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In the final episode of our limited series on AI, we look at the big issues of accountability and responsibility. How should we allocate the responsibilities for managing this technology? Who will decide when AIs are doing more harm than good? Will we be looking to private companies or depending on public servants? And what will be left for individual citizens to decide?
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To help unlock solutions to the growing challenge of AI responsibility, host Raffi Krikorian speaks with Maria Ressa, Nobel Prize-winning journalist and co-founder of Rappler; scientist and inventor Rosalind Picard from MIT’s Media Lab; James Manyika, Senior Vice President of Research, Technology, and Society at Google; Kyunghyun Cho, Professor of Computer Science and Data Science at New York University; Stanford Internet Observatory Research Manager Renee DiResta; and Professor and data journalist Meredith Broussard. Together, they discuss different approaches to AI responsibility, and look at what the future could hold for ethical accountability.


What does it take to build technology for good? Journey into the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence with Raffi Krikorian, Chief Technology Officer of Emerson Collective as he unpacks how this transformational technology can be developed and deployed with society’s best interests at its core. Raffi engages experts in the field—technologists, historians, venture capitalists, and government officials—on how to harness the incredible potential of AI while mitigating its risks.
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The future is unknown, but we are technically optimistic.

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[Podcast 3x4] Technically Optimistic Episode 6

AI and Accountability: Who is responsible for managing AI?

https://res.cloudinary.com/dapibcwcy/image/upload/v1691194507/cdn/Podcast/Technically%20Optimistic/Transcripts/Technically_Optimistic_Transcript_-_Episode_6.pdf

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How has our data become the world’s most valuable resource?  What privacy tradeoffs are we making when we engage with personalized apps, recommendations, and always-connected smart devices? Is our personal data being used to make things better, or to make tech giants even more powerful? And what do “cookies” have to do with all this?
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[Podcast 3x4] Technically Optimistic Episode 8

How your behavior became the world’s biggest resource

https://res.cloudinary.com/dapibcwcy/image/upload/v1713982059/cdn/Podcast/Technically%20Optimistic/Transcripts/Technically_Optimistic_Transcript_-S2_Episode_1.pdf

We often speak about the AI revolution as though it were something that might happen in the far future. But, what about today, when AI is modifying our culture, society, and the economy as we speak? In this episode, we consider how AI is currently creating massive shifts, and the potential benefits and challenges we face right now. 
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Is AI revitalizing the economy, or is it on track to displace countless workers? Will AI render filmmakers and writers obsolete, or are we at the beginning of a modern-day cultural renaissance? And is AI being used to help preserve Indigenous cultures, or is it a tool to harvest their data for corporate gain? 
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To address these questions, host Raffi Krikorian speaks with Erik Brynjolfsson, Director of the Digital Economy Lab; Justine Bateman, actor, director, writer and producer; Ari Melenciano, artist and creative technologist; and Keolu Fox, assistant professor at the University of California, San Diego and co-founder and co-director of the Indigenous Futures Institute. Together, they chart a path to help us navigate AI in the current moment.

[Podcast 3x4] Technically Optimistic Episode 5

On Strike! How will AI impact the economy, culture, and the future of creativity?

https://res.cloudinary.com/dapibcwcy/image/upload/v1690572928/cdn/Podcast/Technically%20Optimistic/Transcripts/Technically_Optimistic_Transcript_-_Episode_5.pdf

Can we use AI as a tool that enriches learning, rather than replacing it? We're seeing AI rapidly revolutionize the classroom and it's poised to completely transform both education and learning itself. But, how can we also ensure that everyone has access to the basics of tech and AI literacy so that we can all, every one of us, reap the benefits of AI and understand its nuances?
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In this episode, we explore the potential of AI to enrich learning, and discuss how we can ensure that everyone has the opportunity to benefit from this technology with student advocate Sneha Revanur; Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy; Pat Yongpradit, Director of Education at [code.org](https://code.org "https://code.org"); Teemu Roos, professor at the University of Helsinki and leader of the AI Education program at the Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence; and machine learning pioneer Professor Tom Mitchell. Together, they discuss the ways in which AI will shape education—and future generations.

[Podcast 3x4] Technically Optimistic Episode 4

What Does AI have to teach us?

