What Was Pokemon Go really up to?

When we play a game or fill in a form, are we training robots without knowing it - and would we consent if asked?

Remember Pokémon Go? The company behind it is repurposing the 30 billion images players captured to help robots navigate the real world. It’s the tip of a bigger trend: turning play into data collection. From CAPTCHAs to viral stunts like the Mannequin Challenge, our seemingly harmless online challenges are being quietly funnelled into AI training sets. It’s clever, but it raises awkward questions about consent, transparency, and who profits when our leisure becomes free labour for automation.

Also this week: the meme‑ification of war: games companies, anime producers and pop culture stars bristle at alleged use of their IP in pro‑war White House memes, we look at how politicians are using memes to lessen the severity of the war in Iran - and their role in a new kind of political campaigning. And the personality of AI: Alexa’s new “adult” mode isn’t sexy; it’s sassy. How tech firms craft voice, gender and tone for assistants - what feels inclusive, what feels exploitative, and what feels just downright weird?

The Interface is your weekly guide to the tech rewiring your week and our world. Hosted by journalists Thomas Germain, Karen Hao, and Nicky Woolf, each episode unpacks, week by week, the unfolding story of how technology is shaping all of our futures. No guests. No jargon. Just three sharp voices debating the tech stories that matter — whether they shook a government, broke the internet, or quietly tipped the balance of power.

New episodes drop every Thursday on BBC Sounds in the UK. Outside the UK, find us on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the video version on YouTube (search “The Interface podcast”).

To get in touch with the team: [email protected] The Interface is a BBC Studios production. Producer: Natalia Rodriguez Ford Executive Editor: Philip Sellars