This Week in Tech with Jeanne Destro

This week, all the reasons why the currently popular “bring your whole self to work” trend is most definitely not a great idea when it comes to being successful and effective at work.  At least, that’s what organizational psychologist, author, and entrepreneur, Dr. Tomas-Chamorro-Premuzik, tells us his new book; “Don’t be yourself: Why authenticity is overrated, and what to do instead”. Listen now...

This week, I interviewed Dr. Dane Quinn who is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Akron, while I was hosting the Ray Horner Morning show. I wanted to hear what he thinks about future employment prospects for students interested in pursuing that type of degree, in the face of so much change and disruption expected from AI.

Dr. Dane Quinn, University of Akron's Professor of Mechanical Engineering, joined Jeanne Destro to discuss the future of engineering, employment, and more.

As tech giants ramp up their investments in AI, and artificial intelligence-driven applications continue to be deployed throughout society; both the costs and benefits of this rapidly developing technology were on display in dramatic ways this week. Listen now, as we find out more about how the Stock Market reacted to concerns about returns on investments in AI, how teen reliance on AI chatbots to...

There is a new legal battle brewing now between the Trump administration and states, including Ohio, over who gets to regulate AI. Congress recently punted on the question, when they refused to pass a measure embedded in the recent continuing resolution that reopened the federal government, that would have denied states the right to regulate AI.  But that did not make President Trump happy, and ju...

Imagine you are a hit-making musician.   Then, imagine that you are excited about sharing your work, and making a living, when– poof–it all evaporates because somebody, somewhere on the internet, just ripped you off.  Well, that’s exactly what’s been happening to creative artists of all types, especially musicians, at an ever-accelerating speed since the dawn of the internet. And, because federal...

Oh, the irony! While millions of other people were knocked offline for hours when the global internet infrastructure company, Cloudflare, experienced an outage on Tuesday, November 18; my online life at work was humming along just fine, as the critical systems I rely upon to keep our Newsroom and Morning Show running, just kept on ticking. But when I got home and started working on this show; some...

Would you know the difference between an AI generated song and one by a real band, and if so; would you care? The answer this week seems to be "No" and "No", as a song entirely generated by AI is now topping the Country Digital Charts. Find out more about that, and other hot tech topics like Russian threats to the global internet, Denmark banning social media for children, a new way to increase th...

From the touch screen on your phone, to the"Popcorn" setting on your microwave; there's somebody, somewhere, who had to figure out how to make that work for you, and hopefully; how to make it work in such a way that the experience was seamless, satisfying, and really served your needs. But that doesn't happen all the time. If you've ever yelled at your computer, tried unsuccessfully to pair your p...

From high tech hauntings, to new tech-related jobs in Northeast Ohio, 3-D printed homes, layoffs at Amazon, and more; we've got the latest in tech stories from all over the world this week. Find out more, listen now.

This week we're doing a roundup of some of the biggest stories in tech, including this week's AWS outage, a huge cyber breach, Amazon plans to replace much of their warehouse workforce with robots, and AI threats to musicians. Listen now:

While most of us are at least dimly aware that plastic in the form of polymer microfibers goes into making our clothes; it probably never really even crosses our minds that when we wash them; tiny pieces of plastic make their way into our environment. But when Max Pennington was a student at Case Western Reserve not so long ago; it certainly occurred to him. So, that's when he and his friends came...

This week, we're exploring how two Universities in Northeast Ohio are using artificial intelligence. At the University of Akron, their College of Business just announced they are going to offer a brand new undergraduate degree; a Bachelor of Business Administration in Applied Artificial Intelligence and Information Systems. The goal, according to Associate Dean, Dr. Debmalya Mukherjee, is to equip...

This week, we're time-tripping back to the 1980s, when hair was big, ties were skinny, and everybody headed over to the video store on Friday night to score the latest movies on VHS. But we don't have to rely on dim memories of Blockbuster days gone by, because we've got a museum with a real-life replica of an actual video store inside, called "Killer Video", in downtown Akron The museum, at 453 S...

When congress declined to implement a provision that would have prohibited states from regulating AI for the next ten years in their recently passed "big beautiful bill"; that left Ohio free to come up with regulations that our own legislators believe will protect the state's residents from harm stemming from the use of this new and rapidly evolving technology. Right now, there is a bill (SB-164)...

This week, it's all things space, as we explore the possibility of life on Mars, Star Trek's upcoming 60th Anniversary, and the University of Akron's NASA Mining Robot team. Another new development this week that's newsworthy but unfortunately didn't make it into this a edition of "This Week in Tech with Jeanne Destro", is that NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, has just been selected to lea...

Want highly skilled STEM-skilled workers to permanently relocate to Ohio? Offer their employers cold, hard, taxpayer-generated cash to bring them here. That's what JobsOhio is doing right now, and you can get details on that story plus a whole lot more, like the latest on Google's big privacy fine, a last minute surge in EV sales before tariffs kick in, and a new data center planned for the site o...

The City of Fairlawn is embarking on an ambitious new plan to ease traffic flow and prioritize safety on State Route 18. They're spending $300,000 on a new system that will turn lights green ahead of buses and emergency vehicles, and warn motorists about adverse traffic conditions through a new mobile app. Listen now for details from Fairlawn Public Service Director Ernie Staten, in this week's ed...

It was one of those "I can't believe I fell for it", moments on social media, where somebody was going on about how this "old lady" couldn't figure out how to process a particular type of electronic payment at a store, when I started seeing red, especially because "old" was defined (in her mind at least) as "over 50". The nerve!  Well, I can laugh about it now, but at the time I was pretty steamed...

Google took action this week to better protect children from harmful content on YouTube; announcing they're using artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze users' behavior to determine whether they're under the age of 18. Like Meta did a few months ago on Instagram; they will restrict that user from viewing what they believe is age-inappropriate content, and will also disable personalized advertisin...

Two well-known celebrities ignited a firestorm of controversy this week, when they used AI to bring dead people "back to life" by creating video Avatars that looked and sounded so much like the originals that they totally creeped some people out, and made them really question both the ethics of those who did it, and the technology they used to make it happen. First, it was Rock superstar, Rod Stew...

If you're looking for something fun and maybe a little different to do this weekend in Akron; head on over to Bowery Street, where Akron's Earthquaker Devices is having their annual "Earthquaker Day" with factory tours, live music, DIY recording demonstrations, and more. That company, which makes guitar effects pedals for musicians and bands, is one of the topics we're getting into, on today's edi...

Art conservators at museums worldwide had a very sticky problem, and the University of Akron had the solution. It's called "Beva 371 Akron", and is a new type of adhesive developed by polymer scientists to help preserve old, fragile paintings. Listen now to my conversation with Professor Dr. Ali Dhinojwala, who is the W. Gerald Austen Endowed Chair and H.A. Morton Professor at the University of Ak...

A new AI-assisted radiotherapy system is giving doctors at University Hospitals in Cleveland the ability to more accurately target and treat certain types of cancer, leading to better outcomes for patients. That's the word from Seidman Cancer Center Chairman, Dr. Daniel Spratt, who talked to us this week about adaptive radiotherapy with their new Varian Ethos 2.0. Listen now:

Imagine you're in a life and death struggle, and it's you, or the other guy. What would you do? Would you fight dirty? Well, probably a lot folks would say, "Sure, of course; if it's me or him, yeah." But, others, who have more of an ethical mindset, or moral compass, might say, "Well, it depends. There are rules, and I might find a way to accomplish my goals that didn't include low-down deeds." B...