For Tech's Sake Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody

Did you know there are bins in Dublin connected to the internet? They are part of what’s known as the internet of things, or IoT, which is turning into something of an internet of trash for reasons other than the bins. To explain this, we have Prof Dirk Pesch, the director of Advance CRT, which is a Science Foundation Ireland centre for research and training focused on advanced networks for sustainable societies.
You can follow Dirk on X (@DirkPesch) and you can find links to the stories and silly things discussed in the episode at ForTechsSake.info.
For Tech’s Sake is a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network, hosted by Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody and produced by Hilary Barry.
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2024 is a major year for voters worldwide, but with tech being used to push all sorts of manipulative messaging and agendas, how can we trust what we see online during an election cycle? In this episode, we have Liz Carolan explaining how she remains (mostly) hopeful in the face of these threats to democracy, and giving us tips on how to muddle through the misinformation.
Liz is a strategist and campaigner for tech and democracy, and the founder of Digital Action, a globally connected organisation campaigning to protect democracy and human rights from digital threats. Subscribe to her updates at TheBriefing.ie and check out ForTechsSake.info for links to the stories discussed in this episode and more resources.
For Tech’s Sake is a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network, hosted by Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody and produced by Hilary Barry.
CONTENT NOTE: This episode contains swearing.
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In this episode of For Tech’s Sake, Elaine and Jenny draw parallels between the tech industry and ‘fast fashion’ – notorious for its short production cycles and disregard for the environment and sustainability. Joining us for this conversation is Luísa Vasconcelos E Sousa, the new country manager of Swappie in Ireland, who introduces us to a more circular alternative for smartphone purchases.
For links to the stories and reports discussed in this episode, and other resources, check out fortechssake.info.
For Tech’s Sake is a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network, hosted by Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody and this episode was guest-produced by Dan Wilcox.
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We’re back! And we’re catching up on all the AI news, good and bad, that’s been happening. And to prove there really are good applications of AI out there, we spoke to Dr Mark O’Sullivan, co-founder and CEO of NeuroBell, which is developing a device using AI to help detect seizures in newborns. You can find out more about their work at NeuroBell.com and on Silicon Republic.
You can also check out the following stories discussed in this episode:
— The problematic Tessa chatbot: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/06/08/1180838096/an-eating-disorders-chatbot-offered-dieting-advice-raising-fears-about-ai-in-hea
— Tyler Perry’s studio pull-out: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/tyler-perry-ai-alarm-1235833276/
— OpenAI’s Sora videos: https://openai.com/sora
— Why WPP’s partnership with Nvidia is bad news for creators: https://businessplus.ie/tech/ad-tech-nvidia/
— Joe Biden robocalls: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/fake-phone-calls-ai-voice-joe-biden-new-hampshire-us-elections
— Trump’s AI-generated Black friends: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68440150
— Jenny’s interview with Dr Pallavi Tiwari: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/ai-machine-learning-pallavi-tiwari
— AI for Māori language preservation: https://www.newscientist.com/article/0-how-artificial-intelligence-is-helping-keep-indigenous-languages-alive/
— The story behind the development of Charlie Bird’s voice tech: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/future-human-keith-davey-trevor-vaugh-voice-banking-motor-neurone-disease-charlie-bird
— AI for flood warnings: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/flood-warning-system-ai-researchers-ceadar
You can find Conor Nolan’s excellent tribute to the Glasgow Willy Wonka debacle on Instagram (@cheesenolan), and we’ll share the hilarious AI-generated obituary on socials so you should follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.
Next week, we’ll have a special bonus episode for HeadStuff+ Community members, and then we’ll be back in a fortnight with an all-new episode.
For Tech’s Sake is a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network, hosted by Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody and produced by Hilary Barry. If you want to support The HeadStuff Podcast Network, for our sake, for tech’s sake and for many more great podcasts, visit HeadStuffPodcasts.com.
CONTENT NOTE: This episode contains a brief discussion on disordered eating.
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This week it’s just Elaine and Jenny as we round up 2023’s tech news – which took a long time to get through! And even at that, things have changed since this recording and the EU AI Act did in fact enter the next stage of its development, and we’ll be following up on that in the new year.
