Ft Tech Tonic

Lili Cheng and her team at Microsoft's FUSE Labs are at the forefront of research on social interaction with artificial intelligence. She joins the FT's Richard Waters to discuss the evolution of chatbot technology, what the company learnt from its experience with Tay, and the personalisation we can expect from the virtual assistants and chat apps of the future.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Helen Margetts, head of the Oxford Internet Institute, talks to the FT's Madhumita Murgia about fake news, echo chambers, big data and why we need more research to be able to combat the "pathologies" of the internet.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Rutger Bregman tells John Thornhill there is evidence to show that we can end poverty by handing out cash to those who need it. The idea of a universal basic income is one whose time has come, he says, and it is finding support in unexpected places like Silicon Valley.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Uber investor and adviser Bradley Tusk talks to the FT's Leslie Hook about the highs and lows of the ride-sharing company's rapid expansion, and how companies in the sharing economy can manage regulatory hurdles.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Entrepreneur Tom Ilube talks about his work with scientists to deploy their research in the battle against cybercrime, tech advances and education in Africa and why companies need to take cyber security more seriously.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Duolingo cofounder and chief executive Luis von Ahn talks to the FT's Tim Bradshaw about creating the snackable language learning app that now serves more than 150m global users, and how the company's model can be translated into other digital education tools.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Madhumita Murgia speaks to Kathryn Parsons about her work in promoting digital literacy through the company she co-founded, Decoded, which aims to teach people to code in a day.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Frédéric Mazzella tells the story of BlaBlaCar, the ride-sharing company he founded, which now operates in over 20 countries, and talks about the rise of tech entrepreneurship in France.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What will displaced professionals and workers do when intelligent machines take their jobs? Will poets, thinkers and musicians become sought-after occupations? Or will people slump into a world of virtual reality entertainment? Tim Bradshaw discusses possible outcomes with tech investors Kai-Fu Lee and Joi Ito.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Stuart Russell, a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, was one of the first researchers to sound the alarm bell on the risks of developing artificial intelligence. He joins the FT's Richard Waters to discuss the state of AI, and how machines should be developed to avoid these risks.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jennifer Granick, director of civil liberties at Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society, talks to the FT's Hannah Kuchler about government surveillance in the US after the Snowden revelations, and how it could all change under a Trump administration.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mike Cagney, chief executive and founder of online lender SoFi, talks to the FT's Tom Braithwaite about building a fintech company from refinancing student loans; the high-income millennials the service targets; and why they use tools like job search and member networking events to retain customers.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kevin Mandia, chief executive of cyber security firm FireEye, joins the FT's Hannah Kuchler to discuss how Russian hackers changed the rules of engagement of cyber espionage. Mr Mandia and his company, Mandiant, came to prominence in 2013 when it released a report implicating China in cyber spying. The company was later sold to FireEye for $1bn. This interview was recorded in early December 2016.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Madhumita Murgia, the FT's European technology correspondent, talks to Dame Stephanie Shirley, a pioneer of the computer software industry and one the first female tech entrepreneurs, about how she fell in love with computers.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Nigel Shadbolt, co-founder of the Open Data Institute, talks to John Thornhill about the imbalance between the personal and private control of data and the need to re-empower the consumer.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As the first US ambassador to Silicon Valley, Zvika Krieger is trying to harness the tech capital's brain power to solve some of the country's biggest foreign policy challenges. He talks to the FT's Hannah Kuchler.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kyle Wiens, chief executive of iFixit, made his name by tearing apart mobile phones and laptops to understand how they were built and publishing his findings in open source repair manuals. He talks to the FT's Tim Bradshaw about the risks involved in the race for the thinnest tech devices, and what his company is doing to promote gadget repair and recycling.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Alphabet's research and development lab X is the breeding ground for Google's biggest technological bets, including self-driving cars and a network of internet-providing balloons. Astro Teller, the entrepreneur and scientist at the helm of X, talks to the FT's Richard Waters about the new technologies he is helping to bring to market, and what he has learned in the six years of running an innovation factory.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

John Thornhill talks to author and historian Yuval Noah Harari about his vision of a future when humans are no longer the smartest algorithm on the planet.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Driverless cars will improve our lives dramatically but, as with all technologies, there will be a dark side as millions of jobs disappear, Vivek Wadhwa, entrepreneur and academic, tells John Thornhill.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.