Season 3 of KUOW's 'Primed' podcast zooms in on the ways Alexa is rewiring our lives
October 21, 2019
Seattle, WA – Today, Amazon is at the center of our commercial, private and political lives. Not only do consumers rely on Amazon for quick deliveries, but millions are welcoming Alexa, the artificial intelligence that powers Amazon’s Echo smart speaker, into their lives – giving it control of their homes, letting it interact with their children, and even inviting it into their healthcare. These changes are coming so fast that we barely have time to reflect on the questions they raise.
In season three of KUOW's Primed podcast, hosts Carolyn Adolph and Joshua McNichols explore the unseen ways Amazon and its artificial intelligence technology are rewiring our personal lives. Amazon promised a world of convenience, but how is that convenience transforming our relationships with one another?
In the first episode, Adolph and McNichols explore the many issues that arise when smart speakers are introduced into homes with small children: how parents are trying to figure out new rules for when and how kids can talk to Alexa and what kids think about these magic hockey pucks.
Later episodes will explore how Alexa is helping people maintain independence as they age, how Amazon's technology is changing the healthcare industry, and more. Adolph and McNichols speak with Amazon engineers and project leads who are steering smart home technology, as well as the people impacted it. They also take listeners to surprising places where this technology is growing – from a secret model apartment in Amazon's Day One building, where Amazon tests all of its smart devices, to Black Diamond, a neighborhood where homes are sold as "Amazon-enabled."
"Our Primed team this season is telling original stories about Amazon and gaining access to the company in ways that few reporters can claim. They explore the promise that smart technology holds for improving lives, but also tradeoffs when we invite Alexa into our homes. This season is for super users of smart technology as well as the people out there who have serious misgivings," said KUOW News Director, Jill Jackson.
Content from the podcast will be featured on local and national public radio outlets in the coming months, and new episodes will drop weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcasting platforms. You can also stream at kuow.org/primed.