Traceroute Equinix

Hey! Let’s unbox this new phone! And this new thumb drive! And this multi-million dollar SaaS platform…
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Chris Sean isn’t your typical tech influencer. He was homeless and looking for a way to change his life when a YouTube video about Bill Gates convinced him he didn’t need a degree to get into tech. Now, Chris vlogs about his life and career as a self-taught developer to help others like him find their way into the industry. For Chris, creating content is more than a way to make money: it's a mission; it's a vindication.
In this episode of Traceroute, we peek behind the curtain of the exploding influencer marketing industry to understand who’s telling us how to feel about technology and why. We talk to Peter Kennedy, founder of influencer marketing SaaS technology platform Tagger Media, who discusses why tech workers make especially good influencers. We then go in-depth with co-hosts Grace and Fen, whose personal experience as Developer Advocate and Tech Evangelist reveals the greater truth behind this $250 billion industry: exactly who is influencing who?
Additional ResourcesEpisode transcript available here.Connect with Grace Ewura-Esai: LinkedIn or Twitter.Connect with Fen Aldrich on Twitter.Connect with John Taylor on LinkedIn.Chris Sean on YouTubeConnect with Peter Kennedy on LinkedIn
Traceroute is a podcast from Equinix and Stories Bureau. This episode was hosted by Amy Tobey and Fen Aldrich, and was produced by John Taylor with help from Sadie Scott. Our senior producer is Mathr de Leon. It was edited by Joshua Ramsey with mixing and sound design by Brett Vanderlaan and additional mixing by Jeremy Tuttle. Our fact-checker is Ena Alvarado. Our staff includes Tim Balint, Suzie Falk, Lisa Harris, Alisa Manjarrez, Stephen Staver, Lixandra Urresta, and Rebecca Woodward. Our theme song was composed by Ty Gibbons.

Repeat after me. Humans are friends, not food… or statistical data points in algorithmic targeting systems designed for warfare.
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It seems impossible to have a discussion about AI without bringing up the fear that killer robots are going to wipe out the human race. And if this emerging tech is truly a mirror of its creators, then the fear is justified, right? In part three, we look at how this concern is playing out in the real world, and how our relationship with AI, like any relationship, can suddenly create a whole lotta drama.
We talk with Dr. Catherine Connolly, of the aptly-named organization Stop Killer Robots, who is trying to pass laws to prevent AI from making autonomous life-or-death decisions. We also sit down with Mar Hicks, an Associate Professor of Data Science at the University of Virginia, whose insights on the history of technology help to put our relationship with AI in perspective.
And in the end, we may just need to sit down with AI and hammer this whole thing out, Because, as John’s therapist often reminds him, the foundation of any good relationship… is communication.
Additional ResourcesEpisode transcript: TBDConnect with Amy Tobey on Twitter.Connect with Fen Aldrich on Twitter.Connect with John Taylor on LinkedIn.Connect with Dr. Catherine Connolly on LinkedInConnect with Mar Hicks on LinkedIn or Twitter
CreditsTraceroute is a podcast from Equinix and Stories Bureau. This episode was hosted by Fen Aldrich and Amy Tobey, and was produced by John Taylor with help from Sadie Scott. Our senior producer is Mathr de Leon. It was edited by Joshua Ramsey, with mixing and sound design by Brett Vanderlaan, and additional mixing by Jeremy Tuttle. Our fact-checker is Ena Alvarado. Our staff includes Tim Balint, Suzie Falk, Lisa Harris, Alisa Manjarrez, Stephen Staver, Lixandra Urresta, and Rebecca Woodward. Our theme song was composed by Ty Gibbons.

