The Future of Everything

The next job search you conduct will likely be shaped by artificial intelligence. In the age of LinkedIn and Monster.com, job hunters can count on their resumes being screened by non-human intelligence. So what does this mean for the future of hiring?

At a recent live taping of the Stanford School of Engineering podcast “The Future of Everything,” Adina Sterling, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business who studies labor markets, said that roughly three-quarters of the job applications received by major companies will be touched in some way by artificial intelligence. Because these hiring bots look for very specific criteria, qualified applicants may be screened out early in the process if their resumes don’t contain “the right buzzwords to get through the filters. It’s just as likely today as it was 20 years ago that a diamond in the rough will be overlooked,” she said.

While the use of artificial intelligence allows for gains in efficiency for both job seekers and potential employees, there is the danger that AI algorithms will embody and perpetuate existing bias. Sterling noted that she has been encouraged to see that companies are moving with a lot of caution in the area of AI and hiring. There is a recognition that machines can’t do this work on their own and that, at a minimum, a supervised AI hiring process is necessary.

You can listen to the Future of Everything on Sirius XM Insight Channel 121, iTunes, SoundCloud and Stanford Engineering Magazine.

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Earthquakes come in species, says Greg Beroza, professor of geophysics at Stanford and an expert in seismology.

There are, of course, the well-known sudden shocks, but there are also “slow earthquakes” that transpire imperceptibly in contrast to the obvious temblors, but which can measure 7 on the Richter Scale or more — a major quake by any standard.

Beroza knows about slow and other species of earthquakes because of a recent explosion in the availability of seismic data recorded by an expansive network of sensors throughout California and elsewhere around the world. One hundred times each second, 24 hours a day, every day, each of these sensors records seismic data. What they reveal is reshaping our understanding of earthquakes. The goal, he says, is not necessarily to predict earthquakes — an ideal that may never be achieved — but simply to understand them better. Beroza says that data can help prepare us for “The Big One.” Join host Russ Altman and earthquake expert Greg Beroza for a deeper look at the evolving and expanding science of seismology.

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Like clockwork, every time a large natural disaster hits and wipes out billions in built infrastructure, public officials, developers and private citizens cry, “never again.”

And every time, equally like clockwork, very little gets done, says Stanford civil engineer Anne Kiremidjian, one of the world’s foremost authorities on constructing buildings that can withstand major natural disasters.

She says there are technologies available that could move us toward stronger, safer buildings, but a lack of political and economic will is holding us back. What’s needed, Kiremidjian says, is the culture of resilience that has helped certain major metropolitan areas bounce back from disaster stronger than ever. That spirit is lacking in other cities and the result is months or even years of recovery. Join host Russ Altman and civil engineer Anne Kiremidjian for a look inside cities that are built to last.

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While Alzheimer’s disease has cut short too many lives and devastated more families than can be counted, its root causes and effective treatments have eluded researchers for decades.

But, says Stanford bioengineer Annelise Barron, new science indicates that many Alzheimer’s cases are coincident with viral or bacterial infections in the brain, pointing to possible new approaches to treatment or prevention.

Barron says that one human protein in particular, LL-37 — which she refers to as a “Ninja protein” that protects against infections — can bind with and detoxify A-beta, the protein that forms the harmful plaques in the brain that are the hallmark of Alzheimer’s. Inducing LL-37 could be a way to prevent Alzheimer's.

Join host Russ Altman and Alzheimer’s sleuth Annelise Barron for a hopeful look at the latest science of Alzheimer’s disease.

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While climate change is likely to bring rising sea levels, more frequent and stronger storms, as well as vanishing glaciers and coral reefs, experts say there are other lurking impacts that could have a more lasting effect on human behavior and health.

Marshall Burke is a professor of Earth System Science and a fellow at Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies who says that recent research shows rising global temperatures will lead to more wars, higher crime rates and greater infant mortality.

On a positive note, he points out that such predictions are starting to seep into cost-benefit calculations and that present-day mitigation could be felt sooner and more deeply than presently thought. Burke says that, in the new math of climate change, the benefits of investment vastly exceed the costs, but we must act soon.

Join host Russ Altman and climate change expert Marshall Burke for a broader look inside the unanticipated effects of climate change and what we can do today to prevent them from becoming reality.

