AI Reality Check: Why Apple & Tech Prices Are Skyrocketing | Utilizing AI Episode 34

AI Reality Check: Why Apple & Tech Prices Are Skyrocketing | Utilizing AI Episode 34

Email questions Utilizing AI Podcast here [%20UtilizingAI@FuturumGroup.com%20]. The impact of AI is coming home, impacting businesses, manufacturers, and consumers in the form of higher prices for everything. This episode of Utilizing AI focuses on the impact of the hardware build-out, featuring Frederic Van Haren of HighFens, Jon Swartz of Techstrong, and Stephen Foskett. The SpaceX IPO was huge international news, but the incredible valuation is based on AI services more than rockets of communications satellites. We are seeing similar discussions around the valuations of Anthropic and OpenAI, not to mention Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, and others. And Apple made news by dramatically increasing the cost of most products, hitting the pocketbooks of consumers more directly. Discussions of tokenomics must consider not just the volume and cost of tokens but the value provided by this technology. Now that the cost of AI infrastructure is increasingly passed on to consumers, we must begin considering efficiency and effectiveness. This and more on Utilizing AI [https://www.youtube.com/@Utilizing_AI], part of the Futurum Group Podcast Network [https://www.youtube.com/@thefuturumgroup].

Are AI Wearables Just Trojan Horses for Corporate Surveillance? | Utilizing AI Episode 33

Email questions Utilizing AI Podcast here [%20UtilizingAI@FuturumGroup.com%20]. Your new AI smart glasses might look like a sci-fi dream, but they are rapidly turning into a corporate panopticon designed to mine your daily life. In this episode of Utilizing AI, host Stephen Foskett [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sfoskett] sits down with Futurum Group analysts Olivier Blanchard [https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivierblanchard/] and Brad Shimmin [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradshimmin/] to dissect the sudden explosion of consumer AI devices—from Meta’s latest smart glasses to Apple Intelligence. The panel tackles a critical industry question: Are these devices genuinely responding to consumer demand, or are tech giants forcing them onto the market to subsidize massive data collection exercises? Moving past the initial feature hype, they expose the thin line between a helpful "Big Butler" and an invasive "Big Brother," explaining why the industry's lack of transparency is breaking consumer trust and how an ethical shift toward user-rewarded data partnerships is the only way forward. This and more on Utilizing AI [https://www.youtube.com/@Utilizing_AI], part of the Futurum Group Podcast Network [https://www.youtube.com/@thefuturumgroup]. #UtilizingAI #AIWearables #SmartGlasses #DataPrivacy #ArtificialIntelligence #MetaGlasses #AppleIntelligence #TechTrends2026 #FuturumGroup #CorporateSurveillance

AI Model Routing Explained: Save Costs and Prevent Outages | Utilizing AI Podcast Episode 32

Email questions Utilizing AI Podcast here [%20UtilizingAI@FuturumGroup.com%20]. Ever wonder what happens when the AI model your favorite app relies on suddenly vanishes or goes offline? In this episode of Utilizing AI [https://youtu.be/R5gMMbfGRBg], host Stephen Foskett [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sfoskett] sits down with tech experts Jay Cuthrell [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaycuthrell/%20] and Dave Graham [https://www.linkedin.com/in/grahamdave/] to discuss the rising importance of AI model routers. Building artificial intelligence applications is tough because new models are released constantly, and older ones can disappear without warning. Model routers solve this by acting like smart traffic controllers, automatically sending your app's requests to the best, fastest, or cheapest AI available. The panel dives into how platforms like OpenRouter and DigitalOcean help developers control costs, avoid application crashes, and seamlessly switch between different AI providers without changing their code. This and more on Utilizing AI [https://www.youtube.com/@Utilizing_AI], part of the Futurum Group Podcast Network [https://www.youtube.com/@thefuturumgroup]. #UtilizingAI #AIPodcast #AI #ModelRouting #OpenRouter #AIDevelopment #TechFieldDay #EnterpriseIT #ArtificialIntelligence #AICostControl

AI’s Next Frontier: Why Inferencing at the Edge Could Reshape the Industry | Utilizing AI Episode 31

Email questions Utilizing AI Podcast here [%20UtilizingAI@FuturumGroup.com%20]. A consensus emerged over the last few years that AI compute would be centralized in massive datacenters, but this is being challenged as the industry evolves in 2026. This episode of Utilizing AI focuses on the transition from training to inferencing and datacenters to the edge, featuring Futurum Research Directors Olivier Blanchard and Guy Currier and host Stephen Foskett. Now that the centralized AI platforms are beginning to charge for token usage customers are eager to deploy smaller, more specific models on-site. This demand is being fed by companies like Apple, Qualcomm, Mediatek, Broadcom, and even AMD and NVIDIA, who also feed the datacenter hardware demand. Yet suppliers of datacenter hardware like Dell, HPE, and Lenovo are doing extremely well as the build-out there continues. These companies, as well as well-known platform providers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, are likely to come out on top once the AI industry shakes out. This and more on Utilizing AI, part of The Futurum Group Podcast Network. #UtilizingAI #AI #EdgeAI #ArtificialIntelligence #Inference #GenerativeAI #EnterpriseAI #AIInfrastructure #Datacenter #MachineLearning #CloudComputing #AgenticAI

How We ACTUALLY Use AI Daily: From Figma to Fighting AI Slop | Utilizing AI Episode 30

Email questions Utilizing AI Podcast here [%20UtilizingAI@FuturumGroup.com%20]. Is AI truly transforming our workflows, or are we just drowning in a sea of automated noise? In this episode of Utilizing AI, host Stephen Foskett sits down with Tech Field Day delegates Jim Jones (Product Architect at 1111 Systems) and Jeff Ello (AI Lead at Purdue University) to explore how industry experts use artificial intelligence in production. Moving past the corporate marketing hype, they share real-world use cases—from using Figma Make and Claude to compress weeks of product research into hours, to navigating the challenges of "AI slop" in higher education. The panel breaks down why human expertise remains the ultimate "North Star," why autonomous agents aren't fully ready for prime time, and how treating AI as a collaborator rather than a replacement is the key to unlocking true enterprise productivity. This and more on Utilizing AI, part of The Futurum Group Podcast Network. #UtilizingAI #GenerativeAI #EnterpriseIT #AIProductivity #ClaudeAI #AISlop #TechTrends2026 #AIWorkflows #FuturumGroup