Spark CBC Discover & Learn
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- Technology
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Spark on CBC Radio One Nora Young helps you navigate your digital life by connecting you to fresh ideas in surprising ways.
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Being Human Now - Play
What does play mean in a digital age, when so much happens on our all-consuming phones, and tech erases the boundaries between work and play?
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Can we put a watermark on reality?
In an age of misinformation and generative AI, how do we know if anything we read or hear is even real anymore? From the latest trends in internet search to watermarking images to (re)establishing trust in journalism, we examine the role of proof in a post-truth world.
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Predicting problems before they happen
Digital twin technology is growing rapidly across multiple industries. From race cars to the human heart to the entire country of Canada, a look at how these virtual replicas use real-time data to model and predict the future.
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Being Human Now - Work
We keep hearing that AI is going to revolutionize jobs. But what if the language of inevitable automation hides the ongoing need for distinctly human skills?
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Confronting bias and privacy for better tech tools
Along with huge advances in data-driven technologies like machine learning and digital health, there are troubling concerns about our data privacy in healthcare, and persistent problems with bias in artificial intelligence. So how do we get the tools we want with the ethics we need?
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How 'compassionate ageism' made its way into designing new tech
By some measures, nearly 90% of Canadians 65 and older use the internet every day. And yet, the design of new technologies and platforms often leaves out the needs, desires and interests of seniors. But if older people are using technology, why aren't they factored into its design?
Customer Reviews
Excellent podcast - background music too loud
This is the best podcast on this platform. However, the background music has become too loud to the point that it’s hard to concentrate on the spoken word. Please fix it, Nora.
A long time subscriber.
Nora is the Bomb
I <3 Spark.This is a nice way to keep up with tech and trends in electronic media. So good to say she makes my day.
Good show even with the strong left tilt, and a bit naive
You will never ever hear anything favorable to the right on this show. Nothing on for example the cost of things to government (meaning us) the downside of single parent families, crime rate of POCs, etc. that said, what’s presented is interesting.
A couple examples.
Bias in machine learning was cited and showed racism. Actually, most everything covered in this show was racist (a slight exaggeration). Nothing about how ML is much easier to fix than the alternative. If a person doesn’t hire people because of racism, you can’t easily tell. However you can throw data at a machine and see the results; it won’t hide them. It’s fixable, the person isn’t (well not easily)
Truckers and the surveillance society was an interesting show. And I happen to agree with the concerns of the speaker. But she and the host were terribly naive. There was nothing on how much of a problem was in trucking and all truckers (except very young ones) were noble, responsible people