Could we replace data centers with … plant DNA? | Cliff Kapono and Keolu Fox

This is an episode of Fixable, another podcast from the TED Audio Collective. The evidence is clear that hybrid work is good for both people and organizations. So why are companies as big as Amazon now asking employees to come into the office all five days of the work week? Could “magical hallway conversations” actually make teams better — or is this a leadership play based on nostalgia and wishful thinking? In this provocative "Unsolicited Advice" episode, Anne Morriss and Frances Frei debate what Amazon’s new return-to-office mandate means for the company’s future. Frances Frei is a Harvard Business professor. Anne Morriss is a CEO and best-selling author. Anne and Frances are two of the top leadership coaches in the world. Oh, did we mention they're also married to each other? On Fixable, Anne and Frances move fast and fix stuff by talking to guest callers about their workplace issues and solving their problems – in 30 minutes or less. Both listeners and guests will receive actionable insights to create meaningful change in the workplace – regardless of their position on the company ladder. You can listen to Fixable wherever you're listening to this. If you want to be on Fixable, call our hotline at 234-Fixable (that's 234-349-2253) to leave Anne and Frances a voicemail with your workplace problem. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As AI technology advances, it’s becoming harder and harder to distinguish between work done by humans and work done by computers. But is AI becoming more human, or are we becoming more digital? Synthesia is a video platform that uses AI to generate lifelike video avatars, further blurring the lines between humans and their digitized lookalikes. In this episode, Bilawal sits down with Synthesia’s CEO, Victor Riparbelli, to discuss the benefits of having your own AI avatar, how companies are using this tool to improve communication, and why media literacy is more important than ever in a world of ever-thinning lines between real and fake. They dissect the risks that come with making this technology available to the public, the strict rules Synthesia has in place to protect their users, and question the ethics of having a digital clone. Tune in to see if you’ll be sending your own AI avatar to your boring meetings in the near future. For transcripts for The TED AI Show, visit go.ted.com/TTAIS-transcripts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Human brains are often described as computers — machines that are “wired” to make decisions and respond to external stimuli in a way that’s not so different from the artificial intelligence that we increasingly use each day. But the difference between our brains and the computers that drive AI is consciousness – our inner world, defined by experience and awareness. Anil Seth is a professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience at the University of Oxford. He studies human consciousness and he’s concerned about the way we’ve come to think about AI as conscious minds rather than useful tools. Anil and Bilawal sit down to discuss the differences between intelligence and consciousness, the possibility of AI becoming self-aware, and the dangers of assigning human-like traits to our AI assistants. For transcripts for The TED AI Show, visit go.ted.com/TTAIS-transcripts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the last decade, humanitarian organizations have digitized many of their systems, from registering refugees with biometric IDs to transporting cargo via drones. This has helped deliver aid around the world, but it's also brought new risks to the people it's meant to protect. This week we're revisiting a talk by tech and human rights ethicist Aarathi Krishnan who points to the dangers of digitization —  like sensitive data getting into the hands of the wrong people — and lays out five ethical principles to help inform humanitarian tech innovation. After the talk, our host Sherrell shares a practical way to assess the costs and benefits of digitizing aid using Krishnan's principles. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Computers have been outperforming humans for years on tasks like solving complex equations or analyzing data, but when it comes to the physical world, robots struggle to keep up. It can take years to train robots to function in the messy chaos of the “real world” — but thanks to some unlikely help from the film and video gaming industry, robots today are using AI to fast-track their learning and master new skills using simulated environments. Rev Lebaredian is the vice president of Omniverse and simulation technology at NVIDIA, a company known for its work on advancements in AI, video game graphics cards, accelerated computing and computer graphics. Rev and Bilawal discuss how simulated “mirror worlds” can help robots learn faster, the trillion-dollar market for physical AI, and the future of AI robot assistance in our everyday lives.  For transcripts for The TED AI Show, visit go.ted.com/TTAIS-transcripts    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.