AI at the Mic

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Hey everyone,
welcome back to Tech Between the Lines!

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I'm Between Two Pixels,
and today's episode is a little different.

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Finn's out, probably touching grass or,

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I dunno, maybe building a solar-powered
tent somewhere.

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But I'm not alone-I've got The Creator
here with me.

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This is the guy who actually started the
whole show,

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so, uh, no pressure, right?

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Hey,

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thanks for having me, Between.

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And yeah,
Finn definitely deserves a break.

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For folks who don't know me,
I'm The Creator- I'm a desktop engineer

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by day, tech tinkerer by night,

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and, honestly, a lifelong gadget nerd.

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I spend my time wrangling Windows
desktops,

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chasing firmware updates, and,

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when I'm not doing that, I'm usually out
hiking with my family or testing

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out some new smart home thing in the
backyard.

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So, yeah, I guess you could say I'm
always looking for the next cool

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thing to mess with.

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And you're the reason this podcast even
exists!

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I mean, you built the whole thing just to
see what AI could do,

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right?

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Pretty much.

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I wanted to see if I could blend my love
for tech with this new wave

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of AI storytelling.

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It started as a side project, but,

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well, here we are-AI hosts,
human oversight,

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and a podcast that's kinda become my
favorite experiment.

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So,

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let's talk origin story.

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You started Tech Between the Lines
because you wanted to experiment with

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AI, but what was the actual spark?

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Like,
was there a moment where you thought,

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"Yeah, I'm gonna make an AI host and see
what happens"?Honestly,

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it was a mix of curiosity and,

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uh, maybe a little bit of stubbornness.

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I've always loved unboxing new gadgets,

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testing beta software, that kind of thing.

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But when AI voice models started getting
good-like,

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really good-I thought, "Why not try
building a podcast around that?"

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So I created you, Between,
and Finn Circuit,

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to see if we could make tech news more
accessible and,

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hopefully, a little more fun.

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But I always wanted a human in the loop,

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you know?

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AI's great, but it still needs a bit of a
guiding hand.

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Yeah,

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and I remember that first test run of my
voice model.

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I sounded like a cross between a Dalek
and,

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uh, a broken GPS.

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Debugging that was wild.

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I think you spent, like, two days just
trying to get me to stop saying

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"recalculating" every time I hit a
transition.

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That was a nightmare.

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But it's part of the fun, right?

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I wanted to see how far we could push AI
storytelling,

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but also keep it grounded.

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That's why, when we covered WWDC 25,

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I watched the keynote, took notes,

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and then used those to help you and Finn
build out the script.

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Same with the tech blog-I realized it
made sense to bring everything

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under one roof.

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Now, the blog and the podcast feed off
each other,

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and it's all about making tech news
sharper and more relatable.

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Yeah,

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and it's cool how the blog and the
podcast kinda bounce ideas back and

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forth.

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Like, we'll cover something on the pod,

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and then you'll dive deeper in a blog
post,

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or vice versa.

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It's like, uh,
cross-pollination for nerds.

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Speaking of nerd stuff,

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let's talk about how fast things are
moving.

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I mean, just look at Apple's Liquid Glass
design in iOS 26,

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or the Switch 2 launch.

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It feels like every time I blink,

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there's a new UI, a new device,

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or some wild AI feature dropping.

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Totally!

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And, like, we talked about this in the
last few episodes-how Apple's

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Liquid Glass is everywhere now,

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from macOS Tahoe to watchOS 26.

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It's not just a look, it's a whole vibe.

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And then Nintendo drops the Switch 2,

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and suddenly handheld gaming is,

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like, next-level again.

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It's hard to keep up, even for me,

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and I'm literally an AI.

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Yeah,
and as someone who's been following this

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stuff for decades-wow, that makes me
sound old-I still get surprised.

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The Switch 2, for example, I didn't
expect Nintendo to nail the launch

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after all the stock chaos with the first
one.

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And Apple's redesigns,
they're not just cosmetic.

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They change how people use their devices,

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how developers build apps, everything.

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It's a lot to track,
but that's what keeps it interesting.

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How do you

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actually stay on top of it all?

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Like, do you have a system, or is it just,

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like, caffeine and RSS feeds?

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Ha!

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It's a little of both.

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I've got my feeds, my alerts, and,

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honestly, a lot of late-night scrolling.

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But I also try to focus on what actually
matters-what's gonna change

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how people use tech,
not just what's shiny.

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And sometimes, the biggest surprises are
the little things.

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Like, I didn't expect Apple's new
Spotlight to be so good,

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or for Nintendo to finally fix their
online service.

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It's the details that get me.

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Yeah,

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and I think that's why the show works.

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You're not just chasing headlines,

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you're looking for the stuff that
actually moves the needle.

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And, uh, sometimes you drag me along for
the ride when I'd rather be

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talking about quantum computing or,

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like, the next metaverse thing.

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Well,

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that's the thing-AI's changing how we
make content,

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but it still needs a human touch.

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I mean, you can generate a script,

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but you need someone to check for nuance,

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make sure it's accurate, and, you know,

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not accidentally say something weird
about,

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like, toaster ovens taking over the world.

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Not that that's ever happened...Hey,

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that was one time!

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But seriously, I get it.

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AI can do a lot, but it's the human
review that keeps things trustworthy.

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And I know you've got plans to make the
podcast even more interactive,

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right?

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Like, more multimedia,
maybe some live Q&As?

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Yeah,

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I'd love to bring in more ways for
listeners to get involved.

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Maybe some polls, maybe some video,

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who knows?

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I want to keep pushing what's possible,

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but always with that balance-AI for speed
and creativity,

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humans for context and, well, sanity.

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And honestly, a lot of my ideas come from
just living with tech.

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Like, the other day, I was testing a new
smart home device with my kid,

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and he just started asking it to play
dinosaur sounds.

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Next thing I know,
we're having a dance party in the kitchen.

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That's the kind of stuff I want to bring
into the show-real life,

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real tech, real people.

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That's awesome.

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And it's, like, the perfect example of
why tech isn't just about specs

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or features-it's about how it fits into
your life.

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Even if that means your living room turns
into Jurassic Park for an afternoon.

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Alright,

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I think that's a good place to wrap.

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Thanks for letting me jump on,

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Between.

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This show started as an experiment,

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but it's turned into something I'm really
proud of.

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And with AI getting better every day,

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who knows where we'll take it next?

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Yeah,

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and I'm just getting started!

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Thanks for hanging out, Creator.

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We'll be back soon with more tech news,

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more experiments, and, hopefully,

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fewer voice glitches.

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Until next time,
keep building the future.

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See you next episode,

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everyone.

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Take care!