Education and AI: What does AI have to teach us?

https://res.cloudinary.com/dapibcwcy/image/upload/v1690044500/cdn/Podcast/Technically%20Optimistic/Transcripts/Technically-Optimistic-Transcript-Ep4.pdf

The questions we face around who can govern AI are complex. If we want to reap the rewards of this technology, what – if any – regulatory solutions are needed to offer us the best outcomes? And who has the power to set these new rules in motion? 
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In Part 2 of this two-part episode of Technically Optimistic, we talk with the diverse thinkers who are proposing ways forward for AI governance and explore whether these solutions allow for innovative possibilities while also mitigating potential harm. What kinds of governance can we expect in the future, and how far from reality are our most idealistic proposals? Most importantly: is regulation even the best solution? To address these questions, host Raffi Krikorian talks to U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO); Tristan Harris, founder of the Center for Humane Technology; Congressman Jay Obernolte (R-CA); Phil Howard, Oxford professor and member of the International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE); Ian Bremmer, author and political scientist; and Suresh Venkatasubramanian, professor of computer science. Together, they explore what it might mean to codify a regulatory system that creates safety without stifling ingenuity.


[Podcast 3x4] Technically Optimistic Episode 3

Part 2 - Rules of the Road: What might regulating AI look like?

https://res.cloudinary.com/dapibcwcy/image/upload/v1689367372/cdn/Podcast/Technically%20Optimistic/Transcripts/Technically-Optimistic-Transcript-Ep2-Part2.pdf

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?
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In 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.

[Podcast 3x4] Technically Optimistic Episode 2

Part 1: Rules of the Road: Who has the power to regulate AI?

https://res.cloudinary.com/dapibcwcy/image/upload/v1689022471/cdn/Podcast/Technically%20Optimistic/Transcripts/Technically-Optimistic-Transcript-Ep2-Part1.pdf

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.
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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. 
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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.

[Podcast 3x4] Technically Optimistic Episode 1

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

https://res.cloudinary.com/dapibcwcy/image/upload/v1687985546/cdn/Podcast/Technically%20Optimistic/Transcripts/Technically-Optimistic-Transcript-Ep1.pdf

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A podcast about what it takes to make transformational social change.
On Almost There, a new podcast from Emerson Collective, poet and lawyer Dwayne Betts talks to creative problem solvers, all [Fellows at Emerson Collective](https://www.emersoncollective.com/programs/#fellowships)—architects, doctors, writers, voyagers, organizers, and artists—about their approach to making meaningful social change. 
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In each episode, we’ll learn about the journeys that have led our guests to the questions driving their work: How do we keep our families and communities healthy? How do we build a fairer immigration system and promote civic participation? How can we stay alert to the beauty around us and harness human ingenuity to protect our planet? The conversations on Almost There will explore these pressing questions and new possibilities.

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[Joan Salwen](https://www.emersoncollective.com/persons/joan-salwen "Joan Salwen") has a thing for cows. After all, she grew up helping her grandfather tend to the livestock on his farm in Iowa. But as an adult, Joan was shocked to learn that cows are pretty terrible for the environment: they burp huge amounts of methane, a destructive greenhouse gas driving climate change. So she built a company, Blue Ocean Barns, around a surprising solution: making feed with a red seaweed native to Hawaii that dramatically reduces cows’ methane emissions when they eat it in small amounts. It’s an innovation that could make farmers like Joan’s Grandpa Mo heroes in the fight to slow climate change. 
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In the Season One finale, Joan tells Dwayne about her many professional pivots, from software engineer to middle school English teacher to startup founder; and shares what she’s learned from farmers about how we can all care for our planet. Plus, Joan shares fun facts about cows!  


Almost There - Joan Salwen

You can do WHAT with seaweed???

https://res.cloudinary.com/dapibcwcy/image/upload/v1699389250/cdn/Podcast/Almost%20There/Transcripts/AT_Joan_Salwen_Transcript.pdf

Across the U.S., local election administrators are the unsung heroes of democracy, helping to protect our right to vote. But who is protecting them? Scarce resources and [increasing threats](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/poll-local-election-officials-finds-safety-fears-colleagues-and "Brennan Center for Justice") of violence are causing many in the profession to find new jobs. Fortunately, [Tiana Epps-Johnson](https://www.emersoncollective.com/persons/tiana-epps-johnson "Tiana Epps-Johnson") has big ideas on how to make their jobs easier. Tiana and her nonpartisan organization, [Center for Tech and Civic Life](https://www.techandciviclife.org/ "Center for Tech and Civic Life"), provide local officials in the U.S. with the funding, technology, and training they need to administer secure, modern elections. “We are laser-focused on a vision where our country’s election officials have the funds, tools, and skills they need to administer professional, inclusive, secure elections for all of us,” Tiana says. 
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In this episode, Tiana reflects on why she considers the 2020 election, which happened in the midst of a global pandemic, so successful; what she has learned about how to help election officials orchestrate successful elections; and what she has learned from her mother and grandmother. Plus, Dwayne reads Tiana his poem, “[White Peonies](https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2022/02/24/white-peonies-reginald-dwayne-betts/ "White Peonies")”.  


