For Tech’s Sake

The modern-day panopticon is not a circular prison with a central guard tower, it’s a network of connected devices capturing and tracking our every waking minute and collecting copious amounts of data to share with the highest bidders – or the most fascistic authorities. In this episode, Kelly and Elaine weigh up the psychological effects of a culture where you can never dance like no one is watching.

*** Good things we recommend ***
>> Slow down and watch the world go by (literally) with Ambient Earth
>> Read Kelly’s piece on The Journal all about this topic
>> And Patrick Freyne’s article on the normalisation of location tracking among family and friends
>> Listen back to our episode where we asked a search technologies expert if phones are really listening to you (even though we are not even sure any more)
>> And one of our very earliest episodes, which looked at tech-facilitated abuse

*** More from us ***
Kelly’s Substack: kellysrubbish.substack.com
FTS blog: for-techs-sake.ghost.io
FTS TikTok: fortechssakepod
FTS Instagram: fortechssakepod
FTS Bluesky: fortechssakepod.bsky.social
FTS UpScrolled: fortechssakepod
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Are data centres central to the Irish economy? Or is that just some inflated bluster from the government on behalf of Big Tech? A recent report from Maynooth University has debunked some of the government’s claims around the benefits we reap from being Europe’s data centre dumping ground, so we asked two of its co-authors, Patrick Bresnihan and Patrick Brodie, to talk to us about Ireland’s data centre dependency, and the motivating factors behind it.

*** Good things we recommend ***
>> Read the report, How We All Pay for Big Tech: The social, economic, and environmental costs costs of data centres in Ireland
>> Check out the programme for Beta Festival 2026
>> Pick up a copy of the two Patricks’ book, From the Bog to the Cloud
>> Check out the Workers’ AI Counter Summit in Dublin this weekend

*** More from us ***
Kelly’s Substack: kellysrubbish.substack.com
FTS blog: for-techs-sake.ghost.io
FTS TikTok: fortechssakepod
FTS Instagram: fortechssakepod
FTS Bluesky: fortechssakepod.bsky.social
FTS UpScrolled: fortechssakepod
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Kelly and Elaine are talking about the emergence of the ‘AI shelf’, where products are marketed specifically at large language models (LLMs) so that they are recommended by chatbots and even purchased by automated ‘agents’. And their question is: Can you trust automated purchase decisions in a broken content ecosystem?

*** Good things we recommend ***
>> Learn more about AI manipulation tactics from ‘the Sophie Morris of chatbots’, WetClaude (AKA Deana Burke), on TikTok and Instagram
>> And check our her newsletter
>> Celebrate ICCL’s recent win against Big Tech
>> Listen back to our episodes on trend simulation and online shopping scams

*** More from us ***
Kelly’s Substack: kellysrubbish.substack.com
FTS blog: for-techs-sake.ghost.io
FTS TikTok: fortechssakepod
FTS Instagram: fortechssakepod
FTS Bluesky: fortechssakepod.bsky.social
FTS UpScrolled: fortechssakepod
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we dust off our corkboard and thread to connect the dots between problematic Silicon Valley ideologies and the doomsday AI talking points that have been gripping the world of late. Yes, this explanation of a cult-like culture that has infiltrated the highest echelons of business and government is going to sound like a conspiracy theory, but bear with us as we unpack the history of ‘superintelligence’ fantasies (and nightmares) in this bumper episode, revealing how every scary story about AI lately stems from known issues and very human failings.

*** Good things we recommend ***
>> Watch the Ghost in the Machine documentary
>> Set up a daily games challenge with family and friends with PlayUs on Android or iOS
>> Let us know what you think of the pod (and if you want an FTS PlayUs group) via fortechssakepod@gmail.com
>> Better yet, rate, review and share the podcast with anyone you think might like it

*** More from us ***
Kelly’s Substack: kellysrubbish.substack.com
FTS blog: for-techs-sake.ghost.io
FTS TikTok: fortechssakepod
FTS Instagram: fortechssakepod
FTS Bluesky: fortechssakepod.bsky.social
FTS UpScrolled: fortechssakepod
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the impending release of GTA VI looming large over the video games industry, Kelly and Elaine discuss how the trend towards disc-less gaming represents a loss of consumer power and ownership for gamers. But good gaming is not out of lives just yet and an unlikely Steam-powered hero might level up and save the day.

*** Good things we recommend ***
>> This clip of ‘Lara Croft’ on The Late Late Toy Show
>> The Steam Machine, though Kelly’s full review will follow later
>> Seán Mongey’s people-friendly Culture Night guide
>> Becoming an Apartheid Free Zone

*** More from us ***
Kelly’s Substack: kellysrubbish.substack.com
FTS blog: for-techs-sake.ghost.io
FTS TikTok: fortechssakepod
FTS Instagram: fortechssakepod
FTS Bluesky: fortechssakepod.bsky.social
FTS UpScrolled: fortechssakepod
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.