Hi, I'm Monica Nicholsberg, co-host of KUOW's economy podcast, Booming.

Microsoft President Brad Smith's favorite catchphrase of the moment is,

AI is the electricity of our age.

The next great general purpose technology.

So what does that mean for all of us?

On the latest episode, I spoke with a tech historian to find out what lessons we can learn from the last time a truly revolutionary technology took over the world.

Listen to booming on the KUOWW app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Happy Hump Day from the KUOW Newsroom.

This is Seattle Now. I'm Gustavo Sagero. Let's get into today's

top stories. It's Wednesday, July 23rd. We'll start with some promising news about the

Berdowen fire and updates on the Bear Gulch fire. The Berduin fire near the Columbia River

Gorge is now about 5% contained. It's also still growing after burning a little more

than 11,000 acres. So far, it's destroyed 44 buildings and threatens about 1,400 homes. Level 3,

go now, evacuations have been issued for nearby communities, and officials say those orders

will likely stay in place for at least the next five days.

The fire started last Friday, closing Highway 14 and several other nearby roads.

Close to Seattle and Mason County, the Bear Gulch fire also continues to burn near Lake Cushman

and has scorched almost 800 acres.

It's also prompted the closure of several campgrounds and trailheads.

Wildfires like those are often caused by drought. There's a severe drought hitting most of

Washington, including the Seattle area. Nearly the entire state is experiencing at least moderate

drought now. John Ryan reports from Skokomish. I'm just standing on a rock, a small boulder, just big enough to stand on, in the South Fork-Skikomish River.

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