What's Your Problem? - TopPodcast.com

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Teaching Computers to Smell May 22, 2025

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Alex Wiltschko got obsessed with perfume when he was 12 years old. He grew up to be an AI researcher at Google. Then he started Osmo, a company that fused his job at Google with his childhood obsession: Osmo is using AI to teach computers to smell.
The company is getting into the perfume business, and it plans eventually to use scent to diagnose disease and detect security risks.

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Can a Chatbot Treat Depression? Apr 24, 2025

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Nick Jacobson and his team at Dartmouth medical school spent over 100,000 hours trying to build an AI chatbot that can serve as a safe, effective therapist. After a few false starts, they seem to be on to something.
Note: This episode contains references to self harm.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Will AI Radically Change the World by 2027?... from Risky Business Apr 23, 2025

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This week, Nate and Maria discuss AI 2027, a new report from the AI Futures Project that lays out some pretty doom-y scenarios for our near-term AI future. They talk about how likely humans are to be misled by rogue AI, and whether current conflicts between the US and China will affect the way this all unfolds. Plus, Nate talks about the feedback he gave the AI 2027 writers after reading an early draft of their forecast, and reveals what he sees as the report’s central flaw.

Enjoy this episode from Risky Business, another Pushkin podcast.

The AI Futures Project’s AI 2027 scenario: https://ai-2027.com/

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Is the Future of Flight Supersonic? Apr 17, 2025

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Blake Scholl is the founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic. Blake's problem is this: Can you build a commercial airplane that flies faster than the speed of sound – and that makes economic sense?

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The Secrets of Silk Apr 10, 2025

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Fiorenzo Omenetto is a professor of biomedical engineering at Tufts University and the director of Silklab. Fiorenzo's problem is this: How do you turn a material people have been using for thousands of years into useful, cutting edge tools that improve everything from vaccine delivery to food waste?

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Infiltrating an International Ransomware Gang Apr 08, 2025

Show notes

A few years ago, a ransomware gang called LockBit rose from obscurity to extort over $100 million from organizations around the world. A security strategist named Jon DiMaggio wanted to understand how the organization worked. So he used the techniques of World War II-era spycraft to make contact with the hackers.
On today’s show, Jon tells the story of LockBit – from the way it borrowed techniques from mainstream companies to market itself and attract talent, to the response from international governments that used the gang’s own tactics against it. And he talks about how he got the hackers to talk to him.

Jon described the rise and fall of the company in a series of posts he called the Ransomware Diaries. You can read those here: https://analyst1.com/ransomware-diaries-volume-1/

Note: This bonus episode of What’s Your Problem? is sponsored by Microsoft.

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Preparing for the Future of War Apr 03, 2025

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Christopher Kirchhoff helped launch a Defense Department office that aimed to bring Silicon Valley technology to the US military. Christopher’s problem is this: How can the giant bureaucracy that is the US military keep up with technological change?

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Stopping HIV Without a Vaccine Mar 13, 2025

Show notes

Jared Baeten is senior vice president in virology at Gilead Sciences. Jared's problem is this: In a world without a vaccine, how do you make a medicine that people will actually take to help prevent HIV?
There’s already a daily pill that reduces the risk of getting HIV, but a majority of people who are at high risk are unwilling or unable to take it.
So Jared and his colleagues are developing a new drug, lenacapivir, designed to be given as a shot once every six months.

Note: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Harnessing the Heat Deep Beneath Our Feet Mar 06, 2025

Show notes

Carlos Araque is the co-founder and CEO of Quaise Energy. Carlos' problem is this: How do you make drilling for geothermal energy as routine, widespread, and profitable as drilling for oil or gas? The answer involves digging deeper into the Earth than anyone has ever dug before.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Brain Implant That Could Change Medicine Feb 27, 2025

Show notes

Ben Rapoport is the co-founder and CSO of Precision Neuroscience. Ben's problem is this: Can you build a device that allows a paralyzed person to use a computer with only their thoughts – without damaging their brain?

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