Computing Up

By Dave Ackley

Society & Culture Technology

What's Computing Up about?

Conversations about computation writ large, with Michael Littman and Dave Ackley.

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Computing Up episodes:

03.02.2024
Martha White: Sparse is Rich - 73rd Conversation
Martha White, associate professor of Computing Science at University of Alberta (
12.31.2023
Rich Sutton Brings Reinforcements - 72nd Conversation
Computer scientist Rich Sutton, FRS (
11.28.2023
The Living Computation Theory of Everything - 71st Conversation
Michael interviews Dave about his recent video (YouTube) on a 'theory of everything'. The conversation begins with Michael praising Dave for finally doing some theory, and descends from there.
10.22.2023
Oren Etzioni All Over - 70th Conversation
Oren Etzioni, founding CEO of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at University of Washington, (
09.02.2023
Beautiful Messiness with Jonathan Frankle - 69th Conversation
Jonathan Frankle, the new Chief Scientist - Neural Networks at Databricks (
07.02.2023
Love Hate Writing - 68th Conversation
Michael and Dave talk about their love and hate relationships with writing, in the context of Dave's foray into publishing "Companionate Caring" and Michael's upcoming MIT Press book "Code to Joy". (This conversation is Part 2 of Where The Hell...
06.08.2023
Busy Busy / Let's Blame AI - 67th Conversation
Michael and Dave catch up on where the hell they've been for the last couple months. (Mostly it's about busy, but Dave wants to blame everything on AI.)
03.05.2023
Michael Levin TAMEs Life - 66th Conversation
Michael Levin (
02.18.2023
The Understandable Cynthia Rudin - 65th Conversation
Cynthia Rudin, the Earl D. McLean, Jr. Professor of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Statistical Science, Mathematics,and Biostatistics & Bioinformatics at Duke University (
01.08.2023
Vukosi Marivate: Deep Learning Africa - 64th Conversation
Vukosi Marivate, Associate Professor of Computer Science and ABSA UP Chair of Data Science at the University of Pretoria (
11.05.2022
Andrew Davison's grand SLAM - 63rd Conversation
Andrew Davison is Professor of Robot Vision (
10.02.2022
John Twelve Hawks - 62nd Conversation
Reclusive New York Times best-selling author John Twelve Hawks (
09.05.2022
Peter Norvig: AI Then And Now - 61st Conversation
Peter Norvig
08.01.2022
Minds, Brains, & Morals with Oriel FeldmanHall - 60th Conversation
Oriel FeldmanHall, Brown University assistant professor and director of the Social and Affective Neuroscience Lab (
07.01.2022
Agency IoT Loyalty - 59th Conversation
Michael and Dave tackle the big questions and settle two of them: Is Agency A Zero Sum Game? Why Do (Internet of) Things Suck? How Can We Turn Computation Away From Centralization? [Image of ancient Philips Hue Controller operating without...
06.04.2022
James Tompkin Does Visual Computing Research - 58th Conversation
James Tompkin
05.01.2022
Ellie Pavlick: As Artificial Intelligence Meets Natural Language - 57th Conversation
Ellie Pavlick, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Brown University (
04.02.2022
Andrew Critch on AI - 56th Conversation
Andrew Critch (
03.02.2022
What is the Self Image? - 55th Conversation
Dave tries to explain why he thinks the best way to understand people and other living things is via computation and programming languages, via codebases and code transmissions. Michael tries to help Dave sound slightly sane. [Image based on still...
02.07.2022
Bad Ideas and Dangerous Thoughts with Fiery Cushman - 54th Conversation
Fiery Cushman @fierycushman, professor of psychology at Harvard University
01.01.2022
Neil Lawrence All Over the Map - 53rd Conversation
Neil Lawrence (home, @lawrennd), the DeepMind Professor of Machine Learning at the University of Cambridge, joins Michael and Dave for a rollicking hour discussing everything from cybernetics to machine learning, from oil rigs to New Jersey shopping malls, from inconsistent...
12.04.2021
Carla Brodley: From Machine Learning to Inclusive Computing - 52nd Conversation
Carla Brodley, professor and Dean of Inclusive Computing at Northeastern University (link), talks to Michael and Dave about applying Machine Learning to real problems from computer security to medicine, and how to move the needle for diversity, equity, access, and...
11.01.2021
Karen Levy Keeps On Trucking - 51st Conversation
Karen Levy, assistant professor in Information Science at Cornell University, joins Michael and Dave in a conversation ranging from AI, law, and smart contracts to CB radio, Road Dog Trucking, and Santa's narcs.
10.02.2021
Anita Nikolich: From Three Letter Agency to AI Security - 50th Conversation
Anita Nikolich, Director of Research and Technology Innovation at the University of Illinois School of Information Sciences (webpage), joins Michael and Dave in a conversation ranging over decades and disciplines, from computer network security and the DEFCON hacker conferences...
09.06.2021
More than Games with Michael Bowling - 49th Conversation
Michael Bowling, professor of Computer Science at the University of Alberta, talks with Michael and Dave about robots playing robots at soccer, and how a computer program beat professional poker players at heads-up no-limit Texas Hold'em, and what it all...
07.05.2021
The Embodied George Konidaris - 48th Conversation
Michael and Dave talk to George Konidaris, assistant professor and director of the Intelligent Robot Lab at Brown University, about building generally intelligent robots, or anyway trying, and the importance of both embodiment and abstraction in artificial intelligence. [Title image...
06.05.2021
Mike Lesk: Data Scientist OG - 47th Conversation
Rutgers Professor Michael Lesk talks to Michael and Dave about everything from computing and information retrieval in the 1960s, to railroad signaling and recognizing giraffes, to the difference between astronomers and computer scientists, to Colonial Pipeline and the real AI...
05.01.2021
Closing Triangles with Tina Eliassi-Rad - 46th Conversation
