Azeem Azhar's Exponential View

Latest Episodes:

The Future of Work and Democracy in the Information Age Nov 07, 2018

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Matthew Taylor is the chief executive of the Royal Society of Arts, a UK organization committed to finding practical solutions to societal problems. Before leading the RSA, Matthew was the chief adviser on political strategy to former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Azeem and Matthew Taylor discuss the well-being economy, the meaning of good work in an age of automation, and the state of democracy.

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UBI, Automation, and Society in the U.S. Oct 31, 2018

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Azeem Azhar speaks with Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur and author who is running for president in the 2020 U.S. election. At the heart of Andrew’s platform is the “freedom dividend,” a universal basic income of $1,000, payable to all Americans every month.

Azeem and Andrew discuss the core ideas behind Andrew’s platform, why they are necessary, and how to get there.

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The Challenging Political Economy of Silicon Valley Oct 24, 2018

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Azeem speaks with Reid Hoffman, “the sage of Silicon Valley.” Reid is an internet entrepreneur, executive, and investor best known as the cofounder of LinkedIn.

Reid and Azeem discuss the business culture of Silicon Valley, in particular the concept of “blitzscaling.” They dive deep into Silicon Valley’s attitudes toward government, the role of the state in innovation, and maintaining techno-optimism.

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Scaling Innovation Oct 17, 2018

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Azeem Azhar speaks with entrepreneur and investor Elad Gil about Silicon Valley, scaling companies from 10 to 10,000 employees, the state of blockchain, and how blockchain and artificial intelligence will overlap. Elad is a serial entrepreneur, an operating executive, an investor, and an adviser to private companies including Airbnb, Pinterest, Square, and Stripe. Elad was the VP of corporate strategy at Twitter, and previously was on the mobile team at Google.

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AI, Warfare, and Global Security Oct 10, 2018

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Azeem Azhar speaks with Dr. Mariarosaria Taddeo, deputy director of the Digital Ethics Lab at the Oxford Internet Institute. Dr. Taddeo is a philosopher, an ethicist, and a researcher focusing on cyber conflicts, cybersecurity, and the ethics of data science. Cyber attacks are escalating in frequency, sophistication, and impact.

Azeem and Dr. Taddeo unpack the state of cybersecurity and warfare, the complex symbiosis between governments and criminal actors, and the ways digital technologies are changing cyber warfare.

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Entrepreneurs, the Market, and the State Oct 03, 2018

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Azeem Azhar speaks with venture capitalist Bill Janeway about the three-player game between the mission-driven state, financial speculators, and markets in the innovation economy. Are we stuck on the dark side of this configuration? How do we move forward?

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China, an AI Superpower Sep 26, 2018

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Azeem Azhar speaks with Kai-Fu Lee, a VC investor, technology executive, and one of the most prominent figures in the Chinese internet sector and AI. They discuss the Chinese government’s techno-utilitarian approach to technology, the ambition of China’s technology founders, and the future of job automation.

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Season 2 Intro: When Technology Meets Political Future Sep 22, 2018

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Azeem Azhar’s Exponential View podcast is back, exploring the intersection of political economy and exponential technologies.

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Hacking Democracy Jun 03, 2017

Show notes

A recording of an Exponential View salon held in London in May 2017.

“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter,” said Winston Churchill.

But whatever you think of it, democracy has served us well. An increase in democracy is almost always matched by an increase in GDP.

According to MIT economist Daron Acemoglu, a country that switches from autocracy to democracy achieves about 20% higher GDP per capita over roughly a 30-year period.

Yet data from the end of 2016 suggests that in several advanced economies, including the U.S. and the UK, those born since the late 1980s value democracy less than older cohorts.

We’ve witnessed something driven by the underlying shifts in media, technology, the expression of state power, cultural values, and big money funding data. We’ve experienced a manifestation of new behaviors around the democracy process: the transition from broadcast media to niche media moderated by dominant social media platforms.

Have these behaviors hacked our democracy? For better or for worse?

Azeem Azhar discusses these questions with Carole Cadwalladr, Luciano Floridi, Hari Kunzru, and Tom Loosemore.

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The State of Machine Learning May 26, 2017

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With more than 40% market share in mobile games, 1 billion monthly active users, and 2.6 billion unique devices, the game development platform Unity has a profoundly important role in booming gaming and VR markets.

Azeem Azhar talks with Dr. Danny Lange, VP of AI and machine learning at Unity, about the role of these technologies in revolutionizing the ways games are developed and monetized. Dr. Lange talks about the significance of the undergoing paradigm shift in computing, the OODA loop in machine learning, and what happens to software engineers when their trade becomes obsolete.

Before joining Unity, he led the machine learning efforts at Uber, Amazon, and Microsoft. Through his work on General Motor’s OnStar Virtual Advisor, Danny provided the foundation for the development of one of the largest deployments of an intelligent personal assistant until the arrival of Siri.

Prior to joining General Magic, Dr. Lange served as the visiting scientist at IBM Tokyo Research Laboratory from 1993 to 1997, where he is known for his invention of the Java Aglet, a lightweight mobile agent for the Java programming environment. In addition to his software agent work, he has made significant contributions in the areas of hypertext technology, object-oriented database modeling, and design pattern visualization techniques.

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