tech’s impact across the arts, from designers and artists to writers and musicians. We also got the lowdown on Ireland’s new festival of art and technology, Beta Festival from its founder and curator, Aisling Murray.

You can follow Beta Festival @betafest_irl on both Twitter and Instagram, and follow Aisling @murray_aisling on Twitter or @ashomurray on Instagram.

— Libby Heaney, one of the artists showcasing at Beta, recently spoke to Silicon Republic about her work: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/quantum-computing-visual-art-uk-libby-heaney

— Here’s what Paul McCartney said about his plans for using AI on some old John Lennon recordings: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jun/23/paul-mccartney-says-theres-nothing-artificial-in-new-beatles-song-made-using-ai

— Here’s some background on virtual K-pop acts: https://edition.cnn.com/style/kpop-virtual-bands-ai-intl-hnk/index.html

— And a profile of musician Holly Herndon, who’s an advocate for artist-led use of creative AI https://www.wired.co.uk/article/holly-herndon-ai-deepfakes-music

— Here's the footage of Reeps One beatboxing with an AI counterpart at Inspirefest: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/reeps-one-beatboxing-ai-inspirefest

We’ll release Aisling’s interview in its entirety in our bonus feed next week, and we’ll be back in a fortnight with an all-new episode.

And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.

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Dr Conor Linehan, psychology researcher

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 04:00:00 GMT

In this extended interview with UCC’s Dr Conor Linehan, we talk more about how people respond to deepfakes, why some people don’t want the ability to recast every film at a whim, and why sometimes too much choice is a bad thing.

As well as the risks and potential harms deepfakes pose, we discussed some positive uses of deepfakes, such as in assistive tech or artistically, such as in this Kendrick Lamar video.

If you want to jump to the stuff that wasn’t covered in the main episode, jump to about 22 minutes in.

Conor was speaking to us on the back of research he conducted with Dr Gillian Murphy at University College Cork and Lero, the Irish software research centre. You can find out more about Conor and his work @conorlinehan on Twitter and you can read the Face/Off study here: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0287503

You can find us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice or let us know what you think via fortechssakepod@gmail.com.

We hope you enjoy this discussion with Conor as much as we did, and be sure to come back next week for an all-new episode.

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Rolling in the deepfakes

Wed, 04 Oct 2023 08:20:00 GMT

Think you could tell a deepfake from real content? Think again. Dr Conor Linehan, a senior lecturer in applied psychology at UCC, joined us to explain how easily we can be fooled into believing what we see.

You can find out more about Conor and his work @conorlinehan on Twitter and you can read the Face/Off study here: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0287503

— Check out the threat report on deepfakes from the NSA, FBI and CISA here: https://media.defense.gov/2023/Sep/12/2003298925/-1/-1/0/CSI-DEEPFAKE-THREATS.PDF

— And test your own ability to spot a fake with this fun quiz: https://www.nbcnews.com/specials/ai-generated-art-photo-quiz/index.html

— Read more about the ‘car crash experiment’ on eyewitness testimony here: https://www.simplypsychology.org/loftus-palmer.html

— And find out about how deepfakes can do good in this Silicon Republic article: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/deepfake-ai-healthcare-diseases-insilico-medicine-pharma

If you liked this episode, you might like to learn more about cybersecurity in this one: https://pod.fo/e/18b914

We’ll also be releasing Conor’s interview in its entirety in our bonus feed next week, then we’ll be back in a fortnight with an all-new episode.

And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.

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Bobby Healy, founder and CEO of Manna

Wed, 27 Sep 2023 08:25:00 GMT

In this extended interview with serial entrepreneur Bobby Healy, we find out more about his roll-out plans for drone delivery company Manna across Ireland. We also discussed some of the challenges of launching technologies like this, such as social acceptance and job displacement, and we found out more about the sustainability of drone services versus other alternatives. And, finally, we got Bobby’s very candid take on autonomous vehicles on the road and why he doesn’t see this as very viable.

If you’ve already listened to the main episode, you can skip everything from about 6.48 to 23.50 and just get the stuff you missed.

You can follow Bobby @realBobbyHealy on Twitter, and find out more about Manna at Manna.aero.

You might also like to read this report on the drone industry in Ireland from Silicon Republic: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/drone-regulation-ireland-europe-manna-delivery-zenadrone-iaa-safety

And vote for us in the Irish Podcast Awards here: https://www.theirishpodcastawards.ie/voting

Find us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice or let us know what you think via fortechssakepod@gmail.com.

We hope you enjoy this discussion with Bobby Healy as much as we did, and be sure to come back next week for an all-new episode.

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The drone ranger

Wed, 20 Sep 2023 08:05:05 GMT

Did you know that an Irish company is one of the world leaders in developing drone delivery services? We spoke to Manna CEO and founder Bobby Healy about the challenges of getting a project like this off the ground, and why Ireland has become a popular global testbed for drone development.

You can follow Bobby @realBobbyHealy on Twitter, and find out more about Manna at Manna.aero.

— You might also like to read this report on the drone industry in Ireland from Silicon Republic: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/drone-regulation-ireland-europe-manna-delivery-zenadrone-iaa-safety

— Check out the guidance from the Irish Aviation Authority on drones here: https://www.iaa.ie/general-aviation/drones

— And vote for us in the Irish Podcast Awards here: https://www.theirishpodcastawards.ie/voting

We’ll release Bobby’s interview in its entirety in our bonus feed next week, and we’ll be back in a fortnight with an all-new episode.

And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.

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Dr Colman Noctor, child psychotherapist

Wed, 13 Sep 2023 08:25:00 GMT

This bonus episode of For Tech’s Sake features our full, uncut interview with Dr Colman Noctor, child and adolescent psychotherapist, about kids and technology. It was a wide-ranging conversation that also touched on our own use of technology and the subject of regulation.

If you want to jump to the parts that weren’t already covered in the main episode, head to about 18.55, and then 31.17.

You can follow Colman on Twitter @colnoc77 and read more about him and his work at ColmanNoctor.com.

You can also find lots of advice, and the latest stats on children and tech in Ireland, at CyberSafeKids.ie.

And you can read more about Ireland’s Online Safety Commissioner here: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/niamh-hodnett-online-safety-commissioner-ireland

You can find us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice or let us know what you think via fortechssakepod@gmail.com.

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The kids are online

Wed, 06 Sep 2023 08:08:25 GMT

Our online spaces are being taken over – by kids! Many children as young as eight have their own devices and social media accounts, and while efforts are made to make kid-safe spaces online, that's simply not going to have the pull of the major platforms.

It's a challenging world to navigate for kids, parents, and all other adults alike, so we got some help from psychotherapist Dr Colman Noctor on the matter.

You can follow Colman on Twitter @colnoc77 and read more about him and his work at ColmanNoctor.com.

You can also find lots of advice, and the latest stats on children and tech in Ireland, at CyberSafeKids.ie.

— Here's some more info on Finland's digital media literacy curriculum: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/10/world/europe/finland-misinformation-classes.html

— Here's what the US surgeon general had to say about kids on social media: https://www.npr.org/2023/05/23/1177626373/u-s-surgeon-general-vivek-murthy-warns-about-the-dangers-of-social-media-to-kids

— You can read about Dr Pablo Gracia's research project on Silicon Republic: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/trinity-eu-erc-grant-teenage-digital-use-social-inequality

— And if you're looking at your own phone habits and feel it would be better to make some changes, a good place to start is the book How to Break Up with Your Phone by Catherine Price

If you want to hear more from Colman, we'll release a bonus episode next week featuring his extended interview.

Be sure to rate and review if you enjoyed this week's episode, and follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice for updates.

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Dr David McKeown, rocket scientist and Dublin maker

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 09:01:00 GMT

In our latest episode we spoke to Dr David McKeown, one of the originators of Dublin Maker, a fantastic and free annual event that brings together makers of all kinds for a bit of show and tell.

This year’s event takes place Saturday September 2nd in Richmond Barracks, Inchicore, and in this extended interview with David you’ll learn a little more about the passion that drives scientists and engineers like David to stage an event like this year in, year out (from 9 minutes in).

We also talk more about David’s day job as a rocket scientist and engineering manager of EIRSAT-1, a student-led project to launch and build Ireland’s first satellite, and Ireland’s growing space-tech industry (from about 23 minutes).

And David elaborated on why the space industry is valuable, and told us what he thinks of the billionaire space race from about 33:30.

You can find out more about Dublin Maker at DublinMaker.ie and follow David at @dj_mckeown on Twitter to keep up with his work. Updates on the EIRSAT-1 project can be found at Eirsat1.ie and @EIRSAT1 on Twitter.

You can find us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice or let us know what you think via fortechssakepod@gmail.com.

We hope you enjoy this discussion with Dr David McKeown as much as we did, and be sure to come back next week for an all-new episode.

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Be smart and break things

Wed, 23 Aug 2023 04:00:00 GMT

Dublin Maker is coming soon so we spoke to one of its founders, Dr David McKeown, to find out all about this year’s festival and discuss the importance of events like this in encouraging people to engage with science.

This year’s Dublin Maker will be hosted in Richmond Barracks on Saturday, 2 September. It’s completely free and welcoming to the creative and the curious.

You can find out more about it at DublinMaker.ie and follow David at @dj_mckeown on Twitter to keep up with his work. And keep an eye out for The Big Life Fix returning to your screens on RTÉ.

Some other things from this episode you might like to check out:

— Jenny’s interview with Dr Elisabeth Bik https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/research-papers-misinformation-elisabeth-bik

— Collie Ennis’s Critter Shed podcast https://play.acast.com/s/the-critter-shed

— The results of Science Foundation Ireland’s Creating Our Future ‘national brainstorm’ https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/creating-our-future-results-science-research-in-ireland

— A piece on making that David wrote for Silicon Republic https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/david-mckeown-maker-movement-ireland

— The Tog hackerspace in Dublin https://www.tog.ie/

— The EIRSAT-1 project https://www.eirsat1.ie/

— Bright Club http://brightclub.ie/

— And Jenny’s interview with Dr Catherine Richards Golini on debunking scientific misinformation https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/science-communication-catherine-richards-golini-karger-publishers

We’ll release David’s interview in its entirety in our bonus feed next week, and we’ll be back in a fortnight with an all-new episode.

And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.

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Dr Gareth Jones, search technologies expert

Wed, 16 Aug 2023 07:57:00 GMT

In this bonus episode of For Tech’s Sake you get to hear our complete interview with Prof Gareth Jones because we simply couldn’t fit all his knowledge on search technologies and information retrieval into the main episode.

In this extended interview, you’ll learn how search engine optimisation (SEO) can be used responsibly but also deployed like a dark art to manipulate search results. You’ll also find out why effective information retrieval is getting harder, and how our search queries can actually help to predict disease outbreaks.

It’s fascinating stuff and if you want to just jump in to the bits we left out of the main episode:

— At 6 minutes in, there’s more on the cat and mouse game behind the systems that give you search results and recommendations

— At 17.17 we talk about SEO: how it works and can be manipulated

— There’s more on how search is evolving for formats such as audio from 23.30

— And from 32.10 we have Gareth’s thoughts on whether Google is as good as it used to be, why effective information retrieval is so important for society, search as a skill and what we can learn from medical searches

You can find out more about Gareth’s research at adaptcentre.ie and you can find us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice, or let us know what you think via fortechssakepod@gmail.com.

We hope you enjoy this discussion with Prof Gareth Jones as much as we did, and be sure to come back next week for an all-new episode.

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Dude, where’s my bias-free search engine?

Wed, 09 Aug 2023 08:01:53 GMT

How much do you know about a tech tool you use every day? Google is often the first port of call for many of us online, but how much do we understand the algorithms deciding the results of our search? And how are recommendations engines shaping our online experience?

To discuss these things and more, we spoke to Prof Gareth Jones, an internationally recognised expert on information retrieval and search technologies based at the ADAPT Centre in Dublin City University.

Gareth gave us an insight into how search engines work, answered our questions on whether platforms are listening to us to generate recommendations, and gave us a glimpse into how we might search audio and video media in future.

— Find out more about Gareth’s research at adaptcentre.ie

— You can listen to Elaine’s TV reviews and recommendations every Monday evening on The Last Word, TodayFM

— Read about the Bot Sentinel report she referred to at the top of the episode here: https://dot.la/amber-heard-trolls-2657703228.html

— Check out Silicon Republic’s analysis of the 2023 Digital News Report for Ireland here: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/social-media-digital-news-report-ireland

— Power up your search skills with these pro tips: https://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/20-tips-use-google-search-efficiently.html

— And if you want to understand more about algorithms and AI, check out our previous episode, AI & U

We’ll release Gareth’s interview in its entirety in our bonus feed next week, and we’ll be back in a fortnight with an all-new episode.

And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.

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Dr Patricia Scanlon, Ireland’s AI ambassador

Wed, 02 Aug 2023 04:00:00 GMT

In our latest episode we spoke to Dr Patricia Scanlon, Ireland’s AI ambassador, about the kind of work that needs to be done to build better AI, and we wondered why that isn’t already the done thing. In this extended cut of the interview, you can also hear Patricia’s thoughts on how every start-up is an AI start-up now, and why “computer says no” just won’t cut it when it comes to explaining your AI.

Patricia is also the founder of SoapBox Labs, which uses AI to build speech recognition and voice-tech tailored specifically for kids, so we also spoke to her about kid-tech. She revealed how AI could be used to better protect kids online but, for some reason, this isn’t often deployed.

If you want to skip to the stuff you missed, jump in at 21:55 and enjoy the extra chat.

You can find Patricia @ScanlonPatricia and see her work @soapboxlabs on Twitter (we’re not calling it X).

You can also read more on the role of Ireland’s AI ambassador here: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/ai-ambassador-patricia-scanlon-chatgpt-ethical-ai

— The story about nurses being overruled by AI was actually published by The Wall Street Journal, not The Washington Post, and can be found here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/ai-medical-diagnosis-nurses-f881b0fe

— The AI bias scandal that brought down the Dutch government can be found here: https://www.politico.eu/article/dutch-scandal-serves-as-a-warning-for-europe-over-risks-of-using-algorithms/

— And the mistakes made by AI detectors are covered here: https://www.popsci.com/technology/ai-bias-plagiarism-non-native-english-speakers/

Also, if you want to hear us picking apart the potential of self-driving cars, we covered this in a previous bonus episode, v1.7_bonus: You drive me lazy.

You can find us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice or let us know what you think via fortechssakepod@gmail.com.

We hope you enjoy this discussion with Dr Patricia Scanlon as much as we did, and be sure to come back next week for an all-new episode.

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Please, AI responsibly

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 04:00:00 GMT

Dr Patricia Scanlon is Ireland’s first AI ambassador, and she sees it as her duty to start a national conversation on AI and, especially, ethical AI. She joined us to talk about the kind of work that needs to be done to build better AI, and we wondered why that isn’t already the done thing.

Patricia is also the founder of SoapBox Labs, which builds kid-focused speech recognition technology. Follow her @ScanlonPatricia and their work at @soapboxlabs on Twitter (we’re not calling it X).

You can read more about Patricia and her role as Ireland’s AI ambassador here: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/ai-ambassador-patricia-scanlon-chatgpt-ethical-ai

And some more links as promised in the episode:

— Cringeworthy product placement for Bing in Hawaii Five-0 (not Miami Vice as Elaine mistakenly thought): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfHuZ5qrYX4

— Background on the EU AI Act: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/ai-act-passed-eu-parliament

— Some background on OpenAI’s efforts to ensure the safety of ChatGPT: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/openai-chatgpt-ai-safety-data-hallucinations

— What you need to know about Bard, Google’s ChatGPT rival: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/google-bard-eu-europe-available-ai-chatbot-languages

— A look at how hands-on piloting skills are diminishing as a result of automation: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/14/business/automated-planes.html

— Our season one episode on AI with Abeba Birhane: https://pod.fo/e/1856e8

— A great chart illustrating the dramatically shortening route to 100 million users: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/threads-100-million-users/

— A bit of background on Threads, Meta’s Twitter rival which was released shortly before we recorded this episode: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/threads-twitter-rival-eu-data

We’ll release Dr Patricia Scanlon’s interview in its entirety in our bonus feed next week, and we’ll be back in a fortnight with an all-new episode.

