Today on The Current AI Podcast, George takes you inside the hidden world of ultrasonic tracking, the creepy tech that links your devices through sounds you can’t even hear. Then it’s off to the Web Water Cooler, where we talk Samsung’s swollen Galaxy Ring, Alexa’s new paywall, AI-powered scams, and even China’s pay-to-wipe toilets. In Device Advice, learn how AI now fights ransomware in Google Drive, the fastest way to cancel sneaky app subscriptions, and smart tricks for Google Docs, YouTube, and Fire TV. From smart speakers to smart scams, this episode is packed with AI, security, and gadget hacks you don’t want to miss.
🎚️ Turn it down: Ever had a Hulu or Netflix ad jump-scare scream at you mid-binge? Starting 2026, your stream won’t double as a hearing test. California just passed SB 576, a new law that forces services like Netflix, Hulu and YouTube to keep commercial volume in check. Ads must match the level of whatever you were watching. It started because one guy’s baby kept waking up, and now, we all get quieter commercials. Bless that tired parent.
See who subscribed to you: On YouTube, you can check who’s following your channel. Click your profile icon in the top right, go to YouTube Studio and select Dashboard. In the middle, find Recent subscribers and tap See All. You can filter by Lifetime or a time range.
Student discounts rock: Got a kid in school? Their .edu email or student ID unlocks deals on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Premium, Hulu and more. Example: Hulu with ads drops from $9.99 to $1.99 a month. Easy win.
🤖 Don’t get caught in a Roomba doomba: iRobot founder Rodney Brooks (aka the Roomba guy) says stay 10 feet back from humanoid bots. Why? If one tips, it’s a 150-pound steel giraffe doing a trust fall. Also, video-only training won’t teach them real dexterity. Don’t let yourself become a YouTube tutorial with bones.
Share YouTube videos from a time stamp: On desktop, pause the video where you want it to start. Right-click and select Copy video URL at current time. Or copy the top link from your browser and add &t=2m30s to the end (swap in your own time) to go straight to that moment.
DIY movie star: Picture this. Tell OpenAI’s new Sora app, “Make me doing a sick skateboard trick,” and boom, it spits out a movie-quality clip (paywall link), up to 20 seconds. There’s even a “Cameo” mode that drops your likeness into AI worlds. The first viral hit? A fake Sam Altman stealing graphics cards. The app works like TikTok or YouTube Shorts: You can follow, like and comment on other AI slop.
☎️ Don’t touch the button: Listen, if a YouTube video tells you hackers are about to raid your Apple Pay unless you “Protect Now,” don’t fall for it by clicking. That just dumps you into some scammy “cleaner” app you’ll never need. And those pop-ups screaming, “Congrats, you won a Mac”? Yeah, no, you just won malware. Save your clicks, save your bank account.
Boost your YouTube channel: If you want the algorithm to help people discover your videos, add channel tags. On desktop, click your profile picture and open YouTube Studio. In the left panel, go to Settings > Channel > Basic info. Under Keywords, fill in things like “lifestyle vlog” or “easy recipes,” and hit Save.
The Great Firewall of China
China can monitor, censor, and cut off citizens online. Then, I help ‘Wicked Bradley’ take his paranormal YouTube channel to the next level. Plus, an 80-year-old wires $6,700 to a fake astronaut, ads on fridges, and insurance drones spy from above.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: On YouTube desktop, press 0 on your keyboard to restart a video instantly. Or hit numbers 1 through 9 to jump to that percentage of the playback. Nice.
YouTube runs the show: Be real, when’s the last time you watched cable? Exactly. YouTube’s replaced it, plus Netflix and most of your weekend. 2.5 billion people are on it, and 500 hours get uploaded every minute. And now, AI is helping creators crank out edits, titles, even Shorts. If you have a YT channel, check this out. I can’t wait to try the new tools.
😎 Be a pal: Click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel. Costs nothing and makes my videos easier to find than your glasses on a Monday morning.
📄 Type faster in Google Docs: Instead of retyping long phrases, create shortcuts that expand into full text. Go to Tools > Preferences > Substitutions and tick Automatic substitution. To add your own, type “YTV” under Replace and “YouTube video” under With, then hit OK. Next time you type YTV, it auto-changes to YouTube video. Nice.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Want a YouTube video to play on repeat? On desktop, right-click the video and select Loop. Great for study beats, background music or white noise.
Talk global to me: OK, so YouTube just made subtitles feel like a flip phone. They’re rolling out AI dubbing that copies your own voice and tone but in other languages. Early testers like Jamie Oliver saw their views triple. Plus, thumbnails get the translation glow-up, too. Repeat after me: J’adore The Current.
🚨 Scrape me up before you go-go: The Atlantic just dropped a seriously creepy tool. Type in your name, and it’ll show whether your YouTube videos were quietly scraped to train AI. No permission, no payment, just … surprise! You helped build someone else’s billion-dollar model. I popped up 75 times. Unreal. Search for your name here.
🍏 Apple’s iDrop: Tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT, Apple will roll out its new, smarter Siri, along with the ultralight iPhone 17 Air, base iPhone 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max. We’ll also see Apple Watches and smart home gear. Stream it on YouTube or Apple’s site. I’m just hoping the iRon will work with the iWash, iCook and iClean network. (That was so bad, it was so good!)
▶️ YouTube PiP on Chromebook: You can keep a YouTube video running while working on other tasks. Place your cursor on the video player, double-tap with two fingers on the touchpad, and select Picture in picture. A floating window will appear that you can resize and move anywhere on your screen.
3I/ATLAS: Are aliens in our backyard?
It’s just the third interstellar object ever spotted. Most say it’s a comet but Harvard’s Dr. Avi Loeb thinks it might be alien tech. Also: MrBeast’s phone service, golf influencers cashing in on YouTube, and an AI musician landing a record deal.