Tech Life BBC World Service
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- Technology
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Tech Life discovers and explains the ways technology is changing our lives, wherever we are in the world. We meet the people with bright ideas for rethinking the way we work, learn and play, and get hands-on with the products they dream up. We hold tech giants to account for their huge power to affect our lives, and ask who wins, and who loses, in the technology transformation. Tech Life is your guide to a future being made, and remade, at lightning speed in front of our eyes.
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Detecting cancer using artificial intelligence
Experts develop a new blood test that could change the way suspected cases of bowel cancer are managed. At the heart of it is A.I. analysis to calculate a patient's cancer risk. We speak to the team behind the PinPoint Test. Also on Tech Life this week, period trackers and your personal data - find out how one app is promising to keep your information safe. Drones are being used to make childbirth safer in Rwanda. And listen to the aerospace students who have developed a new way to move satellites around in space.
Presenter: Shiona McCallum
Producer: Tom Quinn
(Image: A photo of a lab technician holding a blood sample. Credit: Jacob Wackerhausen/Getty Images) -
Bionic arms and robotic thumbs
Presenter Shiona McCallum is joined by technology reporter Paul Carter to look at some of the latest developments in artificial limb tech. Paul talks about his own personal experiences of trying out different prosthetics. Shiona interviews the youngest boy in the world to be fitted with a bionic arm, and his mum. Sierra Leone benefits from a prosthetics project. And would you want an extra robotic thumb ?
Presenters: Shiona McCallum with Paul Carter
Producer: Tom Quinn
(Image: A photo of presenter Shiona McCallum in the Tech Life studio with technology reporter Paul Carter. Credit: BBC) -
Helping our animal friends
Lab testing of animals is often used to study diseases, or assess the safety of new drugs or substances before they are trialled on humans. Could A.I. provide a solution ? Also in this edition of Tech Life, woof woof! Can artificial intelligence help us interpret the meaning of dog barks ? And Michael Kaloki reports from Kenya on tech being used by dairy farmers to help them look after their herds.
Presenter: Shiona McCallum
Producer: Tom Quinn
(Image: Portrait photo of a beagle dog. Credit: Getty Images) -
Dating a chatbot
What is it like to have an AI boyfriend? We hear about women in China who prefer to date a chatbot over a real person. How can tech be used to unlock the potential of crops - and help with food shortages? And we meet the fashion designer who hopes to fool facial recognition technology with her clothes.
Presenter: Shiona McCallum
Producers: Tom Quinn and Imran Rahman-Jones
(Image: A woman looking at her phone which has hearts coming out of it. Credit: Getty Images) -
Being watched
There are words of warning about facial recognition, biometrics and artificial intelligence - technologies increasingly being adopted by law enforcement worldwide. Also on Tech Life this week, we learn about an African company offering a local alternative to the big electric vehicle manufacturers. Basketball gets into tech. And why we need tech to identify and map where our rubbish goes.
Presenter: Shiona McCallum
Producer: Tom Quinn
(Photo: An illustration of facial recognition on the face of a woman. Credit: Francesco Carta fotografo/Getty Images) -
Tackling online abuse of athletes
Ahead of the Paris Olympics, Alasdair Keane hears how the organisation behind the event is enlisting an AI platform to tackle online abuse aimed at athletes competing in the event. Also in this episode Shiona McCallum meets the next generation of game designers and we find out about a project in Rwanda to improve the fit of prosthetic limbs.
Image: Paris 2024 Olympic Games logo is displayed near the Eiffel Tower (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)