MIT Technology Review Narrated

Latest Episodes:

In Machines We Trust: Optimizing for convenience Dec 14, 2022

Show notes

We’re in the middle of another major disruption in retail—one that’s been accelerated by the pandemic, and looks to take the convenience of e-commerce and apply it to physical environments. In this episode, we examine how AI is at the center of this transition.

We meet:

Prakhar Mehrotra, VP, Machine Learning, Walmart Global Tech

Jordan Fisher, Chief Executive Officer, Standard AI

Terrence Griffin, Quality Control Specialist, Standard AI

Suresh Kumar, Global Chief Technology Officer and CDO, Walmart

This episode was produced by Anthony Green and Emma Cillekens. It was edited by Jennifer Strong and Mat Honan and mixed by Garret Lang, with original music by Garret Lang and Jacob Gorski. Artwork by Stephanie Arnett.

In Machines We Trust: When Your Face is Your Ticket (Encore) Dec 07, 2022

Show notes

Face mapping and other tracking systems are changing the sports experience in the stands and on the court. In part-three of this latest series on facial recognition, Jennifer Strong and the team at MIT Technology Review jump on the court to unpack just how much things are changing. This episode was originally published December 8, 2020.

We meet:

Donnie Scott, senior vice president of public security, IDEMIA

Michael D'Auria, vice president of business development, Second Spectrum

Jason Gay, sports columnist, The Wall Street Journal

Rachel Goodger, director of business development, Fancam

Rich Wang, director of analytics and fan engagement, Minnesota Vikings

Credits:

This episode was reported and produced by Jennifer Strong, Anthony Green, Tate Ryan-Mosley, Emma Cillekens and Karen Hao. We’re edited by Michael Reilly and Gideon Lichfield.

In Machines We Trust: How pricing algorithms learn to collude (Update) Nov 30, 2022

Show notes

Algorithms now determine how much things cost. It’s called dynamic pricing and it adjusts according to current market conditions in order to increase profits. The rise of ecommerce has propelled pricing algorithms into an everyday occurrence—whether you’re shopping on Amazon, booking a flight, hotel or ordering an Uber.

We Meet:

Lisa Wilkins, UX designer
Gabe Smith, chief evangelist, Pricefx
Aylin Caliskan, assistant professor, University of Washington
Joseph Harrington, professor of business, economics and public policy, University of Pennsylvania
Maxime Cohen, Scale AI Chair professor, McGill University

Credits:

This episode was reported by Anthony Green and produced by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens. We’re edited by Mat Honan and our mix engineer is Garret Lang, with sound design and music by Jacob Gorski.

In Machines We Trust: Want a job? The AI will see you now. (Encore) Nov 23, 2022

Show notes

In the past, hiring decisions were made by people. Today, some key decisions that lead to whether someone gets a job or not are made by algorithms. The use of AI-based job interviews has increased since the pandemic. As demand increases, so too do questions about whether these algorithms make fair and unbiased hiring decisions, or find the most qualified applicant. In this second episode of a four-part series on AI in hiring, we meet some of the big players making this technology including the CEOs of HireVue and myInterview—and we test some of these tools ourselves.

We Meet:

Kevin Parker, Chairman & CEO, HireVue
Shelton Banks, CEO, re:work
Mark Adams, Vice President of North America, Curious Thing AI
Benjamin Gillman, Co-Founder and CEO, myInterview
Fred Oswald, Psychology Professor, Rice University
Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Computer Science Professor, Brown University
Clayton Donnelly, industrial-organizational psychologist, myInterview

We Talked To:

Kevin Parker, Chairman & CEO, HireVue
Lindsey Zuloaga, Chief Data Scientist, HireVue
Nathan Mondragon, Chief IO Psychologist, HireVue
Shelton Banks, CEO, re:work
Lisa Feldman Barrett, Psychology Professor, Northeastern University
Cathy O’Neil, CEO, O'Neil Risk Consulting & Algorithmic Auditing
Mark Adams, Vice President of North America, Curious Thing AI
Han Xu, Co-founder & CTO, Curious Thing AI
Benjamin Gillman, Co-founder & CEO, myInterview
Fred Oswald, Psychology Professor, Rice University
Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Computer Science Professor, Brown University
Clayton Donnelly, industrial-organizational psychologist, myInterview
Mark Gray, Director of People, Proper
Christoph Hohenberger, Co-founder and Managing Director, Retorio
Derek Mracek, Lead Data Scientist, Yobs
Raphael Danilo, Co-founder & CEO, Yobs
Jonathan Kestenbaum, Co-founder & Managing Director of Talent Tech Labs
Josh Bersin, Global Industry Analyst
Students and Teachers from the Hope Program in Brooklyn, NY
Henry Claypool, policy expert and former Director of the U.S. Health and Human Services Office on Disability

Sounds From:

Curious Thing AI
myInterview
Dolly Parton - 9 To 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbxUSsFXYo4
Arirang News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30oCHwwLxy4
CBS News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbRBCU6SHHo
CBS Philly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wiPoCsZFFs

Credits:

This miniseries on hiring was reported by Hilke Schellmann and produced by Jennifer Strong, Emma Cillekens, Karen Hao and Anthony Green with special thanks to James Wall. We’re edited by Michael Reilly. Art direction by Stephanie Arnett.

