Hands-On AI
Hands-On AI explores and explains artificial intelligence — and shows you how to actually use it. Because AI is exactly that: a tool, and like any tool, what matters is what you do with it. In short, focused episodes, Mikah Sargent takes you inside the technology reshaping how we work, create, and communicate. Learn what's really happening inside a large language model, run AI entirely on your own hardware, put the AI already in your pocket to work, and discover uses you hadn't thought of. No buzzwords, no doom — just practical, hands-on help from one human to another.
Submit your AI questions through email at handsonai@twit.tv or via TWiT's social media. You might hear your question answered on the show!
New episodes every Thursday.
More about Hands-On AI:
Artificial intelligence is everywhere, and most of the coverage either oversells it or buries it in jargon. Hands-On AI does neither. Hosted by Mikah Sargent, this weekly podcast turns AI confusion into AI confidence with clear explanations, step-by-step tutorials, and honest assessments of the tools everyone's talking about — and the ones they should be.
Whether you're AI-curious and don't know where to start, or you're already deep into prompts and local models and want to go further, Hands-On AI meets you where you are. Mikah demystifies the technology behind ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and the rest, then shows you exactly how to put it to work: on your computer, on your phone, and even entirely offline on your own hardware.
With concise, focused episodes, the show delivers fast, fascinating, genuinely useful AI guidance you can put into practice the same day. Mikah has pushed all the buttons so you don't have to.
Topics We Cover Weekly
Every episode of Hands-On AI examines a specific tool, technique, or question, including:
- LLM basics & AI literacy — what large language models actually do, how to prompt them effectively, and how to spot their limitations
- Running AI locally — set up and use AI models on your own Mac or PC, no cloud required, with full privacy
- AI on your phone — get the most from Apple Intelligence, Gemini, ChatGPT, and other mobile AI features on iPhone and Android
- New & noteworthy gen AI — hands-on looks at the latest tools for text, images, audio, and video, and honest takes on what's worth your time
- AI-powered productivity — practical workflows for writing, research, coding, automation, and everyday tasks
- Privacy, safety & smart AI habits — understand what happens to your data and how to use AI responsibly
You can even submit your own AI questions to handsonai@twit.tv or through TWiT's social media channels to get your question answered on the show.
Meet the Host
Mikah Sargent is a technology journalist and podcaster. As host of Tech News Weekly, Hands-On Tech, and iOS Today on TWiT.tv, and previously Hands-On Apple, Mikah has spent years making complicated technology approachable — interviewing the researchers and journalists shaping the AI conversation, and testing the tools himself. His background covering technology for outlets like iMore, Mashable, and Tom's Guide, combined with his knack for clear, friendly explanation, shapes how he approaches the fast-moving world of artificial intelligence: one practical question at a time.
Subscribe to Hands-On AI
Don't just wonder about AI — get your hands on it. If you want clear answers, honest reviews, and skills you can actually use, Hands-On AI is your essential weekly listen. As part of the independent TWiT Network, you'll always get real takes, not corporate spin.
Join Mikah Sargent every Thursday for the show that turns AI confusion into AI confidence. Subscribe today on your favorite podcast app, or stream every episode directly on TWiT.tv.