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Does AI need a “kill switch”?
Sarah Breeden, the Bank of England’s deputy governor for financial stability, has talked about the potential need ot a “kill switch” for markets because agentic AI may force regulators to rethink how the financial system is governed.
Presenters Alex Hudson and Christ Stokel-Walker try to unpick the detail from the fantastic tabloid headlines.
Also, could we be facing the end of the need for websites?
Now that AI and search changes are leaving some news publishers with traffic drops of up to 90%, and online brands are seeing their traffic fall, is this really the end?
And will we all just stare at LLMs, social networks and forums?
Performance marketing pioneer Neil Patel, of NP Digital, discusses the future of search, AI's impact on SEO, and how businesses can adapt to the evolving digital landscape. This episode offers insights into how AI and LLMs are transforming marketing, content creation, and consumer behaviour.
Keywords: Neil Patel, AI Search, SEO, LLMs, Digital Marketing, Future of Websites, Content Strategy, AI in Business
Key topics
- The shift from traditional search to AI-driven search
- The impact of LLMs like ChatGPT and Gemini on SEO
- Strategies for optimising for AI and LLMs
- The importance of product quality over marketing in AI era
- The future of websites and in-platform transactions
- The role of digital PR and content in AI search
- The changing landscape of journalism and content creation
- Neil Patel's insights on product-led growth and innovation
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Follow:
Alex: www.instagram.com/alexhuds / www.tiktok.com/@alexhuds
Chris: www.instagram.com/cstokelwalker / www.tiktok.com/@st0kel
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Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4qkgmmV
More episodes
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40. The Meta narrative: Instagram, shadowbanning, Meta Glasses, and AI redundancies
01:08:27||Season 1, Ep. 40Meta is having a moment, laying off 10% of its staff with the help, it's alleged, of AI while maintaining a 40% profit margin. In this episode, we explore the latest developments in Instagram shadowbanning, how Kylie Jenner's Meta Glasses partnership could cause problems, what the Muse Image and NameTag controversies say about Zuckerberg's mindset. social media, and does what copyright is left in the age of AI.Presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker are joined by academic, campaigner and activist Dr Carolina Are.We discuss shadow banning, AI-generated content, Meta's controversial features, and the future of digital rights.Also, why is Netflix trying to become YouTube? And why did IBM's share price tank?Read Dr Carolina's work: https://bloggeronpole.com/
39. What does Burnhamism mean in practice? And is the answer just AI everything?
01:02:25||Season 1, Ep. 39The next prime minister is probably Andy Burnham. And this means Burnhamism, Manchesterism and devolution are all hot topics. But what does that mean for economic growth? Technological innovation? And the UK’s second cities catching up. In this episode, presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker talk to Tom Forth about regional economic disparities in the UK, the impact of devolution, and the potential to transform cities like Leeds and Manchester. We explore how to reduce the North-South divide.Go to Tom Forth’s website: https://tomforth.co.uk/ Follow him on X: https://x.com/thomasforth?lang=en Keywords: UK economy, devolution, regional development, infrastructure, Manchester, Leeds, North-South divide, economic growth, public investment, city regenerationkey topicsImpact of devolution on regional economiesCase studies of Manchester and LeedsRole of infrastructure projects like tram systemsStrategies for regional growth and prosperityChallenges and opportunities in UK regional development
37. The week the world asked the Internet for ID
55:57||Season 1, Ep. 37Britain is changing prime minister again, which would be funny if the policy consequences were not so bleak. So this week on Crashed, Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker ignore the Westminster cosplay and ask the question that actually matters: what tech agenda does the next government inherit?From under-16 social media bans to VPN age-gating, facial age estimation at the border, AI regulation, digital ID, Anthropic’s incoming checks, bot paranoia and the collapsing line between public safety and private life, this is an episode about the same pattern appearing everywhere.Every new demand for safety seems to need another identity check. Every new AI panic seems to need another database. Every new political crisis seems to produce another reason why privacy has to give way.Also: hot podium guy, the King of the North, World Cup heat stress, whether blockchain can prove you are human, and the increasingly urgent question of what level of real-world harm society is prepared to tolerate to preserve a private digital life.