You can listen to the Future of Everything on Sirius XM Insight Channel 121, iTunes, SoundCloud and Stanford Engineering Magazine.

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Riana Pfefferkorn is a digital security expert and Cryptography Fellow at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society. She says that we are living in the “Golden Age of Surveillance,” in which the growing ubiquity of data-rich smart devices has produced a fundamental tension between the rights of users to protect their personal data and the needs of law enforcement to investigate or prevent serious crimes.

She says draft legislation in Australia could have major privacy and security implications across the globe, including in the United States. If passed, the bill would require tech companies that do business in Australia to design their devices (such as smartphones) and communications services (such as encrypted messaging apps) to include digital backdoors allowing law enforcement to access data. The bill is raising concerns among privacy and computer security experts who argue that, in the wrong hands, such backdoors could lead to troubling breeches of personal privacy and data security.

Join host Russ Altman and guest privacy expert Riana Pfefferkorn for a glimpse into the future of digital privacy.

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While well-known mapping apps have transformed the daily commute through better information, Stanford electrical engineer Balaji Prabhakar is exploring ways to digitally incentivize people to improve their driving habits.

He calls it “nudging,” and says that small shifts in commute times — just 20 minutes earlier or later — can make a considerable impact on the day’s congestion in highly trafficked urban areas, like San Francisco.

A few years ago, Prabhakar made headlines with a Stanford-only study that used small monetary incentives backed by larger lottery-like rewards to reduce peak-hour commuting on campus. He later undertook a similar but much larger effort in Singapore to promote off-peak train travel. In four years, participation in Singapore grew from 20,000 to 400,000 users.

Join host Russ Altman and guest Balaji Prabhakar for a look at the very latest ways science is improving the daily grind for millions of commuters across the world.

You can listen to the Future of Everything on Sirius XM Insight Channel 121, iTunes, SoundCloud and Stanford Engineering Magazine.

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Professor David Magnus, director of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, says that artificial intelligence and machine learning are reshaping the landscape of medical care, but the underlying algorithms and the overarching challenges of how to employ the data are begetting new and vexing ethical questions.

Magnus explains that concerns begin with who designs, builds and pays for the algorithms and whether the ultimate goal of AI is better outcomes for patients, or better bottom lines for providers. The ethical dilemmas only grow from there as experts consider what data is incorporated, how it is gathered and what short cuts medical decision makers might take when interpreting the lessons AI reveals.

The good news, Magnus says, is that medical AI offers many profound positive benefits, but to realize them successfully the profession must grapple now with the ethical dilemmas in order to avoid pitfalls.

Join host Russ Altman and guest bioethicist David Magnus for a sobering look at the future of artificial intelligence in medicine.

You can listen to the Future of Everything on Sirius XM Insight Channel 121, iTunes, SoundCloud and Stanford Engineering Magazine.

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Am I saving enough for retirement? Will I outlive my money? Can I count on Social Security?

These are but a few of the nagging questions most every American grapples with when contemplating retirement.

Gopi Shah Goda of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) says that the migration from once ubiquitous and relatively secure pension programs to today’s self-directed retirement plans are producing anxiety and indecision in retirement planning precisely at the worst time, and it could spell a coming crisis. Throw in a teetering Social Security system and it’s no wonder so many Americans do not know when — or if — they will ever truly retire.

Join host Russ Altman and economic policy expert Gopi Shah Goda for a look at the true state of U.S. retirement planning.

You can listen to the Future of Everything on Sirius XM Insight Channel 121, iTunes, SoundCloud and Stanford Engineering Magazine.

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While cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum gather the lion’s share of headlines, few know that these “killer apps” are just the first generation of products based on a relatively new ledger-like technology called blockchain.

Founder of the Center for Blockchain Research at Stanford, Dan Boneh says that blockchain is generating a swell of excitement among coders and computer scientists not witnessed since the earliest days of the internet. While the true killer apps are still to come, Boneh says it is never too early to contemplate what blockchain is, where things might be headed and what the consequences might be on a personal, financial and societal level.

From cryptokitties to mining bitcoin, host Russ Altman and guest cybersecurity expert Dan Boneh explore the state of blockchain as we know it.

You can listen to the Future of Everything on Sirius XM Insight Channel 121, iTunes, SoundCloud and Stanford Engineering Magazine.

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