In the meantime, we have plenty of suggestions to entertain you until we come back with season three. First of all, some episodes to listen back to:
— v1.1: Space is ace (with Prof Tom Ray and Dr Patrick Kavanagh, two Irish scientists who worked on the James Webb Space Telescope) https://headstuffpodcasts.com/show/for-techs-sake/episode/v1-1-space-is-ace/
— v1.4_bonus: The Elon-phant in the room https://headstuffpodcasts.com/show/for-techs-sake/episode/v1-4_bonus-the-elon-phant-in-the-room/
— v1.5: AI & U (with Dr Abeba Birhane from the UN advisory panel on AI) https://headstuffpodcasts.com/show/for-techs-sake/episode/v1-5-ai-u/
— v1.7: Max power (with battery scientist Dr Valeria Nico) https://headstuffpodcasts.com/show/for-techs-sake/episode/v1-7-max-power/
— v2.7: Be smart and break things (with Dr David McKeown, EIRSAT-1 lead engineer and Dublin Maker co-founder) https://headstuffpodcasts.com/show/for-techs-sake/episode/v2-7-be-smart-and-break-things/
— v2.7_bonus: Even more from David on EIRSAT-1 and space-tech https://headstuffpodcasts.com/show/for-techs-sake/episode/v2-7_bonus-dr-david-mckeown-rocket-scientist-and-dublin-maker/
— v2.13: Money talk (with Rachel O’Dwyer, author of Tokens) https://headstuffpodcasts.com/show/for-techs-sake/episode/v2-13-money-talk/
You might also enjoy reading the New Yorker’s report on the ‘Turkey-Shoot Clusterfuck’, or you can get lost in space while gazing at these images from the James Webb Space Telescope:
— Cat’s Eye Nebula: https://www.jameswebbdiscovery.com/astronomy-news/webb-telescopes-exploration-of-cats-eye-nebula-and-its-galactic-impact
— Pandora’s Cluster: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/james-webb-telescope-pandora-cluster-galaxy-image-nasa
— Tarantula Nebula: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/james-webb-space-telescope-tarantula-nebula
For Tech’s Sake is a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network, hosted by Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody. Thank you to Hilary Barry for production, Matt Mahon and Dall-E for our graphics, Claudia Grandez for her social media support, and all at the HeadStuff team.
If you want to support The HeadStuff Podcast Network, for our sake, for tech’s sake and for many more great podcasts, visit HeadStuffPodcasts.com.
And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For a sustainable future, farmers need to learn to work smarter, not harder. That’s according to our guest Padraig Hennessy, CEO of agri-tech start-up Terra NutriTECH and chair of AgTech Ireland. And while ‘smart’ often means internet-connected devices and technological wizardry, there’s a lot more to getting agri-tech right than that.
You can find out more about Terra Nutri-tech and the other agritech start-ups we mentioned on SiliconRepublic.com and here are some more links on topics we discussed:
— The cluck translator: https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-chickens-emotions-research-translation-japan-2023-9?r=US&IR=T
— The study on pig emotions: https://science.ku.dk/english/press/news/2022/pig-grunts-reveal-their-emotions
— The hacked John Deere tractor: https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/15/23306650/def-con-hacker-john-deere-tractors-run-doom-right-to-repair
— The study on farmer burnout: https://www.independent.ie/farming/news/more-than-25pc-of-irish-farmers-are-burnt-out-new-research-finds/a1365570023.html
— The right to repair vote: https://www.rte.ie/news/2023/1121/1417605-right-to-repair/
— And our recent robotics episode: https://pod.fo/e/1fd892
We’ll release Padraig’s interview in its entirety for HeadStuff+ Community members next week, and we’ll be back in a fortnight with an all-new episode.
For Tech’s Sake is a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network, hosted by Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody. Thank you to Hilary Barry for production, Matt Mahon and Dall-E for our graphics, Claudia Grandez for her social media support, and all at the HeadStuff team.
If you want to support The HeadStuff Podcast Network, for our sake, for tech’s sake and for many more great podcasts, visit HeadStuffPodcasts.com.
And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices