kill switch

• ‘my internet bed is broken’ is just the start

  A few weeks ago on Monday, October 20, a major outage in Amazon Web Services took down a bunch of the Internet. How did an error in one data center in Virginia affect everything from Snapchat and Reddit to ‘smartbeds’ to government services? Dexter talks to Dr. Corinne Cath, a cultural anthropologist and technology researcher, about how the “cloud,” and therefore the Internet, became mostly controlled by 3 big tech companies – Amazon, Microsoft, and Google – why that puts our democracy at risk, and what we can do to change it. Got something you’re curious about? Hit us up [email protected], or @killswitchpod, or @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky. Read + Watch: Corinne’s op-ed: https://www.techpolicy.press/amazon-cloud-outage-reveals-democratic-deficit-in-relying-on-big-tech/ Our episode on AI and the environment: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kill-switch/id1449757372?i=1000711126940See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• workslop: how AI is making you hate your coworkers

  Corporate America has bet on AI to make work faster and cheaper. Companies like Meta and Microsoft are laying off employees, hoping it will save them money. But a new study has found that there’s a growing wave of “workslop” and AI is actually making more work for the people left in these organizations. It’s also costing companies millions. Dexter talks with one of the authors of the study, Kate Niederhoffer, to give us an inside look into the details of the study, what advice she has for organizations and individuals dealing with this new technology, and why AI workslop is a symptom of a much bigger problem. Got something you’re curious about? Hit us up [email protected], or @killswitchpod, or @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky. Read + Watch: Kate’s paper, AI-Generated “Workslop” Is Destroying Productivity: https://hbr.org/2025/09/ai-generated-workslop-is-destroying-productivitySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• maybe ICEBlock was 'activism theater,' but is banning it protecting us?

  ICEBlock was an app created to help people report ICE sightings. Then, Apple pulled it from the App Store. But in between those events, there was a semi-public fight over whether the app was actually helpful to immigrants. Dexter talks with security researcher and journalist Micah Lee about why he criticized ICEBlock (calling it “activism theater”), why he still supports the app’s developer in fighting censorship, and what all this means for your ability to use your phone how you want. Got something you’re curious about? Hit us up [email protected], or @killswitchpod, or @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky. Read + Watch: ICEBlock app homepage:https://www.iceblock.app Micah’s blog posts on ICEBlock: https://micahflee.com/unfortunately-the-iceblock-app-is-activism-theater/ https://micahflee.com/iceblock-handled-my-vulnerability-report-in-the-worst-possible-way/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• your onlyfans girlfriend might be a guy (or a robot)

  If you’re chatting to a popular OnlyFans model: no, you’re not. That job was outsourced long ago. Teams of “chatters”, often in the Philippines, are paid to flirt, role-play, and get fans to spend as much money as possible. But now, AI bots are moving in, trained on those same human conversations to mimic intimacy at scale. Dexter talks with reporter Michael Beltran about how AI is moving in on the role of chatters, the global race to cut costs, and what the future of digital labor looks like when even emotional connection can be outsourced. Got something you’re curious about? Hit us up [email protected], or @killswitchpod, or @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky. Read + Watch: Michael’s article: https://restofworld.org/2025/onlyfans-ai-dm-bots/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• will blind gamers ever play Zelda like I do? (part 2)

  As a blind video gamer, the options for the kinds of games you can play are limited. Not only are accessibility features not a standard practice in game development, the tools available right now only go so far. Exploration – a fundamental part of the fun in gaming, especially in an open world game – is often not really possible for blind players in today’s games. Researchers at Columbia University are working to change that. Dexter talks to Brian Smith and Vishnu Nair, who are developing tools for blind and low vision gamers to be able to play exploration-based games that could one day even be applied to a game like Zelda Breath of the Wild. Got something you’re curious about? Hit us up [email protected], or @killswitchpod, or @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky. Read + Watch: CEAL at Columbia University: https://ceal.cs.columbia.edu/navstick/ Ross Minor profile in WIRED: https://www.wired.com/story/ross-minor-the-blind-leading-the-gamers/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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