In this episode of the Future Tech & Policy (FTP) Podcast, the panel discusses new legislation passed in Illinois (SB 315) on AI transparency and auditing and what useful information audits and reporting might include for different stakeholders. We also discuss the recent overflow of AI-generated content and sycophantic behavior, as well as Anthropic's recent call to slow down advanced AI development amid the world's quest to achieve AGI.


Links to articles discussed

- Illinois Legislature passes historic AI bill that would require third-party safety audits (NBC News)
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/illinois-legislature-passes-historic-ai-bill-rcna347191

- We need to stop AI developing without humans, says Anthropic co-founder (BBC)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2124z7g45o

- When AI Builds Itself (Anthropic)
https://www.anthropic.com/institute/recursive-self-improvement

Panelists

- Zachary McDowell, Associate Professor, Communication, University of Illinois Chicago
https://comm.uic.edu/profiles/zachary-mcdowell/

- Jeremy Riel (Host), Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Illinois Chicago & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-Lead
https://education.uic.edu/profiles/riel-jeremy/

- Gagandeep Singh, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-Lead
https://siebelschool.illinois.edu/about/people/faculty/ggnds


About The FTP Podcast

The FTP podcast brings together a panel of interdisciplinary faculty experts across the University of Illinois System to discuss trends and news from recent weeks in tech and policy while looking toward the future. Produced by the Science and Technology Working Group, Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA), University of Illinois System.

https://igpa.uillinois.edu

All opinions expressed on the FTP Podcast are those of the individual panelists and not the opinions of the University of Illinois System, The Institute of Government and Public Affairs, or the three UI universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, or Springfield. 

In this episode of the Future Tech & Policy (FTP) Podcast, the panel discusses the new encyclical by Pope Leo entitled "Magnifica Humanitas", which represents the Vatican's look at AI and its relationship to humanity and is being widely discussed in policy circles. We also explore the recent changes to Google's primary search results to be more of an AI-results-first approach, and the implications of that on search, discovery, and advertising. Finally, we examine recent changes to data management procedures in the age of AI for research that have been released from the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, which will certainly impact research across disciplines.


Links to articles discussed

- Pope Leo's 'Magnifica humanitas': AI must serve humanity not concentrate power (Vatican News)
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2026-05/pope-leo-xiv-encyclical-magnifica-humanitas-ai.html

- Google is going to ruin the internet (Business Insider)
https://www.businessinsider.com/google-new-ai-search-will-ruin-internet-web-2026-5

- 2026 Pilot Data Management and Sharing Plan Format Available (NIH News)
https://grants.nih.gov/news-events/nih-extramural-nexus-news/2026/04/2026-pilot-data-management-and-sharing-plan-format-available

Panelists

- Alvin Chin, Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor, Information and Decision Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvinchin/

- Abigail Goben, Professor and Data Management Librarian, University Library
https://research.uic.edu/profiles/goben-abigail/

- Zachary McDowell, Associate Professor, Communication, University of Illinois Chicago
https://comm.uic.edu/profiles/zachary-mcdowell/

- Jeremy Riel (Host), Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Illinois Chicago & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-Lead
https://education.uic.edu/profiles/riel-jeremy/

- Ken Suh, Adjunct Professor, UIC and UIUC Law, University of Illinois
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kensuh


About The FTP Podcast

The FTP podcast brings together a panel of interdisciplinary faculty experts across the University of Illinois System to discuss trends and news from recent weeks in tech and policy while looking toward the future. Produced by the Science and Technology Working Group, Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA), University of Illinois System.

https://igpa.uillinois.edu

All opinions expressed on the FTP Podcast are those of the individual panelists and not the opinions of the University of Illinois System, The Institute of Government and Public Affairs, or the three UI universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, or Springfield. 

In this episode of the Future Tech & Policy (FTP) Podcast, the panel weighs the pros and cons of AI notetaking apps and digital meeting transcriptions, reminding us that not everything needs to be written down! Additionally, the panel chats about both the legal and academic scholarship pipeline and what happens when papers get retracted in the modern day, as well as some recent headlines that require us to keep cybersecurity at the top of our minds.


