Explore every episode of the podcast Age of AI
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| S10E2: AI and Environmental Sustainability in the Trump 2.0 era | 26 Jan 2025 | 00:36:22 | |
In this episode we’re joined by Jeremy Tamanini, founder of Dual Citizen LLC, to explore the intersection of AI and environmental sustainability during the Trump 2.0 era. From the environmental impacts of AI infrastructure, to innovative practices and emerging legislation, this conversation dives deep into how AI can be both a challenge and a tool for sustainability.
| |||
| S10E1: AI, Code, and Leadership with Matt Van Itallie | 12 Jan 2025 | 00:51:04 | |
Medlir Mema engages in an insightful discussion with Matt Van Itallie, the CEO of Sema Software, a company at the forefront of revolutionizing software analytics and risk management in the age of artificial intelligence. Sema has transformed the field of software analytics and set new standards for monitoring and risk management in AI-driven development. Matt shares insights into the evolving responsibilities of CTOs, the creation of transformative tools like the GenAI Code Monitor and Generative AI Bill of Materials, and the critical strategies companies need to address both technological and geopolitical challenges in the age of rapid innovation. Keywords: | |||
| S8E8: The promise and risks of generative AI technology for businesses with Maria Santacaterina | 21 Jul 2024 | 00:33:33 | |
Maria Santacaterina and Medlir discuss the impact of generative AI on businesses. They ask the question whether the massive financial investment in generative AI will pay off for these businesses. Is the promise of AI, hype or real?
| |||
| S8E7: Japan’s Military AI Strategy | 14 Jul 2024 | 00:28:42 | |
In July 2024, Japan’s Ministry of Defense unveiled its first basic policy document on the use of artificial intelligence and a comprehensive strategy to enhance Japan’s cyber defense capabilities. In this episode Dr. Ryo Hinata-Yamaguchi of the University of Tokyo, joins us to talk about how AI fits into Japan’s military strategy.
| |||
| S8E6: AI for Peace with Dr. Paige Arthur | 07 Jul 2024 | 00:37:13 | |
Medlir sits down with Dr. Paige Arthur, Director of Global Programming at Columbia Global, and co-author of AI for Peace (with Branka Panic), to discuss how recent AI innovations can contribute to conflict prevention and peace. They also explore the opportunities and challenges that technologies pose for human rights and curbing hate speech.
| |||
| S8E5: The Diogenes Awards | Our Annual Awards of AI in Television and Film | 30 Jun 2024 | 00:29:08 | |
This week, our annual Diogenes Awards. We take a look at AI in television and film (and sometimes other musings and occasional 'arguments'). We discuss each host's top nominee(s) since 2023, and then narrow it to the consensus pick for all of you. Links below so you can join us in checking these out (in no particular order).
Top Movie Nominees
| |||
| S8E4: Mihalis Kritikos on Governing AI | 23 Jun 2024 | 00:21:29 | |
Chris talks with Mihalis Kritikos of the European Commission on Artificial Intelligence Ethics and Trustworthy Governance of AI. Mihalis sheds light on how he got started working on AI governance during the Covid-19 pandemic, the ethics of AI, the EU AI Act, and also AI surveillance in the workplace.
| |||
| S8E3: How Ukraine uses AI to Fight Disinformation | 16 Jun 2024 | 00:25:59 | |
Chris talks to Maya Sobchuk, GGI non-resident fellow and researcher at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo about her work on AI and disinformation. In this episode Maya reflects on the history of Russian disinformation campaigns against Ukraine, disinformation in the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, and how Ukraine has harnessed its AI know-how and innovation space to counter disinformation.
| |||
| S8E2: Conflict Forecasting with Hannes Mueller | 09 Jun 2024 | 00:51:08 | |
Medlir is joined by Dr. Hannes Mueller to discuss recent developments in conflict prevention. Specifically, we examine how artificial intelligence can help governments detect risk early, predict the likelihood of new conflicts, and prevent older ones from re-emerging. | |||
| S8E1: Cool New Things You Can Do with AI or: How YD Learned to Start Worrying and Love Long Context Windows | 02 Jun 2024 | 00:27:28 | |
For our season opener, Young Diogenes has a chat with Chris and Medlir about some cool new things large language models can now do for us. Specifically, why some companies, like Google with Gemini, are choosing to concentrate on increasingly larger context windows (i.e., the size of the text, music, video prompt, etc., that the AI can parse). And why being able to load an entire book, a movie, or your entire life into the prompt and then have a conversation about these things, might be useful.
