The Compass by HSI

The Compass, presented by Horizon Search Institute, returns with a conversation on how AI is quietly reshaping one of the most human, high-stakes volunteer efforts there is: search and rescue.In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Franz Kurfess, a computer science professor at Cal Poly, to discuss the search and rescue AI project he's been building alongside longtime volunteers Gary Bloom and Chris Young. Dr. Kurfess explains how handwritten field notes — scribbled in the middle of the night, sometimes in the rain — are being digitized through dictation and mobile capture, and how an AI agent called the ClueMeister helps command posts sort incoming clues by urgency and priority instead of sifting through a foot-high stack of paper. The conversation also covers the "interview helper" agent, which transcribes and analyzes real-time interviews with a missing person's family and friends, flagging important details and suggesting follow-up questions on the spot.Dr. Kurfess closes with a candid observation on the limits of the technology: AI can capture and preserve a meaningful slice of the decades of hard-won judgment that experienced searchers carry, but it will never fully replace the instinct built from a lifetime in the field — the goal is to lose as little of that knowledge as possible before it's gone.Learn more about Horizon Search Institute: https://www.horizonsearch.org#thecompassionateholistic #HorizonSearchInstitute #artificialintelligence #searchandrescuehorses #aiagents #calpoly #EmergencyResponse #podcast #PublicSafety #appliedai

The Compass, presented by Horizon Search Institute, returns with a conversation on two of the most overlooked levers in everyday health: wearable data and sunlight.In this episode, host Sam sits down with Dr. Torkel Faro, a Norwegian general practitioner and bestselling author, to discuss his books

The Pulse Cure and The Sun Cure. Dr. Faro explains how devices like Garmin, Oura, and Whoop can turn heart rate variability into an early-warning system for stress and lifestyle disease, drawing on insights from thousands of users and his own ER practice.

The conversation then shifts to his latest work on sunlight — why decades of "stay out of the sun" advice may have gotten the risk-benefit balance wrong, and what daily light exposure means for circadian rhythm, blood pressure, and mental health.

Dr. Faro closes with a simple but pointed observation: many of the most effective health interventions — sleep, movement, whole foods, sunlight — are free, which may be exactly why they're rarely talked about.

Learn more about Horizon Search Institute: https://www.horizonsearch.org#TheCompass

#HorizonSearchInstitute #Wearabletech #HeartRateVariability #SunExposure #PreventiveHealth #Podcast #Norway #PublicHealth #Biohacking #health

Who is actually driving AI?

Join Sam and Mia, the HSI Communications team, as they chat with Dr. Missy Cummings about AI's influence on autonomous vehicles, innovation, and safety. Dr. Cummings is a professor at George Mason University who oversees the university's robotics PhD and responsible AI programs.

To stay up to date with Dr. Cummings' research, go to cec.gmu.edu/profiles/cummings.

For more information about HSI and our publications, head to horizonsearch.org.