Technically Optimistic

Latest Episodes:

Rules of the Road - part 1: Who has the power to regulate AI? Jul 08, 2023

Show notes

Historically, Silicon Valley has managed to perform a delicate dance with regulation. However, the explosive growth of artificial intelligence has brought forth an urgent question: given what we know about privacy, social media, data security, and so much else, should we regulate this technology this time around?

In Part 1 of this two-part episode of Technically Optimistic, we delve into questions of power and what it would take to create guardrails for AI to ensure a prosperous and safe society. What is the balance of society, technology, and the law? What are the rules of the road, and who gets to write them? To address these questions, host Raffi Krikorian talks to Tristan Harris, founder of the Center for Humane Technology; human rights activist Sam Gregory, founder of Witness; Suresh Venkatasubramanian, professor of computer science; and Meredith Broussard, author and data scientist. Together, they explore the big, thorny questions of responsibility, privacy, creativity, and risk.

To learn more about Technically Optimistic and to read the transcript for this episode: emersoncollective.com/technically-optimistic-podcast

For more on Emerson Collective: emersoncollective.com

Learn more about our host, Raffi Krikorian: emersoncollective.com/persons/raffi-krikorian

Technically Optimistic is produced by Emerson Collective with music by Mattie Safer.

Email us with questions and feedback at technicallyoptimistic@emersoncollective.com.

Subscribe to Emerson Collective’s newsletter: emersoncollective.com

AI is at a crossroads. How did we get here? Jun 28, 2023

Show notes

The artificial intelligence landscape is filled with opportunity and risk. On the one hand, AI holds the promise of productivity, accessibility, and medical marvels. On the other, AI is feared as a threat to our social fabric. Depending on who you listen to, AI is either our path to a renaissance or the road to our ruin.

The outcome is in the balance, which is why in the first episode of Technically Optimistic, host Raffi Krikorian speaks with John Markoff, journalist and author, about the history of AI; Suresh Venkatasubramanian, coauthor of the White House’s Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights and professor of computer science at Brown, about ethics; and Adrienne LaFrance, executive editor of The Atlantic, about AI’s impact on society.

In this wide-ranging episode, Krikorian, Emerson Collective’s Chief Technology Officer, explores the nuances and subtleties of the technological revolution we’re living through—to ask probing questions about the changes underway and understand what may happen and why it matters.

To learn more about Technically Optimistic and to read the transcript for this episode: emersoncollective.com/technically-optimistic-podcast

For more on Emerson Collective: emersoncollective.com

Learn more about our host, Raffi Krikorian: emersoncollective.com/persons/raffi-krikorian

Technically Optimistic is produced by Emerson Collective with music by Mattie Safer.

Email us with questions and feedback at technicallyoptimistic@emersoncollective.com.

Subscribe to Emerson Collective’s newsletter: emersoncollective.com

Trailer: Can AI be used for good? May 22, 2023

Show notes

The rise of artificial intelligence, while exciting, raises some hard questions: How can AI be used for good? Will AI harm us? How should AI be regulated?

In Technically Optimistic, a new podcast from Emerson Collective, our Chief Technology Officer, Raffi Krikorian, unpacks the potential promises and pitfalls of an AI-laden future.

Raffi and his guests will explore how this transformational technology can be developed and deployed with society’s best interests at heart. Drawing from his extensive career in technology, which ranges from building self-driving cars at Uber to serving as head of platform at Twitter, Raffi will speak with a variety of experts in the field about harnessing AI’s incredible capabilities while mitigating risks.

He will seek to answer a question central to Emerson Collective’s mission: What does it take to build technology for good?

Technically Optimistic comes out this June everywhere you get your podcasts.