In Machines We Trust: Farming a war zone Nov 16, 2022

Show notes

Shortages of everything from seeds to fertilizer might accelerate the adoption of technologies that can help supplies go further in war-torn Ukraine.

We meet:

Roman Tarasevich, Farmer, Ukraine

Morten Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer, OneSoil

Inbal Reshef, Program Director, NASA Harvest

Olekssi Misiura, Head of Research and Development, IMC

Credits: This episode was reported and produced by Jennifer Strong, Emma Cillekens and Anthony Green. It was edited by Mat Honan and contains original music from Garret Lang and Jacob Gorski. Our mix engineer is Garret Lang. We had field production help in Ukraine from Orysia Khimiak. Special thanks this week to Max Furman, Ty Walrod, Antonio Regalado and Megan Zaroda Mullenioux. Our artwork is by Stephanie Arnett.

In Machines We Trust: What’s next for space research? (Live) Nov 09, 2022

Show notes

The International Space Station hosts scores of experiments that can’t be done on Earth. But it’s also showing its age—with repairs and safety concerns becoming increasingly common as it draws nearer to its end of life. In this episode, we bring you a conversation with Astronaut Michael López-Alegría about the path forward for research in low Earth orbit, from MIT Technology Review’s flagship conference, EmTech MIT.

CREDITS:

This episode was created by Jennifer Strong, Anthony Green and Emma Cillekens. It was edited by Mat Honan, directed by Erin Underwood and mixed by Garret Lang. Episode art by Stephanie Arnett and special thanks this week to Amy Lammers and Brian Bryson from our events team.

SOUNDS:

What the next space station might look like, CNBC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRcNxPCC9_A

International space station removed from orbit 2031, NBC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My_mUGfc418

Space Station to retire in 2031, NASA says, Fox 35 Orlando

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFN9CJGa2TQ

In Machines We Trust: Decoding a future of fire Nov 02, 2022

Show notes

A look at how AI and other tech is being used to help predict, detect, and pinpoint the location of wildfires in the second of a two-part series.

We Meet:

Tricia Small, Television Producer, Small Fox Films

George Whitesides, Space Executive

Brittany Zajic, Disaster Response, Planet Labs

Dave Winnacker, Fire Chief, Moraga-Orinda Fire District

Arvind Satyam, Chief Commercial Officer, Pano

Credits:

This episode was reported and produced by Jennifer Strong, Anthony Green and Emma Cillekens. It was edited by Mat Honan and contains original music from Garret Lang and Jacob Gorski. Our mix engineer is Garret Lang and our artwork is by Stephanie Arnett.

In Machines We Trust: How AI watches wildfires Oct 26, 2022

Show notes

A look at how AI and other tech is being used to help predict, detect, and pinpoint the location of wildfires in the first of a two-part series.

We meet:

Dustin Tetrault, Deputy Fire Chief, Big Sky Fire Department

Sankar Narayanan, Chief Practice Officer, Fractal Analytics

Credits:

In Machines We Trust: I Was There When... AI replicated Darth Vader Oct 19, 2022

Show notes

I Was There When is an oral history project that’s part of the In Machines We Trust podcast. It features stories of how breakthroughs and watershed moments in artificial intelligence and computing happened, as told by the people who witnessed them.

In this episode we meet Alex Serdiuk, founder and CEO of Respeecher.

CREDITS: This project was produced by Jennifer Strong, Anthony Green and Emma Cillekens. It was edited by Mat Honan and mixed by Garret Lang with original music by Jacob Gorski. The art is from Eric Mongeon and Stephanie Arnett.

In Machines We Trust: AI finds its voice Oct 12, 2022

Show notes

Synthetic voice technologies are increasingly passing as human. But today’s voice assistants are still a far cry from the hyper-intelligent thinking machines we’ve been musing about for decades. In this episode, we explore how machines learn to communicate—and what it means for the humans on the other end of the conversation.

In this encore edition we revisit an episode from last year.

Links to our reporting:

https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/10/18/1061320/digital-clones-of-dead-people/

https://www.technologyreview.com/topic/artificial-intelligence/voice-assistants/

We meet:

Susan C. Bennett, voice of Siri

Cade Metz, The New York Times

Charlotte Jee, MIT Technology Review

Credits:

This episode was produced by Jennifer Strong, Emma Cillekens, Anthony Green, Karen Hao and Charlotte Jee. This episode was edited by Michael Reilly and Niall Firth.

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