Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of death in adults worldwide.  The most important diagnostic and therapeutic technique for colorectal cancer is the colonoscopy.  Gastrointestinal doctors are working with computer scientists to develop AI-based technologies to help enhance outcomes.

We are fortunate to have Professor Doctor Julia Mayerle of the University of Munich as our guest.  Dr Mayerle, Chair of the Department of Medicine at LMU, a recognized center of excellence for research in oncology, is an expert in gastroenterology and hepatology with a distinguished career at premier medical institutions in Europe spanning decades.  Both a researcher and a clinician, Dr Mayerle has published extensively in a wide range of research areas in internal medicine. [2024-02-16]

In this episode of Exploring AI Matters we discuss US Air Force funded weather research at MIT with Major (now Lieutenant Colonel) Andrew Bowne, the chief legal counsel of the Air Force-MIT AI Accelerator.  Major Bowne is a Judge Advocate in the US Air Force.  In addition to his extensive legal credentials, Major Bowne is a PhD candidate in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Adelaide in Australia.  (Since recording this episode Andrew Bowne has defended his dissertation and received his doctorate.) [2023-12-29]

In this episode of Exploring AI Matters we talk with an accomplished leader in national security.  Air Marshal John Blackburn retired from the Royal Australian Air Force in 2008 as the Deputy Chief of the Air Force following a career as a fighter pilot, test pilot, and strategic planner.

Defense procurement processes struggle with rapidly evolving technologies.  These next-generation systems are so expensive and so critical that nations demand strong governance in acquiring them and keeping them current.

Artificial Intelligence promises great benefits for national security, but a significant challenge is how to adapt this new technology to sophisticated weapon systems. [2023-10-11]

In this episode of Exploring AI Matters we discuss swarm behavior in social organisms like bees, termites and ants.  These emergent behaviors point the way toward possible military applications for swarms of drones or other robots.

Our guest for this episode is Lieutenant Colonel Jason Cody from the United States Military Academy at West Point.  Colonel Cody’s doctoral research at Vanderbilt focused on swarm intelligence and its potential in practical applications in human-swarm teams. [2023-08-15]

We all agree that new technologies are cool, but unintended consequences can be very hard to reverse.  Today we will be talking with Dr Christina Colclough, a political economist with a PhD in Sociology from the University of Copenhagen.  She has been engaged for over a decade in the global discussion of digital technology as it relates to work and workers across the world. [2023-07-10]

Judge Katherine Forrest, a former federal court judge and our guest in this episode, observes that machine learning systems build models from historical behavior that can reflect structural bias or discrimination.  She notes that the inclusion of flawed data in AI models has serious implications for personal liberty, with particular consequences for Black defendants.

On this episode of Exploring AI Matters we have the wonderful opportunity to discuss with Judge Forrest her observations on AI and what she thinks can be done to help ensure that these tools can lead to fair and just results. [2023-06-01]

Today we are speaking with Dr Rohan Shad of Stanford University Medical Center, now an Integrated Cardiothoracic Surgery Resident at the University of Pennsylvania.  He has been exploring the application of AI techniques to help surgeons anticipate and reduce risks in certain heart surgeries. [2023-05-30]

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located high in the Andes in Chile, is expected to be operational near the end of 2023.  The Rubin’s wide-field reflecting telescope will scan the entire southern sky every few nights.  In this episode of Exploring AI Matters our guest, Harvard Professor of Astronomy Edo Berger, a leader in the Rubin Observatory’s work will be our guide to what is intriguing in deep space, and how AI will help astronomers navigate this ocean of images. [2023-03-09]

Strokes are one of the most frightening of maladies, striking as they do at the brain, the center of personhood.  In this episode of Exploring AI Matters we talk with the founder and leader of one of the leading stroke centers, Dr Stanley Tuhrim of the Mount Sinai Comprehensive Stroke Center in New York City.  Mount Sinai’s Stroke Centers have been leading adopters of powerful AI techniques, the first ever approved by the FDA for clinical application. [2023-02-06]

In this episode of Mind the Gap we talk with the President of Harvey Mudd College, Dr. Maria Klawe, who has had a distinguished career as a theoretical computer scientist, scholar, and college administrator.  Dr. Klawe is also a gifted painter -- a watercolorist.  And she has been painting for longer than she has been a computer scientist.  In this episode of Exploring AI Matters we explore with Dr Klawe her widely admired paintings and her use of technology to help her focus her artistic vision. [2022-11-14]