Shiftheads - A Rescue Robot That Might Also Terrify You

Imagine you're trapped under rubble after an earthquake, injured, and the first thing that reaches you is a cockroach wearing a tiny electronic backpack, followed by a second one carrying a hypodermic needle loaded with medicine, all part of a very real rescue plan researchers are calling paraborgs. There is now a machine approved to draw your blood with a needle it controls itself, no nurse, no technician, nobody standing by if something goes sideways, built specifically because there aren't enough trained people left to do the job by hand. A group of hobbyists wired an AI into a skull-shaped Halloween decoration so it can look at a kid's costume and improvise a joke about it on the spot, and there is no script, no editing, and no guarantee the joke is any good. Topics: cyborg cockroach rescue robots, paraborgs, earthquake search robots, robotic blood draw FDA, AI Halloween costume detector GUEST: Kris Abel | krisabel.com | @realkrisabel Originally aired on 2026-09-03