Podcast
Tech Life
Hosted by BBC World Service · EN
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.
25episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Teaching in the AI world
1w ago00:26:29Tap to summarizeWe speak to Google about the introduction of artificial intelligence into classroom learning, and what they think this will mean for teachers and pupils.Also this week: Shiona McCallum reports on a new artificial limb which is making a big difference to the life of one man who has a very personal story to tell. And find out about the engineering technology that's being used to check the heart health of unborn babies as they grow in the womb. Presenter: Shiona McCallum Producer: Tom Quinn(Photo: A female teacher sits at a classroom desk with a female high school pupil looking at a laptop screen. Credit: Getty Images)
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Myth or mythos: Is the AI cyber threat real?
2w ago00:26:29Tap to summarizeFrom fears that a powerful new AI could supercharge hacking, to the ransomware gangs holding our data hostage, we talk to a former FBI expert about the latest cyber threats.Also in Tech Life this week: we hear from a listener who is using dermatology tech to educate schoolchildren on the importance of staying safe in the sun. Presenter: Chris Vallance Producer: Tom Quinn(Photo: Numerous computer screens are displaying green-coloured code and a finger pointing at a smartphone screen. Credit: Getty Images)
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The AI pothole hunter
3w ago00:26:29Tap to summarizeDrivers and cyclists know the dangers of potholes and broken road signs. A Swedish company is fitting vehicles with cameras, and using AI to spot potential problems and defects. We speak to the CEO to find out how it works.Also in Tech Life this week: some think the internet's business model is obsolete. We talk to a big tech leader on what might replace it. And a young entrepreneur, who learned to code without a computer, tells us about his AI teaching app that will work without the internet.Presenter: Chris Vallance Producer: Tom Quinn(Image: Deep potholes have formed on a tarmac road. They are deep enough to catch rainwater. A car is about to drive over them. Credit: Getty Images)
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Could this tech help millions of us sleep better?
May 500:26:31Tap to summarizeAn anti-snoring device is being trialled as a potential solution to sleep apnoea, a condition which affects millions and can have wide-ranging consequences on daily life. We speak to the team behind the trial. Also on the programme, two health tech entrepreneurs whose personal experiences informed their products: A man who had a heart attack at 44 and now works to help reduce hospital recovery times, and a woman who lost a close family member to breast cancer and is working to help inform women in Pakistan to spot the signs and get help.Presenter: Shiona McCallum Producers: Tom Quinn and Imran Rahman-Jones(Image: A man asleep in bed with a black boomerang-shaped device attached to his neck. Credit: Zeus Sleeps)
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The workers in the engine room of big tech
Apr 2800:26:29Tap to summarizeWe look at revelations about outsourced tech workers in Kenya, and try to find out why more than a thousand of them have been made redundant.Also this week: are you getting the best out of artificial intelligence? Could changing "how" you communicate with AI make a difference? We speak to an author and put his recommendations to an AI test. And we hear from a company turning lamp-posts into data centres.Presenter: Chris Vallance Producer: Tom Quinn(Image: The words "Meta AI" are displayed on a smartphone screen. The phone is resting on a laptop keyboard. Credit: Reuters)
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A hologram to remember: Pam and Bill’s love story
Apr 2100:26:27Tap to summarizePam Cronrath tells her deeply personal story of creating a lifelike speaking hologram of her husband, Bill, after he passed away. Pam wanted to honour a promise she'd made to Bill, for a "super wake". And so Bill's hologram appeared in front of two hundred guests at the event, and surprised them with a verbal greeting.Also this week: if you've had a knee operation and have a smart device monitoring your health, the doctor might want to see you now. And virtual glucose monitoring tech for diabetics - with the help of AI.Presenter: Shiona McCallum Producer: Tom Quinn(Image: Pam Cronrath is standing beside the hologram of her husband, Bill. Credit: George Johnsen)
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Sharing the road with driverless cars
Apr 1400:26:29Tap to summarizeChris Vallance finds out about research to help self-driving cars communicate with other road users. Hear what happened when he came into contact with a virtual vehicle!Also this week: you've probably seen the app on TV news recently, but how does MarineTraffic know which ships are doing what in the Strait of Hormuz? And Shiona McCallum checks out changes to Roblox age checks for children.Presenter: Chris Vallance Producer: Tom Quinn(Photo: Illustration of a driverless car on a main road approaching a pedestrian crossing, with people walking in front of and around the side of the car and sensors detectimg its surroundings. Credit: Getty Images)
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The problem with AI
Apr 700:26:28Tap to summarizeCan we trust AI? Its answers are not always correct. And it only knows what it's been trained on, so some of its responses can contain bias. Tech experts offer us some solutions.Also this week: digital twinning is helping the restoration of a three hundred year old palace. And the joy of mundane video gaming!Presenter: Shiona McCallum Producer: Tom Quinn(Image: A person is typing on a laptop computer. Digital icons for AI, ticks (checkmarks) and warning signs float above the keyboard. Credit: Getty Images)
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Putting polluters in court
Mar 3100:26:29Tap to summarizeClimate change is making devastating extreme weather more common. Tech Life's Yasmin Morgan-Griffiths explores the science that could help communities take polluters to court.Also this week: we look at whether the boom in AI is causing a boom in electronic waste. And as astronauts head back to the Moon, we meet a veteran NASA space robot that's on a mission to return home.Presenter: Chris Vallance Producer: Tom Quinn(Photo: Smoke billows from a chimney at a coal-fired power station in Eastern Europe. The light of the sun is obscured by the dense dark smoke clouds. Credit: Reuters)
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Recommending: 13 Minutes Presents Artemis II
Mar 3000:04:34Tap to summarizeHumans are returning to the Moon - hear all about it on the BBC’s space podcast. 13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II is following Nasa’s mission to loop around the Moon, with a new episode every day. Starts on Monday 30 March 2026. Search for 13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Follow or subscribe now so you don’t miss an episode. Nasa plans to return to the Moon for the first time in more than half a century. Its Artemis II mission aims to send four astronauts to loop around the Moon. They are planning to go further from Earth than any human in history. The story of Artemis II will be told by space scientist, Maggie Aderin and British astronaut, Tim Peake, with regular guest, US space journalist Kristin Fisher. 13 Minutes is the BBC’s space podcast, telling epic space stories, including the first Moon landing, Apollo 13 and the space shuttle. Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music.
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