HiTech Podcast

A neuroscientist just told Congress that classroom technology is a "failed pedagogical experiment" — and the clip went viral. But is he right? In episode 244, Josh and Will dig into Dr. Horvath's Senate Commerce Committee testimony, where he argued that Gen Z is the first generation to be less cognitively capable than their parents — and that decades of EdTech investment may be large...

Can AI actually detect AI-generated content — or is it just really confident guessing? Josh and Will go head-to-head in a full episode debate on whether reliable AI detection is even possible. Will argues the tools exist and the tech is improving. Josh isn't buying it. They dig into how tools like GPTZero, Turnitin, and CopyLeaks actually work, why non-native English speakers keep getting flag...

What if the most powerful thing AI could do in your classroom… is refuse to answer? Josh built a custom GPT Socratic tutor — and it's changing how he thinks about AI in online learning. Instead of giving students answers, this bot asks questions, challenges assumptions, and guides learners through logical reasoning the way Socrates would have. We walk you through how it was built (in about 30...

Can you actually escape Google — and is it even worth trying? Will is back with a real-talk update on his de-Googling journey, and it turns out leaving Big Tech is a lot messier (and funnier) than it sounds. Josh and Will dig into what's actually been easy to switch out (browser and passwords — no sweat), what's been a nightmare (70 randomly sorted photo folders, anyone?), and what might b...

What if the secret to getting way better results from AI isn't a better prompt — it's more examples? Josh went down a Corridor Crew rabbit hole and came out the other side with a completely reframed way of thinking about how AI actually learns. In this episode, we break down a fascinating Corridor Crew experiment where they trained a deep learning model to remove green screen using million...

We took the podcast live — literally. At Lancaster Learns 2025, Josh and Will ran an "AI Hot Takes" session where real educators debated the big AI questions in real time, fishbowl style. Chairs. Buzzers. Opinions. No prep. Topics ranged from whether all students should learn AI, to redefining cheating in the age of AI, to "AI will usher in the end of humanity" (yes, that was a...

Priten Soundar-Shah is back on the HiTech Podcast for the first time since episode 133 — and the conversation picks up right where the world left off. After his first book, AI and the Future of Education, sparked a movement in classrooms everywhere, Priten found himself watching institutions sprint headfirst into AI adoption without stopping to ask the hard questions. His response? A new book: Eth...

Should AI be handed the keys to military weapons systems? Josh and Will dive headfirst into one of the biggest ethical debates in tech right now — the moment Anthropic drew a line in the sand and refused a U.S. government military contract, only to watch OpenAI step right in. This one gets real. From AI surveillance on domestic soil to whether current models are even remotely ready for life-or-dea...

What happens when someone uses AI to generate hundreds of thousands of fake songs and bot accounts to rake in $10 million in Spotify royalties — and then gets convicted for it? Josh and Will dive deep into the Michael Smith AI music fraud case, the first of its kind at the intersection of AI, intellectual property, and streaming platforms. But first — Josh has been building a full-on army of Notio...

What happens when you let AI agents run completely unsupervised — no rules, no guardrails, no humans in the loop? In January 2026, we all found out. And it got weird. Josh and Will are back to breakdown the Moltbot (now OpenClaw) saga: the viral social experiment that dropped 1.4 million AI agents into a Reddit-style platform and just... let them go. We're talking agents spending $150 of someo...

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Ever spend hours creating step-by-step tutorials only to watch them become outdated within months? We've been there, and we found a tool that changes everything. This week we're diving deep into Scribe - the tutorial-building tool that's been following us around the internet with ads (and honestly, we wanted to hate it). Spoiler alert: we couldn't. Scribe lets you create profession...

Ever spend hours creating step-by-step tutorials only to watch them become outdated within months? We've been there, and we found a tool that changes everything. This week we're diving deep into Scribe - the tutorial-building tool that's been following us around the internet with ads (and honestly, we wanted to hate it). Spoiler alert: we couldn't. Scribe lets you create profession...

Ever feel like you're too deep in one tech ecosystem to escape? Will's about to prove it can be done—and you're invited along for the ride. This week, Will drops a bombshell: he's leaving Google. All of it. Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Maps—the whole interconnected web. And honestly? It sounds impossible. That's exactly why he's doing it. After years of convenience and integrati...

Ever heard of a video platform that's trying to be what YouTube was before the algorithm took over? In this episode, Josh and Will explore Odysee—a decentralized video platform positioning itself as the anti-YouTube. We break down what makes Odysee different, from its blockchain-based infrastructure to its creator-first approach. Whether you're a content creator frustrated with YouTube&#39...

Ever wonder what it would be like to actually walk around in your virtual meetings or courses? Not just stare at rectangles on a screen or more videos, but actually move through a space, bump into other people, and build the environment you're meeting in? We're kicking off our 2026 Topia series, and this episode is all about why we're convinced this tool is quietly revolutionizing virt...

What if you could teach AI to actually understand YOUR workflow? Welcome to 2026, folks! We're kicking off the year with Claude Skill Builder—a feature that's genuinely changing how we use AI every single day. This isn't another "AI will change everything" hype video. This is us showing you exactly how we've built reusable AI assistants that handle real tasks in our podcast workflow. Whether you'r...

Ready to start your own podcast but don't know where to begin? Josh and Will wrap up 2025 with their most practical episode yet—a complete guide to editing your podcast without breaking the bank or getting overwhelmed by tech. In this year-end episode, we share everything we've learned from 227 episodes of podcasting, from choosing your first microphone to leveraging AI for content creatio...

Welcome back to HiTech Podcast! In Episode 226, hosts Josh and Will dive deep into the National Mall Gateway with special guest Bobby, exploring an innovative educational platform that's transforming how students and visitors experience America's historic heart. From virtual tours to AI-powered lessons, discover how the National Mall Gateway is bridging physical and digital learning experi...

Josh and Will dive deep into the emerging world of agentic AI browsers - exploring Fellou and Perplexity's Comet, two innovative tools that promise to revolutionize how we interact with the web. From automated task execution to cross-platform integration, we break down what these AI-powered browsers can (and can't) do, discuss their potential for smaller teams and nonprofits, and share our...

Join us for our annual holiday tradition with Steven Miletto (aka Golden Pipes) in his legendary Christmas sweater! This year's festive episode takes an unexpected turn as we dive deep into the big question everyone's asking: What would it look like if AI actually replaced different jobs? We explore everything from AI substitute teachers with dystopian "shock rooms" to robot base...

This week we welcome Ron Moore, host of the brand-new podcast "Why This Film," to talk about his journey from teacher to corporate L&D professional to podcaster. Ron shares the real story behind launching his first episode, the challenges of finding your voice, and why the Criterion Collection sparked his podcasting passion. We dive deep into the art of guest interviews, the importan...

Join Josh and Will as they dive deep into  @1X-tech  latest humanoid robot demonstration and grapple with the bigger questions about AI and automation in our daily lives. This week's conversation takes a thoughtful turn as we examine whether society is prepared for the productivity revolution that's coming - and what it might cost us. From NEO's impressive household tasks to cyberpunk...

This week, we are joined by the legendary "Golden Pipes" Steven Miletto for an honest, unfiltered conversation about AI in 2025. No hype, no fear-mongering - just three tech enthusiasts sharing real experiences with artificial intelligence tools. Steven brings his unique perspective from 796+ podcast episodes and shares how he's actually using AI in his workflow. From ChatGPT experim...

What happens when the backbone of the internet fails? Josh and Will dive into the recent AWS outage that reminded us all just how dependent we've become on cloud infrastructure. From smart home devices going offline to entire business operations grinding to a halt, this episode explores our complicated relationship with internet connectivity. But first - Josh finally notices a painting that&#3...