Links to articles discussed

- All those A.I. note takers? They're making lawyers very nervous (NY Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/09/business/dealbook/ai-notetakers-legal-risk.html

- Influential study touting ChatGPT in education retracted over red flags (Ars Technica)
https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/05/influential-study-touting-chatgpt-in-education-retracted-over-red-flags/

- A million baby monitors and security cameras were easily viewable by hackers (The Verge)
https://www.theverge.com/tech/926487/meari-technology-hack-baby-monitor-security-camera

- Chaos erupts as cyberattack disrupts learning platform Canvas amid finals (Ars Technica)
https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/05/chaos-erupts-as-cyberattack-disrupts-learning-platform-canvas-amid-finals/

- Thousands of Vibe-Coded Apps Expose Corporate and Personal Data on the Open Web (Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/thousands-of-vibe-coded-apps-expose-corporate-and-personal-data-on-the-open-web/


Panelists

- Zachary McDowell, Associate Professor, Communication, University of Illinois Chicago
https://comm.uic.edu/profiles/zachary-mcdowell/

- Jeremy Riel (Host), Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Illinois Chicago & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-Lead
https://education.uic.edu/profiles/riel-jeremy/

- Ken Suh, Adjunct Professor, UIC and UIUC Law, University of Illinois
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kensuh


About The FTP Podcast

The FTP podcast brings together a panel of interdisciplinary faculty experts across the University of Illinois System to discuss trends and news from recent weeks in tech and policy while looking toward the future. Produced by the Science and Technology Working Group, Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA), University of Illinois System.

https://igpa.uillinois.edu

All opinions expressed on the FTP Podcast are those of the individual panelists and not the opinions of the University of Illinois System, The Institute of Government and Public Affairs, or the three UI universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, or Springfield. 

In this episode of the Future Tech & Policy (FTP) Podcast, the panel discusses a recent court case in Oregon where a judge ordered an attorney pay attorney fees because of their use of an AI to write briefs, leading us to ask questions about what it means to practice a profession in the AI age. We also unpack the flash-in-the-pan Sora app by OpenAI and discuss what happens when your favorite AI app changes or goes away, as well as the right to repair debate and latest news in that space.


Links to articles discussed

- Oregon Lawyer Ordered to Pay Attorney Fees for Use of AI (Law360)
https://www.law360.com/articles/2469645/oregon-lawyer-ordered-to-pay-attorney-fees-for-use-of-ai

- OpenAI announces plans to shut down its Sora video generator (Ars Technica)
https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/03/openai-plans-to-shut-down-sora-just-15-months-after-its-launch/

- John Deere Is Paying Farmers $99 Million for Allegedly Monopolizing Repair (Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/john-deere-is-paying-farmers-99-million-for-allegedly-monopolizing-repair/


Panelists

- Alvin Chin, Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Illinois Chicago
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvinchin/

- Zachary McDowell, Associate Professor, Communication, University of Illinois Chicago
https://comm.uic.edu/profiles/zachary-mcdowell/

- Jeremy Riel (Host), Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Illinois Chicago & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-Lead
https://education.uic.edu/profiles/riel-jeremy/

- GUEST: Caroline Sinders, Critical Designer & Human Rights Researcher
https://carolinesinders.com/

- Ken Suh, Adjunct Professor, UIC and UIUC Law, University of Illinois
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kensuh


About The FTP Podcast

The FTP podcast brings together a panel of interdisciplinary faculty experts across the University of Illinois System to discuss trends and news from recent weeks in tech and policy while looking toward the future. Produced by the Science and Technology Working Group, Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA), University of Illinois System.

https://igpa.uillinois.edu

All opinions expressed on the FTP Podcast are those of the individual panelists and not the opinions of the University of Illinois System, The Institute of Government and Public Affairs, or the three UI universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, or Springfield. 

In this episode of the Future Tech & Policy (FTP) Podcast, the panel chats about the newest secret AI models from Anthropic and OpenAI that are rumored to be so powerful that they need to be kept under lock and key, Anthropic's foray into the memory of the internet with the accidental leak of the Claude Code source, and proposed AI legislation in Illinois aimed to increase safety and disclosure of AI model protocols and limit liability on AI companies in extreme, unanticipated cases if they follow established protocols.


Links to articles discussed

- Scoop: OpenAI plans new product for cybersecurity use (Axios)
https://www.axios.com/2026/04/09/openai-new-model-cyber-mythos-anthopic

- Anthropic Issues Copyright Takedowns to Scrub Claude Code Leak (PC Mag)
https://www.pcmag.com/news/anthropic-issues-8000-copyright-takedowns-to-scrub-claude-code-leak

- OpenAI Backs Bill That Would Limit Liability for AI-Enabled Mass Deaths or Financial Disasters (Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/openai-backs-bill-exempt-ai-firms-model-harm-lawsuits/


Panelists

- Elham Buxton, Associate Professor, Computer Science, University of Illinois Springfield
https://www.uis.edu/directory/elham-buxton

- Zachary McDowell, Associate Professor, Communication, University of Illinois Chicago
https://comm.uic.edu/profiles/zachary-mcdowell/

- Jeremy Riel (Host), Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Illinois Chicago & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-Lead
https://education.uic.edu/profiles/riel-jeremy/

- Alvin Chin, Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor, Information and Decision Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvinchin/

About The FTP Podcast

The FTP podcast brings together a panel of interdisciplinary faculty experts across the University of Illinois System to discuss trends and news from recent weeks in tech and policy while looking toward the future. Produced by the Science and Technology Working Group, Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA), University of Illinois System.

https://igpa.uillinois.edu

All opinions expressed on the FTP Podcast are those of the individual panelists and not the opinions of the University of Illinois System, The Institute of Government and Public Affairs, or the three UI universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, or Springfield. 

In this episode of the Future Tech & Policy (FTP) Podcast, we explore more into the recent (and sudden) AI agent craze through OpenClaw and other tools and Zach shares lessons learned from his own OpenClaw experiments. We also look at the recent changes to Instagram's use of end-to-end encryption in direct messaging between users, and the use of fine-grained geographic data generated by players in the widely used Pokémon Go game.


Links to articles discussed

- Meta just bought the social network for AI bots everyone’s been talking about (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/10/tech/meta-moltbook-bots-social-media

- Turns out your Pokémon Go data will be used to train robots (Polygon)
https://www.polygon.com/pokemon-go-data-ai-robots-niantic/

- Your Instagram DMs are no longer encrypted: Meta is reversing course on privacy and removing end-to-end encryption from Instagram (Fortune)
https://fortune.com/2026/03/17/tiktok-meta-no-privacy-controls-why-explainer/


Panelists

- Zachary McDowell, Associate Professor, Communication, University of Illinois Chicago
https://comm.uic.edu/profiles/zachary-mcdowell/

- Jeremy Riel (Host), Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Illinois Chicago & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-Lead
https://education.uic.edu/profiles/riel-jeremy/

- Gagandeep Singh, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-Lead
https://siebelschool.illinois.edu/about/people/faculty/ggnds


About The FTP Podcast

The FTP podcast brings together a panel of interdisciplinary faculty experts across the University of Illinois System to discuss trends and news from recent weeks in tech and policy while looking toward the future. Produced by the Science and Technology Working Group, Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA), University of Illinois System.

https://igpa.uillinois.edu

All opinions expressed on the FTP Podcast are those of the individual panelists and not the opinions of the University of Illinois System, The Institute of Government and Public Affairs, or the three UI universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, or Springfield. 

In this episode of the Future Tech & Policy (FTP) Podcast, we make sense of the Moltbook and Openclaw AI agent craze, in which we ask why (even for fun) agents need their own social network? The panel also takes a look at rentable humans by AI agents, AI board game archaeology unlocking the rules to an ancient Roman board game, us being wowed by the live robotics performances during the Chinese New Year Gala, and the recently released AI Policy Atlas by the IGPA Science & Technology Working Group. There's always something interesting happening at the intersection of new technology and society!


