
Tech Life
Tech Life discovers and explains the ways technology is changing our lives, wherever we are in the world. We meet the people with bright ideas for rethinking the way we work, learn and play, and get hands-on with the products they dream up. We hold tech giants to account for their huge power to affect our lives, and ask who wins, and who loses, in the technology transformation. Tech Life is your guide to a future being made, and remade, at lightning speed in front of our eyes.
Latest episodes

Feb 10, 2023 • 26min
The AI search race is on
Three big players in internet search have announced plans to integrate AI but can Google and Baidu rival Microsoft's team-up with ChatGPT? We also explore how old pictures and video are being shared online as from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. And why officials in the UK and US have named seven Russian men as being behind some of the most infamous cyber crime groups of recent years.(Photo: Microsoft Bing search demonstration at its launch event. Credit: Jason Redmond/AFP)

Feb 3, 2023 • 26min
Sacked Twitter staff take on Elon Musk
Several workers are launching legal action against Twitter. It follows a round of mass lay-offs at the social media firm last year. We also hear about a BBC investigation which has uncovered Egyptian police using dating apps to hunt LGBTQ people. And how a social video trend is reigniting interest in early 2000s digital cameras.(Photo: A mobile phone showing Elon Musk's face on the screen. Credit: Dado Ruvić/Reuters)

Jan 27, 2023 • 26min
Can Ticketmaster 'shake off' the bots?
Shiona McCallum explores what can be done about online bots targeting ticket sales. It’s after Ticketmaster apologised to Taylor Swift fans who missed out on attending her Eras tour, they say they were the target of a cyber-attack by bots. We also delve into VR and AR experiences and learn about the company in India using discarded fishing nets to produce plugs and sockets.(IMAGE:Taylor Swift meets fans in Toronto. Wesley Lapointe / Getty)

Jan 13, 2023 • 26min
MRNA: The tech that transforms cancer treatment?
The boss of Moderna, Stephane Bancel, tells us about how MRNA technology could transform the treatment of cancer. But will the personalised treatment plans it could create only be available in richer nations? Our global health correspondent, Naomi Grimley, provides analysis. Also this week we hear more from the exhibitors at the CES tech show. Analyst Paolo Pescatore tells us what he thinks the event says about the state of global tech. And the founder of Cameo, which took off in the pandemic, on how businesses that thrived in lockdown can survive in the very different world we find ourselves in in 2023.(Image: Messenger RNA techobnology, two Strands of mRNA on abstract background illustration. Credit: Getty Images)

Jan 6, 2023 • 26min
Tech Tent goes to CES
Tech Tent is in Las Vegas, in the US, for CES, one of the world' s biggest and most important tech shows. We discuss the future of VR, and the ethics of AI - and meet the exhibitors hoping they've invented the next big thing. And Silicon Valley reporter James Clayton joins Zoe to take the temperature of the industry after a bumpy year in 2022.(PHOTO: Attendees at CES Photo by Robyn BECK / AFP, via Getty Images)

Dec 30, 2022 • 26min
Tech predictions for 2023
Shiona McCallum and Joe Tidy invite the BBC's tech experts in Africa, Asia, America and Europe to make their predictions for how tech will shape 2023. From gaming to chip wars, and VR to AI they tell you what to look out for in the year ahead, wherever in the world you are.

Dec 22, 2022 • 26min
The Tech Tent Christmas quiz
The technology news team review the year in the form of a quiz. Paul Carter and Liv McMahon take on Nick Kwek and Alasdair Keane to see who remembers most about the best - and worst - tech news moments of 2022. And all four face the ultimate test: can they tell which is the genuine Christmas story, loved for decades - and which has been conjured up in an instant by AI?

Dec 16, 2022 • 26min
The law catches up with Sam Bankman-Fried
Sam Bankman-Fried is arrested and charged days after telling our reporter Joe Tidy he was confident he would avoid prosecution. We discuss the question Joe asked Sam - has he killed crypto? Also this week: the dismayed reaction of the global charities that sat on Twitter's now disbanded Trust and Safety Council. As China goes to the World Trade Organisation over the USA's restrictions on its semi-conductor industry, we ask if there is any end in sight to the so-called chip wars. And, the actor Andonis Anthony on what is it like bringing a video game character to life.(Photo: FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (C) is led away handcuffed by officers of the Royal Bahamas Police Force in Nassau, Bahamas, 13 December 2022. Credit: Mario Duncanson/AFP/Getty Images)

Dec 9, 2022 • 26min
ChatGPT: The AI chatbot everyone is talking to
How do you feel about talking to a computer? New AI chatbot, ChatGPT, passed one million users in just a week but what are its potential uses and limitations. We also hear from tennis icon, Billie Jean King on why she thinks tech will change the way tennis is played. Plus, with Apple extending its self-service repair to a number of European Countries, how do you feel about repairing your iPhone at home? We hear from someone who gave it a go.(Photo: A man using a laptop talks to a chat bot. Credit: Blue Planet Studio/Getty Images)

Dec 2, 2022 • 26min
China's Great Firewall fails
This week journalist and author James Griffiths explains how the Great Firewall of China works - and why it failed to stop the recent wave of protests there. Reporter Alasdair Keane meets the robots that could provide a helping hand to the most vulnerable. And game developer Colin Macdonald reflects on the unlikely origins of Grand Theft Auto, as the game franchise turns 25.(Photo: protestors on the streets of China. Credit: Getty images)