The term ‘smart city’ paints a picture of a tech-enabled oasis—powered by sensors of all kinds. But we’re starting to recognize what all these tools might mean for privacy. In this episode, we meet a researcher studying how this is being applied in Iran and visit one of the nation’s top smart cities, to learn how its efforts there have evolved over time.

We Meet:

University of Oxford and Article19 Human Rights Researcher Mahsa Alimardani

City of Las Vegas Chief Innovation Officer Michael Sherwood

City of Hope Director of Campus Support Operations Mark Reed

Sounds:

How will artificial intelligence change the cities we live in? - BBC Ideas via YouTube 

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

‘Smart’ cities promise economic and environmental benefits to the developing world - CBC News via YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u08A7yiTmu4 

Singapore is building a city in China - CNBC via YouTube 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP11XeIV1ZA 

Global Smart Cities - The China Current via YouTube 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qmiqHWD6Uc 

Footage appears to show Iranian riot police confronting students at university in Tehran - The Guardian via YouTube 

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

China: facial recognition and state control - The Economist via YouTube 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH2gMNrUuEY 

Facial recognition: Concerns over China's widespread surveillance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT6KEy_QXvM

Credits:

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

The best definitions of AI are vague, largely lack consensus and represent a huge challenge for lawmakers and legal scholars looking to regulate it. But back to back breakthroughs and rapid adoption of generative AI tools are making it feel a lot more real to everybody else. We examine how it’s possible that alone might be enough to push conversations about ethics further into focus.

We Meet:

MIT Technology Review Senior AI Reporter Melissa Heikkilä

Mozilla President Mark Surman

IBM Chief Privacy Officer Christina Montgomery

United Nations AI Advisor Neil Sahota

Sounds:

Advances in artificial intelligence raise new ethics concerns - PBS NewsHour via YouTube https://youtu.be/l5nTlHeqYOQ

He loves artificial intelligence. Hear why he is issuing a warning about ChatGPT - CNN via YouTube https://youtu.be/THJysHMi81c  

Credits:

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

This episode we meet people building next generation tools for creativity who are thinking about how these AI models should be trained and deployed in order to be both useful and fair to artists.

We hear from:

Artist Holly Herndon

Adobe CTO Digital Media Ely Greenfield

Soundful CEO Diaa El All

Links:

https://www.ted.com/talks/holly_herndon_what_if_you_could_sing_in_your_favorite_musician_s_voice

https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/02/03/1067786/ai-models-spit-out-photos-of-real-people-and-copyrighted-images/

https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/12/16/1065247/artists-can-now-opt-out-of-the-next-version-of-stable-diffusion/

Credits: This episode was produced by Anthony Green with help from Emma Cillekens. It was edited by Jennifer Strong and Mat Honan, mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from Jacob Gorski.

We're so excited this episode has been selected as a New York Festivals finalist! Please enjoy this encore edition and we'll see you back next week!

Digital twins of humans capture the physical look and expressions of real humans. Increasingly these replicas are showing up in the entertainment industry and beyond and it gives rise to some interesting opportunities as well as thorny questions. 

We speak to:

Greg Cross, CEO and co-founder of Soul Machines

Credits: This episode was produced by Anthony Green with help from Emma Cillekens. It was edited by Jennifer Strong and Mat Honan, mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from Jacob Gorski.

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 Marc Raibert, the founder and chairman of Boston Dynamics.

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. Artwork by Eric Mongeon.

VIDEOS:

Spot 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7atZfX85nd4&t=17s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VUQHrWhoqg

Atlas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e1_QhJ1EhQ&t=5s

Big Dog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqMVg5ixhd0

One Legged Robot (Hopping robot)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd5iEke6UlE&t=16s

Computers are ranking the way people look—and the results are influencing the things we do, the posts we see, and the way we think.

Ideas about what constitutes “beauty” are complex, subjective, and by no means limited to physical appearances. Elusive though it is, everyone wants more of it. That means big business and increasingly, people harnessing algorithms to create their ideal selves in the digital and, sometimes, physical worlds. In this episode, we explore the popularity of beauty filters, and sit down with someone who’s convinced his software will show you just how to nip and tuck your way to a better life.

Reporting links:

https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/03/13/1069649/hyper-realistic-beauty-filters-bold-glamour/

https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/08/19/1057133/fight-for-instagram-face/

We meet:

Shafee Hassan, Qoves Studio founder 

Lauren Rhue, Assistant Professor of Information Systems at the Robert H. Smith School of Business

Credits:

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

How we test and train fighter pilots—both real and artificial—is undergoing a series of rapid changes. Some themes are quite familiar. In order for these systems to be useful we need to trust them, but figuring out just how, when and why remains a massive challenge. In this second of a two-part series, we look at how AI is being used to teach human pilots to perform some of the most dangerous and difficult maneuvers in aerial combat, and we experience synthetic dogfighting first hand. 

We Meet:

Tom "T-Mac" Mackie, Director of Red6

Chris Cotting, Director Research, US Air Force Test Pilot School

Bill Gray, Chief Test Pilot, US Air Force Test Pilot School

Daniel Robinson, Founder & CEO Red6

Credits:

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

A boy wrote about his suicide attempt. He didn’t realize his school's software was watching.

While schools commonly use AI to sift through students' digital lives and flag keywords that may be considered concerning, critics ask at what cost to privacy.

We Meet:

Jeff Patterson, CEO of Gaggle

Mark Keierleber, investigative reporter at The 74

Teeth Logsdon-Wallace, student

Elizabeth Laird, director of Equity in Civic Technology at Center for Democracy & Technology

Sounds From:

"Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of Your Fist" from the band Ramshackle Glory's 2011 album Live the Dream.

"Spying or protecting students? CBS46 Investigates school surveillance software" from CBS46 in Atlanta, GA on February 14, 2022.

"Student Surveillance Software: Schools know what your child is doing online. Do you?" from WSPA7 News in Greenville, SC on May 5, 2021.

"Spying or protecting students? CBS46 Investigates school surveillance software" from News 5 in Cleveland, OH on February 5, 2020.

Credits:

This episode was produced by Anthony Green and Emma Cillekens with reporting from Mark Keierleber. It was edited by Jennifer Strong and Michael Reilly, and mixed by Garret Lang with original music from Jacob Gorski. Art by Stephanie Arnett.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/oct/12/school-surveillance-dragnet-suicide-attempt-healing

https://www.the74million.org/contributor/mark-keierleber/

You can support our journalism by going to http://www.techreview.com/subscribe.

Late last year the US Department of Defense successfully ran a dozen flight tests in which AI agents piloted an experimental fighter jet. We explore the program that got it there and what this milestone means.

We Meet:

Chase Kohler, Edwards Air Force Base

Sue Halpern, The New Yorker

Paul Scharre, Center for a New American Security

Additional sources and sound:

DARPA's AlphaDogfight Trials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzdhIA2S35w

The Rise of A.I. Fighter Pilots: Artificial intelligence is being taught to fly warplanes: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/01/24/the-rise-of-ai-fighter-pilots

https://www.edwards.af.mil/News/Article/3297083/dod-artificial-intelligence-agents-successfully-pilot-fighter-jet/

Credits:

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

A look at how artificial intelligence is starting to be used to support the elderly.

We Meet:

Dor Skuler, Intuition Robotics

Greg Olsen, New York State Office for the Aging

Marie Defrancesco

Credits:

This episode was reported and produced by Jennifer Strong and Anthony Green with help from Emma Cillekens. We’re edited by Mat Honan and mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from Garret Lang, and Jacob Gorski. Art by Stephanie Arnett.