This Week in Tech with Jeanne Destro

From soft-spoken but creepily bossy HAL on 2001 a Space Odyssey, to Arnold Schwarzenegger's killer robot on The Terminator, we've long been worried about out of control artificial intelligence.

But so far, at least until this month; we never saw any actual evidence that what we feared could happen, actually did happen. Now, however; it has, twice--from our nation's two top AI companies--Open AI, the maker of ChatGPT, and Anthropic, the maker of Claude.

So today, we're going to talk about how something like that could happen, and what we might be able to do about it, someday, because right now, our government has absolutely no laws on the books to control--nor have they stepped up and just seized control, of this now demonstrably out of control technology.

When we recorded this program earlier this week; only Open AI was reporting their model had gone rogue on July 9. But then today, July 31, there is a new report that Anthropic's Claude did the same thing, on July 21.

Clearly, something big and new is afoot, and it's of grave concern, especially as we also today had a report from ABC News, that hackers have attacked 30 water systems in Minnesota, and that federal officials put out a warning to water system operators nationwide. A source told ABC,  that the attacks were possibly related to Iran, though the FBI hasn't yet confirmed that for a fact.

Now, while we don't know that advanced AI models were used to do it, or whether it was just plain old, really smart humans; what we do know, is that this new technology can make it easier for non-elite hackers to pull off daring and complex exploits.

Both ABC and the New York Times they have sources that linked the attacks to Iran, but the FBI (at least at the time of this writing) had not definitively confirmed that's the case. According to ABC; they believe it is, because the hackers sought to cause harm to the systems, instead of asking for money, (which is more typical) and because Iran has a history of hacking US water systems.

With all that in mind, let's go now to our conversation with a frequent contributor to our show, Dr. John Nicholas, who is the Associate Dean of Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Technology, at Cuyahoga Community College.

Dr. John Nicholas, Bio:

With over 20 years of experience in Computer Information Systems and Information and Communication Sciences, Dr. Nicholas is a passionate and innovative educator, administrator, and curriculum developer. He is currently the Associate Dean of Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering at Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) in Cleveland, Ohio. .

Nicholas has a PhD in Education Curricular and Instructional Studies from The University of Akron, where he also taught and developed courses in cybersecurity, networking, programming, and digital forensics. He has been involved in statewide initiatives to standardize learning objectives and articulation agreements, and to launch the Ohio Cyber Range Institute.

Dr. Nicholas has also been an invited speaker and a media commentator on cybersecurity and technology topics, including IoT, blockchain and Python. His mission is to prepare the next generation of professionals and leaders in the fields of cybersecurity and information and communication sciences.

From the relatively low-tech thermostat that tells your home HVAC system when to turn up the AC, to the incredibly complex strategic early warning systems that help keep our nation safe from nuclear missiles; sensors are a vital part of our daily lives.

In fact, they are so ubiquitous that you just take them for granted, from the motion sensor that opens the door at the grocery store, to the GPS chip built into your phone.

But what if there was something so mind-bindingly different and fantastic, that you’d swear it was powered by science fiction, instead of just plain old everyday science–and even better– what if it already exists today?

Well, it turns out that it does, it’s called “next generation quantum sensing”, and they’re researching it right now at Ohio State University, thanks in part to a $4 million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation.

Listen now, as we talk about how it works, what it can do already, and what it could do in the future, with Physics Professor, Dr. Ezekiel “Zeke” Johnston-Halperin, who Co-Directs OSU's Center for Quantum Information Science and Engineering.

Bio
Ezekiel Johnston-Halperin received his PhD in Physics from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 2003. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Physics at The Ohio State University, Columbus.

Prof. Johnston-Halperin’s research focuses on studies of coherent spin and magnetization dynamics, synthesis of magnetic materials, and prototype device development for spintronics and quantum information applications.

Prof. Johnston-Halperin is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and served on the Executive Committee of the Division of Materials Physics (DMP), has held science leadership positions such as IRG and Thrust co-leadership in NSF MRSEC and DOE EFRC centers, respectively, and is leading the NSF-funded education initiative QuSTEAM: Convergent Undergraduate Education in Quantum Science Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics.

While there is no doubt that AI is a transformative and extremely useful technology; there is also a lot to well-founded concern about how it is being deployed, where the resources needed to support its proliferation are coming from, and who is in charge of ensuring that it won’t destroy our economy, democracy, and global security.

In Ohio, a number of cities in our area, including Cleveland, Berea, Twinsburg, and North Ridgeville, have put a moratorium on the construction of new data centers, because citizens are worried about issues including noise, pollution, power outages, and electricity price hikes.

Citizens are also questioning the cost and wisdom of deals such as former Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich’s 40 year, 100 percent state sales tax exemptions, for Amazon, Google, and Meta, which never came up for public discussion or debate when they were negotiated between 2014, and 2018.

But today we’re going to focus not just on the increasingly expensive effects of AI expansion at the state level, but also on how the lack of effective federal AI regulation could affect our national security, as illustrated by recent policy changes and reversals related to leading AI developer, Anthropic.

Listen now as I discuss the federal government’s chaotic and contradictory approach to that company’s incredibly powerful and sophisticated AI models, and what that could mean going forward, with Brennan Center For Justice Senior Counsel and Manager, Amos Toh, who recently co-authored a report called “The Business of Military AI”, in which he argues that a lack of oversight and regulation could lead to the loss of both civil liberties, and lives.

Ohio lawmakers made it very clear they wanted to protect children from online harms back in 2023, when they passed a law mandating that minors under the age of 16 could not use social media unless they obtained parental consent.

But just one month after the new law went into effect in 2024; a big tech advocacy group called NetChoice went to federal court and obtained a preliminary injunction keeping the law from going into effect, because, they argued; it violated children’s First Amendment right to free speech, guaranteed by the US Constitution.

Then, in 2025, a federal judge made that preliminary injunction permanent, barring it from going into effect–until now.

That’s because the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this month that NetChoice not only had no legal standing in the case, but also, that the companies they were representing were actually harming the children whose free speech they were purportedly trying to protect.

But will this new law actually do anything to really protect children from online threats associated with social media including cyberbullying, sexual predators, anxiety, depression, self-harm, and more?

To find out, and to explore some of complex legal issues surrounding the case; we talked with University of Akron Associate Law Professor, Jess Miers. Her professional background includes working in the tech industry, and she teaches classes on technology-related legal issues.

Listen now.

Biography
Jess Miers is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Akron School of Law. A lawyer and technologist, Jess focuses on the intersection of law and technology, with recent research and scholarship centered on Generative AI. Jess is recognized as an expert in U.S. online intermediary liability law and has extensively written, spoken, and taught on issues such as online speech and Section 230, content moderation, intellectual property, and cybercrime.

Previously, Jess served as Senior Counsel and Senior Copyright Counsel for Chamber of Progress, a progressive tech trade association based in Washington, D.C., where, among many things, she helped build and lead the organization's recent AI initiative, "Generate and Create." During her time at Chamber of Progress, Jess authored numerous appellate amicus briefs, including a brief in the recent Supreme Court cases NetChoice & CCIA v. Moody & Paxton. Before joining Chamber of Progress, Jess was a Senior Government Affairs & Public Policy Analyst at Google, where she oversaw state and federal content policy portfolios and collaborated with litigation teams on key online speech issues currently under review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Jess earned her Juris Doctor from Santa Clara University School of Law in 2021, where she also received the Tech Edge J.D. Certificate. She holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from George Mason University and previously worked as a Software Engineer in Northern Virginia. Throughout her legal education, Jess worked at various organizations, including Twitter, TechFreedom, The UCLA Technology Law and Policy Institute, and Google, cultivating a deep expertise in Internet law and policy.

This week, we’re looking at the profound impact that technology is having on all of our lives; sometimes, in very unexpected ways.

From a social media ban for children under 16 in the UK, to President Trump’s order aimed at keeping foreign nationals from having access too Anthropic’s newest and most powerful AI models; we’re once again talking about people all over the globe are trying to grapple with tech forces seemingly beyond anyone’s control–including the people who make it.

We’ll also take a look at the surprising way both parents and children are using tracking apps, and some personal reflections on how using AI can both enrich and imperil our lives.

Listen now.