And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.

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Brian Honan, cybersecurity expert and founder of BH Consulting

Wed, 19 Jul 2023 08:18:00 GMT

There’s so much to talk to when it comes to cybersecurity that we could only fit a fraction of our discussion with internationally recognised expert Brian Honan into our main episode. Lucky for you bonus listeners, we have the entire episode here for you to listen, learn and rethink your cyber-hygiene.

This one is also packed with insights for business leaders and decision-makers when it comes to cybersecurity, because as you will have heard in our main episode, Brian is not into victim-blaming when it comes to cybercrime. He can see a future where we aren’t beset with a preponderance of passwords, authenticators and multi-factor login tools – but this will require vendors making better-designed secure systems.

Find out from Brian how car safety provides a better model for cybersecurity, why paying ransoms makes this problem much worse, how scams have evolved while also staying much the same since the days of writing letters, what impact AI will have on our online safety and much more in this extended interview.

You can of course listen to the whole interview start to finish, but if you want to skip to the bits that weren’t in the main episode, here are the timestamps:

— There’s a deeper discussion about the challenges users face when it comes to cyber hygiene and the need for better security standards for products from about 13:21.

— Then from about 34:34, we continue our discussion around the need to bring more diverse talent into cybersecurity.

— Then, from about 40:35 onwards, we spoke in more detail about wider cybersecurity trends, including scams, artificial intelligence, encryption and backdoors, issues with personal apps on business devices and more top cyber hygiene tips from Brian.

Check out Brian’s cybersecurity company, BH Consulting, and follow the man himself on Twitter @BrianHonan. And keep up to date with the top stories in cybersecurity on SiliconRepublic.com.

— BH Consulting have published some advice on what to do if you suspect your phone has been hacked: https://bhconsulting.ie/what-to-do-if-you-suspect-your-personal-mobile-has-been-hacked/

— Brian previously spoke to Silicon Republic about Ireland’s preparedness for cyberattacks: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/ireland-cybersecurity-cyberattacks-resilience-prepared-brian-honan

— You can read all about the case of the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone here: https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/14/22383957/fbi-san-bernadino-iphone-hack-shooting-investigation

— And learn more about tech-facilitated abuse from our episode on the subject: https://pod.fo/e/1856ea

You can find us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice or let us know what you think via fortechssakepod@gmail.com.

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Practising safe tech

Wed, 12 Jul 2023 04:00:00 GMT

We are not the weakest link in the cybersecurity chain, at least that’s what expert Brian Honan says. Brian is internationally recognised for his expertise on cybersecurity and has advised Europol’s Cybercrime Centre along with several innovative security companies. He has even been inducted into the Infosecurity Europe Hall of Fame.

And, according to Brian, it’s the tech-makers that need to take more responsibility for the safety of our digital information. While he has some sage advice on passwords and protecting ourselves, he believes in a future where remembering dozens of different complicated sequences of letters and numbers can be a thing of the past. This will take innovative thinking from the tech-makers, resilience from attack victims to avoid paying ransoms that go on to fund more cybercrime, and for the industry to stop limiting who can become a cybersecurity specialist. Because we really do need more Brians and their brains to keep us safe.

Brian’s own cybersecurity company is BH Consulting and you can find him on Twitter @BrianHonan.

You can find lots of cybersecurity stories on SiliconRepublic.com, and a good place to start is their Cybersecurity Week collection from earlier this year. And here are a few more links you may find interesting:

— Brian recently weighed in on Ireland’s preparedness against cyberattacks for Silicon Republic: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/ireland-cybersecurity-cyberattacks-resilience-prepared-brian-honan

— If you need a refresher, this is what happened with HSE cyber attack: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/hse-cyberattack-explainer-conti-ransomware

— This is how Gmail plans to introduced verification: https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2023/05/expanding-gmail-security-BIMI.html

— And here’s some background on Google’s plans to ditch the padlock icon in Chrome: https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/03/google_chrome_padlock/

We’ll release Brians’s interview in its entirety in our bonus feed next week, and we’ll be back in a fortnight with an all-new episode.

And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.

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Aoife Barry, author of Social Capital

Wed, 05 Jul 2023 04:00:00 GMT

You may have already listened to our episode on online content and social media with journalist and author Aoife Barry, and we had so much more in this chat that we just couldn’t fit in the main feed. In this bonus episode, you can hear the full, uncut interview, going more in-depth on social media pile-ons, online toxicity, content moderation and being a journalist online.

Aoife is the former assistant news editor of TheJournal.ie and has written the book Social Capital, a non-fiction book that discusses life online in the shadow of Ireland’s tech boom.