Links to articles discussed

- Rent-a-Human wants AI agents to hire you (Mashable) https://mashable.com/article/rent-a-human-wants-ai-agents-to-hire-you

- A Roman board game has mystified researchers for years. AI discovered how to play (Fast Company) https://www.fastcompany.com/91492290/roman-board-game-ai

- Humanoid robots steal the show during China's 2026 Spring Festival Gala (GMA News, YouTube)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYAbHFcq5yw

- The AI Policy Atlas
https://www.aipolicyatlas.com

- Moltbook mania explained (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/podcasts/moltbook-mania-explained.html

- An AI-only social network now has more than 1.6M 'users.' Here’s what you need to know (ABC News)
https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/ai-social-network-now-16m-users-heres/story?id=129848780



Panelists

- Alvin Chin, Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor, Information and Decision Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvinchin

- Zachary McDowell, Associate Professor, Communication, University of Illinois Chicago
https://comm.uic.edu/profiles/zachary-mcdowell/

- Jeremy Riel (Host), Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Illinois Chicago & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-Lead
https://education.uic.edu/profiles/riel-jeremy/



About The FTP Podcast

The FTP podcast brings together a panel of interdisciplinary faculty experts across the University of Illinois System to discuss trends and news from recent weeks in tech and policy while looking toward the future. Produced by the Science and Technology Working Group, Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA), University of Illinois System.

https://igpa.uillinois.edu

All opinions expressed on the FTP Podcast are those of the individual panelists and not the opinions of the University of Illinois System, The Institute of Government and Public Affairs, or the three UI universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, or Springfield. 

In this episode of the Future Tech & Policy (FTP) Podcast, the panel explores the Wikipedia community guidelines on spotting AI-written works to help with the editorial process only to have that set of guidelines used in a new plugin to make AI write less like AI, fake citations in AI papers (written by AI) and court cases, claims of disruption in jobs and the economy from AI leaders and how tech always promises different disruptions than we tend to actually see, and age verification technologies by tech companies to ensure child safety but are easily spoofable. 

*Links to articles discussed*

- Wikipedia volunteers spent years cataloging AI tells. Now there's a plugin to avoid them. [Ars Technica] https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/01/new-ai-plugin-uses-wikipedias-ai-writing-detection-rules-to-help-it-sound-human/

- GPTZero finds 100 new hallucinations in NeurIPS 2025 accepted papers [GPTZero] https://gptzero.me/news/neurips/

- Anthropic Economic Index report: Economic primitives [Anthropic] https://www.anthropic.com/research/anthropic-economic-index-january-2026-report

- Artificial intelligence tools expand scientists’ impact but contract science’s focus [Nature] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09922-y

- Claude Is Taking the AI World by Storm, and Even Non-Nerds Are Blown Away [The Wall Street Journal] https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-claude-code-ai-7a46460e

- Anthropic CEO says government should help ensure AI’s economic upside is shared [MSN] https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/anthropic-ceo-says-government-should-help-ensure-ai-s-economic-upside-is-shared/ar-AA1UB0o4

- Palantir CEO says AI “will destroy” humanities jobs but there will be “more than enough jobs” for people with vocational training | Fortune [Fortune] https://fortune.com/2026/01/20/palantir-ceo-ai-humanities-jobs-davos-alex-karp/

- Our approach to age prediction [OpenAI] https://openai.com/index/our-approach-to-age-prediction/

- Age Verification Laws Came for the Open Internet [Engadget] https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/the-year-age-verification-laws-came-for-the-open-internet-130000979.html?src=rss


*Panelists*

- Zachary McDowell, Associate Professor, Communication, University of Illinois Chicago
https://comm.uic.edu/profiles/zachary-mcdowell/

- Jeremy Riel (Host), Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Illinois Chicago & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-Lead
https://education.uic.edu/profiles/riel-jeremy/

- Ken Suh, Adjunct Professor, Law, University of Illinois Chicago
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kensuh


*About The FTP Podcast*

The FTP podcast brings together a panel of interdisciplinary faculty experts across the University of Illinois System to discuss trends and news from recent weeks in tech and policy while looking toward the future. Produced by the Science and Technology Working Group, Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA), University of Illinois System.

https://igpa.uillinois.edu

All opinions expressed on the FTP Podcast are those of the individual panelists and not the opinions of the University of Illinois System, The Institute of Government and Public Affairs, or the three UI universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, or Springfield. 

In this episode of the Future Tech & Policy (FTP) Podcast, the panel returns from winter break with a look at the light-hearted "Worst In Show" awards for products from the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the US Executive Order toward federal AI regulation preemption over state laws, the new "Head of Preparedness" officer being hired by OpenAI to investigate risks and challenges with their models, and the recent licensing agreement between Disney and OpenAI to use everyone's favorite Disney characters on the company's AI products like ChatGPT and Sora.   

