“Celibacy is the only option”

Welcome to another episode of the AI Business podcast, with your (almost) weekly dose of AI news and editorial chaos.

This time, we discuss defense contractors, cyber security of chastity belts, and the challenge of keeping up with the robots in the workplace.

AI Business · AI Business Podcast 10: Unintended consequences of progress

We start by celebrating the fact that “dystopian cyberpunk business” Palantir, which sells AI wares to the US public sector, did not raise as much money with its public listing as it hoped.

Almost a month later, the shares continue to hover around – or below – the $10 offering price.

Yes, Palantir’s founders and employees still got a very generous payout, but the news seems to suggest not everyone is ready to embrace trends like AI-powered warfare and the surveillance state.

Our second story comes from the emerging field of teledildonics – or networked sex toys. CellMate, the male chastity belt designed to be controlled through a smartphone, was found to contain major security flaws that could enable any proficient hacker to remotely lock all devices. If this was to happen, the path towards release might involve an angle grinder. We can thank PenTestPartners for this incredibly important piece of research.

Correction: CellMate features Bluetooth, and not Wi-Fi, connectivity. Silly of me.

Next, we visit Amazon warehouses, where robots are maiming human workers, just not the way you would expect. In a nutshell, it is hard to keep up with a robot in a hybrid workforce – and this trend isn’t going anywhere.

And finally, we reveal our favorite depictions of AI in movies – the line-up includes War Games, Alien, and… Terminator: Salvation?

We also mention: Nepotism! The elections! Crusader Kings 3! Dying for telecommunications! Space socialism!

As always, you can find the people responsible for the circus podcast online:

Regular schedule? We’ve heard about it.