Hosted by Ben Byford, The Machine Ethics Podcast brings together interviews with academics, authors, business leaders, designers and engineers on the subject of autonomous algorithms, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and technology's impact on society. This episode we're chatting with Eleanor and Kerry on good technology and if it's even possible, that technology is political, watering down regulation, the magic of AI, the value of human creativity, how Feminism, Aboriginal, and mixed race studies can help AI development, the performative nature of tech, and more… Dr Kerry McInerney (née Mackereth) is a Research Fellow at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge, where she co-leads the Global Politics of AI project on how AI is impacting international relations. She is also a Research Fellow at the AI Now Institute (a leading AI policy thinktank in New York), an AHRC/BBC New Generation Thinker (2023), one of the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics (2022), and one of Computing's Rising Stars 30 (2023). Kerry is the co-editor of the collection Feminist AI: Critical Perspectives on Algorithms, Data, and Intelligent Machines (2023, Oxford University Press), the collection The Good Robot: Why Technology Needs Feminism (2024, Bloomsbury Academic), and the co-author of the forthcoming book Reprogram: Why Big Tech is Broken and How Feminism Can Fix It (2026, Princeton University Press). Dr Eleanor Drage is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge Centre for the Future of Intelligence, and teaches AI professionals about AI ethics on a Masters course at Cambridge.

Technology has always been a double-edged sword. While it's been a major force for progress, it has also been abused and caused harm. From steam power to Fordism, history shows that technology is neither good nor bad – by itself. It can, of course, be both, depending on how it's used. Telecommunications, specifically the internet, and more recently AI, which is estimated to contribute more than €11 billion to the global economy by 2030, are no different.

Last week the Canadian government tabled legislation as part of its climate action plan to meet and exceed Canada's emissions reduction targets. This followed comments made two days earlier by the Bank of Canada's Governor in which he cautioned that climate change will have a profound impact on our economy. A survey conducted by IBM last month shows that the majority Canadians agree – 73% believe the advancement of clean technologies and artificial intelligence are important in ensuring economic growth. The survey also reveals that most people are keen to integrate more technology into their personal lives if it would support planetary health – 74% of Canadians said they are willing to adopt technology solutions to help live a more environmentally friendly lifestyle. So, while countries around the world – including ours – work towards the 2050 net zero emission goal and implement other innovative'good tech' measures to combat climate change, how can we do our part with the technology we use every single day?

While I was scrolling on Twitter. I saw a tweet showing the word "deep learning" is plateauing on google trends. Then Yann LeCun replied that it's simply deep learning because become more normal. This reminds me of a previous blog post that I wrote. Talking about how good tech is like good design.