Today in Tech

With years of hype around it, the world of robotics is facing a lot more disillusionment in 2023, especially compared to the hype around generative artificial intelligence. Keith chats with Eugene Demaitre, editorial director at WTWH Media’s robotics publications, about the good, bad and ugly news around robotics, automation and autonomous vehicles in 2023.

While Epic Games was able to gain victory in its lawsuit against Google for app store antitrust policies, they continue to reframe the market with partnerships that could potentially exploit users with higher microtransactions. Meanwhile, a game developer pulls a bait-and-switch with its high-profile game before announcing it’s going out of business. Our Today in Tech team covers these stories and others (including the likelihood of them attending a Kiss avatar concert) in this technology news roundup episode.

A new survey from Appdome says 40% of respondents have either fallen victim or know someone who has been victimized from a mobile fraud or mobile device attack. Raising awareness about security of mobile apps can have a big impact on a brand’s reputation, and the spotlight is shining on developers who build mobile apps, not the device makers or network carriers. Keith talks with Chris Roeckl, chief product officer at Appdome, about the survey.

With artificial intelligence technology that can clone people’s voices, companies are wondering whether voice biometrics that can better authenticate a customer’s voice will be able to stop bad actors from gaining access to financial data. Keith chats with Dimitris Vassos, CEO and founder of Omilia, about how cybercriminals are using voice cloning tools to infiltrate customer call centers and other systems.

Billionaire Elon Musk goes after Disney’s Bob Iger, claiming blackmail for advertisers moving away from Twitter/X, right in the middle of the ‘launch’ of the Cybertruck. Discussing the week’s technology news with Keith is guest co-host Jeremy Duvall, CEO of 7Factor Software. Also discussed: Instagram’s algorithm issues are troubling for showing content to child predators, and Spotify gets praise for its annual Wrapped song-listening package.

In a year where generative artificial intelligence grabbed a lot of the top technology news headlines, Apple made some impressive gains with its hardware announcements, including the long-awaited Vision Pro. Computerworld’s Ken Mingis and Macworld’s Michael Simon join Keith in this episode to go over what worked, what didn’t and what we can expect from Apple in 2024.

Cyberattacks continue to threaten healthcare systems around the world, putting patients at risk and further eroding trust in healthcare providers. Can anything be done to reduce the risk, or will going to the doctor or hospital be a roll of the dice when it comes to personal and private data, as well as health equipment? Keith chats with Wes Wright, the chief healthcare officer at Ordr.net, about the ongoing threat of ransomware for healthcare systems.

YouTube announces policies that aim to crack down on AI-generated content, while at the same time offering musicians the ability to create AI versions of their voices. Guest co-host Jeremy Duvall joins the crew to talk about this news and other topics, including OpenAI putting ChatGPT-Plus subscriptions on hold, and why more Americans are getting their news from TikTok.

One year ago, ChatGPT was released to the world and generative AI tools have disrupted the way we work, play, draw and create. Keith chats with resident AI experts Nicholas Mattei (Tulane University) and Mike Mason (Thoughtworks) about what was good, bad and ugly around ChatGPT and genAI, and what we can expect in 2024.

Microsoft has spent $13.1B investing in generative artificial intelligence, but early indications of Copilot for Windows suggests that it’s nothing more than an updated version of Clippy. Can other versions of Copilot, such as 365 or enterprise users, be more successful? Keith chats with Computerworld’s Preston Gralla about his annoyance with the latest AI tools from Microsoft.