April 9, 2025 • 7 mins
Were we sleeping when everything changed? Not if you listened to the first season of this podcast, because a whole lot of what we explored is now reality. Seems like the technologically driven future is already here. So we've decided to bring the show back -- with a new host, Dexter Thomas Jr and a new perspective.
On Kill Switch, we explain the right NOW of our super charged technological lives. Examining the ways we shape and are shaped by our ever-changing technology.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi everyone, os Vloshin, co host of Sleepwalkers.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Here.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
I know it's been a few years since our original
series run, but I'm here with an exciting announcement. We
are relaunching this feed, but instead of me and Karen
Price's host since Karen and I and our partners in
hosting tech Stuff, which is on twice a week check
it out, We're bringing on journalists Dexa Thomas to shepherd
the next iteration of this show. Dexter, Welcome, yo us.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I'm very happy to be here with you and hopefully
build on the original show, which I think in a
lot of ways predicted where we're at right now.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Yeah, we launched it in twenty nineteen, and you know,
AI was already kind of bubbling, but we were starting
to see these things that Karen and I called crash sites,
where like a new technology and a real person would
collide in a way that could be very traumatic or
that could be kind of wonderful. I think everyone in
(00:53):
twenty nineteen was kind of still wondering though, like, is
AI really going to become a thing, Like these trends
are kind of going to be a like the metaverse?
Or is this going to really take off, and I
think since then it has taken off, and I think
these these crash sites are going to become more and
more important to explore.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Yeah, you know, one of the reasons to relaunch the
show is because a lot of what you were covering
in the first iteration of the show, at that point
it's still felt like the future. But now I think
in twenty twenty five, it's either here right now and
it's kind of boring, or it's about to be. I mean,
you all were discussed.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Us ever great nun kidding, No, no.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
No, I mean, you know in the sense in the
sense that oh Ai, yeah, I know about that, you know.
I mean I think when when you all first started
llm's was something that basically just a few computer science
has had access to. I mean, you had to go
and visit somebody and you know, talk about liar bird.
I mean, liar Bird now is almost completely unremarkable because
(01:53):
it's what we use to edit podcasts. It's just part
of software that we use every day. And I think
it's at this point so much of what you all
were talking about as this is coming or this might
come someday is completely normal, you know, and we almost
don't think about it as technology anymore. And and so
(02:15):
in some ways, you know, the way that you talk
about the show, and the way that I think originally
you two had been introducing the show is Okay, this
is a show about the way that technology affects people's lives.
It's almost hard to introduce a show as that now
because it's it almost the response when I even try
to tell people sometimes it's like sex sual. Yeah, Okay,
(02:37):
what are you going to talk about? Because I think
technology has just become kind of the background hum of
our everyday life. But I would argue that that's precisely
why we need a show about how technology affects our lives,
because it's still there. It's not just part of the background.
It's it's something that we have choices about and that
we really should be thinking about.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
I think that's really well put. What kinds of things
you interested in exploring on the show?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Yeah, so I know that one of your first episodes
actually was about facial recognition. You go visit the NYPD,
and you know, NYPD obviously massive police department, very technologically adept,
and they promise you that, hey, listen, we're using facial
recognition very carefully. We're very serious about it. And back
(03:25):
then it seemed like something Okay, well only the most
advanced police departments have this, and well they say they're
being careful with it. Now this is something that rural
police departments all across America have access to, and it's
putting innocent people in jail, and so I think that's
really something we should be thinking about. And we talk
to a reporter who's covered it, and we hear actually
(03:46):
from some people that this is affected who've been arrested
because the computer thought they did something and they weren't
even in the area. There's another episode of Working on
which shows you how people are making money doing things
like generating fake AI videos of natural disasters or baby animals,
and you know, another thing, and maybe this is just
a personal thing for me. I feel like the DIY
(04:09):
and the hacker ethos has kind of left tech and
hopefully we can at least bring that back a little
bit or provide a place for that can come back.
And I think there's some more practical stuff too, like
how can you mitigate the risk that you're gonna get
hacked again. I think these are things that just have
kind of passed us by in terms of we've gotten
really used to, Oh well, just let Apple handle this
(04:31):
for us, just let Google handle this. Firust No, let's
do this ourselves. That's what makes this technology stuff fun,
at least for me.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
I think you're you're exactly right. So I'm really happy
that you're taking a show on.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
There's a few places where hopefully we're picking up the
baton a little bit in something that you predicted a
little bit, and we're able to keep that going and say, Okay,
here's where we are right now. This is no longer
science fiction. This is your everyday life. What are we
going to do about this?
