As part of New York Tech Week, I joined the MIT community in Manhattan for an event focused on AI, innovation, and the evolving role of tech in society. On stage, I was joined by SandboxAQ. It's a Google spinout that combines AI Large Quantitative Models and deep expertise in physics, biology, and chemistry in order to work on a wide range of hard problems, such as the prototyping of new materials and chemicals for manufacturing.

Andrew McLaughlin is the company’s chief operating officer. We sat down to chat after he made the case to the room that the future of AI may not be large language models, but quantitative.

We Meet:  

Andrew McLoughlin, COO of Sandbox AQ

Credits:

This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

Most geospatial data is gathered by satellites and cameras attached to planes, but a new decentralized network is helping amateur drone pilots capture and contribute ultra high resolution data. 

In this week's show, we go fly a drone and learn how that data is helping power next generation apps for things like disaster response.

We Meet:  

Alec Wilson, COO Spexi

Bill Lakeland, CEO Spexi

Credits:

This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

What might the future of AI look like? 

Robert Brunner is responsible for some of the most iconic industrial designs of this century, and Matt Biilmann coined the phrase AX, which considers the user experience for AI agents. They joined me on center stage for a live conversation about what it means to design for AI at the Web Summit Conference in Vancouver, Canada.

We Meet:  

Matt Biilmann, Co-founder & CEO Netlify

Robert Brunner, Founder of Ammunition Group 

Credits:

This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

The Race to Superintelligence is a deep dive into the rapidly expanding world of artificial intelligence. Join us as we explore the groundbreaking, mystifying and world-changing potential of the next machine age. 

Support for this program comes from The Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability Network, supporting and bringing together journalists reporting on AI, and with AI, globally.

This episode first published in October 2024.

Credits:

The Race to Superintelligence is created and produced by Jennifer Strong, with Emma Cillekens, Daniela Hernandez, and Meg Marco. We had additional research and production assistance from Sonya Gurwitt, Niamh McAuliffe, Anthony Green and Luke Robert Mason. The show is mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski.

Special thanks to our guest Cade Metz at The New York Times.

The application of artificial intelligence to help discover new medicines could become one of the more transformative ways we use this tech in the near term. Recursion Pharmaceuticals CEO Chris Gibson takes us on a tour of the world's largest phenomics lab.

We Meet: 

Recursion Co-Founder & CEO Chris Gibson

Credits:

This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

Frank McCourt is an American executive and philanthropist. He’s also the author of a new book about the internet, called Our Biggest Fight: Reclaiming Liberty, Humanity, and Dignity in the Digital Age. We talk to him about that fight before a live audience in New York City at a gathering held by the responsible technology non-profit, All Tech Is Human.

We Meet:

Frank H. McCourt, Jr., civic entrepreneur and executive chairman of McCourt Global, founder and executive chairman of Project Liberty

Credits:

This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

Whether you're on a dating app or playing a game, how do you know if you're interacting with another human? We meet someone working on a possible solution to this problem in the latest installment of our oral history project.

We Meet:  

Adrian Ludwig, Chief Architect of Tools for Humanity

Credits:

This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

Browsing online reviews when you’re shopping for a new product or service can be incredibly helpful, but only if they’re real. 

We Meet: Trustpilot CEO Adrian Blair

Credits:

This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

Astro Teller, Alphabet’s Captain of Moonshots, joins us for a conversation about the importance of failure, workplace culture in a moonshot factory, and not throwing away your shot.

We Meet: 

Astro Teller is the Captain of Moonshots at X, Alphabet's Moonshot Factory

Credits:

This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.

What if voting in a primary could be as simple as reaching for your phone? We explore mobile voting in the latest installment of our oral history project.

We Meet: 

Bradley Tusk, Founder & CEO of Tusk Holdings 

Credits:

This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens. It was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Meg Marco.