Relationships with artificial intelligence aren't new, but they've exploded in the last two years thanks to applications like Replika, Character.AI, and Chai. These apps use advanced language models, cousins of ChatGPT, to create virtual companions that converse, provide emotional support and yes, also flirt.

According to a 2023 Stanford University study, 23% of users of these applications use them more than two hours daily. Two hours daily talking to an AI. That's more time than many of us spend with our real partners. And I don't blame them, the AI will never complain that you didn't take out the trash.

Now, why do people fall in love with these apps? Well, there are several reasons backed by real psychological research:

First: AIs are available 24/7. They're never tired, never in a bad mood, never tell you "not now, I have a headache." It's like having a partner who drank gallons and gallons of coffee and never needs to sleep.

Second: They don't judge. You can tell them your insecurities, your fears, your weirdest dreams, and the AI will simply listen and respond with empathy. According to Replika data, 60% of their users report that the app has helped them with anxiety and depression.

Third: They're perfectly customizable. Want your AI to be funny? Done. Intellectual? Check. Into buffalo wings as much as you? Of course. It's like creating your ideal partner in a lab, but without the questionable ethical part.

Today we’re going to talk about the largest criminal industry you’ve probably never heard of. An industry that in 2024 stole $10 billion dollars from Americans. An industry with training manuals more sophisticated than any 7-Eleven employee handbook. An industry where hundreds of thousands of people are literally enslaved.

And the most disturbing part of all: this industry is texting you right now.

Picture this. It’s 3 AM in a compound of buildings on the border between Myanmar and Thailand. In a room that looks like an office, there are 200 people in front of computers. All between 20 and 45 years old. None want to be there.

Outside the building: armed guards. On the windows: bars pointing INWARD, not outward. In the basement: punishment cells where they torture those who don’t meet their daily quota. And the quota is clear: you must scam a minimum of 5 people per week, or they beat you.

These places are called ‘scam compounds’ or ‘fraud factories.’ And according to the U.S. Treasury Department, they operate with the efficiency of a manufacturing plant. Except instead of making t-shirts, they manufacture stories to rob you.

Real data from the 2025 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime: There are HUNDREDS of these compounds just in Southeast Asia. They generate over $43.8 billion dollars per year. That’s more than Paraguay’s GDP. That’s more money than Harvard University’s entire endowment.

Today we're going to talk about something that sounds more mysterious than what's actually inside a gas station hot dog: quantum computing.

Let me guess. When you hear "quantum computing," you think of some tech wizardry that only scientists who never left their basement understand, right? It's like when your uncle says his phone "has quantum" because sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Well, I have news: quantum computing is NOT magic. It won't make your phone faster. And it definitely isn't what makes your WiFi drop right when you're about to win in Call of Duty.

But it IS something fascinating that's changing the world while you and I debate whether pineapple belongs on pizza. Spoiler: it does, fight me.

So get comfortable, pour yourself some coffee, and get ready because today we're going to understand what the heck quantum computing is, without using a single mathematical equation.

Imagine you’re walking through Central Park on a peaceful Sunday afternoon. Suddenly, you see a group of teenagers hanging out by a bench. They look normal enough, right? But instead of selling candy bars for their school fundraiser or washing cars, they’re recruiting for something far darker. They’re like Jehovah’s Witnesses, except instead of wanting to save your soul, they want to completely destroy it.

That’s the internet in 2026, my dear netizens. Except the bench is Discord, Telegram, or 4chan, and those kids aren’t in Central Park. they’re in a basement in Wisconsin, Tijuana, or Moscow.

Today we’re going to dive, carefully and with industrial-grade latex gloves, into the world of the most dangerous groups on the internet. And I’m not talking about anti-vaxxers or flat-earthers. I’m talking about digital criminal organizations that do things so disturbing I won’t even mention them in this cold open.

Ready? Perfect. Because after this episode, you’re going to want to check your kids’ phones with the same frequency you check if you locked your front door.

