Azeem Azhar's Exponential View

Cory Doctorow, award winning author, technologist, and founder, joins Azeem Azhar to examine how the pandemic mindset around harnessing massive collective action and exponential technologies for the good of humanity could also help us mitigate climate change. They also discuss: How Covid-19 exposed the need to reset the relationship between market and state. Why the predicted 20-30 percent unemployment rate will force dramatic government action in 2021. Further resources: What can climate tech do for us? (Exponential View 2020) Cory Doctorow: Full Employment (Locus Magazine 2020) How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism (Online book by Cory Doctorow 2020) @doctorow @azeem @ExponentialView Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Leila Rastegar Zegna, co-founder and general partner of Kindred Capital, joins Azeem Azhar for a deep dive into venture capital: how it really works, what’s broken, and how to fix it. They also explore a new model for venture capital, where founders become partners in the fund. This new approach aims to align incentives for both entrepreneurs and investors, in order to build a healthier innovation community. They also discuss: Why venture capital is a “people business,” not a finance business. Why obsessiveness is a more important than expertise for founders. Why not all startups should seek funding. Further resources: “How Venture Capitalists Are Deforming Capitalism” (The New Yorker, 2020) “What Is Equitable Venture?” (Kindred Capital, 2017) “Silicon Valley Needs a Shakedown with Chamath Palihapitiya” (Exponential View podcast, 2020) @lrastegar @azeem @ExponentialView Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

IKEA generates 0.1 percent of the world’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. Can this $40 billion multinational company become climate positive by 2030? Jesper Brodin, CEO of Ingka Group, joins Azeem Azhar to discuss how to grow a business while investing in renewable energy, sourcing sustainable materials, and building a circular economy. They also discuss: How being a leader in the “green revolution” is a business opportunity. How mass production could actually expedite progress towards sustainability. Why supporting customers in their efforts to re-use and recycle is part of IKEA’s plan. Further resources: “The Drive to Decarbonize with Ramez Naam” (Exponential View podcast, 2020) “Ikea says it’s easier being green if you are private” (Financial Times, 2020) “Ikea Will Buy Back Used Furniture” (New York Times, 2020) @azeem @ExponentialView Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

