What's Your Problem?

Jason Ballard is the co-founder and CEO of ICON. Jason's problem is this: Can you use 3-D printing to build houses that are cheaper, better and more interesting than the houses we build now?

In this episode, Jason explains: 

• Why construction methods are so slow to change 
• How 3D printing opens up new designs for houses
• How building on the Moon shaped the way Icon builds on Earth
• The challenge of scaling to printing thousands of houses 

Connect with us:

• Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram 
• Email us at [email protected] 
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• Listen to Jacob’s other show, Business History 
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Celebrated novelists, countless students and at least one billionaire have recently been accused of using AI in their writing. The most commonly cited AI detector in these cases is called Pangram. 

Max Spero is the co-founder and CEO of Pangram. His problem is this: Can you build tools that reliably detect AI-generated text and images? And a few years from now, will anybody care?

In this episode, Max explains: 

• Why AI prose so often sounds the same
• How often Pangram makes mistakes
• How detectors like Pangram compete with humanizer tools 
• Why the big AI companies may not be interested in detection
• The shifting norms around AI-generated writing

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I'm here with a preview of Blockers, a new audiobook from Michael Lewis, the author of Liars Poker, Moneyball, The Big Short and more. In Blockers, Lewis tells the story of a handful of people who dedicated their careers to public service—until the Department of Government Efficiency decided they were a problem. These were people who believed they had a calling—people who kept American's sensitive tax data out of the wrong hands, made sure that politicians and civil servants played by the rules, and figured out how to stop wildfires from destroying suburban neighborhoods—and then discovered they were no longer wanted.

Here's an excerpt from the audiobook. You can buy the audiobook exclusively at blockers.fm. 

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We’ve all heard that nothing ever gets deleted from the internet. Luke Arrigoni says that just isn’t true. His company deletes thousands of deepfakes every day.

Luke is the founder and CEO of Loti, and his problem is this: How do you turn the Internet into a place where people have more control over their name, image and likeness?

Tens of thousands of famous people pay Loti to scour the internet and take down deepfakes and unapproved endorsements. But in Luke's telling, this is just the beginning. The company will soon allow celebrities to license their likeness for use in AI videos, and it also plans to start offering its services to ordinary people. 

In this episode, Luke explains: 

• The harm that online deepfakes and impersonations can cause 
• How Loti automates tens of thousands of takedowns per day 
• Why the law may soon make it easier to fight deepfakes 
• Why celebrities are beginning to license their likenesses to AI platforms 
• AI’s role in the future of human creativity 

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• Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram 
• Email us at [email protected] 
• Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X 
• Listen to Jacob’s other show, Business History 
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Before 1450, books were written out by hand. It was slow and expensive. But Johannes Gutenberg borrowed a ton of money to create a printing press that could crank out Bibles and pamphlets and documents in huge numbers. Science, politics and philosophy were all up-ended. 

For example, the Catholic Church seized on the invention to sell special certificates absolving people of their sins – a move that made money, but caused a permanent schism in Christianity.   

And Gutenberg too found himself in trouble – when a financier sued the inventor to reclaim his loan, plus interest. 

Enjoy this episode from Business History, another Pushkin podcast. 

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Everybody’s worried about the risks of AI. So we called up one of the most insightful writers we know on the subject: Zvi Mowshowitz. Zvi writes about AI and AI risks at his substack, Don’t Worry About the Vase. Zvi’s problem is this: How do we prevent artificial intelligence from killing everyone? 

In this episode, Zvi explains: 

• Why it’s often useful to anthropomorphize AI 
• What this summer’s Hugging Face attack tells us about the nature of AI
•  What increasing AI capability means for cybersecurity risk
•  Whether and when we should pause AI development
• Why powerful pen-weight models may remove the last reliable points of control

Connect with us:

• Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram 
• Email us at [email protected] 
• Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X 
• Listen to Jacob’s other show, Business History 
• To listen to the show ad free, sign up for Pushkin+ 

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On this bonus episode of What’s Your Problem, Jacob talks to Christine Chase, a Vice President, Financial Consultant at Fidelity Investments. Christine’s problem is this: How do you help clients build a plan to achieve their financial goals? Today’s show is sponsored by Fidelity Investments.

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The fish we eat usually die slowly, suffocating after they’re pulled out of the water. Saif Khawaja is the co-founder and CEO of a company called Shinkei. Saif's problem is this: Can he build a machine to efficiently kill fish in a way that is more humane?

In this episode, Saif explains: 

• How he came to believe that our current fishing practices are inhumane 
• How he adapted the Japanese technique of  ikijime for use at scale 
• Why Shinkei’s process results in better texture and longer shelf life than commodity fish.
• Why Shinkei is doing its own technology development, fish processing, and consumer branding. 

Connect with us:

• Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram 
• Email us at [email protected] 
• Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X 
• Listen to Jacob’s other show, Business History 
• To listen to the show early and ad free, sign up for Pushkin+

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Catherine Nakalembe is an assistant professor at the University of Maryland and the head of the Africa program at NASA Harvest, which uses satellite images to track agriculture around the world. Catherine’s problem is this: How do you predict when a famine is coming – and how do you convince leaders to act in time?

In this episode, Catherine explains: 

• How satellite data can predict crop failure months in advance
• Why phots can convince decision-makers faster than maps or statistics
• Why imaging systems developed for US farmland often don’t work in Africa
• Why a half-page memo moves food trucks faster than a scientific paper

Connect with us:

• Follow Jacob Goldstein on LinkedIn, X and Instagram 
• Email us at [email protected] 
• Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X 
• Listen to Jacob’s other show, Business History 
• To listen to the show early and ad free, sign up for Pushkin+

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When Dr. Lara Jehi began treating epilepsy patients in the 2000s, critical surgical decisions were driven more by clinician intuition and expertise than data. Today, she is a leader of IBM and Cleveland Clinic’s Discovery Accelerator, using advanced AI and quantum computing to transform how researchers analyze data, simulate molecules, accelerate drug discovery, and develop more precise treatments. Malcolm Gladwell talks with Dr. Jehi about how quantum computing is changing biomedical research, and what these breakthroughs could mean for the future of healthcare and life sciences.

This is a paid advertisement from IBM. The conversations on this podcast don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

Visit us at https://www.ibm.com/think/podcasts/smart-talks

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