Speaker 1 (05:00):
We call the original show Sleepwalkers. There was actually a
book about the origins of the First World War with
that title, and part of the thesis was that, you know,
you had this moment where the industrial revolution had happened,
and so you had like trains and telegraphs and gas
and automatic weapons, and all of a sudden there was
a conflict that got bigger and bigger and bigger, and
(05:21):
all of these technologies that kind of existed as one
offs coalesced on the battlefield and we'll use, you know,
to create carnage and kill millions of millions of people.
So the name was a little bit of a warning,
is to say, like, these new technologies are here, even
if they're still hiding in plain sight. You, as part
of the of the rebrand and the relaunch, I think,
have chosen a new name.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah, so we're calling it kill switch. And I'm going
to mix metaphors here a little bit, so bear with me.
But you know a kill switch. I think we all
know what that is. Basically, it's a safety mechanism for
if a machine starts going nuts, you can disable it.
And I think some of the inspiration behind the name
is it theoretically, these are all machines, these are computers.
(06:02):
We can turn these off, right, but it's really hard
to imagine turning it off now. And to borrow from
what your iteration of the show was doing, is I
think we've actually sleep walked up to a point where
we don't even know where the switch is anymore. If
we wanted to turn it off, we don't know where
it is. And I think the show that you were
hosting kind of predicted this, is that we're in this
(06:25):
really interesting paradox where the more user friendly technology gets
the less tech literate we are, and I want to
continue to interrogate that and say, no, don't just offer
me these fun new products. Don't just cram AI to everything.
I want to know how this stuff works. And I
think we should continue to ask that question. And you know,
(06:46):
maybe we need to start looking for the kill.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Switch very well put deck. So I already can't wait
to hit the show and feel come and tech stuff
one of these days as well to tell us about
the show. When isn't it Stride? But in the meantime,
when's it launch?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
First off, I would love to and please, the door
is always open. You made the door. Please come on
in anytime you want. But yeah, first episode drops April
twenty third, and anywhere you get your podcasts you can
listen to it.
Hi everyone, os Vloshin, co host of Sleepwalkers.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Here.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
I know it's been a few years since our original
series run, but I'm here with an exciting announcement. We
are relaunching this feed, but instead of me and Karen
Price's host since Karen and I and our partners in
hosting tech Stuff, which is on twice a week check
it out, We're bringing on journalists Dexa Thomas to shepherd
the next iteration of this show. Dexter, Welcome, yo us.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I'm very happy to be here with you and hopefully
build on the original show, which I think in a
lot of ways predicted where we're at right now.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Yeah, we launched it in twenty nineteen, and you know,
AI was already kind of bubbling, but we were starting
to see these things that Karen and I called crash sites,
where like a new technology and a real person would
collide in a way that could be very traumatic or
that could be kind of wonderful. I think everyone in
(00:53):
twenty nineteen was kind of still wondering though, like, is
AI really going to become a thing, Like these trends
are kind of going to be a like the metaverse?
Or is this going to really take off, and I
think since then it has taken off, and I think
these these crash sites are going to become more and
more important to explore.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Yeah, you know, one of the reasons to relaunch the
show is because a lot of what you were covering
in the first iteration of the show, at that point
it's still felt like the future. But now I think
in twenty twenty five, it's either here right now and
it's kind of boring, or it's about to be. I mean,
you all were discussed.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Us ever great nun kidding, No, no.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
No, I mean, you know in the sense in the
sense that oh Ai, yeah, I know about that, you know.
I mean I think when when you all first started
llm's was something that basically just a few computer science
has had access to. I mean, you had to go
and visit somebody and you know, talk about liar bird.
I mean, liar Bird now is almost completely unremarkable because
(01:53):
it's what we use to edit podcasts. It's just part
of software that we use every day. And I think
it's at this point so much of what you all
were talking about as this is coming or this might
come someday is completely normal, you know, and we almost
don't think about it as technology anymore. And and so
(02:15):
in some ways, you know, the way that you talk
about the show, and the way that I think originally
you two had been introducing the show is Okay, this
is a show about the way that technology affects people's lives.