| |||
| S7E8: Misinformation and Disinformation in the age of AI | 24 Mar 2024 | 00:31:21 | |
Medlir asks Lukas Andriukaitis, Board member of Lithuania-based Civic Resilience Initiative (CRI), what it means to work and live at the frontier of the new misinformation / disinformation space. They discuss the current atmosphere in the region and beyond, in terms of threat of misinformation/disinformation. They consider both the benefits and the drawbacks of AI-enabled technologies as billions across the world prepare to cast their votes in 2024.
| |||
| S7E7: The EU AI Act with Luca Bertuzzi | 17 Mar 2024 | 00:26:47 | |
Luca Bertuzzi joins Medlir for a discussion on the EU AI Act passed by the European Parliament on March 13th. Among other things, they discuss the likely impact of the law on innovation and governance within the EU and abroad, as well as criticisms that the act fails to address concerns regarding human rights and civil liberties.
#EUAIACT; #AIgovernance; #innovation; #human rights; #emergingtech; #EU; | |||
| S9E8: AI, Architecture, and Urban Planning with Iva Mema | 29 Dec 2024 | 00:26:17 | |
Medlir sits with Iva Mema to discuss how AI shapes architectural design and public policy decision-making. They also explore the risks of perpetuating discrimination through biased algorithms, the potential for job displacement, and the over-reliance on technology that might diminish human creativity and expertise.
| |||
| S7E6: The Politics and Governance of Big Data and AI | 10 Mar 2024 | 00:33:24 | |
Andrej Zwitter and Oskar Gstrein share with Chris what they will be keeping an eye out for in the AI regulatory space in 2024. They also discuss their latest work on the politics and governance of big data and artificial intelligence and their newly published Handbook on the Governance Politics and Governance of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence. In this discussion Andrej and Oskar explore the EU AI Act and challenges that datafication and algorithmic logics pose for governance, privacy, and human agency, and ponder the question: what does it mean to stay human in the age of AI?
Links: | |||
| S7E5: AI and Military Technologies | 03 Mar 2024 | 00:50:29 | |
Medlir sits down with Dr. Raluca Csernatoni and Dr. Marijn Hoijtink to discuss the escalating ‘innovation race’ among corporate giants. They discuss AI’s contribution to the rise in power of the private tech sector vs. the state, as well as the ‘existential threat’ and ‘superintelligence’ narratives around foundational AI models and how these shape specific socio-technical imaginaries of the future. They also dive into AI’s impact on geopolitical and military power, including Sino-American competition, and the rise of AI ‘nationalism’ or ‘sovereignty’.
| |||
| S7E4: AI and Wargaming with Baptiste Alloui-Cros | 25 Feb 2024 | 00:27:57 | |
Medlir is joined by Baptiste Alloui-Cros, founder of the Strand Simulations Group and a wargame designer, to discuss how AI is likely to impact how we think, strategize, and prepare for war.
#wargaming, #simulation, #AI, #warfare, #strategy | |||
| S7E3: The Birth of Digital Human Rights with Rebekah Dowd | 11 Feb 2024 | 00:43:34 | |
This week Medlir and our guest Rebekah Dowd, an academic, scholar, and author of The Birth of Digital Human Rights: Digitized Data Governance as a Human Rights Issue in the EU, explore how and why the EU became a leader in the realm of digital human rights.
