This Week in Tech with Jeanne Destro

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.

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".

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 Law Professor, Jess Miers.

Miers focuses on the intersection of law and technology,  has actually worked in the tech industry, and has done a great deal of research on issues including online speech, the federal law that has protected big tech from legal judgements for decades known as Section 230, AI, cybercrime, and more:

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 like Meta, Amazon, Oracle, Pinterest, and eBay.

There is also concern that the US Postal Service might run out of money in the next year, because of long-term, and expanding financial problems, exacerbated this week by the news that Amazon, which is their largest customer, is reducing the number of packages it plans to have delivered through USPS.

We've also got a story about how analog vinyl records, which have become increasingly popular among young people raised in the digital age, are now smashing sales records going back decades.

Listen now.

Why Anthropic is suing the US government, a solemn reminder of how even the most advanced technology is no match for Mother Nature, and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine's plea for protecting children from the harmful effects of technology.

That's what's on tap in the latest edition of "This Week in Tech with Jeanne Destro."

Listen now.