Gadget Lab: Weekly Tech News from WIRED
Technology
The last few months have been rough for Google. Company executives have been in the hot seat because of some embarrassing missteps, the most awkward of which was the bungled launch of Google’s latest image generator. The company launched it as part of its suite of GenAI tools named Gemini, but then quickly pulled it back after the generator produced some seriously weird results.
This week, we welcome WIRED senior writer Paresh Dave back to the show to talk about Gemini’s strange outputs. We also talk about some of the staffing pains Google has been going through recently, including layoffs and accusations of discrimination.
Show Notes:
Read more about the “woke AI” controversy. Read Bloomberg’s story about Google’s layoffs to its trust and safety team. Read Paresh’s story about the Googler with a disability who alleges workplace discrimination at the company. Listen to our broader discussion about tech layoffs on episode 633.
Recommendations:
Paresh recommends the food blog The Fancy Navajo. Lauren recommends Lauren Mechling’s story in The Guardian about journalism; the Le Carré Cast podcast, particularly the episode about the secret life of the famous spy author; and Mike recommends the film collection “And the Razzie Goes to …” on the Criterion Channel.
Paresh can be found on social media @peard33.bsky.social. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.
I Love You, I Hate You, Don’t Call Me
ChatGPT in Schools
We Really Recommend This Episode
Netflix Is No Longer Chill
Real Humans Chat About Chatbots
I Know What You Did With That Bitcoin
Have We Reached Peak Smartphone?
Why the Kids Love TikTok Search
We Need to Talk About Your Stove
Oh, Deere!
CES 2023: We Live Here Now
Is It 2023 Yet?
Plastic Rap
The iPod of Crypto
ChatGPT for You and Me
What the Hell is BNPL?
The State of the Smart Kitchen
What Happens if Twitter Gets Hacked?
Demystifying Mastodon
Tweelon
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Insight Story: Tech Trends Unpacked
Zero-Shot
Fast Forward by Tomorrow Unlocked: Tech past, tech future
The Unbelivable Truth - Series 1 - 26 including specials and pilot
A Prairie Home Companion: News from Lake Wobegon