Justin Dawson examines the striking contrast between Ireland’s AI summit and a nationwide public-sector strike involving 400,000 workers. The episode explores the political fallout from Micheál Martin’s “no, that’s life” response, along with Ireland’s push to become a leading applied AI hub.
The conversation then turns to hackers forcing supermarket refrigeration systems across France to extreme temperatures, raising urgent questions about connected infrastructure and outdated security. Also covered: AI-powered shopping trolleys in Preston, their benefits for budget tracking and neurodivergent shoppers, and concerns over weight, reliability, and retail jobs.
The episode closes with Ireland’s growing data-centre backlash, from low-frequency noise in Clondalkin to planning rejections over grid capacity, and Samsung’s proposal for 50-megawatt floating offshore data centres.
