Joanna Stern is not a robot, but she lived with them

Joanna Stern is not a robot, but she lived with them

My guest today is longtime friend of the show Joanna Stern. You all know Joanna: she is the former senior personal technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal, a former Decoder guest host, one of my co-founders at The Verge, and also just one of my very closest friends. Joanna just left that lofty perch at the Journal to start her own media company called New Things, and she’s starting with her new book about AI called I Am Not a Robot, which is out this week on May 12th. So we had Joanna on to talk about all of that, especially what she learned going all in on automation.  Links:  * I Am Not a Robot | Harper Collins [https://www.harpercollins.com/products/i-am-not-a-robot-joanna-stern?variant=44277633843234] * It’s time. Meet my New Thing | Joanna Stern [https://thenewthings.com/p/meet-my-new-thing] * Why I left My prestigious job to make YouTube videos | Joanna Stern / YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd2Dyr0m3BI] * Signing off from this column after 12 years. Here’s what’s changed in tech | WSJ [https://www.wsj.com/tech/personal-tech/12-years-consumer-tech-phones-ev-ai-74107804] * I tried the robot that’s coming to live with you. It’s still par human | WSJ [https://www.wsj.com/tech/personal-tech/i-tried-the-robot-thats-coming-to-live-with-you-its-still-part-human-68515d44] * The people do not yearn for automation | Decoder [https://www.theverge.com/podcast/917029/software-brain-ai-backlash-databases-automation] Subscribe to The Verge [https://www.theverge.com/subscribe] to access the ad-free version of Decoder! Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Decoder is produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt and edited by Ursa Wright. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Rewind: How AI is fueling an existential crisis in education

Hey, everyone, Nilay here. We’re off today, while the team and I are cooking on a lot of really great stuff in the coming weeks. We’ll be back with an all-new interview on Monday.  In the meantime, we really wanted to highlight this episode we first aired in the fall, because it’s about a huge subject: AI in schools. The school year is starting to wrap up now around the country, and we’re no closer to figuring out how to thread the needle about generative AI in education than we were in September. Links:  * A majority of high school students use gen AI for schoolwork | College Board [https://newsroom.collegeboard.org/new-research-majority-high-school-students-use-generative-ai-schoolwork] * About a quarter of teens have used ChatGPT for schoolwork | Pew Research [https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/01/15/about-a-quarter-of-us-teens-have-used-chatgpt-for-schoolwork-double-the-share-in-2023/] * Your brain on ChatGPT | MIT Media Lab [https://www.media.mit.edu/publications/your-brain-on-chatgpt/] * My students think it’s fine to cheat with AI. Maybe they’re on to something. | Vox [https://www.vox.com/advice/413189/ai-cheating-college-humanities-education-chatgpt] * How children understand and learn from conversational AI | McGill University [https://tlclab.owlstown.net/projects/3697-how-children-understand-and-learn-from-conversational-ai-e-g-voice-assistants?_x_tr_tl=jam] * ‘File not Found’ | The Verge [https://www.theverge.com/22684730/students-file-folder-directory-structure-education-gen-z] Subscribe to The Verge [https://www.theverge.com/subscribe] to access the ad-free version of Decoder! Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Dara Khosrowshahi on replacing Uber drivers — and himself — with AI