It's almost hard to introduce a show as that now
because it's it almost the response when I even try
to tell people sometimes it's like sex sual. Yeah, Okay,
(02:37):
what are you going to talk about? Because I think
technology has just become kind of the background hum of
our everyday life. But I would argue that that's precisely
why we need a show about how technology affects our lives,
because it's still there. It's not just part of the background.
It's it's something that we have choices about and that
we really should be thinking about.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
I think that's really well put. What kinds of things
you interested in exploring on the show?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Yeah, so I know that one of your first episodes
actually was about facial recognition. You go visit the NYPD,
and you know, NYPD obviously massive police department, very technologically adept,
and they promise you that, hey, listen, we're using facial
recognition very carefully. We're very serious about it. And back
(03:25):
then it seemed like something Okay, well only the most
advanced police departments have this, and well they say they're
being careful with it. Now this is something that rural
police departments all across America have access to, and it's
putting innocent people in jail, and so I think that's
really something we should be thinking about. And we talk
to a reporter who's covered it, and we hear actually
(03:46):
from some people that this is affected who've been arrested
because the computer thought they did something and they weren't
even in the area. There's another episode of Working on
which shows you how people are making money doing things
like generating fake AI videos of natural disasters or baby animals,
and you know, another thing, and maybe this is just
a personal thing for me. I feel like the DIY
(04:09):
and the hacker ethos has kind of left tech and
hopefully we can at least bring that back a little
bit or provide a place for that can come back.
And I think there's some more practical stuff too, like
how can you mitigate the risk that you're gonna get
hacked again. I think these are things that just have
kind of passed us by in terms of we've gotten
really used to, Oh well, just let Apple handle this
(04:31):
for us, just let Google handle this. Firust No, let's
do this ourselves. That's what makes this technology stuff fun,
at least for me.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
I think you're you're exactly right. So I'm really happy
that you're taking a show on.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
There's a few places where hopefully we're picking up the
baton a little bit in something that you predicted a
little bit, and we're able to keep that going and say, Okay,
here's where we are right now. This is no longer
science fiction. This is your everyday life. What are we
going to do about this?
Speaker 1 (05:00):
We call the original show Sleepwalkers. There was actually a
book about the origins of the First World War with
that title, and part of the thesis was that, you know,
you had this moment where the industrial revolution had happened,
and so you had like trains and telegraphs and gas
and automatic weapons, and all of a sudden there was
a conflict that got bigger and bigger and bigger, and
(05:21):
all of these technologies that kind of existed as one
offs coalesced on the battlefield and we'll use, you know,
to create carnage and kill millions of millions of people.
So the name was a little bit of a warning,
is to say, like, these new technologies are here, even
if they're still hiding in plain sight. You, as part
of the of the rebrand and the relaunch, I think,
have chosen a new name.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah, so we're calling it kill switch. And I'm going
to mix metaphors here a little bit, so bear with me.
But you know a kill switch. I think we all
know what that is. Basically, it's a safety mechanism for
if a machine starts going nuts, you can disable it.
And I think some of the inspiration behind the name
is it theoretically, these are all machines, these are computers.
(06:02):
We can turn these off, right, but it's really hard
to imagine turning it off now. And to borrow from
what your iteration of the show was doing, is I
think we've actually sleep walked up to a point where
we don't even know where the switch is anymore. If
we wanted to turn it off, we don't know where
it is. And I think the show that you were
hosting kind of predicted this, is that we're in this
(06:25):
really interesting paradox where the more user friendly technology gets
the less tech literate we are, and I want to
continue to interrogate that and say, no, don't just offer
me these fun new products. Don't just cram AI to everything.
I want to know how this stuff works. And I
think we should continue to ask that question. And you know,
(06:46):
maybe we need to start looking for the kill.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Switch very well put deck. So I already can't wait
to hit the show and feel come and tech stuff
one of these days as well to tell us about
the show. When isn't it Stride? But in the meantime,
when's it launch?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
First off, I would love to and please, the door
is always open. You made the door. Please come on
in anytime you want. But yeah, first episode drops April
twenty third, and anywhere you get your podcasts you can
listen to it.
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