We really recommend listening to the full interview uninterrupted because it’s just a really great discussion. But if you are short on time and want to skip to the bits we missed in the main episode, here’s where to go:

— There’s more of us discussing our own app addictions from about 3:30

— There’s more on growing up online, how social media has evolved and self-censorship from about 8 minutes in

— There’s a look back on a family that received online abuse after appearing in a Lidl ad (more on that story here: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/couple-in-ad-campaign-decide-to-leave-ireland-after-online-abuse-1.4041612) from about 24:45

— A discussion on the ‘selective ignorance’ that leads to moderation challenges starts around 30:55

— A deeper look inside content moderation comes in around 37:30

— And, finally, we have a chat about what it means to be a journalist online in this changing landscape, and some nostalgia for old Irish Twitter and dank memes, from about 56:08 (the meme Elaine references is this one: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/crying-wojak)

You can follow Aoife online @sweetoblivion26 on Twitter and Instagram, and check out these links for more:

— Pick up a copy of Social Capital: http://linktr.ee/aoifebarry (This book also includes contributions from previous For Tech’s Sake guest Dr Caroline West and upcoming guest Brian Honan)

— Subscribe to Aoife’s newsletter at https://sweetoblivion.substack.com

— Read about the court case Aoife and other women took against their harasser: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/2023/04/22/it-felt-as-risky-being-a-teenage-girl-on-the-internet-as-it-did-being-a-teenage-girl-in-real-life/

— Find out more about BeReal: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/what-is-bereal-photos-instagram

— And about the problematic Tattle: https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/tattle-life-investigation

— And a little history of Scunthorpe Problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scunthorpe_problem

You can find us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice or let us know what you think via fortechssakepod@gmail.com.

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The good, the mods and the ugly

Wed, 28 Jun 2023 04:00:00 GMT

Social media can connect us, divide us, entertain us and enrage us. We’d love if online spaces were made safer and better moderated to keep the nasty parts at bay, but in the end it often comes down to how we moderate ourselves, with some people understandably pulling back from their digital lives just to protect themselves.

We spoke about the good, the bad and moderation of social media with journalist Aoife Barry, the author of ‘Social Capital: Life online in the shadow of Ireland’s tech boom’. This book is like a Reeling in the Years of online content, and we highly recommend you pick up a copy.

You can follow Aoife online @sweetoblivion26 on Twitter and Instagram, and check out these links for more:

— Find where you can pick up a copy of Social Capital here: http://linktr.ee/aoifebarry

— Subscribe to Aoife’s newsletter at https://sweetoblivion.substack.com

— Read more about the court case Aoife and other women took against their harasser here: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/2023/04/22/it-felt-as-risky-being-a-teenage-girl-on-the-internet-as-it-did-being-a-teenage-girl-in-real-life/

— Find out more about BeReal, the social app we are big fans of, on Silicon Republic: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/what-is-bereal-photos-instagram

— And more about the problematic Tattle, here: https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/tattle-life-investigation

— And a little history of Scunthorpe Problem can be found on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scunthorpe_problem

We spoke at length with Aoife and couldn’t fit it all in here, but we will release her interview in its entirety in our bonus feed next week. And we’ll be back in a fortnight with an all-new episode.

And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.

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David Singleton, Stripe CTO

Wed, 21 Jun 2023 05:00:00 GMT

If you already listened to our episode on how small start-ups become Big Tech behemoths and how that scaling cycle continues today, you might like to hear more from our expert guest, David Singleton, the chief technology officer at Stripe – especially if you are an entrepreneur, aspiring or otherwise, or a team leader looking for advice and guidance.

Stripe is a fintech and payments company you have certainly interacted with if you have ever bought anything online, and this international tech business was founded by Ireland’s own John and Patrick Collison. David is also an Irishman and spent years on the engineering team at Google before he joined Stripe.

In this expanded discussion you can hear more about how Stripe helps small companies to scale and compete with much bigger entities, and what David thinks about the no-code revolution and the implications of generative AI writing code instead of engineers.

If you’ve already heard the main episode, you can skip to about 5 and a half minutes in for some fresh, unheard insights from David. And if things start sounding familiar again, skip on once more to about 23.55.

You can follow David himself over on Twitter, @dps, and you can find us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice or let us know what you think via fortechssakepod@gmail.com.

Tune in next week for an all-new episode!

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Big fish, little fish, corporate shocks

Wed, 14 Jun 2023 13:33:56 GMT

We’re talking Big Tech, small start-ups and how they scale, disrupt and sometimes become one. Our special guest is Stripe CTO David Singleton, who we nabbed for an exclusive interview during his recent visit to Dublin.

David has been a fintech whizz ever since he built some invoicing software for his parents when he was a kid. But before he was the technical lead of a global financial services and software company, he spent many years in engineering at Google.

Google was once among the born-on-the-internet companies disrupting industry incumbents, but now it’s one the Big Tech behemoths eating up small businesses that threaten their dominance.

We explored this dynamic between big and small, and asked David about the scaling journey in between. He explained what makes crafty software businesses so nimble, and shared his own top tips for managing fast-growing software projects.

You can follow David over on Twitter, @dps, and check out these links for a bit more background on this conversation:

— Stripe is a multibillion-dollar company founded by Irish brothers John and Patrick Collison. For more on what it’s about, check out this recent article on Silicon Republic: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/stripe-david-singleton-payments-engineering-dublin

— Eileen O'Mara, head of EMEA revenue and growth at Stripe wrote this piece on scaling start-ups in Europe: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/start-ups/stripe-research-europe-startup-ecosystem

— Check out this earlier interview with David on Silicon Republic, when he had just joined Stripe as CTO: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/stripe-david-singleton-payments-engineering-dublin

— At the top of the ep, we mention the controversy surrounding Tesla’s autonomous driving claims. HeadStuff Podcast Network members can hear more on this in v1.7_bonus: You drive me lazy (originally released 18 January 2022)

— And at the end, we mention this great discussion on building and scaling a start-up with Intercom’s Des Traynor at Future Human 2022: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/start-ups/des-traynor-intercom-future-human-entrepreneurship

We’ll release David’s interview in its entirety in our bonus feed next week, and we’ll be back in a fortnight with an all-new episode.

