TED Tech

“Everybody likes nature, even though we’re watching it slowly degrade away. And that’s the big challenge of our time,” says linguist software engineer Jeffrey T. Reed, a research affiliate with the Cry Wolf Project. Following his talk at TED2025, Reed sits down for a conversation with host Sherrell Dorsey on how listening to sounds like bird chirps and a wolf’s howl connects us with the world around us — and how AI technology can help us further understand these natural phenomena. To watch Jeffrey's 2025 TED Talk, click here! Want to help shape TED’s shows going forward? Fill out our survey! Become a TED Member today at ted.com/join Learn more about TED Next at ted.com/futureyou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Industrial manufacturers spend a huge amount of energy generating heat to make everyday materials and objects, like cement, steel, and paper. And since most companies use fossil fuels to reach these high temperatures, industrial heat accounts for 20% of our annual global carbon pollution. Thankfully, this is where a century-old technology comes in. Rachel Yang explores how heat batteries work. [Directed by Sofia Pashaei, narrated by Pen-Pen Chen, music by Cem Misirlioglu, WORKPLAYWORK]. Want to help shape TED’s shows going forward? Fill out our survey! Become a TED Member today at ted.com/join Learn more about TED Next at ted.com/futureyou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Generative AI is built on three key resources: people, compute and data. While companies invest heavily in the first two, they often use unlicensed creative work as training data without permission or payment — a practice that pits AI against the very creators it relies on. AI expert Ed Newton-Rex has a solution: licensing. He unpacks the dark side of today's AI models and outlines a plan to ensure that both AI companies and creators can thrive together. After the talk, Sherrell reflects on the issue of copyright and how to ensure creators are fairly compensated. Want to help shape TED’s shows going forward? Fill out our survey! Become a TED Member today at ted.com/join Learn more about TED Next at ted.com/futureyou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“The whole Substack ecosystem is about more power because it’s based on those relationships between the publisher and their subscribers, or the video maker and their viewers,” says journalist and Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie. Following his talk at TED2025, McKenzie is in conversation with Sherrell Dorsey to discuss how the media landscape has changed, and how new platforms like Substack allows independent creators to challenge traditional broadcast media – and build trust with their following. To listen to McKenzie's TED2025 talk, click here: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Castbox. Want to help shape TED’s shows going forward? Fill out our survey! Become a TED Member today at ted.com/join Learn more about TED Next at ted.com/futureyou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is part of a feed swap with our friend podcast There Are No Girls On The Internet, hosted by Bridget Todd. She is an expert on tech culture, and on her show she has fun, thought provoking conversations about the ways technology shapes our lives. If you enjoy this episode, you can listen to There Are No Girls On The Internet wherever you get your podcasts. A hologram of the late Whitney Houston is doing a residency in Las Vegas. Host Bridget Todd talks with spirituality writer Brooke Obie asks what this means about celebrity, grief, and technology. Read Brooke's piece The Zombification of Whitney Houston: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2021/11/10725817/whitney-houston-hologram-tour Read The Face's Deepfakes, dead relatives and digital resurrection: https://theface.com/society/deepfakes-dead-relatives-deep-nostalgia-ai-digital-resurrection-kim-kardashian-rob-kardashian-grief-privacy See Al Sharpton's boycott flyer: https://preview.redd.it/a8fqafdn1yw31.jpg?auto=webp&s=372160136dda8598d3d621dbee936e5b3d31602c Drop Bridget and team a line at [email protected] Want to help shape TED’s shows going forward? Fill out our survey! Become a TED Member today at ted.com/join Learn more about TED Next at ted.com/futureyou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.