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This Week in Tech with Jeanne Destro

Jeanne Destro

WAKR's Jeanne Destro discusses a new tech topic each week!

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  • 155 episodes
  • Updated Friday

Episodes155

Newest first
  • Friday · 13 min

    Sci-Fi Scenario Gets Real As AI Goes Rogue-Twice!

    From soft-spoken but creepily bossy HAL on 2001 a Space Odyssey, to Arnold Schwarzenegger's killer robot on The Terminator, we've long been worried about out of control artificial intelligence. But so far, at least until this month; we never saw any actual evidence that what we feared could happen, actually did happen. Now, however; it has, twice--from our nation's two top AI companies--Open AI, the maker of ChatGPT, and Anthropic, the maker of Claude. So today, we're going to talk about how s

  • July 25 · 20 min

    Super Sensors: Next-Gen Quantum Research Gets Big Boost At Ohio State University

    From the relatively low-tech thermostat that tells your home HVAC system when to turn up the AC, to the incredibly complex strategic early warning systems that help keep our nation safe from nuclear missiles; sensors are a vital part of our daily lives. In fact, they are so ubiquitous that you just take them for granted, from the motion sensor that opens the door at the grocery store, to the GPS chip built into your phone. But what if there was something so mind-bindingly different and fantas

  • July 10 · 28 min

    There Ought To Be A Law!: Why Congress Needs To Regulate AI

    While there is no doubt that AI is a transformative and extremely useful technology; there is also a lot to well-founded concern about how it is being deployed, where the resources needed to support its proliferation are coming from, and who is in charge of ensuring that it won’t destroy our economy, democracy, and global security. In Ohio, a number of cities in our area, including Cleveland, Berea, Twinsburg, and North Ridgeville, have put a moratorium on the construction of new data centers,

  • June 28 · 42 min

    Federal Court Affirms Ohio’s Social Media Parental Notification Act: Now What?

    Ohio lawmakers made it very clear they wanted to protect children from online harms back in 2023, when they passed a law mandating that minors under the age of 16 could not use social media unless they obtained parental consent. But just one month after the new law went into effect in 2024; a big tech advocacy group called NetChoice went to federal court and obtained a preliminary injunction keeping the law from going into effect, because, they argued; it violated children’s First Amendment rig

  • June 21 · 12 min

    Goliath V. Goliath: Big Tech and Big Government Duke It Out

    This week, we’re looking at the profound impact that technology is having on all of our lives; sometimes, in very unexpected ways. From a social media ban for children under 16 in the UK, to President Trump’s order aimed at keeping foreign nationals from having access too Anthropic’s newest and most powerful AI models; we’re once again talking about people all over the globe are trying to grapple with tech forces seemingly beyond anyone’s control–including the people who make it. We’ll also t

  • June 12 · 33 min

    Lady Madonna, Who Will Pay the Rent?: The Looming AI Jobpocalpyse

    I was inspired to write this story by the tumultuous events at CBS News last week, which resulted in the high profile firings of several key members of the 60 Minutes staff, including longtime correspondent, Scott Pelley. The internal intrigue spilled out onto the world stage, when details leaked about the fiery staff meeting in which Pelley told his new boss that he wasn't qualified to run their team. Then, he did a lengthy podcast interview with the New York Times, in which he disputed the ne

  • June 7 · 14 min

    One Thing Leads To Another: How Ohio Tech and Energy Concerns Reflect Global Disruption

    This week's story is about the interconnected web of global technology and energy production, disruption, and politics. But more than that; it is about how Ohioans are caught up in that web, pushing back against it, trying to navigate it, and worrying about how it is affecting their everyday lives. Listen now to hear about how the lack of oil flowing from the Middle East because of the war with Iran, is affecting Ohioans with higher gas prices, and the possibility that if state and federal pol

  • May 22 · 21 min

    Drones Are The New Black

    You can dress them up, you can dress them down, and you can use them anywhere. Drones are technology's new little black dress; delivering everything from bombs, to life-saving medicine,  and this week we're going to talk to some experts from Northeast Ohio who are helping train the students who will be the backbone of tomorrow's professional drone workforce. Our featured guests are Dr. Manigandan "Mani" Kannan, who is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Akron,

  • May 18 · 11 min

    Small Particles, Big Results: Quantum Cybersecurity Breakthrough At Ohio State University

    While the US Government mends fences with Anthropic, which recently introduced an AI tool known as "Mythos",which they claim is so powerful it can punch holes in even the most powerful cybersecurity safeguards today; we're heading down an entirely new path with even faster, stronger, and better technology. That's because it is based on quantum physics, and as such;  is capable of computational speed and complex operations that can run circles around every kind of system and program that we have