And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.

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Dr Caroline West, sex educator

Wed, 07 Jun 2023 18:02:00 GMT

This bonus episode from For Tech’s Sake features our complete interview with Dr Caroline West a sex educator and host of the Glow West podcast. Caroline has a master’s in sexuality studies and a PhD in feminism and pornography, and is the sex and relationship expert for Bumble Ireland and the UK. In our main episode, we talked about modern dating, cyberpsychology and sex education. In this expanded discussion you can hear about her experience with sex in virtual reality, the kind of goodie bags you get at a sex festival, and diversity in porn (which includes zombie porn… yep, that exists).

If you’ve already heard what she had to say in our sex-tech episode, skip to just over 19 minutes in to pick up the conversation where we left off.

For obvious reasons, this isn’t an episode we would recommend for young, innocent ears, and we also discuss issues such as sexual violence online and offline.

Caroline has a website, IAmCarolineWest.com, and her own podcast, Glow West, where you can find more discussions on sex, sexuality, and the body, through a sexual wellness perspective.

You can follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice or let us know what you think via fortechssakepod@gmail.com.

And tune in next week for an all-new episode!

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Let’s talk about sex-tech, baby

Wed, 31 May 2023 05:00:00 GMT

If you ever wanted to hear two nerds talk to an expert about sex, you’re in luck! In this episode, we speak to Dr Caroline West, a sex educator with a master’s in sexuality studies and a PhD in feminism and pornography, and she teaches us a thing or two about sex and dating in the digital age, from digital intimacy to dick pics.

For obvious reasons, this isn’t an episode we would recommend for young, innocent ears, and we also discuss issues such as sexual violence online and offline.

You can find out more about Caroline at IAmCarolineWest.com and be sure to check out her podcast, Glow West, for discussions on sex, sexuality, and the body, through a sexual wellness perspective.

Dr Nicola Fox Hamilton’s work can be found here, and Dr Kate Dawson’s research on porn literacy is here.

Coco's Law – otherwise known as The Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act – is explained here, and if you need to report intimate image abuse, go to Hotline.ie.

Some more links you might find interesting:

— An interview with Caroline on Silicon Republic

— A recent article on sex-tech by Elaine, also featuring Caroline

— Some further information on Hotline.ie

— How educators are tackling the problems of bringing sex ed online

— Some background on Replika AI and its ban in Italy

— The long-distance kissing machine

— Support your local Irish sex toy supplier at SexSiopa.ie

We’ll release Caroline’s interview in its entirety in our bonus feed next week, and we’ll be back in a fortnight with an all-new episode.

And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.

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We’ve only just begun...

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 15:43:00 GMT

It’s the last bonus episode of the season and we are letting you in on an exclusive chat on what we have in mind for season two of For Tech’s Sake, including our dream guest list (Pedro Pascal, hello!) and tech topics not yet tackled. We also reflect on the first 10 episodes and what we learned from the experience so far.

For Tech’s Sake also wants to hear from you, the listener, about what you’d like to hear in season two. Be sure to let us know via fortechssakepod@gmail.com or find us @fortechssakepod on your preferred social network. We’ll be back!

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An open and shut case

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 05:00:00 GMT

Do you realise how much of the tech we rely on is maintained by volunteer coders? This isn't just Wikipedia. A plethora of everyday tech would collapse if not for the noble commitment of open source developers. And they are beginning to show their force in the form of protest, sabotaging their own code to send a message to the Big Tech corporations that profit from it.

We brought in Dr Colin Keogh to tell us about about open source in both software and hardware, as he helped to build out a team to design and develop open-source ventilators during Covid-19. He is also the co-founder of the consultancy Sapien Innovation and co-founder of the Rapid Foundation, a social enterprise which aims to disperse 3D printing technology to third world locations.

You can follow Colin @ColinJ_Keog on Twitter and you can also read more about open source on Silicon Republic. Here are some links to get you started:

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/topics/open-source/](https://www.siliconrepublic.com/topics/open-source/

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/start-ups/open-source-ventilator-project-coronavirus]

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/nearform-cian-o-maidin-open-source]

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/github-marak-squires-colors-faker-npm-corrupt-open-source]

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/log4shell-flaw-ncsc-advice-cybersecurity]

And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.

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Sorting through the rubbish

Wed, 15 Feb 2023 05:00:00 GMT

We follow up our For Tech’s Sake episode on tech waste with a closer look at what sustainability really means to tech companies, from explaining what a B Corp is to having a rant about the planned obsolescence of devices, which are designed to break down so that we just keep buying!

You can also read more about B Corps here: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/what-is-a-b-corp-company-benefits

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A waste of space

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 09:48:56 GMT

In this episode of For Tech’s Sake, we dive into the landfill of digital waste to turn up some nuggets of information we hope you’ll re-use. Tech waste involves more than just devices getting dumped, too. We also lose the precious and finite materials these devices contain. And, though it’s not apparent to us, our digital detritus of messages, selfies and endless streams of data has a physical footprint.

To understand more, we spoke to Gerry McGovern, author of World Wide Waste and host of the podcast of the same name.

You can follow Gerry on Mastodon at @gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green. We’ve also included a link his previous interview with Jenny on SiliconRepublic.com, as well as some other links listeners might find useful.

https://gerrymcgovern.com/

Silicon Republic interview: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/gerry-mcgovern-digital-pollution-e-waste

World Wide Waste podcast episode with Josh Lepawsky: https://www.thisishcd.com/episode/josh-lepawsky-pernicious-myth-of-digital-as-ethereal

Dublin’s Tog Hackerspace, which sometimes hosts a Repair Café: https://www.tog.ie/

Ireland’s repair and reuse directory: http://www.repairmystuff.ie/

And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.