| |||
| S7E2: AI, Digital Humanities and Virtual Memory Spaces | 04 Feb 2024 | 00:29:45 | |
In this episode Chris talks to Arnaud Kurze of Montclair State University, currently a Digital Studies Fellow at the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress. Arnaud has carried out groundbreaking research in digital humanities, memory studies, and transitional justice and offers his insights into AI and virtual memory spaces, accountability,
| |||
| S7E1: Introducing AI Global Governance with Joachim Koops | 28 Jan 2024 | 00:38:13 | |
Medlir and Chris speak with Dr. Joachim Koops of the Global Governance Institute and Leiden University to discuss the launch of the AI Global Governance program. They further discuss the challenges associated with the question of governance more broadly. | |||
| S6E8: Trends and Announcements in AI for 2023 | 17 Dec 2023 | 00:41:03 | |
Young Diogenes (YD), Medlir and Chris discuss trends and developments in AI for 2023 (Democratization, Personalization, Twinning, GenAI, Multi-modal AI, AI ethics). We also discuss advances in behavioral AI for communications security, weather forecasting, material science, and discussion of the recent chaos at OpenAI (based on reporting by Karen Hao, the final link below provides some really interesting additional details on the events inside OpenAI if you'd like to get caught up).
(*In our discussion of Deepmind's machine learning method for weather, GraphCast, we mentioned '30-40 thousand parameters'. We intended '30-40 million'.) | |||
| S6E7: Innovations in Deterrence through AI, with Emma Morrison and Justin Lynch | 03 Dec 2023 | 00:44:17 | |
Medlir sits down with Emma Morrison and Justin Lynch to discuss ways AI can help analysts in understanding significant events, attributing actions, and presenting usable information to decision-makers, while reflecting on how AI may adversely affect a country's ability to signal credibly, or understand its adversaries intentions accurately.
| |||
| S6E6: Governing AI to Advance Shared Prosperity with Katya Klinova | 19 Nov 2023 | 00:43:19 | |
Medlir discusses the impact of AI on development with Katya Klinova, Head of AI, Labor, and the Economy division of the Partnership on AI. There she oversees (among other things) the AI and Shared Prosperity Initiative, asking how to make AI progress in the workforce more inclusive, as well as the potential impact of AI on the economic growth prospects of low- and middle-income countries.
Additional Links:
| |||
| S6E5: AI Governance with Justin Bullock | 05 Nov 2023 | 00:55:58 | |
Medlir is joined for a wide-ranging conversation on the shifting landscape of AI governance by Dr. Justin Bullock, a Senior Researcher at Convergence Analysis, in the UK. Dr. Bullock brings a wealth of expertise in public administration, artificial intelligence (AI), organizational theory, and management. He is the lead editor of Oxford University Press’ Handbook of AI Governance.
| |||
| S9E7: Ethical AI Approaches to Sustainability with Melanie Rideout | 15 Dec 2024 | 00:38:23 | |
Medlir is joined by Melanie Rideout, a climate tech expert and Global Governance Institute (GGI) fellow, who shares her insights from working with Shayp and international organizations like the Red Cross and UN bodies. Together they explore the opportunities, challenges, and complexities of leveraging technology for global development and climate action. | |||
| S6E4: Recent developments in disinformation through AI | 22 Oct 2023 | 00:25:13 | |
YD, Chris, and Medlir discuss some recent uses of AI, to quickly and easily generate political influence campaigns. | |||
| S6E3: Joseph Vukov on Religion and AI | 08 Oct 2023 | 00:41:19 | |
Medlir is joined by Dr. Joseph Vukov, Associate Director of the Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage at Loyola University Chicago, whose research explores questions at the intersection of ethics, neuroscience, and philosophy of mind, and at the intersection of science and religion.
| |||
| S6E2: AI and Disarmament with Branka Marijan | 24 Sep 2023 | 00:39:09 | |
Medlir Mema is joined by Dr. Branka Marijan, a Senior Researcher at Project Ploughshares, where she leads the research on the military and security implications of emerging technologies. Her research interests include trends in warfare, civilian protection, use of drones, and civil-military relations.
| |||
| S6E1: Digital Authoritarianism in the Middle East | 17 Sep 2023 | 00:26:59 | |
How do states use digital tools to deceive, disseminate disinformation, and deepen authoritarianism? In this episode Chris talks with Marc Owen Jones about digital authoritarianism in the Middle East, who sheds light on this question and much more in a far-reaching discussion. | |||
| S5E10: AI and the Intelligence Community | 23 Jul 2023 | 00:35:54 | |
Medlir discusses the likely impact of AI and Emerging Tech with Dr. Chris Moran and Dr. Joe Burton, authors of a recent study which argues that talk of an AI-fueled intelligence revolution is premature. | |||
| E5E9: Roundtable on the Future of Human/AI collaboration | 09 Jul 2023 | 00:20:34 | |
Chris, Medlir, and Young Diogenes get back to a sequel from season 4. We continue exploring the future of AI integration into research, provenance, and predictions about the future of AI, as well as some light-hearted jabs at each other.
| |||
| S5E8: AI detection tools with CrossPlag founding partner Alejtin Berisha | 02 Jul 2023 | 00:28:48 | |
Medlir sits down with CrossPlag's Dr. Alejtin Berisha to discuss the challenges of Higher Education in the age of AI and the promise of AI originality detection tools like CrossPlag for educators hoping to incorporate tools like ChatGPT in their curriculum. | |||
| S5E7: Responsible AI in Africa | 25 Jun 2023 | 00:32:07 | |
In this episode Kutoma Wakunuma, Damien Okaibedi Eke, and Simisola Akintoye join Chris to discuss their latest edited volume, Responsible AI in Africa. In this conversation we explore Africa’s exclusion from conversations on AI ethics, epistemic injustice, the concept of Ubuntu, and innovations from Africa’s silicon savannas. | |||
| S5E6: AI, National Security, and the Future of Education with Jeannie Johnson | 18 Jun 2023 | 00:31:10 | |
Medlir sits down with Dr. Jeannie Johnson, co-founder and Director of the Center for Anticipatory Intelligence (CAI), to discuss CAI’s mission, what it means to create the nation’s first MA program in Anticipatory intelligence, and the importance of combining expertise in national security and geopolitics with cutting-edge instruction in cyber threats, data analytics, and emergent technology.
#CAI #CTAF #culturaltopographyanalyticframework | |||
| S5E5: AI and The New Digital Era of Governance with Evrim Tan | 04 Jun 2023 | 00:42:32 | |
Medlir talks with Evrim Tan, the co-author (with Joep Crompvoets) of The new digital era governance: How new digital technologies are shaping public governance, a fantastic recent publication that seeks to draw important distinctions between the 'old' digital era governance and the 'new' AI-based one. | |||
| S9E6: Planning for a Sustainable and Inclusive AI Integration with Elena Ardelean | 24 Nov 2024 | 00:29:29 | |
In today's episode, Medlir chats with Elena Ardelean. We discuss the Matrix Framework for Inclusive AI in Sustainable Development, focusing on three pillars: the regulatory environment, digital infrastructure, and the empowerment of youth as the next generation of changemakers. We further explore how lessons from AI's rapid evolution inform strategies for equitable integration into the future of work and daily life. Finally, we highlight how governments—particularly in developing countries—are leveraging AI today, and discuss steps to ensure sustainable, inclusive AI adoption in the future. | |||
| S5E4: The Diogenes Awards | 14 May 2023 | 00:36:46 | |
Our lighthearted yearly conversation about Television and Film containing Artificial Intelligence -- featuring the ever delightful Chris, Medlir, and of course the incredibly handsome Young Diogenes. What will these goofballs pick and argue about this year? (Ed. note: probably almost nothing related to the content, eh? *zing* In seriousness, they cover all of their picks, sling around a few digs at each other, and include some interesting surprises for our listeners. Thank you all so much for listening!)
