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?

Investment banking is famous for billion-dollar deals, high pressure, and brutal working hours, but could AI finally change that?

In this episode of AI Ignited, host Elif Baser welcomes Ece Koyustu to explore how artificial intelligence is transforming the future of finance and investment banking.

From automating pitch books, financial research, and due diligence to using AI agents for deal sourcing and market analysis, new technology could dramatically reduce the repetitive work traditionally handled by junior bankers.

Drawing on research from BCG, McKinsey, Accenture, PwC, EY, and Goldman Sachs, Elif and Ece discuss whether AI will actually shorten the infamous 100-hour banking week, or simply allow banks to do more work in less time.

They also examine what future investment bankers will need most: not just technical skills, but judgment, strategy, communication, and the ability to work effectively alongside AI.

What happens when video game characters stop forgetting everything you do?In this episode of AI Ignited, host Elif Baser welcomes returning guest 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 interpret scans, analyze medical records, detect patterns, and support clinical decision-making, but can it truly understand a patient?

In this episode of AI Ignited, host Elif Baser welcomes returning guest Ece Cirpan to discuss TIME’s article, “The Most Important Thing AI Cannot Do in Medicine.” They explore the growing role of artificial intelligence in healthcare while asking where technology still falls short: human observation, curiosity, trust, empathy, and understanding what a patient may not say out loud.From AI-assisted diagnosis to the future of medical education, Elif and Ece examine why the future of healthcare may not be AI versus doctors, but rather how AI can help doctors spend more time doing what machines cannot fully replace—caring for the person behind the diagnosis.

On this episode of AI Ignited, host Elif Baser welcomes returning guest Zeynep Nihan Aksoy to explore how computer science could reduce—and eventually replace parts of—traditional animal testing. They break down how graph neural networks represent molecules, computer vision analyzes organoids, multimodal AI combines biological data, and digital twins simulate human responses to drugs. The conversation also dives into the CS challenges behind the science: overfitting, data leakage, class imbalance, explainable AI, uncertainty detection, active learning, and the danger of models being confidently wrong. From AI toxicity prediction to human-in-the-loop systems, this episode asks a bigger question: can better algorithms make drug development not only faster and more ethical, but also more accurate for humans?