Carnegie Council Podcasts

Do soldiers fighting for a "just cause" have more rights than soldiers fighting on the other side? In this interview following up on an "Ethics & International Affairs" article, Stanford's Professor Scott D. Sagan discusses the results of a study he conducted with Dartmouth's Professor Benjamin A. Valentino on how Americans think about this profound question.

With artificial intelligence embedded into social media, credit card transactions, GPS, and much more, how can we train it to act in an ethical, fair, and unbiased manner? What are the theories and philosophies behind AI systems? IBM Research's Francesca Rossi discusses her work helping to ensure that the technology is "as beneficial as possible for the widest part of the population."

How can investigators utilize new technology like facial recognition software while respecting the rights of suspects and the general public? What are the consequences of government overreaction to terrorist threats? Tom Parker, author of "Avoiding the Terrorist Trap," discusses privacy, surveillance, and more in the context of counterterrorism.

In the fourth podcast in Carnegie Council's gene editing podcast series, Dalhousie University's Professor Françoise Baylis, author of "Altered Inheritance," explains what "slow science" and "broad societal consensus" mean when it comes to this technology. She also details why public empowerment is vital for ethical gene editing and wonders if some of these procedures will stay in the realm of science fiction.

What does "good ethics" means when it comes to gene editing? What types of conversations should we be having about this technology? Julian Savulescu, director of the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, shares his thoughts on these topics and more, including moral and human enhancement, and why he called Dr. He Jiankui's experiment "monstrous."

How can algorithms be made more "ethical"? How can we design AI to protect against racial and gender biases when it comes to loan applications or policing? UPenn's Professor Michael Kearns, co-author of "The Ethical Algorithm," and Geoff Shaefer, who works on AI issues at Booz Allen Hamilton, discuss these issues and much more.

Jeffrey Kahn, director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute for Bioethics, discusses the many governance issues connected to gene editing. Plus, he gives a first-hand account of an historic conference in Hong Kong last year in which Dr. He Jiankui shared his research on the birth of the world's first germline genetically engineered babies. What's the future of the governance of this emerging technology?

In the first in a series of podcasts on gene editing, Columbia's Dr. Robert Klitzman provides an overview of the technology, ethical and governance issues, and where it could all go in the near future. Plus he explains why the birth of genetically engineered twins in China last year was a "seismic" event. How could gene editing lead to more inequality? What could be some of unintended consequences?

In 1919, a young Army officer named Dwight Eisenhower, along with a "Mad Max"-style military convoy, set out on a cross-country road trip to examine the nascent state of America's roads. Penn State Altoona's Professor Brian C. Black explains how this trip influenced Eisenhower's decisions decades later, both as general and president, and laid the groundwork for the rise of petroleum-based engines and the interstate highway system.

How can artificial intelligence improve food security, medicine, and infrastructure in Arctic communities? What are some logistical, ethical, and governance challenges? Western Michigan's Professor Fritz Allhoff details the future of technology in this extreme environment, which is being made more accessible because of climate change. Plus he shares his thoughts on some open philosophical questions surrounding AI.