*Links to articles discussed*

- CES Worst in Show Awards Website
https://www.worstinshowces.com

- ‘Worst in Show’ CES products include AI refrigerators, AI companions and AI doorbells (AP)
https://apnews.com/article/ces-worst-show-ai-0ce7fbc5aff68e8ff6d7b8e6fb7b007d

- “Worst in Show” Returns at CES 2026, Calling Out Gadgets That Make Things Worse (iFixIt)
https://www.ifixit.com/News/115344/worst-in-show-returns-at-ces-2026-calling-out-gadgets-that-make-things-worse

- Trump tries to block state AI laws himself after Congress decided not to (Ars Technica) 
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/12/trump-tries-to-block-state-ai-laws-himself-after-congress-decided-not-to/

- Trump’s AI executive order promises ‘one rulebook’ — startups may get legal limbo instead (TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/12/trumps-ai-executive-order-promises-one-rulebook-startups-may-get-legal-limbo-instead/

- OpenAI is looking for a new Head of Preparedness (TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/28/openai-is-looking-for-a-new-head-of-preparedness/

- Disney invests $1 billion in OpenAI, licenses 200 characters for AI video app Sora (Ars Technica)
https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/12/disney-invests-1-billion-in-openai-licenses-200-characters-for-ai-video-app-sora/

- Disney has accused Google of copyright infringement on a 'massive scale' (Engadget)
https://www.engadget.com/ai/disney-has-accused-google-of-copyright-infringement-on-a-massive-scale-163737642.html

- Extracting books from production language models (arxiv)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.02671


*Panelists*

- Zachary McDowell, Associate Professor, Communication, University of Illinois Chicago
https://comm.uic.edu/profiles/zachary-mcdowell/

- Jeremy Riel (Host), Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Illinois Chicago & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-Lead
https://education.uic.edu/profiles/riel-jeremy/

- Gagandeep Singh, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-Lead
https://siebelschool.illinois.edu/about/people/faculty/ggnds

- Ken Suh, Adjunct Professor, Law, University of Illinois Chicago
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kensuh


*About The FTP Podcast*

The FTP podcast brings together a panel of interdisciplinary faculty experts across the University of Illinois System to discuss trends and news from recent weeks in tech and policy while looking toward the future. Produced by the Science and Technology Working Group, Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA), University of Illinois System.

https://igpa.uillinois.edu

All opinions expressed on the FTP Podcast are those of the individual panelists and not the opinions of the University of Illinois System, The Institute of Government and Public Affairs, or the three UI universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, or Springfield. 

In this episode of the Future Tech & Policy (FTP) Podcast, the panel discusses some interesting cases for forgotten passwords and cybersecurity, the US Executive Order on the new Genesis Mission for AI research infrastructure via the NAIRR program and high-performance computing resources, Canada's new AI Register that inventories AI technologies being used by the Canadian federal government, the potential use of AI facial recognition technology with children who play the game Roblox, and the persisting question of whether AI is sentient.

Links to articles discussed

• Magician forgets password to his own hand after RFID chip implant (The Register)
• Cryptographers Held an Election. They Can’t Decrypt the Results (The New York Times)
• Trump signs executive order launching AI initiative being compared to the Manhattan Project (NBC News)
• Launching the Genesis Mission (The White House)
• Government of Canada AI Register (Minimum Viable Product) (Government of Canada)
• Roblox will require age estimation to chat starting next year (The Verge)

Panelists

• Zachary McDowell, Associate Professor, Communication, University of Illinois Chicago
• Jeremy Riel (Host), Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Illinois Chicago & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-Lead
• Gagandeep Singh, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-Lead
• Ken Suh, Adjunct Professor, Law, University of Illinois Chicago

About The FTP Podcast

The FTP podcast brings together a panel of interdisciplinary faculty experts across the University of Illinois System to discuss trends and news from recent weeks in tech and policy while looking toward the future. Produced by the Science and Technology Working Group, Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA), University of Illinois System.

https://igpa.uillinois.edu

All opinions expressed on the FTP Podcast are those of the individual panelists and not the opinions of the University of Illinois System, The Institute of Government and Public Affairs, or the three UI universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, or Springfield.