36. Social media ban could mean more state surveillance
01:05:34||Season 1, Ep. 36In this episode, presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker delve into the complexities of social media regulation, government policies on youth online safety, and the influence of AI at the G7 summit. They explore the implications of recent policies, the role of framing in public opinion, and the future of tech regulation.They're joined by Genevieve Broadhead, global industry lead at cloud database platform MongoDB, to discuss who owns the information architecture underneath every AI answer, retail interaction and customer decision
35. Royal Mail can't even deliver parcels to the Post Office
58:01||Season 1, Ep. 35Royal Mail can't even deliver mail to Post Offices... and there's literally no way to speak to a Parcelforce customer service operator directly, no matter how hard you try. Wasn't the delivery revolution meant to make everything better? The regulator keeps fining them for all the targets being missed. Presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker talk about expensive stamps, the demise of Post Office branches and how hard it is to deliver post to the Post Office. Maybe they could organise a p*** up in a brewery? In the episode, we also cover the "aggressive" investment in British industry and why the iPhone is being blamed for the drop in birth rate.
34. Elon Musk’s trillion-dollar gamble and the extended reality (XR) of it all
55:23||Season 1, Ep. 34This episode explores the recent experiences at South by Southwest (SXSW) London, the state of XR and AI markets, and the implications of upcoming IPOs in the tech industry, including the $135-a-share gamble with SpaceX that would make it the largest IPO ever and worth nearly $1.8 trillion. Hosts Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker share insights, critiques, and future predictions about the cultural and economic impact of these technological trends.Keywords: South by Southwest London, XR, AI, IPOs, tech industry, cultural impact, market analysis, innovation, technology trendskey topicsSouth by Southwest London experienceThe state of XR and extended realityUpcoming IPOs of AI and tech giants OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceXMarket concentration and valuation concernsCultural and societal implications of XR and AI
33. Shadow banning on social is real (and so is the AI Pope)
59:26||Season 1, Ep. 33This episode explores the complex issues of shadow banning, content moderation, and the influence of AI and religion on digital society. Featuring Dr. Carolina Are, of the LSE, presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker get deep into platform policies, free speech, and the moral implications of AI development.Oh, and what “don’t be evil” did (or didn’t mean) to Google, how North Korea might be using AI and what on earth the UK might be doing about all this. Follow Dr. Carolina Are: https://www.instagram.com/bloggeronpole/?hl=en Keywords: shadow banning, social media moderation, AI ethics, free speech, platform regulation, digital rights, online harms, social media censorship, AI morality, religious influence on technologykey topicsShadow banning and content suppressionThe influence of AI and algorithms on societyThe role of religion and morality in AI development
32. HS2: How difficult is it to build a £100bn railway?
49:41||Season 1, Ep. 32Britain’s next-generation high-speed rail network (HS2) was going to lay 530km of track, offer speeds of up to 225mph, cost around £33bn, and launch in 2026, when it was announced in 2012. Now in 2026, it’ll cost up to £103bn, be under half the length (225km), slower, and won’t be completed until, potentially, 2043. It’s gone laughably wrong. Even the government calls it “the world’s most expensive slow-motion car crash”. Presenters Alex Hudson and Chris Stokel-Walker interview transport expert Adam Tyndall about how a slow-motion car crash is possible on a railway, exactly what’s gone wrong and why a bat tunnel costs £100m (yes, it does relate to HS2).Elsewhere, how much EU can an EU EU if an EU is in the EU? Brussels is preparing the Chips Act 2.0 for a reported launch on 27 May, as part of the wider Tech Sovereignty Package. They want to double Europe’s global semiconductor market share to 20% by 2030. Chris is heading to Europe to find out if that’s possible (though we both think we know the answer).Follow Adam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamtyndall/