AI for the Rest of Us

By: Marc Airhart Casey Boyle
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  • Summary

  • A podcast from The University of Texas at Austin that helps explain artificial intelligence—what it means, who it affects and what you need to know right now.
    2024 The University of Texas at Austin
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Episodes
  • Is it Time to Regulate AI?

    Is it Time to Regulate AI?
    Sep 12 2024

    Today on AI for the Rest of Us, we’re talking about AI and the law. What are the biggest risks of AI that are not currently regulated? Do the makers of AI chatbots like ChatGPT owe something to content creators whose material was scraped to train the models? What kinds of things could we do to make AI safer and more useful for everyone? And could too much regulation stifle innovation and US competitiveness?

    Matthew Murrell is a lawyer and lecturer in The University of Texas School of Law who is teaching a new class on the Law of AI in fall 2024. According to Murrell, one of the biggest risks of AI that isn’t currently regulated is aggregation, the ability for companies to assemble copious amounts of data about a person to build a rich profile of their life, which could be misused by nefarious actors. He noted another top concern: automated decision-making tools that perpetuate discrimination against historically marginalized people. He said in many cases, AI doesn’t present entirely new legal questions, just new twists on old questions. And he predicts that in the near term, most new regulations will likely be amendments to existing laws.

    Dig Deeper

    The Times Sues OpenAI and Microsoft Over A.I. Use of Copyrighted Work, New York Times (Dec. 2023)

    California Legislature Approves Bill Proposing Sweeping A.I. Restrictions, New York Times (Aug. 2024) (Governor Newsom will have until Sept. 30 to consider whether to sign the bill into law)

    Microsoft calls for new laws on deepfake fraud, AI sexual abuse images, Washington Post (July 2024)

    Episode Credits

    Our co-hosts are Marc Airhart, science writer and podcaster in the College of Natural Sciences and Casey Boyle, associate professor of rhetoric and director of UT’s Digital Writing & Research Lab.

    Executive producers are Christine Sinatra and Dan Oppenheimer.

    Sound design and audio editing by Robert Scaramuccia. Theme music is by Aiolos Rue. Interviews are recorded at the Liberal Arts ITS recording studio.

    Elements of the cover image for this episode were generated using Midjourney and Photoshop’s generative AI tools.

    About AI for the Rest of Us

    AI for the Rest of Us is a joint production of The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Natural Sciences and College of Liberal Arts. This podcast is part of the University’s Year of AI initiative. The opinions expressed in this podcast represent the views of the hosts and guests, and not of The University of Texas at Austin. You can listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, RSS, or anywhere you get your podcasts. You can also listen on the web at aifortherest.net. Have questions or comments? Contact: mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

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    26 mins
  • Can We Trust AI to Make Big Decisions?

    Can We Trust AI to Make Big Decisions?
    Aug 29 2024
    Today on AI for the Rest of Us, we’re talking about the ways that AI is being used—or might be used—to help make high-stakes decisions about all aspects of our lives—from who gets hired for a job—to what interest rates people get on loans—to whether or not someone who’s been convicted of a crime gets parole. Are AI systems better than humans at making these decisions? Why is it so tempting to give up our decision-making authority to machines? And what can we do to make sure these systems are fair and unbiased?Craig Watkins is a professor in the Moody College of Communications at UT Austin who’s been wrestling with these questions.Watkins is executive director of the IC2 Institute and a principal investigator with Good Systems, a university-funded initiative that supports multi-disciplinary explorations of the technical, social, and ethical implications of artificial intelligence.Dig DeeperVideo: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Racial Justice, S. Craig Watkins, TEDxMIT (Dec. 2021)Designing AI to Advance Racial Equity (Craig Watkins’ Good Systems project)Dr. S. Craig Watkins on Why AI’s Potential to Combat or Scale Systemic Injustice Still Comes Down to Humans, Unlocking Us with Brené Brown, (Apr. 3, 2024)Opinion: Are These States About to Make a Big Mistake on AI?, Politico (Apr. 2024)Assessing the potential of GPT-4 to perpetuate racial and gender biases in health care: a model evaluation study, The Lancet (This study found that GPT-4’s accuracy at diagnosing medical conditions varied depending on a person’s gender and race/ethnicity. Also, it was less likely to recommend advanced imaging for Black patients than Caucasian patients.) (Jan. 2024)Wrongfully Accused by an Algorithm, New York Times, (the story of a Black man arrested for a crime he did not commit, on the basis of faulty facial recognition software) (June 2020)Companies are on the hook if their hiring algorithms are biased, Quartz (2018)Episode CreditsOur co-hosts are Marc Airhart, science writer and podcaster in the College of Natural Sciences and Casey Boyle, associate professor of rhetoric and director of UT’s Digital Writing & Research Lab.Executive producers are Christine Sinatra and Dan Oppenheimer. Sound design and audio editing by Robert Scaramuccia. Theme music is by Aiolos Rue. Interviews are recorded at the Liberal Arts ITS recording studio. About AI for the Rest of UsAI for the Rest of Us is a joint production of The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Natural Sciences and College of Liberal Arts. This podcast is part of the University’s Year of AI initiative. The opinions expressed in this podcast represent the views of the hosts and guests, and not of The University of Texas at Austin. You can listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, RSS, or anywhere you get your podcasts. You can also listen on the web at aifortherest.net. Have questions or comments? Contact: mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu
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    23 mins
  • The Algorithm Will See You Now

    The Algorithm Will See You Now
    Aug 15 2024

    Today on AI for the Rest of Us, we’re talking about AI in healthcare. There are a lot of wild claims about what AI can do to help make us healthier—so how can we figure out what’s real and what’s hype? And are there some potential pitfalls with these new technologies?

    Scott Graham is an associate professor of rhetoric at the University of Texas at Austin and author of the book The Doctor and the Algorithm: Promise, Peril and the Future of Health AI. He uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to study communication in bioscience and health policy, with special attention to bioethics, conflicts of interest and health AI.

    Dig Deeper

    ChatGPT Rated as Better Than Real Doctors for Empathy, Advice, USA Today

    AI in healthcare: The future of patient care and health management, Mayo Clinic

    Opinion: It’s not just hype. AI could revolutionize diagnosis in medicine, Los Angeles Times

    Episode Credits

    Our co-hosts are Marc Airhart, science writer and podcaster in the College of Natural Sciences and Casey Boyle, associate professor of rhetoric and director of UT’s Digital Writing & Research Lab.

    Executive producers are Christine Sinatra and Dan Oppenheimer.

    Sound design and audio editing by Robert Scaramuccia. Theme music is by Aiolos Rue. Interviews are recorded at the Liberal Arts ITS recording studio.

    Elements of the cover image for this episode were generated using Photoshop’s generative AI tools.

    About AI for the Rest of Us

    AI for the Rest of Us is a joint production of The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Natural Sciences and College of Liberal Arts. This podcast is part of the University’s Year of AI initiative. The opinions expressed in this podcast represent the views of the hosts and guests, and not of The University of Texas at Austin. You can listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, RSS, or anywhere you get your podcasts. You can also listen on the web at aifortherest.net. Have questions or comments? Contact: mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

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    24 mins
Social Sciences
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