Shows / Computer Says Maybe
Computer Says Maybe
Technology is changing fast. And it's changing our world even faster. Host Alix Dunn interviews visionaries, researchers, and technologists working in the public interest to help you keep up. Step outside the hype and explore the possibilities, problems, and politics of technology. Learn more at www.themaybe.org/podcast.
Episodes
- Computer Says Maybe
Election Debrief
This week we’re wallowing in post-election catharsis: Alix and Prathm process the result together, and discuss the implications this administration has for…
- Computer Says Maybe
US Election Special w/ Spencer Overton
For this pre-election special, Prathm spoke with law professor Spencer Overton about how this election has — and hasn’t — be impacted by AI systems…
- Computer Says Maybe
Net 0 ++: Reporting on AI’s climate injustices w/ Karen Hao
For our final episode in this series on the environment, Alix interviewed Karen Hao on how tough it is to report on environmental impacts of AI. The…
- Computer Says Maybe
Net 0++: Concrete arguments for AI
In our third episode about AI & the environment, Alix interviewed Sherif Elsayed-Ali, who’s been working on using AI to reduce the carbon emissions of…
- Computer Says Maybe
Net 0++: Big Dirty Data Centres
This week we are continuing our AI & Environment series with an episode about a key piece of AI infrastructure: data centres. With us this week are Boxi Wu and…
- Computer Says Maybe
Net 0++: Microsoft’s greenwashing w/ Holly Alpine
This week we’re kicking off a series about AI & the environment. We’re starting with Holly Alpine, who just recently left Microsoft after starting and growing…
- Computer Says Maybe
Chasing Away Sidewalk Labs w/ Bianca Wylie
In 2017 Google’s urban planning arm Sidewalk Labs came into Toronto and said “we’re going to turn this into a smart city”. Our guest Bianca Wylie was one of…
- Computer Says Maybe
Will Newsom Veto the AI Safety Bill? w/ Teri Olle
What if we could have a public library for compute? But is… more compute really what we want right now? This week Alix interviewed Teri Olle from the Economic…
- Computer Says Maybe
The stories we tell ourselves about AI
Applications for our second cohort of Media Mastery for New AI Protagonists are now open! Join this 5-week program to level up your media impact alongside a…
- Computer Says Maybe
Bridging The Divide w/ Issie Lapowsky
There are oceans of research papers digging into the various harms of online platforms. Researchers are asking urgent questions such as how hate speech and…
- Computer Says Maybe
Why was the CEO of Telegram just arrested? w/ Mallory Knodel
Last week, CEO of Telegram Pavel Durov landed in France and was immediately detained. The details of his arrest are still emerging; he is being charged for…
- Computer Says Maybe
Exhibit X: What did we learn?
That’s the END of Exhibit X folks; if you’ve been following along, congratulations on choosing to become smarter. If not that’s okay, consider this episode a…
- Computer Says Maybe
Exhibit X: The Community
What makes an expert witness? How does a socio-technical researcher become one? Now that we’re the end of this miniseries, we might finally be ready to answer…
- Computer Says Maybe
Exhibit X: The Courts
Imagine: something horrible has happened and the only evidence you have is a video posted online. Can you submit it into evidence in court? Well, it’s…
- Computer Says Maybe
Exhibit X: The Litigators
Often it feels as though the cases and lawsuits brought against big tech firms are continuously piling up, but there never seems to be any resulting justice or…
- Computer Says Maybe
Exhibit X: The Whistleblower
In part 2 of Exhibit X, Alix interviewed Frances Haugen, who In 2021 blew the whistle on Meta; they were sitting on the knowledge that their products were…
- Computer Says Maybe
Exhibit X: Tech and Tobacco
Here is something you’re probably tired of hearing: Big Tech is responsible for a bottomless brunch of societal harms. And they are not being held accountable…
- Computer Says Maybe
New mini-series: Exhibit X
In the Exhibit X series Alix and Prathm sink their fingernails into the tangled universe of litigation and Big Tech; how have the courts held Big Tech firms…
- Computer Says Maybe
What the FAccT? Evidence of bias. Now what?
In part four of our FAccT deep dive, Alix joins Marta Ziosi and Dasha Pruss to discuss their paper “Evidence of What, for Whom? The Socially Contested Role of…
- Computer Says Maybe
What the FAccT? First law, bad law
In this episode, we speak with Lara Groves and Jacob Metcalf at the seventh annual FAccT conference in Rio de Janeiro. In part four of our FAccT deep dive…
- Computer Says Maybe
What the FAccT?: Abandoning Algorithms
In this episode, we speak with Nari Johnson and Sanika Moharana at this year’s FAccT conference in Rio de Janeiro. In part two of our FAccT deep dive, Alix…
- Computer Says Maybe
What the FAccT?: Reformers and Radicals
In part 1 of our FAccT conference deep dive, Alix Dunn sits down with co-host Andrew Strait from the Ada Lovelace Institute to talk about the history of FAccT…
- Computer Says Maybe
Protesting Project Nimbus: employee organising to end Google’s contract with Israel w/ Dr.Kate Sim
In this episode, we speak with Dr. Kate Sim, one of the core organisers of the Google Worker Sit-In Against Project Nimbus. Dr. Kate Sim was recently fired…
Computer Says MaybeThe Human in the Loop: What's it like to work in the AI supply chain?
In this episode, we talk about the kinds of jobs that are being created as AI systems grow, how those jobs are evolving, what the labour conditions of those…
Computer Says Maybe2024 Elections: Is AI going to wreak havoc?
In this episode, we walk through how misinformation and disinformation has been used in past elections to impact outcomes, where we think AI might make a…