Episode
Gadgets & Gizmos: AI renting humans, lab-grown computer gamers & plastic bottles treating Parkinson's
- Podcast
- Hrkn to .. Gadgets & Gizmos
- Published
- Mar 19, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1568
- Processing state
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Summary
Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose that AI agents can now rent human beings to carry out tasks they can't manage themselves. Brain cells in a petri dish have been taught to play the 90s shooter game Doom. BYD's Dena Z9GT can charge from 10% to 70% in just 5 minutes; unfortunately the UK doesn't have any of the required chargers. Tesco is experimenting with replacing bar codes with QR codes; Steve isn't convinced it will work. Pager sales have leapt in Russia after the internet was turned off. There's a collapsible cool box, a laundry chair with arms and a computer mouse that splits into half to become a game controller for your phone. And scientists in Edinburgh have genetically engineered bacteria to break down plastic bottles into a medicine for Parkinson's Disease. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices