麻豆社

"Am I really real?"

Tom runs a simple test, involving his dear Aunt Eleanor, with far鈥憆eaching consequences: can a real human prove they鈥檙e not a machine? The experiment was sparked by two viral moments; Israel鈥檚 prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu scrambling to show he was alive after a suspected fake image, and a too鈥憄erfect 鈥淢AGA dream girl鈥� who convinced millions she was real. We explore the 鈥渓iar鈥檚 dividend鈥�, where the flood of AI鈥憁ade images and videos lets anyone dismiss inconvenient truths as fakes. And if 鈥渟eeing is believing鈥� no longer holds, what should replace it?

Also this week:

Tech and the brain; what is a brain implant (a brain鈥慶omputer interface), and what can it actually do today? China has cleared a device called NEO for wider use beyond clinical trials, a huge milestone. We set that against Elon Musk鈥檚 Neuralink, decades of research, and new advances decoding speech and complex thoughts for people with paralysis or neurodegenerative illness. It鈥檚 life鈥慶hanging medicine - but what if funding dries up and implants no longer work? Would you want a chip in your head that someone else controls? We explore the benefits and risks 鈥� and why mass鈥憁arket 鈥渕ind tech鈥� is still a long way off.

AI鈥檚 supply chain under fire; how the war in Iran exposes the fragility of artificial intelligence. The Strait of Hormuz matters for more than oil: training models and running data centres are energy鈥慼ungry and rely on liquefied natural gas and global supply line. A ceasefire won鈥檛 rebuild damaged infrastructure quickly, and many AI companies are already laden with debt. With trillions bet on AI, could AI failures sink the wider economy quicker than an oil crisis?

The Interface is your weekly guide to the tech rewiring your week and our world. Hosted by journalists Thomas Germain, Karen Hao, and Nicky Woolf, each episode unpacks, week by week, the unfolding story of how technology is shaping all of our futures. No guests. No jargon. Just three sharp voices debating the tech stories that matter 鈥� whether they shook a government, broke the internet, or quietly tipped the balance of power.

New episodes drop every Thursday on 麻豆社 Sounds in the UK. Outside the UK, find us on 麻豆社.com or wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the video version on YouTube (search 鈥淭he Interface podcast鈥�).

To get in touch with the team: theinterface@bbc.com

The Interface is a 麻豆社 Studios production.
Producer: Natalia Rodriguez Ford
Executive Editor: Philip Sellars