AI-Ignited

What happens when artificial intelligence leaves the screen and enters the physical world?

In this episode of AI Ignited, host Elif Baser welcomes returning guest Zeynep Nihan Aksoy to explore the rapidly growing field of Physical AI and humanoid robotics.

From Boston Dynamics’ electric Atlas to Tesla’s plans for Optimus, they examine how companies are building robots that can see, reason, move, and adapt. The conversation also dives into “world models”—AI systems designed to simulate physics and predict how actions might unfold before a robot takes them in real life. Elif and Zeynep discuss research from NVIDIA, the challenge of training robots safely, and why factories and warehouses may become the first major testing grounds for humanoid AI.

Are we moving toward a future where intelligent machines can understand not only language, but the physical world itself?

Tune in to find out.

Can a machine really out-invest one of the greatest investors of all time? In this episode of AI Ignited, host Elif Baser welcomes returning guest Doruk Cakin to explore whether artificial intelligence could ever become a better investor than Warren Buffett. Drawing on research in machine learning, quantitative investing, behavioral finance, and AI-driven asset pricing, Doruk compares the strengths of algorithms with the qualities that helped define Buffett’s success: patience, discipline, judgment, and the ability to ignore market noise.

They also tackle overfitting, AI-powered trading, emotional bias, market herding, and the danger of thousands of algorithms making the same decision at once. Could AI eliminate fear and greed from investing, or simply create a new kind of risk? The episode ultimately asks a bigger question: will the best investor of the future be human, machine, or someone who knows how to combine both?

AI is making more decisions than ever—from approving loans and screening job applicants to identifying faces and supporting medical diagnoses. But what happens when the algorithm gets it wrong?

In this episode of AI Ignited, host Elif Baser welcomes returning guest Zeynep Nihan Aksoy to explore one of the most important ethical questions in computer science: Who is responsible when AI causes harm? They discuss biased algorithms, facial recognition errors, autonomous vehicles, medical AI, automation bias, and the growing challenge of accountability in increasingly complex systems. Is responsibility with the programmer, the company that deploys the technology, the person using it—or should AI itself ever be held accountable? As machines become more powerful, this episode asks whether our systems of responsibility are evolving fast enough to keep up.

What happens when AI stops simply studying biology and starts designing it?
In this episode of AI Ignited, host Elif Baser is joined by Derin Ocakli to explore how artificial intelligence is helping scientists make proteins and molecules that may never have existed in nature.Inspired by recent work in AI-driven protein design, they discuss how researchers are using AI to develop potential new medicines, pollution-fighting enzymes, and other biological tools. But with the ability to design entirely new molecules comes a bigger question: how do we make sure they are safe?From Nobel Prize-winning protein research to the idea of biology becoming increasingly programmable, Elif and Derin explore whether AI is beginning to take on a role once left entirely to evolution.

What if AI could detect a species disappearing before humans even realized it was in danger?

In this episode of AI Ignited, host Elif Baser welcomes returning guest Ece Cirpan to explore how artificial intelligence is becoming an unexpected tool in preventing biodiversity loss.

From algorithms listening for disappearing bird and frog calls to environmental DNA (eDNA) revealing animals humans never see, Elif and Ece explore how bioacoustics, camera traps, satellite imagery, and machine learning could create an early-warning system for ecosystems.But can an algorithm really understand the complexity of nature? And if AI predicts that multiple species are approaching extinction, who decides which ones we save?

This episode journeys into a future where AI’s greatest contribution may not be replacing human intelligence, but helping us hear the warning signs of a planet becoming quieter—before silence becomes a species' extinction.

Is artificial intelligence replacing industrial workers—or making them more productive?

In this episode of AI Ignited, host Elif Baser welcomes returning guest Elif Basaran to explore how AI is transforming manufacturing, logistics, warehouses, energy, construction, and supply chains. They discuss predictive maintenance, computer-vision quality control, smarter routing, energy optimization, and generative AI assistants for factory workers. The episode also examines expert research on productivity gains, workforce retraining, digital skills, and the risks of automation moving faster than workers can adapt.

Rather than asking whether AI will simply “take jobs,” Elifs look at a bigger question: what will industrial work look like when humans and intelligent machines operate side by side?

Can a machine really tell when you are anxious, excited, frustrated, or afraid?

In this episode of AI Ignited, host Elif Baser welcomes Idil Dogan to explore the rapidly developing world of emotion-reading AI. From facial expressions and voice patterns to heart rate, skin responses, and even EEG brain activity, Elif and Idil unpack how researchers are teaching algorithms to recognize patterns linked to human emotion. They also examine why the future of neuroscience may depend on combining AI with brain and body data rather than relying on a single signal.
But the technology raises difficult questions too. Can an algorithm confuse fear with excitement? Can culture change how emotions are expressed?

This episode explores a future where AI may not truly feel emotions—but could become increasingly powerful at detecting the signals behind them.

What happens when video game characters stop forgetting everything you do?In this episode of AI Ignited, host Elif Baser welcomes returning uest Duru Apak to explore the rise of AI-powered NPCs with memory.

From Stanford's research on generative agents to NVIDIA’s work on autonomous game characters, we look at how NPCs could remember conversations, friendships, and player habits across hours—or even days—of gameplay.

Could this create worlds where every player experiences a different story? Elif and Duru discuss adaptive enemies, memory-driven relationships, privacy concerns, emotional attachment, and the future of game writers in a world where characters can improvise and remember.
The result could be a major shift in game design: not just smarter NPCs, but virtual worlds that build a history around you.

AI can predict markets, jobs, inflation, consumer behavior, and even human decisions with astonishing accuracy, but prediction is not the same as understanding why something happens.

In this episode of AI Ignited, host Elif Baser welcomes Doruk Cakin to explore the growing intersection of artificial intelligence and econometrics. He breaks down the difference between correlation and causation, explain why more data does not automatically mean better answers, and look at how economists use tools such as counterfactuals, causal inference, and Double Machine Learning to move beyond prediction. Drawing on current research, including 2026 work on machine learning prediction errors and causal estimation, the conversation asks a question that becomes more important as AI grows more powerful: if AI can tell us what is likely to happen next, can it also tell us what would happen if we changed something?

In this episode of AI Ignited, host Elif Baser sits down with Duru Ece Apak to explore one of the biggest debates coming out of Gamescom 2026: how artificial intelligence could reshape the future of game development.

A recent Gamescom Dev Speaker Survey found that 83% of surveyed speakers expect AI to affect development-team structures or productivity over the next three years. But developers remain divided over what that future should look like.
Elif and Duru discuss how AI could help smaller studios prototype faster, assist with coding, testing, NPCs, and world-building, while also raising concerns about job losses, repetitive AI-generated content, copyright, and the risk of games becoming less distinctive.The central question: Will AI give developers more freedom to create or simply allow companies to make more games with fewer people?