For Tech’s Sake

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘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-productivityAll 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-moderationAnd follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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-harvestinghttps://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/eu-batteries-sustainable-european-green-dealhttps://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/codema-equinix-waste-data-centre-heat-project-dublinAnd follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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-researchJenny's interview with emoji master Jennifer Daniel: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/jennifer-daniel-emojis-unicodeAnd Google's holographic video calling booth: https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/13/23400870/google-project-starline-3d-chat-booth-impressionsThanks for listening and subscribing! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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/Follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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-birhanehttps://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/abeba-birhane-ucd-digital-colonialismhttps://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/microsoft-facial-recognitionhttps://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/timnit-gebru-google-ai-scientist-fired-for-highlighting-biashttps://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/google-engineer-ai-sentient-lamda-chatbothttps://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/sentient-ai-google-lamda-research-development-ireland-insightFollow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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/Follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.comSafeIreland.iehttps://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/safe-ireland-digital-domestic-abuse-technology-guideOnline safety booklet: https://www.safeireland.ie/lets-talk-tech-online-safety-tips/Follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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-siemensYou 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/Follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.