Long reads — TechDefused

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My Claude Is Smarter Than Your Claude

Jamie Ashcroft · 20:30, 18 Mar 2026

AI agents explained: What they are, what they can do and why they matter

Ian Lyall · 10:43, 19 Dec 2025 · Updated 19:46, 25 Feb

Large language model basics: Training, prompting, hallucinations, and how to test reliability

Ian Lyall · 13:24, 19 Dec 2025 · Updated 19:46, 25 Feb

Passkeys and password managers: A practical guide to logging in safely in 2026

Ian Lyall · 13:36, 19 Dec 2025 · Updated 19:46, 25 Feb

Deepfakes and synthetic media: How to spot them, verify claims, and protect yourself

Ian Lyall · 13:55, 19 Dec 2025 · Updated 19:46, 25 Feb

Cryptocurrency custody 101: Exchanges vs self-custody, wallets, seed phrases and scam prevention

Ian Lyall · 14:56, 19 Dec 2025 · Updated 19:46, 25 Feb

Stablecoins Explained: How they work, what can go wrong, and the questions to ask

Ian Lyall · 15:22, 19 Dec 2025 · Updated 19:46, 25 Feb

DeFi for beginners: Yields, lending, staking and the real tisks

Ian Lyall · 16:29, 20 Dec 2025 · Updated 19:45, 25 Feb

Quantum computing explained: what it is, what it is not and why cryptography is the real story

Ian Lyall · 16:44, 20 Dec 2025 · Updated 19:45, 25 Feb

AI in business: A laybook for adoption that does not collapse under security, cost, or culture

Ian Lyall · 17:27, 20 Dec 2025 · Updated 19:45, 25 Feb

RAG explained: Why the promise of more accurate AI still comes with sharp edges

Ian Lyall · 18:08, 30 Dec 2025 · Updated 19:43, 25 Feb

AI copyright and licensing basics: what creators and publishers should know

Ian Lyall · 18:13, 30 Dec 2025 · Updated 19:43, 25 Feb

AI privacy risks put users and small firms on notice

Ian Lyall · 14:50, 31 Dec 2025 · Updated 19:43, 25 Feb

Prompt injection and AI security: how attackers trick chatbots, and how to defend systems

Ian Lyall · 15:09, 31 Dec 2025 · Updated 19:43, 25 Feb

Two-factor authentication explained: what works, what does not, and how to set it up safely

Ian Lyall · 11:02, 2 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:42, 25 Feb

How to verify breaking tech claims: a toolkit for hype-resistant news consumption

Ian Lyall · 11:36, 2 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:42, 25 Feb

AI search and zero-click: what changes for publishers, and what still works

Ian Lyall · 12:03, 2 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:42, 25 Feb

AI model evaluation: how benchmarks work, and why they often mislead

Ian Lyall · 12:31, 2 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:42, 25 Feb

AI hardware explained: GPUs, specialised chips, and why supply matters

Ian Lyall · 14:24, 2 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:42, 25 Feb

Data centre boom: power, cooling, and the hidden constraints behind the AI arms race

Ian Lyall · 14:42, 2 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:42, 25 Feb

AI in education: tutors, cheating and what schools can realistically do

Ian Lyall · 15:56, 3 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:41, 25 Feb

AI and jobs: what is changing, what is not, and how to future-proof skills

Ian Lyall · 16:19, 3 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:41, 25 Feb

AI procurement: the questions to ask before signing a contract

Ian Lyall · 16:26, 3 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:41, 25 Feb

Model collapse and synthetic data: what happens when the internet fills with generated content

Ian Lyall · 16:52, 3 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:41, 25 Feb

Artificial intelligence in finance: fraud detection, credit and the risk of black-box decisions

Ian Lyall · 17:06, 3 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:41, 25 Feb

AI and elections: influence operations, deepfakes, and resilience

Ian Lyall · 18:36, 3 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:41, 25 Feb

Open-source AI: benefits, risks, and how to assess projects responsibly

Ian Lyall · 17:31, 4 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:41, 25 Feb

AI and misinformation: how falsehoods spread, and what actually reduces harm

Ian Lyall · 18:26, 4 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:41, 25 Feb

AI translation and speech tools: accuracy, bias, and when to trust them

Ian Lyall · 18:36, 4 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:41, 25 Feb

The economics of AI: why inference costs matter more than flashy demos

Ian Lyall · 19:13, 4 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:41, 25 Feb

Prediction markets: A virtual time machine. Here's News Defused's guide to trading the future and avoiding the traps

Ian Lyall · 14:06, 17 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:30, 25 Feb

Surveillance advertising: Trackers, fingerprinting, and what users can do

Ian Lyall · 14:56, 17 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:30, 25 Feb

AI and IP for businesses: Protecting your content and your brand

Ian Lyall · 10:35, 18 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:30, 25 Feb

I model updates, why tools change overnight and how to manage version risk

Ian Lyall · 10:42, 18 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:30, 25 Feb

Biological age tests explained: What they measure, what they miss, and how to read the results

Ian Lyall · 11:46, 18 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:30, 25 Feb

Lab-on-a-chip explained: Tiny microfluidic devices that could shrink the laboratory

Ian Lyall · 12:32, 18 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:30, 25 Feb

Digital twins in medicine and engineering: How to tell a useful tool from an expensive mirage

Ian Lyall · 12:57, 18 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:30, 25 Feb

Robot batteries explained: why they are not just smaller electric vehicle packs

Ian Lyall · 16:02, 18 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:30, 25 Feb

CRISPR delivery explained: Why editing DNA is easier than getting the editor to the right cells

Ian Lyall · 16:17, 18 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:29, 25 Feb

Biofoundries explained: Inside the robot labs, engineering biology at industrial scale

Ian Lyall · 16:35, 18 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:29, 25 Feb

New antibiotics explained: Phages, bacteriocins and AI, and why none is a silver bullet

Ian Lyall · 16:47, 18 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:29, 25 Feb

Brain-computer interfaces today: Real communication breakthroughs, stubborn engineering limits, and the hype traps to...

Ian Lyall · 17:00, 18 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:29, 25 Feb

Why robots hate doorknobs: The small piece of hardware that exposes everything robots still struggle with

Ian Lyall · 18:52, 18 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:29, 25 Feb

Organoids on a chip: Miniature human tissues that are changing how drugs are tested

Ian Lyall · 16:40, 20 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:28, 25 Feb

Living medicines, strange ethics: the rise of engineered microbes that treat disease from the inside

Ian Lyall · 16:56, 20 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:28, 25 Feb

The cell’s postal service: How extracellular vesicles could become the next drug delivery revolution

Ian Lyall · 17:48, 20 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:28, 25 Feb

CRISPR’s next act: Editors that rewrite single letters without cutting the DNA

Ian Lyall · 18:01, 20 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:28, 25 Feb

Batteries, not brains: Bioelectricity and the new map of how bodies heal

Ian Lyall · 18:39, 20 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:28, 25 Feb

The immune system’s new teachers: Personalised cancer vaccines and the logistics of made-to-order medicine

Ian Lyall · 19:00, 20 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:28, 25 Feb

The end of antibiotics, again: phage therapy, bacteriocins, and precision antimicrobials

Ian Lyall · 22:03, 20 Jan 2026 · Updated 19:28, 25 Feb