In this episode, we hear from Brad Hayes, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Colorado Boulder, who directs the university's Collaborative AI and Robotics lab. The lab's work focuses on developing systems that can learn from and work with humans--from physical robots or machines, to software systems or decision support tools--so that together, the human and system can achieve more than each could achieve on their own. Our interviewer Audrow caught up with Dr. Hayes to discuss why collaboration may at times be preferable to full autonomy and automation, how human naration can be used to help robots learn from demonstration, and the challenges of developing collaborative systems, including the importance of shared models and safety to allow adoption of such technologies in future.

Artificial intelligence, alongside proper training and education, can manage even the worst of security breaches into a positive outcome for airports and their users, says Kristina Dores, Chief, Aerodromes & Ground Aids at Namibia Civil Aviation Authority, and Brad Hayes, CTO at Circadence Corporation. However, the key question is when (not if) will organisations take the steps to prepare for the coming wave of digitisation? Highly-interconnected and increasingly-digitised systems are a necessary part of modern airport infrastructure. Furthermore, vulnerabilities at these interfaces – through personnel and digital systems alike – lead to an increased threat of intrusion and potentially catastrophic disruption. This problem is not one that we can simply train and hire our way out of as these systems and their attack surfaces do not scale linearly in complexity.

HARI SREENIVASAN: More than ever before, a big part of this election campaign has played itself out on social media. No doubt the candidates and their campaigns have tried to take advantage of these platforms. But there's been a much bigger role this year as well for unseen players. You might call it the rise of the bots. Miles O'Brien has the story, part of our weekly reporting about on the Leading Edge of science and technology.