Tech Life

Is this the year when smart glasses become mainstream? Whether you need spectacles for your vision, or wear sunglasses, tech firms are hoping you'll buy their latest devices. Tech Life's Alasdair Keane has road tested some of the latest wearables on the market.

From smart glasses to smart bricks! It's been a childhood favourite for decades, and now Lego is packing its colourful plastic with lights, sensors and sound synthesisers. Sh...

Autonomous taxis are already part of everyday life in some cities. What will it be like when self-driving car tech gets up to full speed ? And we find out how scientists are using quantum sensing technology to peer inside soldiers' brains on the firing range.

Presenter: Chris Vallance Producer: Tom Quinn

(Image: A Zoox robotaxi containing passengers is stationary on a road. The skyscrapers of San Francisco are in the background. Cred...

The launch of China's DeepSeek AI tool a year ago sent shockwaves through US markets and Silicon Valley. But now Chinese AI tech is being used by more and more US companies. Our North America Technology Correspondent, Lily Jamali, tells us about it.

Also this week: shoppers in Denmark are using mobile phone apps to boycott some goods from overseas. And we road-test an exoskeleton taking the physical effort out of long outdoor walks.

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We all want to stay fit and healthy. But how can technology help ? Shiona McCallum discusses new health tech on display at the world's biggest consumer electronics trade show. And if you own cryptocurrency - beware. Thieves could be targeting you. The BBC's Cyber Correspondent, Joe Tidy, joins us to explain more.

Presenter: Shiona McCallum Producer: Tom Quinn

(Image: A photo of Shiona McCallum wearing an LED face mask. The room is da...

How close are we to humanoid robots in the home? A flurry of new robots, designed to look like us, have been revealed recently, with many in Silicon Valley excited that this is the next big leap in AI. But many humanoid robots still struggle with the basics, such as picking up a glass or watering a plant. The BBC’s cyber correspondent Joe Tidy meets some of these robots and asks: Will we really let them into our homes in the next f...

For our first episode of 2026, Tech Life looks forward to the rest of the year, and beyond. What are the latest consumer gadgets on display at a huge electronics trade show in Las Vegas? How will assistive technology, designed to help people with disabilities, change this year? What should we be looking out for in the world of gaming? And we ask a futurologist to predict how tech will help us buy things from retailers over the next...

A company called Vast hopes to put Haven-1 into orbit in 2026. If successful, it'll be the world's first commercial space station. We speak to the company's CEO, Max Haot.

Also on Tech Life this week: find out about robots in Japan that will help people cope with dementia. And the local language avatar providing growing tips to farmers in Africa.

Presenter: Shiona McCallum Producer: Tom Quinn

(Image: A future illustration of the comme...

A study found AI chatbots can persuade us with fake facts. We explore what this means for politics. Then we speak to author of The Web Beneath the Waves, Samanth Subramanian, about the importance of undersea cables. Plus: The scientists working together with nuns to save salamanders in a lake in Mexico.

Presenter: Chris Vallance Producer: Imran Rahman-Jones Editors: Monica Soriano & Tom Singleton

(Image: A colourful composite of ...

We’re all about AI today. As AI-generated music tops US charts, a musician explains how he uses AI in the songwriting process. A fashion house explains how they use it to help sizing issues. And with the festive season approaching, there is a warning over its use in children’s toys.

Presenter: Shiona McCallum Producer: Imran Rahman-Jones Studio manager: Nolwenn Movallali

(Image: Manon Dave wearing a baseball cap, a white T-shirt and ...

Does AI have a role in education? Some private schools in the United States are swapping traditional teacher-led classroom lessons for laptops and personalised apps. We speak to pupils and the co-founder of the school network embracing AI-assisted learning.

Also in this edition: We're lifting the lid on online scams around the world. Hear how one woman was conned out of a large sum of money, and an expert tells us what we should be ...

We look at how tech and visas have freed some employees from their desktops, allowing them to continue their work from other parts of the world. They're called digital nomads.

Also in this edition: Shiona McCallum speaks to a victim of online bullying in Kenya, and finds out about a charity trying to help. And tech startups in Finland are turning to Slush.

Presenter: Shiona McCallum Producer: Tom Quinn

(Image: A photo of a laptop near...

Seven pioneers of artificial intelligence gathered at St James's Palace to receive the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, presented by King Charles. Zoe Kleinman was there. In this week's edition you can hear Zoe talk to the 'godmother' of AI, Professor Fei-Fei Li, and Jensen Huang, the head of the world's most valuable company, Nvidia.

Also on Tech Life this week: how useful can robots be in space ? And the racing cars revving...

We look at a particular use of tech in family life - using trackers to know where your children are, or your partner, or other relatives. What are the safety and privacy issues ?

Also on Tech Life: Shiona McCallum speaks to the BBC's cyber correspondent, Joe Tidy, about a gang of Russian hackers known as Evil Corps. Who are they, and what have they done ? Joe is co-hosting a new podcast about them.

And a young engineer from Kenya has...

We look at the impact data-scraping robots from AI firms are having on the online encyclopedia used by hundreds of millions of people.

Also in this edition of Tech Life: if you work in the fashion industry, if you are a fashion model, are you worried about AI ? A lot are, and we find out why.

And how do we prevent children from seeing online adult content ? Many parts of the world are requiring sites to verify the ages of their use...

More than 200 prominent individuals and 70 organisations want international agreement on 'do not cross' red lines for artificial intelligence, to prevent risks to humanity. We speak to Stuart Russell, professor of computer science at the University of California in Berkeley, who is backing the call. He spells out some of the potential risks that AI could pose to us all, and says global agreement on AI red lines is the solution.

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We speak to the founder and CEO of Axon Enterprise, maker of the Taser, about the tech's future. And the future includes drones armed with Tasers.

Also in this edition of Tech Life: why an underwater glider is circumnavigating the globe, gathering data on the oceans. And find out why the quantum computing revolution could arrive sooner than expected.

Presenter: Chris Vallance Producer: Tom Quinn

(Image: A close-up photo of a Taser bei...

A class action lawsuit is underway in Italy against Meta and TikTok. Lawyers say they want to protect younger children from social media harm. We look at the issues.

Also in Tech Life this week, we have another story about social media. It's about farmers in Africa, so-called agri-influencers, and how they're cultivating an online movement. Shiona McCallum tests a new maritime AI communication system. And a Japanese tech company is ...