It’s become an annual tradition to have Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi join us in the studio when he comes to New York for Uber’s big Go-Get event every year. This year, the big news was that Uber's expanding into a much larger platform for travel, starting with hotel booking and services like personal shopping. Uber is going so far as to call this an everything app, so I wanted to see how far Dara thinks everything actually goes — and whether he’s feeling pressure to own more of the user experience in a world where AI companies keep promising that their chatbots will book all the cars for you. Links:  * Uber adds hotels to its app in big travel swing | The Verge [https://www.theverge.com/transportation/919393/uber-hotel-expedia-vrbo-ai-voice-search] * Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is okay with reinventing the bus | Decoder [https://www.theverge.com/decoder-podcast-with-nilay-patel/672087/uber-dara-khosrowshahi-waymo-ai-bus-transit-tesla-self-driving] * I have to be honest, AI will replace jobs at Uber | Diary of a CEO [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s52O1JH2tnU] * The DoorDash problem | Decoder [https://www.theverge.com/podcast/823909/the-doordash-problem-ai-agents-web-amazon-perplexity-lawsuit] * Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky wants to build the everything app | Decoder [https://www.theverge.com/decoder-podcast-with-nilay-patel/677324/airbnb-ceo-brian-chesky-services-redesign-app-future-travel] * Booking and Priceline chief wants you to yell at bots, not humans | Decoder [https://www.theverge.com/24212137/booking-ceo-glenn-fogel-priceline-kayak-travel-ai-chatbots-decoder-podcast-interview] Subscribe to The Verge [https://www.theverge.com/subscribe] to access the ad-free version of Decoder! Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Decoder is produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt; this episode was edited by Xander Adams. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

How to win — or lose — Decoder

This is Nick Statt, senior producer on Decoder. We last ran a mailbag episode during the holidays, and we decided it was a good idea to do that kind of thing more often. So we’re back with Nilay as the guest, answering questions and responding to feedback, criticism, and suggestions. We talk through some recent controversial episodes like our interviews with the CEOs of Superhuman and Puck, and we also discuss how we’re covering AI, thinking about the future of the show, and what it takes to win (and lose) Decoder.  Links:  * Nilay answers your burning Decoder questions | Decoder Mailbag (2025) [https://www.theverge.com/podcast/846750/decoder-mailbag-qa-nilay-patel-interview-2025] * Answering your biggest Decoder questions | Decoder Mailbag (2024) [https://www.theverge.com/24325789/decoder-mailbag-2024-answering-questions-feedback-youtube-spotify-podcast] * Confronting the CEO of the AI company that impersonated me | Decoder [https://www.theverge.com/podcast/898715/superhuman-grammarly-expert-review-shishir-mehrotra-interview-ai-impersonation] * Can Puck reinvent the news business for the influencer age? | Decoder [https://www.theverge.com/podcast/910443/can-puck-reinvent-the-news-business-for-the-influencer-age] * The people do not yearn for automation | Decoder [https://www.theverge.com/podcast/917029/software-brain-ai-backlash-databases-automation] Subscribe to The Verge [https://www.theverge.com/subscribe] to access the ad-free version of Decoder! Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Decoder is produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt and edited by Ursa Wright. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

That UL safety logo is a lot more complicated than it looks

Jennifer Scanlon is CEO of UL Solutions, one of those hidden-in-plain-sight companies we like to poke at here on Decoder. UL's been around for more than 100 years; it started as a way for insurance companies to standardize fire and safety testing as electricity was the new technology spreading into homes. But now it's everywhere, and "safety" in tech doesn't just mean the hardware. UL is adapting quickly to the connected, AI-powered era... but do the companies making and distributing tech even care about standards anymore? Links:  * How fake UL certifications led to Chinese ebike suit | Electrek [https://electrek.co/2026/01/29/how-fake-ul-certifications-lead-to-amazons-major-chinese-e-bike-lawsuit/] * FCC IoT program loses UL after China probe | Cybersecurity Dive [https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/fcc-cyber-trust-mark-iot-labeling-ul-withdraw/808732/] * FCC’s Carr probes IoT program lab over “ties to China” | PC Mag [https://www.pcmag.com/news/trump-administration-probes-biden-era-iot-security-program] * The US router ban, explained | The Verge [https://www.theverge.com/tech/899906/fcc-router-ban-march-2026-explainer] * More than 500,000 hoverboards recalled (2016) | The Verge [https://www.theverge.com/2016/7/6/12105506/hoverboard-recall-swagway-razor-others-over-500000-units-cpsc] * Brendan Carr is a dummy | The Vergecast [https://www.theverge.com/podcast/848012/brendan-carr-fcc-dummy-free-speech-vergecast] Subscribe to The Verge [https://www.theverge.com/subscribe] to access the ad-free version of Decoder! Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Decoder is produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt. This episode was edited by Kabir Chopra. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]