| |||
| S5E3: Coding Democracy and the Hacker Ethic with Maureen Webb | 07 May 2023 | 00:39:22 | |
In this episode Chris talks with Maureen Webb about her latest book, Coding Democracy: How Hackers Are Disrupting Power, Surveillance and Authoritarianism (MIT Press, 2000). Webb explores the hacker ethic, Julian Assange & the cypherpunk movement, and the future of democracy. | |||
| S5E2: AI Chatbots and Gender with Sylvie Boreau | 30 Apr 2023 | 00:29:17 | |
Medlir talks with Dr. Sylvie Borau, an associate professor at TBS Education, Toulouse, France, where she teaches ethical marketing and consumer behavior. They discuss gender imbalance in AI and the issue of 'Benevolent Sexism.' Together they also consider the implications of one of Dr. Boreau's recent studies which concludes that female bots are endowed with more positive human qualities than male bots, and they are perceived as more human than male bots when compared to both animals and machines. | |||
| S5E1: AI and Terrorism with Ryan Washington | 23 Apr 2023 | 00:33:01 | |
Medlir talks with his guest, Ryan Washington, a former Marine working with Special Intelligence. They discuss the threat of extremist violence as an important security threat and, perhaps more importantly, a societal threat -- especially as both governments and perpetrators of violence look to co-opt AI into their arsenal. | |||
| S4E12: China’s AI Investment Activity in SE Asia with Ngor Luong and Channing Lee | 12 Mar 2023 | 00:26:56 | |
Chris talks with Ngor Luong and Channing Lee of the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) at Georgetown University about their recently published report Chinese AI Investment and Commercial Activity in Southeast Asia. | |||
| S4E11: AI, GrAIde, and the Future of Grading and Assessments with Manjinder Kainth | 26 Feb 2023 | 00:24:50 | |
In this episode Chris discusses AI assisted grading and the future of assessments in higher education with the CEO of Graide, Manjinder Kainth. Starting with a discussion of ChatGPT our guest presents new developments and tools for AI assisted grading and also shares some advice for those seeking to embark on their own start-up journeys. | |||
| S4E10: Biometric Surveillance and Civil Society in Serbia with the SHARE Foundation | 12 Feb 2023 | 00:33:14 | |
In this episode Chris discusses developments in biometric surveillance with Bojan Perkov of the SHARE Foundation who returns to OnAiR to discuss a proposed law on internal affairs in Serbia that would have provided a legal framework for mass biometric surveillance in public spaces. | |||
| S4E9: Roundtable on the Future of Human / AI collaboration (Part 1) | 29 Jan 2023 | 00:27:30 | |
Young Diogenes, Chris, and Medlir share some musings on the future of Human and AI collaboration. In light of some of the challenges faced by academia (since the launch of ChatGPT), we discuss what an early integration of AI and word processing might look like. Medlir chastises tech companies for launching products without sufficient vetting. | |||
| S4E8: Surveillance and the Common Good with Eric Stoddart | 08 Jan 2023 | 00:37:56 | |
Medlir is joined by Eric Stoddart from the St. Andrews School of Divinity for a conversation about belief, Practical Theology, AI, surveillance, and the Common Good. | |||
| S4E7: Roundtable discussion on OpenAI's ChatGPT | 25 Dec 2022 | 00:27:26 | |
Chris and Medlir catch up with Young Diogenes to discuss OpenAI's ChatGPT and explore its possible uses and abuses. Don't miss a passing glance at David Bowie's 'Verbasizer' and Meta's AI Cicero.
| |||
| S9E5: What AI Governance gets Wrong and How to Get it Right with Ritwik Gupta | 10 Nov 2024 | 00:30:47 | |
Chris and Medlir talk with Ritwik Gupta about what policymakers get wrong about AI governance and what we should be thinking about when it comes to risk and regulation. Ritwik also shares his wide-ranging experience in working on AI in the context of chaotic environments in disaster response and national security. | |||
| S4E6: Military Automation, Regulation and Future Wars with Ingvild Bode | 11 Dec 2022 | 00:33:11 | |
Medlir and Chris are joined by Ingvild Bode for a wide ranging conversation on military automation, accountability and the future (and present) of armed conflict. | |||
| S4E5: International Law, Russia-Ukraine conflict, and Emerging Tech with Carrie McDougall | 27 Nov 2022 | 00:34:51 | |
Medlir is joined by Carrie McDougall of the Melbourne Law School and an expert in international criminal law. They discuss prospects for a possible international tribunal to prosecute the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, and to consider the question of accountability and Autonomous Weapons Systems.
| |||
| S4E4: AI and Emotions with Young Diogenes | 13 Nov 2022 | 00:24:15 | |
In this episode, Medlir and Chris discuss the question of AI sentience and Lambda with Young Diogenes.
| |||
| S4E3: China’s Digital Cities, Surveillance, and Digital Authoritarianism with Zeyi Yang | 30 Oct 2022 | 00:42:03 | |
Chris and Medlir welcome Zeyi Yang of MIT Technology Review to the show for a wide ranging discussion from Pokemon to predictive policing and digital authoritarianism to China’s urban Metascapes.
| |||