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August 23, 2025 24 mins

In this episode of TechWatch Radio, Sam Bushman and Jay Harrison dive into the ongoing AI chatbot wars, with a spotlight on ChatGPT-5’s rocky rollout and the quirky personality of Elon Musk’s Grok. They discuss the balance between speed and intelligence in AI responses, the growing emotional dependency some users have on chatbots, and the troubling issue of bots refusing shutdown commands. Sam also shares his frustrating bug-reporting experience, underscoring how even “smart” AI can stumble on basic tasks.

The conversation shifts from AI to real-world tech with a deep look at Starlink internet. Drawing on both personal use and a PCWorld contributor’s review, Sam and Jay weigh the service’s strengths and shortcomings, from impressive download speeds to weak routers and storm resilience. Wrapping up, they highlight hidden Apple ecosystem features—like sharing AirPods audio with a friend and flashing the iPhone flashlight when locating a lost device—and debate whether TechWatch should make the jump from radio to video. It’s a packed episode exploring where AI, connectivity, and consumer tech are headed, and what it means to keep technology working for you, not the other way around.

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