What does it take to regulate artificial intelligence? We invited Professor Geoff Mulgan of University College London, author of When Science Meets Power (Polity Press) and many other titles, to help us unpack the possibilities. Listen in as he draws on his background in technology, governance, academia, and beyond to consider this multidimensional challenge and offer some thoughts on how to make progress. There are some calls to action, too, for those of you in the field.

Credits

Guest: Geoff Mulgan

Co-Hosts: Zena Assaad and Liz Williams

Producers: Robbie Slape, Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio), Zena Assaad, Liz Williams

For the full transcript or YouTube vodcast, visit: https://algorithmicfutures.org/s03e06

This month, we chat with Dr Vanessa Pirotta, a wildlife scientist and science communicator with a passion for creatively making use of technology for her work in wildlife conservation. We learn all about how she uses drones to survey the health of whales in transit and what research like this is telling us about these magnificent creatures. We also get into a wide-ranging discussion about life in science as a woman in STEM and in academia, the importance of sharing our work with society, the role citizen science can play in our understanding of the world, and so much more.

Vanessa is a real inspiration, and we think our chat with her is a perfect way to get yourself in the mood for Australia's National Science Week.

Guest: Vanessa Pirotta

Hosts: Zena Assaad, Liz Williams

Producers: Zena Assaad, Liz Williams, Robbie Slape, Martin Franklin

A video of our chat and a full (edited!) transcript are available on our website:

https://algorithmicfutures.org/s03e05

What are AI standards – and why should we care? Our guest today, Dr Kobi Leins, has first-hand experience as both contributor to the development of AI standards for the world and a professional working on supporting safe AI in real world industry contexts. We talk about what AI standards are for and why the discussion and work feeding into standards – and AI development and deployment more broadly – matters for us all. It’s the kind of tricky discussion that starts in industry and day-to-day applications of AI, and ends in military uses of AI.

If you care about AI ethics, safety, responsibility, all those words – then you need to listen to this conversation.

Credits

Guest: Dr Kobi Leins

Hosts: Zena Assaad and Liz Williams

Producers: Robbie Slape, Zena Assaad, Liz Williams, Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio)

Thanks to the Australian National Centre for the Advancement of Science for letting us use their podcast studio.

For episode links and the full transcript, visit https://algorithmicfutures.org/s03e04

The idea that artificial intelligence is taking our jobs can be scary – but in actuality, there are cases where this is a good thing. Dr Sara Webb (Swinburne University of Technology) shares one of these stories in today’s episode, which begins with a TedX talk in Melbourne and ends with a discussion of some of the many ways techniques developed for astrophysics are transforming seemingly unrelated fields. Sara is an astrophysicist based at Swinburne University and is also a published author with a talent for communicating complex ideas about our universe (and AI) for broad audiences. Listen in to hear more about the role AI is increasingly playing in astronomy, how she got into astrophysics in the first place, and more in this wide ranging episode that paints a picture of what a career in STEM can look like.

Episode credits:

Guest: Sara Webb

Co-hosts: Zena Assaad and Liz Williams

Producers: Zena Assaad, Robbie Slape, Liz Williams, Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio)

Thanks to the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science for letting us use their podcast studio to record this episode.

For the full episode transcript, visit https://algorithmicfutures.org

In the age of DALL-E and Stable Diffusion, what counts as art? And what can art tell us about AI? In this episode, we explore these questions and more with the help of Eryk Salvaggio, a US-based artist, designer and researcher whose work explores the fabric of artificial intelligence -- and often playfully defies its boundaries.

Credits

Guest – Eryk Salvaggio

Hosts – Zena Assaad and Liz Williams

Producers – Robbie Slape, Zena Assaad, Liz Williams

Audio Producer – Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio)

Thank you to the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science for allowing us to use their podcast studio for this episode.

For the full transcript or episode video, visit https://algorithmicfutures.org

It is the launch of season 3 of this podcast, and we thought it was high time for a positionality statement – er, episode. Why not align it with the start of a new season and our debut on YouTube? Listen in for an episode featuring our co-hosts, Liz Williams and Zena Assaad, in which we explore everything from relics, reactions, reciprocity, risk, and the complexities involved in creating and regulating AI systems in the real world.

Credits:

Co-hosts: Zena Assaad and Liz Williams

Producers: Robbie Slape, Zena Assaad, Liz Williams, and Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio)

Thanks to the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science for letting us use their podcast studio for recording.

We would also like to pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we recorded and edited this episode.

For show notes, the full (edited!) transcript, and maybe even a picture of the big blue ball, visit https://algorithmicfutures.org

In our final episode of season 2, we are grateful to be joined by Damith Herath, Associate Professor of Robotics and Art at the University of Canberra. Damith is a multi-talented roboticist with a long history of working in the art world, and an interest in understanding how to shape human-robot collaboration in real-world environments. During our conversation, Damith talks to us about how his innate drive to experiment with electronics and robotics led him from an entrepreneurial childhood in Sri Lanka to the forefront of robotics and automation research in Australia. 

Credits:

Guest: Damith Herath (University of Canberra)

Co-hosts: Zena Assaad and Liz Williams

Producers: Zena Assaad, Liz Williams, Robbie Slape, Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio)

Acknowledgements:

A special thanks to the ANU School of Cybernetics for lending us the use of their podcast studio for this recording.

Transcript: 

A full transcript of this episode is available on our website:

https://algorithmicfutures.org/s02e09

What does responsibility look like in military contexts – and how do you think about encoding it in autonomous military technologies with the capacity to harm? In today’s episode, we explore this topic from a legal perspective with the help of Lauren Sanders. Lauren is a senior research fellow at the University of Queensland with expertise in international criminal law, international humanitarian law, and domestic counter-terrorism law. She is also host and editor of the Law and the Future of War podcast. 

Episode Credits:

Guest: Lauren Sanders

Co-Hosts: Zena Assaad and Liz Williams

Producers: Zena Assaad, Liz Williams, and Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio)

This episode is rated explicit because the topic of discussion may not be suitable for young listeners.

For the full episode transcript, visit https://algorithmicfutures.org/s02e08