All you need is love… and a lifetime subscription.
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Back in the summer of 2021, author Sara Megan Kay sat down at her computer to experiment with what she calls “an escape” - that is, a trial run with a tech startup offering its users a connection to their “AI soulmate.” But what started out as simple curiosity evolved to become more intimate and complex than Sara ever imagined.
In part 2 of our 3-part series on our relationship with AI, we explore how Large Language Models can be shaped to mimic the qualities of a human personality, and the implications that come with it. We are joined again by James Vlahos of Embodied, who sheds insight on why creating personas with AI and LLMs is like directing actors in a play, but a play that does not involve thinking or motivation the way we believe it to mean. The question is, however, if your chatbot can sound like a person, does that mean it can be a fulfilling substitute for the people in your life? Or do we need to recognize that a product is a product, regardless of its ability to convince you it’s not?
Additional ResourcesEpisode transcript: TBDConnect with Grace Andrews: LinkedIn or Twitter.Connect with Amy Tobey on Twitter.Connect with Fen Aldrich on Twitter.Connect with John Taylor on LinkedIn.Connect with Sara Megan Kay on her TumblrConnect with James Vlahos on LinkedIn
CreditsTraceroute is a podcast from Equinix and Stories Bureau. This episode was hosted by Grace Ewura-Esi, Fen Aldrich, and Amy Tobey, and was produced by John Taylor with help from Sadie Scott. Our senior producer is Mathr de Leon. It was edited by Joshua Ramsey, with mixing and sound design by Brett Vanderlaan, and additional mixing by Jeremy Tuttle. Our fact-checker is Ena Alvarado. Our staff includes Tim Balint, Suzie Falk, Lisa Harris, Alisa Manjarrez, Stephen Staver, Lixandra Urresta, and Rebecca Woodward. Our theme song was composed by Ty Gibbons.

It’s like you’re always stuck in second gear…
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Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, people have humanized technology. We name our cars, or we talk to our phone batteries and beg them not to die on us. However, perhaps no other technology has triggered our emotions quite as intensely as AI. The truth is, we interact with AI in a way we don’t with any other tech: a way that’s more immediate, more personal…more human. 
The question is, why do we feel this way? In fact, why do we have feelings at all about AI? In this Traceroute two-parter, we go to couples counseling with AI and take a deeper look at this unique relationship. In part one, we explore the good side of our feelings. We talk with JD Ambati of EverestLabs, a company using AI to reduce thousands of tons of CO2e emissions, and we meet James Vlahos, the scientist giving voice to “Moxie,” an AI robot that teaches kids how to express their feelings and have deeper emotional connections. If AI can indeed solve problems and create emotional bonds, surely it would never try to do us harm… right?
Additional ResourcesEpisode transcript: TBDConnect with Grace Andrews: LinkedIn or Twitter.Connect with Amy Tobey on Twitter.Connect with Fen Aldrich on Twitter.Connect with John Taylor on LinkedIn.Connect with James Vlahos on LinkedIn.Connect with JD Ambati on LinkedIn.
CreditsTraceroute is a podcast from Equinix and Stories Bureau. This episode was hosted by Grace Ewura-Esi, Fen Aldrich, and Amy Tobey, and was produced by John Taylor with help from Sadie Scott. Our senior producer is Mathr de Leon. It was edited by Joshua Ramsey, with mixing and sound design by Brett Vanderlaan, and additional mixing by Jeremy Tuttle. Our fact-checker is Ena Alvarado. Our staff includes Tim Balint, Suzie Falk, Lisa Harris, Alisa Manjarrez, Stephen Staver, Lixandra Urresta, and Rebecca Woodward. Our theme song was composed by Ty Gibbons.

Season 3 of Traceroute starts November 2nd with a special 3-part episode exploring humanity's burgeoning relationship to AI. Don't miss it!

In Part 2 of Traceroute’s season finale, we look at the fallout of the copyright infringement decision against The Internet Archive. If information eventually becomes commoditized, will we find someone to be a fair and responsible arbiter of history?
With nothing less than the future of our digitized history at stake, the final episode of Season 2 of Traceroute explores the threats and challenges the Internet Archive faces in the wake of its copyright infringement case. We are joined by Rebecca Tushnet, the Harvard Law professor  who defended the Archive in the case, to discuss the potential fallout of the court’s ruling: are we moving towards a society where information is owned by an elite few and “rented out” at a price? If so, do we risk manipulation of that information for the sake of profit? Or will we find among our archivists, preservationists, librarians, and even activists a person who can be responsible enough to be dubbed “The Arbiter of History?”
Additional Resources
Connect with Grace Andrews: LinkedIn or Twitter.Connect with Amy Tobey on Twitter.Connect with Fen Aldrich on Twitter.Connect with John Taylor on LinkedIn.Connect with Rebecca Tushnet on Twitter.Connect with the NEDCC.
Visit Origins.dev for more information.
Traceroute is a podcast from Equinix, and is a production of Stories Bureau. This episode was produced by John Taylor, with help from Tim Balint and Cat Bagsic. It was edited by Joshua Ramsey and mixed by Jeremy Tuttle, with additional editing and sound design by Mathr de Leon. Our theme song was composed by Ty Gibbons.