Almost There - Tiana Epps-Johnson

Want to protect democracy? Hug an election official.

https://res.cloudinary.com/dapibcwcy/image/upload/v1698769701/cdn/Podcast/Almost%20There/Transcripts/AT_Tiana_Epps-Johnson_Transcript.pdf

[Sri Shamasunder](https://www.emersoncollective.com/persons/sriram-shamasunder "Sri Shamasunder") likes to say he was a poet before he was a doctor. His college mentor, the legendary poet and activist June Jordan, passed away from cancer during his first year of medical school, but had a lasting impact on his practice of medicine. She encouraged him to harness righteous anger and to use his voice to fight inequity, inspiring Shamasunder’s work as a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and as the co-founder and director of the [HEAL Initiative](https://healinitiative.org/ "HEAL Initiative"), an equity-based global health fellowship that provides quality care for communities in need around the world. 
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In this episode, Sri and Dwayne discuss the surprising similarities between poetry and medicine; how the HEAL Initiative cultivates “noble friendships” across cultural divides; and the impact of the mentorship of June Jordan and Dr. Paul Farmer on Sri’s life and career. Plus: so much poetry! Poems mentioned in this episode include: 
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["The Gift" by Li-Young Lee](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43010/the-gift-56d221adc12b8 " "The Gift" by Li-Young Lee")
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["To Walk in Beauty Once Again" by Sri Shamasunder (for Adriann Begay, June 2020)](https://courtney.substack.com/p/to-walk-in-beauty-once-again ""To Walk in Beauty Once Again" by Sri Shamasunder (for Adriann Begay, June 2020)")
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["The Guest House" by Jalaluddin Rumi](https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/guest-house/ ""The Guest House" by Jalaluddin Rumi")
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["In Blackwater Woods" by Mary Oliver](http://www.phys.unm.edu/~tw/fas/yits/archive/oliver_inblackwaterwoods.html ""In Blackwater Woods" by Mary Oliver") 
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["Our Daily Bread" by César Vallejo](https://www.scribd.com/document/324203734/Our-Daily-Bread# ""Our Daily Bread" by César Vallejo")
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["It’s Hard to Keep a Clean Shirt Clean" by June Jordan (poem for Sri Shamasunder)](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48759/its-hard-to-keep-a-clean-shirt-clean ""It’s Hard to Keep a Clean Shirt Clean" by June Jordan (poem for Sri Shamasunder)")


Almost There - Sriram Shamasunder

The marvelous connections between poetry and medicine

https://res.cloudinary.com/dapibcwcy/image/upload/v1698164474/cdn/Podcast/Almost%20There/Transcripts/AT_Sri_Shamasunder_Transcript.pdf

When Hurricane Katrina barreled toward her home stretch of the Gulf Coast, [Sara Zewde](https://www.emersoncollective.com/persons/sara-zewde "Sara Zewde") had not yet decided what she wanted to do professionally. But the aftermath of the storm inspired her to work across ecology, infrastructure, and culture as a landscape architect. Today, she runs [Studio Zewde](https://www.studio-zewde.com/ "Studio Zewde"), a landscape-architecture practice based in New York City, and is an assistant professor at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. As one of just a few Black female landscape architects, she is dedicated to building culturally-responsive spaces where people experience a sense of belonging. “People walk around Central Park, around landscapes, around sidewalks and street corners, and don’t realize they are living in somebody’s design,” she says. “Every single tree, every single path, all the topography – it’s a complete work of fiction.” 
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In this episode, Sara tells Dwayne about her interest in Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of landscape architecture in the U.S. and the designer of New York’s Central Park, who, she learned, traveled the American South as a journalist and documented the horrors of slavery there – an experience that came to fundamentally shape his approach to park design.


Almost There - Sara Zewde

The anti-slavery roots of America's public parks

https://res.cloudinary.com/dapibcwcy/image/upload/v1697560824/cdn/Podcast/Almost%20There/Transcripts/AT_Sara_Zewde_Transcript.pdf

A podcast about what it takes to make transformational change.