FT Tech Tonic

Financial Times

We are in the midst of a digital revolution, where the line between our physical world and cyberspace is blurring. Tech Tonic is the show that investigates the promises and perils of this new technological age.

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261 episodes
Updated July 15

Episodes261

Newest first

Apr 4, 2022 · 30 min
US-China Tech Race: Spies & Lies (Part Two)
Is China’s rapid advancement in technology driven by theft of US trade secrets?
Mar 28, 2022 · 31 min
US-China Tech Race: Spies & Lies (Part One)
What brought the FBI to arrest a Chinese-American scientist in the middle of the night?
Mar 25, 2022 · 1 min
Coming soon, season 3, The US/China Tech Race
The US and China are in a race for global technological supremacy. Who’s in the lead and what are the implications for the rest of the world?
Aug 16, 2021 · 23 min
AI with military characteristics
Last year, the Pentagon watched closely as a human fighter pilot lost to an AI-powered adversary in a simulated dogfight. The US military is working to innovate faster as technology changes the nature of warfare. But many worry it has already fallen be...
Aug 2, 2021 · 21 min
Brainstorm
In this episode of Tech Tonic, we ask whether AI's potential in the fight against the climate crisis justifies the massive amounts of energy it takes to run these systems. The computing power required to train AI concerns some researchers, who hav...
Jul 19, 2021 · 28 min
You Can’t Always Get What you Quant
From picking the best stocks to listening in on earnings calls, AI-powered systems are changing finance. But how big are the rewards, really? And what are the risks? In this episode Robin Wigglesworth tells us how AI has been used in investing, what ha...
Jul 5, 2021 · 22 min
Trust me, I’m a robot
What does it mean for AI to augment human perception? In this episode the FT’s Madhumita Murgia takes us to a small village in rural India where AI is being used to help doctors better diagnose tuberculosis and looks at a healthcare system where it is ...
Jun 21, 2021 · 27 min
Gamechanger
In this first episode of ourselves five-part series on AI, the FT’s innovation editor and host John Thornhill talks to some of the biggest names in AI research including the CEO of Google's DeepMind Demis Hassabis. He explores some of the latest i...
Jun 13, 2021 · 44 sec
Season 2 coming soon
There is a huge amount of hype surrounding AI. It powers technology that can detect disease through scent, translate between languages in milliseconds, and write music almost as good as Bach. Yet this vast potential also stirs a great deal of fear. The...
Mar 29, 2021 · 25 min
Levelling the playing field
The digital revolution will be shaped by whoever controls our data. What does this mean for consumers and businesses? Tim Bradshaw, the FT’s global tech correspondent, looks at the increasing power of ecommerce giants. The idea of a few big companies c...
Mar 22, 2021 · 24 min
The digital graduate
About 1.4bn students in more than 130 countries have spent parts of the past year adapting to learning online. The crisis has put the education sector into overdrive, and accelerated the way we use technology to study. For adult learners, distance lear...
Mar 15, 2021 · 22 min
Chasing digital footprints
Early in the pandemic, Taiwan legally gathered location data from more than 600,000 of its citizens to stem the spread of coronavirus. South Korea, another east Asian democracy, has similar legal measures in place. How far are those of us who live in d...
Mar 8, 2021 · 22 min
Disrupting the hospital
Could a piece of high-tech cloth keep Covid-19 patients out of hospital and allow them to be monitored at home? The FT’s pharma and biotech correspondent, Hannah Kuchler, reports on the wearable technology changing healthcare during the pandemic, and e...
Mar 1, 2021 · 19 min
The future is here now
Our lives are increasingly moving from the offline to the online world, leaving a long trail of data in our wake. These data can be used to wield economic and political power, and to define us as communities and as individuals. What are the opportuniti...
Feb 26, 2021 · 46 sec
A new season of Tech Tonic
The show that investigates the promises and perils of our digital age is back with a new season. FT innovation editor John Thornhill will take us into the emergency rooms, city centres and even cruise ships where tech innovation is solving some of the ...
Dec 16, 2019 · 31 min
AI research and big tech
John Thornhill talks to David Barber, director of the UCL Centre for Artificial Intelligence in London, about how academic researchers can work with business and the wider community to create the best outcomes for society.
Dec 9, 2019 · 22 min
Niklas Zennström and Tom Wehmeier on the state of European tech
Niklas Zennström, founder of Skype and Atomico and Tom Wehmeier, Atomico partner and author of The State of European Tech report, talk to the FT's John Thornhill about whether Europe is becoming a tech hub.
Dec 2, 2019 · 26 min
Dave Ferrucci on teaching computers to think
Dave Ferrucci, CEO, founder and chief scientist of Elemental Cognition, talks to Richard Waters, the FT's West Coast editor, about his efforts to train computers to use language to reason.
Nov 25, 2019 · 23 min
Google's Kate Brandt on sustainable tech
Kate Brandt talks to John Thornhill about Google’s drive to minimise and offset the energy used in its operations and supply chains, and about its environmental insights explorer which helps cities find ways to reduce their carbon emissions.
Nov 18, 2019 · 26 min
Digital technologies and the developing world
Economist Stefan Dercon tells John Thornhill about the findings of a research project he led, showing how, used wisely, technology can enable development, rather than just replace labour and put people out of work. Read his report here