GeekWire Podcast: MIT's president on human intelligence and the quest for smarter machines

We explored that topic this week with Rafael Reif, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, following the announcement of the MIT Intelligence Quest, an effort to "discover the foundations of human intelligence" to develop better technology, especially artificial intelligence. Reif has been MIT's president since 2012. An electrical engineer by training, he has been outspoken in his defense of funding for basic scientific research. He was in Seattle this week to talk with alumni about MIT's plans for the future of education, research, and innovation. We spoke about all of those topics, plus diversity in the tech industry and Boston's bid for Amazon HQ2, on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast. Listen to our full conversation in the player below, and continue reading for edited excerpts. Subscribe to the GeekWire Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.