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The great singularity

Wed, 01 Feb 2023 06:00:00 GMT

We follow up our For Tech’s Sake episode on dark patterns with our musings on the copycat patterns we see across the tech we use, where every app just steals – or buys – from other apps, and then inevitably makes it worse because of advertiser demands for engagement. This is why we can't have nice things!

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Hello dark patterns, my old friend

Wed, 25 Jan 2023 06:00:00 GMT

‘Dark patterns’ are design techniques used to weaponise user behaviour and manipulate us into delivering on a company’s goals. They have become so common that they are even namechecked in the EU’s new legislation to clamp down on nefarious user design in tech. Even though understanding them won’t make you impervious to their influence, we certainly think it’s best to know when your taking action for your sake, or for tech’s sake.

In this episode, we also spoke to Prof Owen Conlan, a research lead at Adapt, the Science Foundation Ireland research centre for AI-driven digital content technology. He told us what he thinks about dark patterns, as well as how they might be amped up with AI.

You can follow Owen @oconlan on Twitter and the Adapt centre at @AdaptCentre. You can also read more about Empushy on SiliconRepublic.com: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/careers/empushy-notifications-productivity

All of Silicon Republic’s fascinating AI coverage can be found here:

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/topics/ai/

And you can learn a lot more about the EUs Digital Services Act here:

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/eu-digital-services-act-illegal-content-moderation

And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.

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You drive me lazy

Wed, 18 Jan 2023 06:00:00 GMT

We follow up our For Tech’s Sake episode on the power behind our tech, with a teardown of the electric vehicle industry and, in particular, self-driving cars. We’re not saying driverless cars will never be on the roads, but it’s not likely to happen in our lifetime what with the current tech confusing yellow moonlight with traffic lights and suffering from a comical ‘Zoolander problem’.

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Max power

Wed, 11 Jan 2023 06:00:00 GMT

We have an energy crisis, and it's not the one you think. To move to a more sustainable future we need to figure out how to power mass electrification, and source and store energy responsibly.

Scientists around the world are working on fascinating battery technologies to help, and Ireland is no exception. For example, Dr Valeria Nico is a postdoctoral research fellow in the area of energy harvesting at the Bernal Institute, University of Limerick, and she told us all about her work developing tech that can generate energy for small devices from vibrations in their environment.

It's powerful stuff, so get ready to strap yourself in and feel the Gs!

Read more about Valeria's work, the EU's new battery rules, and Codema's project to heat homes with waste energy from data centres on SiliconRepublic.com:

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/good-vibrations-developing-new-tech-for-energy-harvesting

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/eu-batteries-sustainable-european-green-deal

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/codema-equinix-waste-data-centre-heat-project-dublin

And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.

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A glass case of emojis

Wed, 21 Dec 2022 06:00:00 GMT

Listeners, an update to the Microsoft Teams platform since the recording of this episode can only lead us to believe that Satya Nadella has bugged our podcast studio. Our prayers for a multiplicity of emoji reactions have been answered – they're still ugly though!

Emojis are essential to communication across distributed workforces but – as we discuss in this episode – just because we have communication tools doesn't mean we are communicating.

In this episode, we also discussed...

Karen Church's emoji research at Intercom: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/search-notifications-emoji-data-research

Jenny's interview with emoji master Jennifer Daniel: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/jennifer-daniel-emojis-unicode

And Google's holographic video calling booth: https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/13/23400870/google-project-starline-3d-chat-booth-impressions

Thanks for listening and subscribing!

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Working not-so nine-to-five

Wed, 14 Dec 2022 09:21:29 GMT

A robot might steal your job, but it might also make it better. And some platforms make it easier to communicate remotely, while others enable micromanagers to keep tabs on you.

As we enter a new era of working, Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody want to examine how technology is used in work and how it can affect us, but also the ways in which it can help transform the way we work for the better, if only we’d allow it to do so.

To find out more, we also spoke to James Milligan, global head of technology solutions at recruitment company, Hays.

Read more about what the future of work looks like on SiliconRepublic.com: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/series/future-of-work-week/

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It’s AI-live!

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 07:00:00 GMT

Sentient AI is not a thing, but why do some people believe that it is? Following our AI-focused episode of For Tech’s Sake, we look at some of the astoundingly advanced AI released recently that gives the impression computers are starting to think, create and feel, like humans. We’ve got laughing AI, text-to-art image generators, deepfake porn, voice modulators and simulated girlfriends competing for the title of The Worst in AI. (Though the winner might just be Warren from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.)

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AI & U

Wed, 30 Nov 2022 06:00:00 GMT

Claims of sentient AI have been largely debunked by experts, but there are still plenty of unsettling aspects of this technology that raise ethical questions.

In this episode of For Tech’s Sake, Abeba Birhane, an expert in AI and cognitive science, helps us to better understand this fast-spreading technology and its limitations. We find out how AI can be at best unhelpful and annoying, and at worst prejudiced, powerful and completely opaque, particularly when the building blocks it's based on contain toxic materials.

