AI is used in farming in some ways you might not expect, like for tracking the health of crops—from space. We travel from test farms to labs in the second installment of our series on agriculture, AI, and satellites. 

We Meet:

Joseph Liefer, senior product manager of autonomy at John Deere

Julian Sanchez, director of emerging technology at John Deere

Shely Aranov, CEO of InnerPlant

Rod Kumimoto, CSO of InnerPlant

Credits:

This episode was reported and produced by Jennifer Strong, Emma Cillekens and Anthony Green. It was edited by Mat Honan, and mixed by Garret Lang, with original music by Garret Lang and Jacob Gorski. Artwork by Stephanie Arnett.

AI is used in agriculture to precisely target weeds and optimize irrigation practices. It’s also being used in ways you might not expect, like for tracking the health of cow pastures—from space. We travel from test farms to orchards in the first of a two-part series on agriculture, AI, and satellites. 

We Meet: 

Greg Brickner, Veterinarian and grazing specialist at Organic Valley

Geoff Klein, irrigation manager of Bullseye Farms

John Bourne, SVP Ceres Imaging

Deanna Kovar, VP of Production and Precision Ag Production Systems at John Deere

Jahmy Hindman, CTO at John Deere

Credits:

This episode was reported and produced by Jennifer Strong, Emma Cillekens and Anthony Green. It was edited by Mat Honan, and mixed by Garret Lang, with original music by Garret Lang and Jacob Gorski. Artwork by Stephanie Arnett.

We’re in the middle of another major disruption in retail—one that’s been accelerated by the pandemic, and looks to take the convenience of e-commerce and apply it to physical environments. In this episode, we examine how AI is at the center of this transition.

We meet:

Prakhar Mehrotra, VP, Machine Learning, Walmart Global Tech

Jordan Fisher, Chief Executive Officer, Standard AI

Terrence Griffin, Quality Control Specialist, Standard AI

Suresh Kumar, Global Chief Technology Officer and CDO, Walmart

This episode was produced by Anthony Green and Emma Cillekens. It was edited by Jennifer Strong and Mat Honan and mixed by Garret Lang, with original music by Garret Lang and Jacob Gorski. Artwork by Stephanie Arnett.

Face mapping and other tracking systems are changing the sports experience in the stands and on the court. In part-three of this latest series on facial recognition, Jennifer Strong and the team at MIT Technology Review jump on the court to unpack just how much things are changing. This episode was originally published December 8, 2020.

We meet: 

Donnie Scott, senior vice president of public security, IDEMIA

Michael D'Auria, vice president of business development, Second Spectrum

Jason Gay, sports columnist, The Wall Street Journal

Rachel Goodger, director of business development, Fancam

Rich Wang, director of analytics and fan engagement, Minnesota Vikings

Credits: 

This episode was reported and produced by Jennifer Strong, Anthony Green, Tate Ryan-Mosley, Emma Cillekens and Karen Hao. We’re edited by Michael Reilly and Gideon Lichfield.

Algorithms now determine how much things cost. It’s called dynamic pricing and it adjusts according to current market conditions in order to increase profits. The rise of ecommerce has propelled pricing algorithms into an everyday occurrence—whether you’re shopping on Amazon, booking a flight, hotel or ordering an Uber. 

We Meet: 

Credits:

This episode was reported by Anthony Green and produced by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens. We’re edited by Mat Honan and our mix engineer is Garret Lang, with sound design and music by Jacob Gorski.

In the past, hiring decisions were made by people. Today, some key decisions that lead to whether someone gets a job or not are made by algorithms. The use of AI-based job interviews has increased since the pandemic. As demand increases, so too do questions about whether these algorithms make fair and unbiased hiring decisions, or find the most qualified applicant. In this second episode of a four-part series on AI in hiring, we meet some of the big players making this technology including the CEOs of HireVue and myInterview—and we test some of these tools ourselves.

We Meet: 

We Talked To: 

Sounds From: 

Credits:

This miniseries on hiring was reported by Hilke Schellmann and produced by Jennifer Strong, Emma Cillekens, Karen Hao and Anthony Green with special thanks to James Wall. We’re edited by Michael Reilly. Art direction by Stephanie Arnett.

Shortages of everything from seeds to fertilizer might accelerate the adoption of technologies that can help supplies go further in war-torn Ukraine.

We meet: 

Roman Tarasevich, Farmer, Ukraine

Morten Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer, OneSoil

Inbal Reshef, Program Director, NASA Harvest

Olekssi Misiura, Head of Research and Development, IMC

Credits: This episode was reported and produced by Jennifer Strong, Emma Cillekens and Anthony Green. It was edited by Mat Honan and contains original music from Garret Lang and Jacob Gorski. Our mix engineer is Garret Lang. We had field production help in Ukraine from Orysia Khimiak. Special thanks this week to Max Furman, Ty Walrod, Antonio Regalado and Megan Zaroda Mullenioux. Our artwork is by Stephanie Arnett.

The International Space Station hosts scores of experiments that can’t be done on Earth. But it’s also showing its age—with repairs and safety concerns becoming increasingly common as it draws nearer to its end of life. In this episode, we bring you a conversation with Astronaut Michael López-Alegría about the path forward for research in low Earth orbit, from MIT Technology Review’s flagship conference, EmTech MIT.

CREDITS:

This episode was created by Jennifer Strong, Anthony Green and Emma Cillekens. It was edited by Mat Honan, directed by Erin Underwood and mixed by Garret Lang. Episode art by Stephanie Arnett and special thanks this week to Amy Lammers and Brian Bryson from our events team.

SOUNDS: 

What the next space station might look like, CNBC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRcNxPCC9_A

International space station removed from orbit 2031, NBC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My_mUGfc418

Space Station to retire in 2031, NASA says, Fox 35 Orlando

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFN9CJGa2TQ    

A look at how AI and other tech is being used to help predict, detect, and pinpoint the location of wildfires in the second of a two-part series.

We Meet:

Tricia Small, Television Producer, Small Fox Films

George Whitesides, Space Executive

Brittany Zajic, Disaster Response, Planet Labs

Dave Winnacker, Fire Chief, Moraga-Orinda Fire District

Arvind Satyam, Chief Commercial Officer, Pano

Credits:

This episode was reported and produced by Jennifer Strong, Anthony Green and Emma Cillekens. It was edited by Mat Honan and contains original music from Garret Lang and Jacob Gorski. Our mix engineer is Garret Lang and our artwork is by Stephanie Arnett.

A look at how AI and other tech is being used to help predict, detect, and pinpoint the location of wildfires in the first of a two-part series.

We meet: 

Dustin Tetrault, Deputy Fire Chief, Big Sky Fire Department

Sankar Narayanan, Chief Practice Officer, Fractal Analytics

Credits:

This episode was reported and produced by Jennifer Strong, Anthony Green and Emma Cillekens. It was edited by Mat Honan and contains original music from Garret Lang and Jacob Gorski. Our mix engineer is Garret Lang and our artwork is by Stephanie Arnett.