Activists are fighting back against generative AI and reclaiming a misunderstood label in the process, says Brian Merchant in a new piece for The Atlantic.

We Meet:

Tech Journalist & Author Brian Merchant

Credits:

This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens, and it was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Anthony Green.

Software can make it easier for people to file their own taxes, but what if you have a question? Would you trust generative AI to give you the answer?  

We Meet:

H&R Block VP of Technology Aditya Thadani

Credits:

This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens, and it was mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art by Anthony Green.

An analysis by Consumer Reports suggests that every person on Facebook is being monitored by thousands of companies, but new tools and laws are starting to make it easier for people to take back their privacy.

This episode was recorded in New York City at an event hosted by the responsible tech nonprofit All Tech Is Human.

We Meet:

Consumer Reports R&D Director Ginny Fahs

New York Times Contributing Opinion Writer & Investigative Journalist Julia Angwin

Block Party Founder & CEO Tracy Chou

Credits:

This episode of SHIFT was produced by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens. The on-site recording engineer was Josh Chapdelaine. SHIFT is mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski. Art direction by Anthony Green. The Founder and President of All Tech is Human is David Ryan Polgar.

Artists are starting to use AI to fight back against AI with free tools that let visual artists deter–even poison–AI models that use their work without permission.

We Meet:

Carl Franzen, Head of News at VentureBeat

Credits:

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

A new study explores how an AI model that’s been taught to lie might be brought back into line.

We Meet:

Brown University Professor of Computer Science Michael Littman

Credits:

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

In the latest installment of our oral history project we meet one of the central figures behind generative coding tools.

We Meet:

GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke

Credits:

SHIFT is produced by Jennifer Strong and Anthony Green, with help from Emma Cillekens. It’s mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski.

In the latest installment of our oral history project we meet one of the key figures behind Rwanda’s national AI policies.

We Meet:

Esther Kunda, Director General, Innovation & Emerging Technologies for Rwanda’s Ministry of Information Communication Technology and Innovation

Credits:

SHIFT is produced by Jennifer Strong and Anthony Green, with help from Emma Cillekens. It’s mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski.

In the latest installment of our oral history project we meet Ryan Graciano, a co-founder of the personal finance company, Credit Karma.

We Meet:

Ryan Graciano, Co-founder & CTO of Credit Karma

Credits:

SHIFT is produced by Jennifer Strong and Anthony Green, with help from Emma Cillekens. It’s mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski, with special thanks this week to the folks at TED AI.

As this year draws to a close we’re bringing you a look at the tech trends we’ll be watching in 2024.

We Meet:

Deloitte’s Chief Futurist Mike Bechtel

Credits:

SHIFT is produced by Jennifer Strong, Anthony Green, and Emma Cillekens. It’s mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski.

Language translation increasingly falls to artificial intelligence—but AI still doesn’t speak many of the world’s languages.

We Meet:

Vasco Pedro, CEO, Unbabel

Paulo Dimas, VP Product Innovation, Unbabel

Pelonomi Moiloa, CEO, Lelapa AI

Credits:

SHIFT is produced by Jennifer Strong, Anthony Green, and Emma Cillekens. It’s mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from him and Jacob Gorski.