SHIFT

We learn why lawyers who help people seeking to legally expose corruption in the government and at private companies have decided to focus on big tech, in the latest installment of our oral history project. We Meet: Whistleblower Aid CEO Libby Liu Credits: The show is produced by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens. It’s mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by An...

Hearing has a profound impact on a person’s emotional, mental and cognitive well-being and there’s also a long, rich history of cutting edge tech being used in devices that are meant to help us hear better. And yet, it’s not something we talk much about. We Meet: Stefan Launer, Sonova's Senior Vice President Science & Technology Credits: The show is produced by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cilleke...

In the latest installment of our oral history project, we meet a scientist who’s been supporting  deep investigative journalism projects for more than a decade. This collaboration between Neo4j and journalists helped to uncover Russian interference in the 2016 election and the Panama Papers - an investigation of one of the biggest ever global corruption scandals that was awarded the Pulitzer Prize...

We hop into the backseat of a police car and learn how officers in Rwanda have adopted and deployed AI on the streets of its capital city, Kigali. We Meet: Chief Inspector of Police Paul Ryamugwiza, director of traffic and road enforcement systems for Rwanda National Police Credits: The show is produced by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens. It’s mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him...

Potentially a quarter billion children worldwide lack access to an education. Advances in education tech and AI programs for learning can help students who have access to tools and internet. This episode, we bring you a conversation with members of the International Rescue Committee, an aid group developing tailored learning experiences for children in crisis. It was taped before a live audience a...

We meet Dr. Fei-Fei Li In the latest installment of our oral history project. She's a Chinese-American computer scientist and the creator of ImageNet - the dataset that made rapid advances possible in this field of AI that helps computers take meaningful information from things like photos and videos. We Meet:  Stanford University's Fei-Fei Li, author of "The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration,...

Smart TVs that track what people watch and how they watch it give political campaigns a new trove of data to exploit, with little transparency on how it’s happening. We meet:  Investigative Reporter Maggie Severns speaking about her article: https://www.notus.org/2024-election/streaming-tv-campaign-ads Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens, and it was mi...

A live conversation about the state of the space industry with serial space entrepreneur Kam Ghaffarian, a co-founder of Axiom Space, Intuitive Machines, Quantum Space, and more, from the mainstage at Collision Conference in Toronto, Canada. We meet:  Dr. Kamal "Kam" Ghaffarian Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens, and it was mixed by Garret Lang, with...

How do we minimize the risk of mid-air collisions between aircraft? And how does that change in the era of artificial intelligence and things like drone swarms? Claire Tomlin works on questions like these, and her work is now the basis of a new field of AI in which a system automatically learns operational and control objectives from data, while maintaining things like flight safety. We Meet:  Uni...

A growing number of school kids are getting their writing assignments back with grades and feedback that were given by AI software. Teachers say these AI tools can help them grade papers faster but who’s grading the AI tools?  We Meet:  CalMatters Tech Reporter Khari Johnson https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2024/06/teachers-ai-grading/   Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jenn...

A team of computer scientists at the University of Chicago has built tools that let artists poison the training data embedded in their work, and fight back against those who scrape the internet to build generative AI models.  We Meet:  Nightshade Creator Ben Zhao, Neubauer Professor of Computer Science at the University of Chicago Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with...

For some types of problems quantum computers can work exponentially faster than other types of supercomputers, but significant challenges remain to building useful quantum machines.  We hear from one of the key players in the field and learn about his efforts to do so in the latest installment of our oral history project. We Meet:  Google Quantum AI Lab Founder Hartmut Neven  Credits: This episode...

A live conversation about the potential promises and pitfalls of AI in public health, hosted by Boston University's School of Public Health. We meet:  Dr. David Cutler, Otto Eckstein Professor of Applied Economics in the Department of Economics at Harvard University, with secondary appointments at the Kennedy School of Government and the School of Public Health Dr. Alondra Nelson, Harold F. Linder...

A look at how generative AI is being used in the drug discovery process in this latest installment of our oral history project. We Meet: Insilico Medicine Founder and CEO Alex Zhavoronkov Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens, and it was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Anthony Green.

Cornell University’s Elephant Listening Project has been trying to get real-time monitoring of the Central African Republic’s forest elephants for years. FruitPunch AI and a roster of other AI researchers are closer than ever to making that a reality. This week’s show is a special feature episode from our friends at the Click Here Podcast. We’ll be back with a new episode of SHIFT next week. Thank...

A look at how AI is helping and hurting cybersecurity in this latest installment of our oral history project. We Meet: Palo Alto Networks Chief Product Officer Lee Klarich Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens, and it was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Anthony Green.

In this bonus episode, we tour Google's Project Starline at this year's TED Conference in Vancouver, Canada. We Meet: Andrew Nartker from Google’s Project Starline Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens, and it was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Anthony Green.

The way we pay for things is changing dramatically, and it’s only going to become more invisible and integrated into our experiences going forward—like a car that can pay for gas or electric charging all on its own. We Meet: Mastercard President and CTO Ed McLaughlin Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens, and it was mixed by Garret Lang, with original mu...

AI is being used to write stories that flood the internet with trash and spam, but it can also help journalists tell stories that can be personalized and updated automatically. In the latest installment of our oral history project, we look at how journalism story structures are evolving with AI. We Meet: Computational Journalist Francesco Marconi, co-founder of real-time information company Applie...

As more people try ChatGPT and other AI tools, our thoughts about what's fair or what to trust with generative AI are evolving. The Pew Research Center offers some of the most comprehensive surveys of American public opinion and has been studying these questions. We Meet:  Alec Tyson, Associate Director at Pew Research Center Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help...

The current AI ecosystem has plenty in common with the early days of the web. So, what have we learned? We Meet:  Mark Surman, President of Mozilla Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Anthony Green.

Our trust in people, government, science and even our trust in technology—we have a lot less trust in all of it than we used to. Our lack of trust might even turn out to be the most bi-partisan thing about this US election cycle, especially our lack of trust in AI. We Meet: Richard Edelman, the president and chief executive officer of the public relations company Edelman Credits: This episode of S...

Frank McCourt is an American executive and philanthropist. He’s also the author of a new book about the internet, called “Our Biggest Fight: Reclaiming Liberty, Humanity, and Dignity in the Digital Age”. We talk to him about that fight before a live audience in New York City at a gathering held by the responsible technology non-profit, All Tech Is Human. We Meet: Frank H. McCourt, Jr., civic entre...

Join EngineEars founder Derek "MixedByAli" Ali and EMPIRE founder Ghazi Shami as they deep dive into the convergence of innovation and artistry, discuss the latest trends in the music industry, and explore how tech is revolutionizing the creation and distribution of music around the world. We Meet: Derek Ali, EngineEars, Founder and CEO Ghazi Shami, EMPIRE, Founder & CEO Credits: This episode...

In this second of a two-part series, we meet people fighting to build an open internet. We Meet: Digital Medusa Founder Farzaneh Badiei Internet Society President & CEO Andrew Sullivan Vivaldi CEO Jon Von Tetzchner ICANN Interim President & CEO Sally Costerton Credits: This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens, and it was mixed by Garret Lang, with original m...