The KickstartAI Podcast

In this year's roundup, Nic, Evertjan, and Cascha unpack the rollercoaster that 2025 was for AI. From the shockwave of DeepSeek R1 to the "gradual" progress of GPT-5 and Gemini 3.0, we break down the tech, the data, (and the drama).  We discuss why 2025 became the "Year of the Idea Guy" rather than the "Year of General Agents," analyze the Great Minds of AI (from...

How can AI support global food security in practice? In this episode, we speak with Marieke Meeske PhD researcher at Tilburg University’s Zero Hunger Lab, about how Natural Language Processing (NLP) is applied to food security analysis and policymaking. We cover her review of 60+ NLP use cases, from early warning systems to understanding public perceptions around food sustainability. We also explo...

In what ways is the rise of generative AI impacting journalism?  In this episode, we sit down with Andrii Degeler, founder of unzip.media and journalist-in-residence at Dealroom.co, to discuss what the AI shift means for newsroom workflows, the role of the journalist, and the evolving media business model. We also touch on the overarching themes of media trust and AI literacy. We unpack how newsro...

AI’s role in education is growing fast, but what does it really mean for students and teachers? In this episode, we interview Damian Ashworth, teacher and co-founder of BrainBite – a platform built around hyper-personalization and AI tutors that adapt content to each student’s level, pace, and interests. We dive into the benefits of AI tutors, the challenges and limitations still ahead, and what a...

In this episode, we take a deep dive into the Vesuvius Challenge, which combines ancient history with AI to resurrect an ancient library that was buried in the ashes of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Thought to be lost forever, these scrolls were completely turned to charcoal and are impossible to unroll without destroying them. We focus on how a team of three university students used a combination of m...

In this episode of the KickstartAI Podcast, guest hosts Nils and Ioanna dive into the EU’s landmark AI Act — and the questions it raises about the future of innovation in Europe. Will the regulation enable safe, responsible progress, or introduce complexity, uncertainty, and a competitive disadvantage for European companies? They explore how the Act may impact AI development in Europe and challeng...

In this episode, we're joined by philosopher and product architect Paul Kuyer from AxonIQ to dissect the growing concerns around AI safety: from existential risks to the immediate dangers we face today. Our conversation revolves around the “AI 2027” paper, which speculates a plausible path to catastrophe driven by artificial general intelligence (AGI). We dive into two main concerns:  Misalignment...

This KickstartAI Podcast episode features Johan de Vries from Dexter Energy, discussing how data flows to manage Europe's complex energy grid, which he calls “Europe's largest machine.” Topics include predictive analytics, market dynamics, and future energy trends. Highlights Dexter Energy at a Glance: Forecasting: Using weather data to predict renewable energy production at high resolutions. Trad...

In this episode of the Kickstart AI podcast, hosts Evertjan and Cascha explore how the gap between simulated environments and the real world is being bridged for robotics applications. The Challenge: Sim-to-Real Transfer Moving robots from simulation to real world has been a persistent challenge Real-world environments are "messy" with imperfect conditions and unexpected obstacles Real-w...

In this episode of the Kickstart AI podcast, we explore Vision Language Action (VLA) models - the breakthrough technology powering the latest generation of AI robots. The Figure AI Helix Breakthrough: - Figure AI's autonomous humanoid robots - How these robots complete complex tasks without teleoperations - The significance of robots coordinating actions using their brains (VLA’s) What are VLA...

Introduction to Reasoning Models: How models like Deepseek R1 and o1 differ from language models like GPT-4 Why R1's "thinking time" feels more natural than other AIs Moving beyond simple next-token prediction The Training Story: Comparing R1-Zero vs R1 approaches The fascinating "AHA moment" discovery during training Why reinforcement learning made all the difference How t...

In our second episode, Sander, Evertjan en Cascha discuss: 1. NS Unattended Object Challenge Deep dive into a computer vision project for Dutch Railways (NS), implementing automatic detection of unattended objects at stations using object detection and tracking technology. 2. Quick News Update Local news production team replaced by AI - Discussion of 20 people being replaced by AI in local news pr...

In our first episode Sander, Cascha and Evertjan discuss: The Intelligence Age: Hype or Reality? Sam Altman's prediction: superintelligence in a decade Building AI hardware for the future Skepticism: Is AI just a combination of simple models? Discussing the differences in perspectives Article reference:   Sakana Strawberry and Scary AI The Changing Internet Landscape Internet Archive lawsuit impli...