“The degree to which we are surveilled, the persistence with which we are surveilled, and the variety of ways in which we are surveilled has exploded in the last decade,” says Arthur Holland Michel. “We are being watched in some way or another, 24/7, wherever we are.” Today, he joins us to discuss his latest […]
Who Will Hold the Machines Accountable?
In 2018, a prototype autonomous vehicle owned by Uber killed a bicyclist. If a human being had done such a thing, we would have had no problem assigning moral responsibility for that action. We would ask was the driver was negligent, speeding, or drunk? Or did the bicyclist dart out in front of the car […]
Artificial Intelligence
Tonight, the Perpetual Notion Machine looks into Artificial Intelligence and the problem of control, which, according to our guest, could be more real than fiction. Stuart Russell has written the book Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control. Stuart is professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a […]
A Look to the Future: Military, Politics, and Artificial Intelligence
For today’s episode, we look to the future with an eye to politics, tech, society, and humanity. First, Greg Palast stops by the studio as part of his three-day visit to Madison for the 18th annual Fighting Bob Fest. He outlines his opposition to siting F-35 jets in Madison—or anywhere—and briefly talks Trump, 2020, and […]
AIs Gone Wrong
Read the websites for IBM, Google or other companies working on artificial intelligence, and you’ll see glowing reports of all sorts of things electronic brains can do, ranging from diagnosing X-Rays to composing music, to tutoring students, to driving a car. Google, Alexa and Siri already handle many daily tasks for us, operated by vocal […]
An Uncanny Valley of Racist Design
In the world of epic sci-fi adventures, any story would seem incomplete without artificial intelligence thrown into the mix. And as the field of robotics develops ever more rapidly, we’re getting closer and closer to bringing A.I. tech into the real world. Our smartphones already contain virtual assistants to manage our schedules: Alexa, Siri, Cortona […]