“China is no longer a copycat. It’s an innovator,” says Kai-Fu Lee, CEO of Sinovation Ventures and former president of Google China. He joins Azeem Azhar to explore China’s rapidly evolving tech scene, their embrace of automation, and their journey to AI dominance. They also explore: How Covid has dramatically accelerated the use of consumer-facing robots. Why office workers are most vulnerable to replacement by AI. Why China is so attractive for tech investors. Further resources: “China, an AI Superpower” (Exponential View podcast, 2018) “Kai-Fu Lee on how covid spurs China’s great robotic leap forward” (The Economist, 2020) “China Has Caught Up To US In AI, Says AI Expert Kai-Fu Lee” (Forbes, 2020) @kaifulee @azeem @ExponentialView Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As the world population grows and climate change intensifies, how can we transform the food supply chain to be more sustainable and resilient? Mike Zelkind, co-founder and CEO of 80 Acres Farms, is building a network of hyper-efficient, high-tech, indoor farms to provide local communities with fresh, nutritious produce. He joins Azeem Azhar to discuss the challenges of disrupting the farming industry to innovate the future of food. They also discuss: Why fruits and vegetables are now bred for logistics, not for flavor and nutrition. How robotics and AI are being used to optimize yield, taste, and growing time. Why “stressing” plants is key to making them healthy. Further resources: “Robots are changing the future of farming” (CNET, 2020) “Growing higher – New ways to make vertical farming stack up” (The Economist, 2019) “Reinventing food: The coming disruption” (Exponential View report, 2020) @80AcresFarms @azeem @exponentialview Exponential View newsletter Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Azeem Azhar speaks with Yale Professor of Social and Natural Science, Internal Medicine & Biomedical Engineering, Nicholas Christakis, whose latest book “Apollo’s Arrow,” lays out the three phases of the world’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Christakis argues that each phase will be fraught with risk and will leave an enduring impact on our society, economy, and politics. They also discuss: How a successful vaccine will influence global geopolitics as a soft power. How to deal with the pandemic on individual and community levels. How the “Swiss Cheese model” of accident causation can help policymakers build resilient prevention and response systems. Further resources: “Apollo’s Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live” (Christakis, 2020) “Building Better Cities After Covid-19” (Exponential View podcast, 2020) “Navigating Covid-19 as a Digital Republic” (Exponential View podcast, 2020) “A Swiss Cheese Approach to Pandemic Safety” (The Verge, 2020) @NAChristakis @azeem @exponentialview Exponential View newsletter Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Google and Facebook became multibillion-dollar juggernauts by stockpiling data and using it to sell advertising. Governments can now track their citizens en masse. Where will this “surveillance capitalism” lead? Dr. Carissa Véliz from the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford joins Azeem Azhar to consider what’s wrong with the data economy, and to explore her bold proposals for ending it. They also discuss: Why Google’s founders were initially opposed to selling ads. Why privacy legislation stalled after 9/11. How personalized content fractures the public sphere. How the Nazis used population data to identify victims. Why we should ban trading in personal data. Further reading: “Surveillance Capitalism with Shoshana Zuboff” (Exponential View podcast, 2019) “Privacy matters because it empowers us all” (Aeon, 2020) “Digital privacy — can we reclaim it?” (Financial Times, 2020) “You’ve heard of tax havens. After Brexit, the UK could become a ‘data haven’” (The Guardian, 2020) @carissaveliz @azeem @exponentialview Exponential View newsletter Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When Facebook’s Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer joined the company in 2008, it was about to hit 100 million users – today they serve 2.7 billion. He joins Azeem Azhar to explore how they planned for infrastructure resilience to cope with such explosive growth, and why Facebook has invested so deeply in AI and virtual reality. They also discuss: How Facebook increasingly uses AI systems to moderate content, including hate speech. What Facebook is doing to address the need for greater diversity in its workforce and culture. Why Facebook has committed to open source platforms such as PyTorch and React. Further reading: “Facebook’s A.I. Whiz Now Faces the Task of Cleaning It Up. Sometimes That Brings Him to Tears.” (New York Times, 2019) “Facebook AI can translate directly between any of 100 languages” (New Scientist, 2020) “Who controls the conversation – How to deal with free speech on social media” (The Economist 2020) @schrep @Azeem @exponentialview Exponential View newsletter Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Demis Hassabis, CEO and co-founder of DeepMind, dreams of using AI to solve fundamental problems in science. He joins Azeem Azhar to explore his own journey from world champion gamer to neuroscientist to building AI systems that can train themselves to solve real-world engineering challenges and, eventually, make Nobel-prize winning discoveries. They also discuss: Why games are the perfect training ground for AI algorithms. How DeepMind combines the dynamism of a startup with the “blue sky” creativity of a lab. Why “deep reinforcement learning” is the basis for artificial intelligence systems. Further reading: “How GPT-3 Is Shaping Our AI Future” (Exponential View podcast, 2020) “Inside DeepMind’s epic mission to solve science’s trickiest problem” (Wired, 2019) “Artificial general intelligence: Are we close, and does it even make sense to try?” (MIT Technology Review, 2020) @demishassabis @Azeem @exponentialview Exponential View newsletter Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

“Democracy is a technology. Like any […] technology, it gets better when more people strive to improve it,” says Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s first digital minister. Minister Tang joins Azeem Azhar to discuss how the Taiwanese Government is using the Internet as a space for civic participation, dialogue, and consensus building. They also discuss: How the open Internet helped Taiwan proactively tackle the Covid-19 outbreak at the beginning of the pandemic. Algorithmic co-governance, and how it can keep social media platforms in check. How the values of radical transparency and digital openness shape new forms of decision-making. Further reading: “How Taiwan’s Unlikely Digital Minister Hacked the Pandemic” (Wired, 2020) “How Taiwan’s ‘Civic Hackers’ Helped Find A New Way to Run a Country” (The Guardian, 2020) “The simple but ingenious system Taiwan uses to crowdsource its laws” (Technology Review, 2018) @audreyt @Azeem @exponentialview Exponential View newsletter Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.