Professor Tina Eliassi-Rad of Northeastern's Network Science Institute talks with Michael and Dave about topics ranging from graph structures and machine learning to AI ethics and the nature of democracy. [Title image courtesy of Tina Eliassi-Rad]
03.02.2021
Glum About Tech - 45th Conversation
Dave is feeling glum about technology -- and by extension about the impacts of computer science, the exploitation of science in general, and the hope for sustainability and truth in society. Michael helps sort it all out.
02.01.2021
Computing Penguins with Heather Lynch - 44th Conversation
Michael and Dave talk to Heather J. Lynch, Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University, about awards and leaving physics, about saving penguins and the planet, and more.
01.02.2021
Heather Lane Beyond Academia - 43rd Conversation
Heather Lane, machine learning researcher and senior architect at athenahealth, joins Dave and Michael in a talk of many things, of the thermodynamics of life, of the US healthcare industry and life after academia, of coming out as transgender.
12.01.2020
Fil Menczer: From Artificial Life To Social Bots - 42nd Conversation
Fil Menczer, professor and director of the Observatory on Social Media at Indiana University, joined Michael and Dave on the day after the 2020 USA presidential election. Fil revealed how his 1990s Artificial Life research set the stage for his...
11.01.2020
Jeff Bigham: Humanizing AI - 41st Conversation
Jeff Bigham, an Associate Professor at Carnegie-Mellon's Human-Computer Interaction Institute, joins Michael and Dave in a wide-ranging discussion of human-computer interactions, AI threats and opportunities, and systems and organizations made of both computers and humans. [Episode transcript (PDF)] [Cover photo...
10.06.2020
The Reward Function and the Structure of Meaning - 40th conversation
Michael and Dave discuss the meaning of the reward function, and its consequences for AI and human society.
09.06.2020
Entering Hyperspace - 39th Conversation
Dave tries to explain his "We are coders" approach to cognition to Michael, as part of developing the second lecture in the "Introduction to Classical Hyperspace" series. First lecture
08.01.2020
Channeling Hari Seldon for Safer and Fairer AI - Computing Up 38th Conversation
Computer scientists Emma Brunskill of Stanford and Phil Thomas of UMass Amherst join Michael and Dave in a four-way discussion of safety and fairness in AI and machine learning. [The primary paper discussed, Preventing undesirable behavior of intelligent machines, is...
07.06.2020
Jenna Burrell Has Some Thoughts - Computing Up 37th Conversation
Michael and Dave talk with UC Berkeley sociologist Jenna Burrell about topics ranging from algorithmic fairness and transparency, to anthropology and epistemology, to viral tweets and why small is beautiful. [Title image courtesy of Jenna Burrell]
06.07.2020
Cranky About Theory - Computing Up 36th conversation
Dave hates theory. Michael disagrees.
05.03.2020
Catching up with Peter Winkler - Computing Up 35th conversation
Michael and Dave talk with mathematician, computer scientist, and puzzle maker Peter Winkler, about topics ranging from randomness to free will, and combinatorics to Sleeping Beauty, and John Horton Conway to Erdős number 1. And don't miss the bonus puzzle!...
04.01.2020
Artificial Death - Computing Up 34th Conversation
Michael and Dave talk about pandemic models and simulation journalism, programming languages, and what people really want. Washington Post's simulator is here
03.01.2020
The Multilevel Michael Frank - Computing Up 33rd Conversation
Michael and Dave talk to Brown University neuroscientist Michael J Frank about topics from brains and minds, to engineering and machine learning, to dopamine and Parkinson's disease and New Age woo.
02.01.2020
Melanie Moses Scales Up - Computing Up 32nd Conversation
Computer scientist and biologist Melanie Moses joins Michael and Dave in a conversation ranging from biology nerds vs computing nerds to the future of justice in the United States, with a whole lot of scaling along the way.
01.01.2020
Michael Carbin Computes the Winning Ticket & More - Computing Up 31st Conversation
Michael Carbin, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, joins Michael and Dave to discuss neural net lottery tickets, computing with uncertainty and more. [Cover photo courtesy of Michael Carbin]
12.01.2019
Zander Furnas on Politics as Computation - Computing Up Thirtieth Conversation
Zander Furnas helps Dave get a clue about political science, in theory and in practice -- from authoritarianism to democracy, and from Congressional staffer's incentives to Elizabeth Warren's plan for lobbyists, and whether there's hope for society after all. [Background...
11.02.2019
Living Computation and Society - Computing Up Twenty-Ninth Conversation
Dave and Michael revisit the meaning of life (the subject of the second Computing Up conversation) in the context of politics and society and human destiny. [Photo by Jeffrey Lee on Unsplash]
09.30.2019
Theories of Theories of Everything - Computing Up Twenty-Eighth Conversation
Inspired by a WIRED profile of Karl Friston, Dave and Michael talk about theories of everything, and theories thereof. [WIRED Article: https://www.wired.com/story/karl-friston-free-energy-principle-artificial-intelligence/ ]
09.01.2019
Brian Christian's Algorithms - Computing Up Twenty-Seventh Conversation
Author Brian Christian talks about "Algorithms to Live By", and computing writ large, with Michael and Dave. [Cover photo by Michael Langan courtesy of Brian Christian]
07.27.2019
Technologies more true: Glen Weyl is recomputing democracy - Computing Up Twenty-Sixth Conversation
Glen Weyl joins Michael and Dave to talk about democracy, mechanism design, quadratic finance, blockchain, and the RadicalXChange. [Image courtesy of Gley Weyl]
06.30.2019
Is Progress Real? - Computing Up Twenty-Fifth Conversation
Democratic debates and Dave darkness raise the question of whether progress is even possible.
06.01.2019
Is the Answer Intersubjectivity? - Computing Up Twenty-Fourth Conversation
Intersubjectivity is what everybody is talking about.

