Looking ahead to the next year in tech and human impact

Looking ahead to the next year in tech and human impact

Author: BKBT Productions December 8, 2025 Duration: 33:28
2025 was hella weird. The AI revolution is here whether we asked for it or not. This week, George K and George A reflect on the year and what it means for 2026. At AWS re:Invent, George A watched a machine create a custom fragrance and marketing campaign in real-time from a voice prompt. What does that portend for product prototyping, and scaled manufacturing? Could voice and natural language finally replacing typing as the primary interface? We're watching the biggest shift in human-computer interaction since the mouse. Worldwide AI adoption isn't hype anymore—it's happening and doing so unevenly. Some enterprises are getting serious and some are still noodling. The tools are maturing. The question shifted from "if" to "how do we do this responsibly." There are serious questions to answer. GPU lifecycles. The Magnificent Seven's circular financing models. The human cost of moving this fast. But that's the work—building technology that serves us instead of the other way around. The revolution came. Now comes the interesting part: what we actually build with it. 2026 is going to be wild. We remain up to the challenge. Mentioned: * Brookings Institution, "New data show no AI jobs apocalypse—for now" [https://www.brookings.edu/articles/new-data-show-no-ai-jobs-apocalypse-for-now/] * Discussed in further detail with Ethan Mollick on Your Undivided Attention [https://open.spotify.com/episode/7tVke0Fuo6WSssgJ4eUDQa?si=UXKBrqKyR2acZqVl3UqXwA] * Reid Hoffman's interview with Wispr Flow founder/CEO Tanay Kothari [https://open.spotify.com/episode/7AxM51x61saSou9M1GkYwk?si=h7yIQa3fSrWyT2E4B8jYJQ] * More on Coreweave's financing model at The Verge [https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/8/23824661/coreweave-nvidia-debt-gpu-ai-chips-collateral?utm_source=podcast&utm_id=bareknucklesbrasstacks]

There’s a lot of noise in the world of technology talk, but Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks cuts through it with a focus on the people behind the products and the societal currents shaping our digital landscape. Hosts George K and George A steer conversations that are less about specs and hype, and more about real-world consequences. You’ll hear them dig into topics like the messy rollout of new AI tools, the often-invisible backbone of digital infrastructure, and why communities adopt or reject certain technologies. This podcast regularly features guests from various fields who offer unvarnished opinions on what’s genuinely functional and what’s fundamentally flawed in our tech-saturated lives. The discussions move beyond simple commentary to challenge the standard narratives promoted by the tech industry, examining the cultural and social ripples of every new development. It’s a show for anyone who feels that technology coverage often misses the human element-the frustrations, the adaptations, and the ethical dilemmas. Tune in for a grounded, critical, and consistently engaging dialogue that connects the dots between code and culture. This production from BKBT Productions lives up to its name, getting down to the brass tacks of how technology is built and used, with a bare-knuckle honesty that’s increasingly rare.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks
Podcast Episodes
How Expertise becomes a blind spot in technology development [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:45
Graeme Rudd spent years taking emerging technology into austere environments and watching it fail. He assessed over 350 technologies for a Department of Defense lab. The pattern was consistent: engineers solved technical…
Getting Addicted to the Process and Chasing Excellence [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:10
What happens when you go all in and bet on yourself? Taylor McClatchie, professional Muay Thai fighter with ONE Championship, joins the show to share how she did just that. She spent a decade in reproductive science, wor…
Re-thinking How AI Can Actually Drive Business Value [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:13
Eric Pilkington joins the show to cut through the noise around artificial intelligence and deliver some hard truths about what's actually working—and what's just expensive theater. AI isn't new; it's been around for 70+…
Confronting Big Tech's Abuses as a Question of Human Rights [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:36
Hannah Storey, Advocacy and Policy Advisor at Amnesty International [https://www.amnesty.org], joins the show to talk about her new brief that reframes Big Tech monopolies as a human rights crisis, not just a market comp…
Can Ethical AI Democratize Therapy and Higher Quality Care? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:03
Clinical psychologist, Dr. Sarah Adler, joins the show this week to talk about why "AI Therapy" doesn't exist, but is bullish on what AI can help therapists achieve. Dr. Adler is a clinical psychologist and CEO of Wave […
So, Are We Gonna Cure Cancer or Just Double Down on Mining Attention? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:59
This week George K and George A switch formats to tackle the AI revolution's messiest questions—from autonomous coding agents to digital actresses and deepfake scams. The hosts examine what happens when innovation moves…