In this episode, we interview Aaron Scher from the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI). As an organization, MIRI has played an influential role in shaping the AI safety movement.

Aaron speaks in his personal capacity as a technical governance researcher. We go through a brief history of AI, the risks these systems could pose, the current policy landscape, and what can be done about it. We talk through scenarios MIRI has written about, as well as the work being done to try to mitigate them, and discuss the feasibility of international coordination on AI. We close out with Aaron's own path from a psychology degree into AI safety.

I am very excited to be joined today by Allie Maloney, a policy analyst at Americans for Responsible Innovation, a bipartisan nonprofit advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., to discuss these questions and more.

Beyond questions of who can access this information lies a new concern, one that is largely unprecedented. For years, governments and third parties have had the ability to collect enormous amounts of data about our behavior, but analyzing it at scale was often difficult, expensive, and time-consuming. Now, it isn't.

AI has automated the ability to analyze and act on personal data, from video surveillance and digital tracking cookies to our conversations with chatbots. In this episode, we dive into the policy: What laws currently exist, and what additional protections do we need?

Beyond privacy, we also discuss the implications of this technology for children. How is generative AI shaping kids' lives, from digital tutors and homework helpers to video game characters and companion chatbots? How might the market incentives driving these products cause them to evolve in harmful ways, and what are legislators doing to prevent negative outcomes?

This was a wide-ranging conversation from privacy and surveillance to child safety and how new technology is becoming increasingly woven into our daily lives.

In this episode, we interview Camilla Salim Wagner, political scientist and researcher at the Data Workers' Inquiry, supported by the Distributed AI Research Institute. 

We also discuss the realities of data work, the ethical questions surrounding AI labor, and the growing movement advocating for greater recognition and protections for the people behind the technology. We explore the hidden workforce behind today's AI systems. We learn what data workers do, who they are, and what many of them are fighting for today.

It's easy to focus on the downstream impacts of AI (its effects on the economy, the environment, or humanity's long-term future). While those questions are important, this episode focuses on the people experiencing the impacts of AI right now.

How is the race to build more powerful AI systems affecting real people? What responsibilities do technology companies have toward the workers whose labor makes AI possible? As governments and companies race to develop increasingly powerful AI systems, questions about labor rights, transparency, accountability, and humane working conditions are becoming increasingly urgent.