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Technically Optimistic

Emerson Collective

Data is the most valuable resource on our planet, and the data economy impacts everything from mental health to human rights. On Season 2 of Technically Optimistic, host Raffi Krikorian engages engineers, activists, professors, and more to ask big questions about our data-driven era. How and why is our data being collected? How is it affecting our daily lives, our decision-making, our political systems? Perhaps most importantly, what does the future of data look like, and what can we do to help shape it? This season of Technically Optimistic is all about your data, and how you can gain back some control.

© Emerson Collective 2023

Data is the most valuable resource on our planet, and the data economy impacts everything from mental health to human rights. On Season 2 of Technically Optimistic, host Raffi Krikorian engages engineers, activists, professors, and more to ask big questions about our data-driven era. How and why is our data being collected? How is it affecting our daily lives, our decision-making, our political systems? Perhaps most importantly, what does the future of data look like, and what can we do to help shape it? This season of Technically Optimistic is all about your data, and how you can gain back some control.

© Emerson Collective 2023
17hr 52min
Thumbnail for "AI is at a crossroads. How did we get here?".
History, ethics, and social impact of AI
June 28, 202344min 39sec
Thumbnail for "What's next for data".
Will the US ever pass a national data privacy law?
June 19, 20241hr 1min
Thumbnail for "The India episode — tech and data in the Global South".
How can shifting perspective to South Asia help us understand the global scale of data?
June 12, 20241hr 5min
Thumbnail for "Who's watching the kids?".
How can we safeguard children's data, and protect them from harms they face online?
June 5, 20241hr 4min
Thumbnail for "Policed by our data".
Do you have the right to keep your data away from the government?
May 22, 20241hr 3min
Thumbnail for "Digital surveillance and reproductive rights".
After the fall of Roe v. Wade, how is data weaponized against pregnant people?
May 15, 202456min 47sec
Thumbnail for "Your data, your vote".
How do political campaigns get your data? And what are they doing with it?
May 8, 20241hr
Thumbnail for "How to save social media".
It’s time to explore a new vision for social media, where we don’t have to give up on privacy.
May 1, 20241hr
Thumbnail for "How your behavior became the world's biggest resource".
What privacy tradeoffs are we making when we engage with personalized apps, recommendations, and always-connected smart devices?
April 24, 202450min 50sec
Thumbnail for "Season Two is all about your data".
And it's coming soon.
March 10, 20244min 27sec
Thumbnail for "Unpacking Biden's AI plan".
How should we understand the massive new executive order on AI safety?
November 3, 202340min 4sec
Thumbnail for "Justin Hendrix on AI policy and democracy".
The CEO of Tech Policy Press talks about covering global developments in AI regulation
September 29, 202347min 59sec
Thumbnail for "Timnit Gebru is asking different questions about AI".
The influential researcher talks about reclaiming the narrative from Big Tech
September 15, 202342min 8sec
Thumbnail for "Kyunghyun Cho on language, culture, and AI".
As newer and bigger AI language models are developed, new challenges emerge
September 8, 202329min 52sec
Thumbnail for "Ian Bremmer's plan for global AI governance".
The political scientist says governments and corporations need to join forces to take on AI
September 1, 202327min 31sec
Thumbnail for "Keolu Fox on the revolutionary power of Indigenous tech".
After the destructive wildfires on Maui, imagining tech that empowers native Hawaiians
August 25, 202334min 5sec
Thumbnail for "Bishop Paul Tighe on AI and our humanity".
A bonus conversation about technology and what makes us human
August 18, 202331min 6sec
Thumbnail for "AI and Accountability: Who is responsible for managing AI?".
What responsibilities will fall to each of us in an AI-enhanced future?
August 4, 20231hr 5min
Thumbnail for "On Strike! How will AI impact the economy, culture, and the future of creativity?".
What are the benefits and challenges of AI in the current moment?
July 28, 20231hr 2min
Thumbnail for "Education and AI: What does AI have to teach us?".
What does the future – and present – of AI education hold for us?
July 21, 202356min 48sec
Thumbnail for "Rules of the Road - part 2: What might regulating AI look like?".
Lawmakers, experts, and engineers on the prospects of regulating AI.
July 14, 202358min 29sec
Thumbnail for "Rules of the Road - part 1: Who has the power to regulate AI?".
Can government regulation act as guardrails for AI?
July 8, 202344min 17sec
Thumbnail for "Trailer: Can AI be used for good?".
How the transformational technology can be developed and deployed with society's best interests at its core.
May 22, 20233min 4sec

AI is at a crossroads. How did we get here?

Thumbnail for "AI is at a crossroads. How did we get here?".
June 28, 202344min 39sec

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.

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