  • May 18 · 11 min

    Small Particles, Big Results: Quantum Cybersecurity Breakthrough At Ohio State University

    While the US Government mends fences with Anthropic, which recently introduced an AI tool known as "Mythos", which they claim is so powerful it can punch holes in even the most powerful cybersecurity safeguards today; we're heading down an entirely new path with even faster, stronger, and better technology. That's because it is based on quantum physics, and as such;  is capable of computational speed and complex operations that can run circles around every kind of system and program that we hav

  • May 15 · 11 min

    Small Particles, Big Results: Quantum Cybersecurity Breakthrough At OSU

    While the US Government mends fences with Anthropic, which recently introduced an AI tool known as "Mythos", which they claim is so powerful it can punch holes in even the most powerful cybersecurity safeguards today; we're heading down an entirely new path with even faster, stronger, and better technology. That's because it is based on quantum physics, and as such;  is capable of computational speed and complex operations that can run circles around every kind of system and program that we hav

  • May 8 · 18 min

    I Just Want To Bang The (3-D Printed) Drum All Day!

    Hats off to Todd Rundgren, who inspired today's headline with his ever-popular 1982 classic hit, "Bang The Drum", because that's certainly what I'm doing (at least in my head) today, thinking about a unique fusion of art, music, and technology that's happening right here in Northeast Ohio. While Akron used to be known as the "Rubber Capital of The World"; it is now considered the nation's premier polymer tech hub, with millions of dollars pouring in from both the federal government and private

  • May 2 · 15 min

    AI Battle Royale: Who Will Win?

    In what could be a weeks-long trial; the world's richest man, Elon Musk, is squaring off against Open AI CEO, Sam Altman, over whether or not Musk, who voluntarily walked away from a seat on the Open AI Board in 2018, deserves $134 billion dollars in compensation for alleged harm. That is a big ask, and according to reports this week, including by NBC News, is also leading to bigger questions such as "Will AI lead to the extinction of the human race?". But, as you'll hear now in my conversatio

  • April 24 · 18 min

    Beam Me Up!: Killing Cancer With Rays Of Light

    The next time you apply sunscreen to project your skin from potentially cancer-inducing Ultraviolet rays from the sun; consider this: rays of light are actually being used right now to kill skin cancer, and may one day be used on other forms of cancer deep inside the body. This promising new development is being explored by a research team at the Cleveland Clinic, headed by Dr. Vijay Krishna, who tells us all about their ground-breaking research, in this week's edition of This Week In Tech With

  • April 17 · 24 min

    One AI To Rule Them All

    Will the new Anthropic "Mythos" AI model be a blessing, or a curse? Well, that depends on who wields what could be the most powerful cyber weapon ever created, according to a tech expert we talked to on this week's edition of "This Week in Tech with Jeanne Destro". We'll also be talking about an escalating backlash to AI in general, and data centers in particular, why you should always double-check the medical advice you get from AI, violence aimed at those who aim to further AI development.,

  • April 10 · 14 min

    Scary, Sublime, Celestial: An Amazing Week in Tech

    This week, an AI model from Anthropic so powerful its creators are limiting its release, a lawsuit claiming Open AI’s Chat GPT was behind a mass shooting, farmers notching a win for the right to repair, and NASA astronauts once again orbiting the moon.

  • April 4 · 8 min

    The Eyes Have It: New High Tech Vision Research

    Did you know that the cells in your eyes can "talk" to one another? Well, they can, according to some new research going on right now at the University of Akron. Listen now, and find out more from U-A Biology Chair, Dr. Jordan Renna. He's our special guest, on "This Week in Tech With Jeanne Destro".

  • March 28 · 31 min

    Juries To Big Tech: Stop Hurting Our Kids!

    This week, the business landscape in which big tech companies operate dramatically shifted, as juries in two different states awarded big monetary judgements to plaintiffs who alleged the social media giants Meta and Google were harming children. While the two cases—one in California, and the other; in New Mexico–were similar, they were not the same. So, to get some clarity on what was claimed in each, and how the juries made their decisions; I talked about it with University of Akron Visiting

  • March 20 · 11 min

    Data Center Pushback, and the Return of Vinyl

    AI continues to stir controversy nationwide this week, as more communities, including some in Ohio, are pushing back against huge data centers that support AI, which use a lot of resources, but bring very few jobs to the communities in which they are located. In addition, despite all the hype about how great AI will be for efficiency and possible advances in many areas including science and medicine; there are growing concerns about job losses, with thousands already cut from big Tech companies