Read more about Abeba Birhane, the Gender Shades project, Blake Lemoine, and why sentient AI claims can be damaging on SiliconRepublic.com:

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/mit-database-racist-misogynist-discovery-abeba-birhane

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/abeba-birhane-ucd-digital-colonialism

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/microsoft-facial-recognition

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/timnit-gebru-google-ai-scientist-fired-for-highlighting-bias

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/google-engineer-ai-sentient-lamda-chatbot

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/sentient-ai-google-lamda-research-development-ireland-insight

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The Elon-phant in the room

Wed, 23 Nov 2022 06:00:00 GMT

Following our For Tech’s Sake episode on health-tech, we decided it was time to take the temperature of the tech industry itself, as it's not doing so well lately. More specifically, we examine the disease eating away at it: tech bro-itis. Twitter is now infected with a severe dose, Elon Musk, and some are convinced the platform is on its deathbed. Jenny Darmody and Elaine Burke put him under the microscope for a closer look.

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Does an app a day keep the doctor away?

Wed, 16 Nov 2022 06:00:00 GMT

Medical technologists are racing to fix all of our ills – even our inevitable death! But in the rush to embed technology into healthcare, are we thinking about all of the unintended consequences that may come with it? Is our health data really safe for example? Can medical devices be hacked? And how accessible will this health-tech be in the future?

Listen as Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody explore all of these questions and differentiate the needless from the necessary when it comes to technology in healthcare. To find out more, we also spoke to Ita Richardson, a co-principal investigator at the software engineering research centre, Lero and a professor at University of Limerick.

Read more about what the future holds for health-tech on SiliconRepublic.com: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/series/future-health-week/

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The tech is coming from inside the house

Wed, 09 Nov 2022 06:00:00 GMT

Following our For Tech’s Sake episode on tech-facilitated abuse, we got chatting about the fact that while humans can be terrible, sometimes the tech itself is the problem. From glasses with hidden cameras to the tech giant that’s watching you sleep, maybe we’ve all gone a little OTT with IoT.

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Tech-facilitated abuse

Wed, 02 Nov 2022 06:00:00 GMT

While plenty of technology has been designed to make the world a safer place, it can also introduce a whole new way to abuse and exploit others.

From stalker apps to location trackers, tech has given many abusers the opportunity to track, monitor and control others. While other seemingly innocuous devices such as smart doorbells and virtual assistants can have their settings manipulated for nefarious actions.

Listen as Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody discuss how these devices work, and how they can be misused. We also spoke to Louise O’Hagan, co-founder of Cyber Awareness Ireland, about the growing trend of tech-facilitated abuse and how easily our everyday devices can be used against us.

For more information on this topic, check out:

CyberAwarenessIreland.com

SafeIreland.ie

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/safe-ireland-digital-domestic-abuse-technology-guide

Online safety booklet: https://www.safeireland.ie/lets-talk-tech-online-safety-tips/

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When tech goes too far

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 05:00:00 GMT

Following our For Tech’s Sake episode on digital transformation, we got talking about the things that have just gone too far, from tractors that have become too tech-ified to be easily repairable to the monumentally annoying aspects of the modern printer.

For those who want to enjoy the nerdy long-read we mention, check out “Why paper jams persist” by Joshua Rothman: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/02/12/why-paper-jams-persist

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Digitise, disrupt, destroy

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 05:00:00 GMT

Digital transformation is a buzzword in all business right now, and some businesses are deciding to push ahead with new tech adoption without consideration for the people it will impact.

While some elements of digital transformation can lead to better operations, some of it is truly tech for tech's sake, and lead to job displacement and bad service.

Listen as Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody dissect what digital transformation actually means beyond the buzzword. To find out more, we also spoke to Joan Mulvihill, the digitalisation and sustainability lead at Siemens.

Read more about Joan Mulvihill and her thoughts on digital transformation on SiliconRepublic.com: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/digital-transformation-joan-mulvihill-siemens

You can also check out Silicon Republic’s Digital Transformation Week, which covers this topic in more detail: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/series/digital-transformation-week/

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Billionaire space bros

Wed, 12 Oct 2022 05:00:00 GMT

Following our For Tech’s Sake episode on space-tech, we got talking about billionaire space bros, space junk, and the commercialisation of space. Apparently, it’s not enough that we have traffic, pollution and capitalism on one planet, we’re sending it out into the universe too.

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Space is ace

Tue, 04 Oct 2022 23:01:00 GMT

It’s been 60 years since John F Kennedy famously said, “We choose to go to the moon.” But why?

Space exploration comes at the cost of billions and on the back of some stellar innovation spanning decades in development. Is it all really worth it?

Listen as Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody peer into space-tech and marvel at our fascination with whatever truths are out there. To find out more, we also spoke to Prof Tom Ray and Dr Patrick Kavanagh, two Irish scientists who worked on the James Webb Space Telescope.

Read more about their work at DIAS and the JWST on SiliconRepublic.com: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/james-webb-telescope-irish-scientists-dias-nasa

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For Tech's Sake - Coming Soon!

Wed, 21 Sep 2022 14:28:00 GMT

Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody have been writing about tech for a long time. Now they’re talking about it in For Tech’s Sake, a co-production from Silicon Republic and The Headstuff Podcast Network.

Silicon Republic is a leading source of technology news and views and editors Jenny and Elaine are always learning about fascinating and infuriating new developments. They take a side-eye view of tech, not evangelising or demonising it, but definitely throwing a bit of shade when it’s deserved.

Join them as they take a look under the hood of both emerging and everyday tech to examine the good parts, the bad parts, and everything in between. Each episode also features a tech expert to help answer their probing questions.

Listen in as they hash out what’s just tech for tech’s sake, and find them online @fortechssakepod to join the conversation.

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