What's Computing Up about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Computing Up episodes:

Martha White: Sparse is Rich - 73rd Conversation

Rich Sutton Brings Reinforcements - 72nd Conversation

The Living Computation Theory of Everything - 71st Conversation

Oren Etzioni All Over - 70th Conversation

Beautiful Messiness with Jonathan Frankle - 69th Conversation

Love Hate Writing - 68th Conversation

Busy Busy / Let's Blame AI - 67th Conversation

Michael Levin TAMEs Life - 66th Conversation

The Understandable Cynthia Rudin - 65th Conversation

Vukosi Marivate: Deep Learning Africa - 64th Conversation

Andrew Davison's grand SLAM - 63rd Conversation

John Twelve Hawks - 62nd Conversation

Peter Norvig: AI Then And Now - 61st Conversation

Minds, Brains, & Morals with Oriel FeldmanHall - 60th Conversation

Agency IoT Loyalty - 59th Conversation

James Tompkin Does Visual Computing Research - 58th Conversation

Ellie Pavlick: As Artificial Intelligence Meets Natural Language - 57th Conversation

Andrew Critch on AI - 56th Conversation

What is the Self Image? - 55th Conversation

Bad Ideas and Dangerous Thoughts with Fiery Cushman - 54th Conversation

Neil Lawrence All Over the Map - 53rd Conversation

Carla Brodley: From Machine Learning to Inclusive Computing - 52nd Conversation

Karen Levy Keeps On Trucking - 51st Conversation

Anita Nikolich: From Three Letter Agency to AI Security - 50th Conversation

More than Games with Michael Bowling - 49th Conversation

The Embodied George Konidaris - 48th Conversation

Mike Lesk: Data Scientist OG - 47th Conversation

Closing Triangles with Tina Eliassi-Rad - 46th Conversation

Glum About Tech - 45th Conversation

Computing Penguins with Heather Lynch - 44th Conversation

Heather Lane Beyond Academia - 43rd Conversation

Fil Menczer: From Artificial Life To Social Bots - 42nd Conversation

Jeff Bigham: Humanizing AI - 41st Conversation

The Reward Function and the Structure of Meaning - 40th conversation

Entering Hyperspace - 39th Conversation

Channeling Hari Seldon for Safer and Fairer AI - Computing Up 38th Conversation

Jenna Burrell Has Some Thoughts - Computing Up 37th Conversation

Cranky About Theory - Computing Up 36th conversation

Catching up with Peter Winkler - Computing Up 35th conversation

Artificial Death - Computing Up 34th Conversation

The Multilevel Michael Frank - Computing Up 33rd Conversation

Melanie Moses Scales Up - Computing Up 32nd Conversation

Michael Carbin Computes the Winning Ticket & More - Computing Up 31st Conversation

Zander Furnas on Politics as Computation - Computing Up Thirtieth Conversation

Living Computation and Society - Computing Up Twenty-Ninth Conversation

Theories of Theories of Everything - Computing Up Twenty-Eighth Conversation

Brian Christian's Algorithms - Computing Up Twenty-Seventh Conversation

Technologies more true: Glen Weyl is recomputing democracy - Computing Up Twenty-Sixth Conversation

Is Progress Real? - Computing Up Twenty-Fifth Conversation

Is the Answer Intersubjectivity? - Computing Up Twenty-Fourth Conversation