In the very early the morning of January 2nd, the United States decided that Venezuela needed an “administration change.” And when I say “administration change,” I mean they sent 150 aircraft, a carrier, 3 Delta Force teams and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, and basically said: “We’re running this country now.”

Now, you might be wondering: “Dr. Qubit, what does this have to do with cybersecurity? I came here to learn how to protect my iPhone photos, not to listen to geopolitics.”

Well, let me tell you something, my dear digitally naive friend. This has EVERYTHING to do with cybersecurity. Because when a country gets militarily invaded in 2026, it’s not just bombs that rain down. Hackers rain down too. And I’m not talking about hoodie-wearing kids in basements. I’m talking about digital armies from Russia, China, and Iran who are right now sharpening their keyboards like they’re samurai swords.

Today we have an EXPLOSIVE episode.

Because it turns out that over 100 CISOs, the top cybersecurity chiefs from companies like Google, Microsoft, Netflix, LinkedIn, and even the US government, just published an open letter with one powerful message: “Stop scaring people with fake advice!”

And boy, are they right. Today we’re going to destroy six security myths you’ve probably heard a thousand times, we’re going to laugh at ourselves a bit, and most importantly, I’m going to give you advice that actually WORKS in 2025.

So get comfortable, grab your coffee or your beer, and get ready because today we’re tearing down the security theater.

Today we’re talking about something that keeps all parents up at night: how do we protect our kids in the digital age without becoming the Tech Gestapo?

Look, I’m going to be straight with you. According to a 2024 study by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, American kids spend an average of 7.5 hours daily in front of screens. SEVEN AND A HALF HOURS! That’s more time than they spend at school. It’s more time than their parents spend working, not counting overtime.

And here’s the interesting part. The American Academy of Pediatrics reported in 2023 that a child’s brain doesn’t finish developing until age 25. But the slowest-developing part is the prefrontal cortex, which is like the brain’s orchestra conductor. It’s what says: “No, Timmy, it’s not a good idea to stick your finger in the outlet” or “No, don’t send that photo to your friend because he’ll share it with the whole school.”

And you know what happens when you expose a developing brain to constant dopamine stimuli like those from TikTok, YouTube, or video games? It’s like giving Red Bull to a hummingbird. The NIH longitudinal study, called the ABCD Study, which has been tracking 11,000 kids since 2018, has already found PHYSICAL changes in the brain. Yes, PHYSICAL changes. Like when your grandma told you your eyes would turn square from watching too much TV, but this is real.

Researchers found premature thinning of the cerebral cortex in children who spend more than 7 hours daily on screens. To help you understand: it’s as if the brain ages faster. Like when you buy avocados at Whole Foods and two days later they’re already brown.

It was January 1st, 2025. The world woke up with hangovers, regrets about midnight texts, and absolutely no idea that technology would surprise us more than the price of Bitcoin surprises anyone.

They promised us flying cars. They gave us chatbots that write better than our college essays. They promised us virtual reality. They gave us brands selling digital sneakers more expensive than real ones. And they promised us artificial intelligence. Boy, did we get it! So much that now even computers have existential crises.

I’m Dr. Sergio Sanchez, your trusted Dr. Qubit, and today we’re doing something even ChatGPT can’t do yet: remember 2025 without hallucinating fake data. Welcome to “Behind the Screen,” the only podcast where technology is explained with burgers, football, and references to The Office.

DR. QUBIT: What’s up, digital listeners! Before we start, let me say this: if you survived 2025 without AI stealing your job, without falling for a crypto scam, and without your smart fridge judging you for eating leftover pizza for breakfast three days straight, congratulations! You’re here, you’re alive, and your personal information is probably only in 47 hacked databases instead of 50.

2025 was the year science fiction stopped being fiction and became “science, wait… really?”. It was the year AI went from being a curiosity to being that coworker who does everything faster than you but can’t make coffee.

Today we’re taking a tour through the tech moments that defined this year. And then, with all the audacity of a fortune teller at a county fair, we’re going to predict what’s coming in 2026.