A new experiment in remote work ... from the inside
Planet Money examines Maine's experiment with allowing incarcerated people to hold remote jobs for market-rate wages, focusing on the stories of grants coordinator Darlene George and software engineer Preston Thorpe. Reporter Susan Sharon and Corrections Commissioner Randall Liberty explain how prison education led to remote work opportunities, how earnings are handled and prioritized for restitution and fees, and the ethical debates and incentive problems that arise when prisons collect a share of those wages. The episode contrasts Maine's guarded approach with Alabama's far more extractive system, and explores what this could mean for recidivism, victims, and the future of prison labor.
Everything you need to know about AI agents | Swami Sivasubramanian
In this TED Talk featured on TED Talks Daily, Swami Sivasubramanian explains what AI agents are, how they differ from chatbots, and why they could be one of the most transformative technology shifts of our time. He outlines three key milestones needed for agents to change how we work: transforming software development, establishing trust through automated reasoning, and enabling non-programmers to build and collaborate with agents. Drawing from his own journey and examples from Amazon and Prime Video, he describes a future where human-agent collaboration lowers barriers to creation and makes powerful tools widely accessible.
TECH006: Open-Source AI That Protects Your Privacy w/ Mark Suman (Tech Podcast)
Host Preston Pysh interviews Maple AI founder Mark Suman about building privacy-preserving, verifiable AI using trusted execution environments and secure enclaves. They discuss the cultural importance of privacy at Apple, the risks of feeding proprietary AI systems with intimate personal data, and how verifiable, open-weight models can mitigate manipulation and data leakage. The conversation also covers Maple's architecture, AI memory, the open-source vs proprietary model race, AI-assisted software development, and the potential future of running personal AI servers at home.