Artificial Intelligence and You

José Antonio Bowen, educator and innovation consultant known for Teaching Naked, and C. Edward Watson, digital innovation leader focused on AI and curriculum, discuss AI in higher education. They explore AI literacy curriculum design, spiral and cross-curricular approaches, faculty readiness, the future of textbooks and credentials, and how AI might reshape assessment, admissions, and learning models.

José Antonio Bowen, higher-ed leader and author known for Teaching Naked, and C. Edward Watson, digital innovation director focused on AI and pedagogy, discuss AI in universities. They cover faculty reactions, cheating and assignment redesign, AI as teaching assistant, personalization of learning, and how institutions may split into boutique versus AI-driven models.

In this thought-provoking discussion, Jeff Riley, the former Massachusetts Commissioner of Education and founder of Day of AI, emphasizes the urgent need for responsible AI education in K–12 schools. He shares insights on balancing AI usage with traditional learning and highlights the importance of critical thinking. Jeff also delves into the challenges of integrating AI into crowded curricula and the varying AI competencies among teachers. Additionally, he envisions a future where AI personalizes education while ensuring safety and equity for all students.

In this discussion, Jeff Riley, the former Massachusetts Commissioner of Education and a leader with MIT's RAISE initiative, shares insights on integrating AI into American classrooms. He highlights the goals of the Day of AI initiative, which focuses on teacher training and developing K–12 AI curriculum. Riley addresses concerns about AI's impact on students, from social media risks to tackling cheating with AI detectors. He emphasizes the importance of teacher engagement and crafting flexible AI policies as education adapts to this tech-driven landscape.

Dan Turchin, CEO of PeopleReign, champions AI's role in boosting productivity and employee welfare. Richard Foster-Fletcher, founder of MKAI, discusses the limitations of LLMs and emphasizes digital governance for inclusive AI. They explore 2025's unexpected surprises, the risk of an AI infrastructure bubble, and the emergence of 'AI nation states.' Turchin envisions AI enhancements in healthcare and human abilities, while both caution against the deluge of low-quality AI content. Their insights reveal a dynamic and cautionary landscape for AI's future.

This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . What is consciousness? That’s a profound question that many would say is unanswerable. And how could you make artificial consciousness? That’s a more profound question that many would say is impossible. We are talking with Suzanne Gildert, founder of Nirvanic, a Quantum-AI research company, who is not just talking about consciousness, she’s doing something about it. She is a prolific inventor with more than 60 US patents in quantum computing, humanoid robotics and artificial intelligence.  Suzanne has a PhD in experimental quantum physics and was the founder of two robot companies, Kindred AI, and Sanctuary AI. At Nirvanic she seeks to understand consciousness and innovate conscious AI using quantum computing. In the conclusion of our interview, we talk about how robots will use quantum computing, world models and what robots really can and can’t do right now, form factors for robots, and the connection between robot consciousness and finding our purpose in the world. All this plus our usual look at today's AI headlines. Transcript and URLs referenced at HumanCusp Blog.        

This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . What is consciousness? That’s a profound question that many would say is unanswerable. And how could you make artificial consciousness? That’s a more profound question that many would say is impossible. Tackling both of those head-on is Suzanne Gildert, founder of Nirvanic, a Quantum-AI research company. She’s not just talking about consciousness, she’s doing something about it. She is a prolific inventor with more than 60 US patents in quantum computing, humanoid robotics and artificial intelligence.  Suzanne has a PhD in experimental quantum physics – I mean, how cool is that - and was the founder of two robot companies, Kindred AI, and Sanctuary AI. At Nirvanic she seeks to understand consciousness and innovate conscious AI using quantum computing. We talk about quantum computing and consciousness, the nature of reality and its connection to quantum physics, the Observer Effect and Schrödinger’s Box, panpsychism, the state of the art of quantum computing, quantum supremacy, the present and future of general purpose robotics, and the connection between reward functions and the consciousness of the universe. All this plus our usual look at today's AI headlines. Transcript and URLs referenced at HumanCusp Blog.        

This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . What if artificial superintelligence - ASI - could be made both more safe and more profitable? I'm talking with Craig Kaplan, who has the website superintelligence.com, about his concept of "democratic AI." Craig is CEO and founder of iQ Company, focused on AGI and ASI. He also founded and ran PredictWallStreet, a financial services firm which used AI to power a top hedge fund.  Craig is a former visiting professor in computer science at the University of California, and earned master’s and doctoral degrees from famed robotics hub Carnegie Mellon University, where he co-authored research with the Nobel-Prize-winning economist and AI pioneer Dr. Herbert A. Simon. In part 2, we talk about rights of AIs, safe superintelligence, where AI gets its values, and how model vendors might be incentivized to put their products into the collective AI intelligence. All this plus our usual look at today's AI headlines. Transcript and URLs referenced at HumanCusp Blog.        

In this engaging discussion, Craig Kaplan, an artificial superintelligence expert and CEO of iQ Company, explores the concept of 'democratic AI.' He delves into how AI is shifting from tools to autonomous entities, emphasizing the need for safety through community engagement among AIs. Kaplan advocates for personalized AI agents that reflect human ethics and highlights the importance of protocols for AI communication. He also tackles the evolving nature of ethics in AI systems, ensuring they remain contextually relevant and transparent.

This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . How should AI change democracy? That’s the topic of Rewiring Democracy: How AI Will Transform Our Politics, Government, and Citizenship, and I am continuing my talk with its authors. Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist and the bestselling author of fourteen books, including Data and Goliath and A Hacker’s Mind.  Nathan Sanders is a data scientist who has served in fellowships and the Massachusetts legislature and the Berkman-Klein Center at Harvard. He writes in The New York Times and The Atlantic. We talk about whether wealthy entities might subvert the use of AI in democracy, how smaller countries are engaging with AI in government, the utility of open weight and open source models, digital twins in government, the future of surveillance, and what makes Bruce and Nathan optimistic about the future. All this plus our usual look at today's AI headlines. Transcript and URLs referenced at HumanCusp Blog.