The current paradigm of artificial intelligence emerged as the result of a series of cultural innovations, some technical and some social. Among them are seemingly small design decisions, that led to a subtle reframing of some of the field's original goals, and are now accepted as standard. They correspond to technical shortcuts, aimed at bypassing problems that were otherwise too complicated or too expensive to solve, while still delivering a viable version of AI. Far from being a series of separate problems, recent cases of unexpected effects of AI are the consequences of those very choices that enabled the field to succeed, and this is why it will be difficult to solve them. Research at the University of Bristol has considered three of these choices, investigating their connection to some of today's challenges in AI, including those relating to bias, value alignment, privacy and explainability.

August Bradley (@augustbradley) is a futurist business consultant, founder/host of the Mind & Machine podcast and former COO of the pioneering virtual reality company Kite & Lightning. August's worked with brands including Coke, Xbox, Kia, Gap, J.Crew, Banana Republic, Fisker Automotive, and many more. He is also a Board Member & Director of the AI & Machine Learning Society, Chairman of the Technarte International Conference, technology series moderator for The Los Angeles ... See More World Affairs Council (LAWAC) and head of the Los Angeles Self Driving Car Meetup. In today's episode we discuss: - Why August and I won't let voice assistants in our homes - What happens next with VR and where it is headed - Which technologies worry August most and why - What does privacy look like in a more connected world - Why Facebook and social media are so bad for all of us - How Amazon helps transform healthcare - The reason AI and automation will be net-negative on jobs - What we have to look forward to when it comes to future technologies - The reason space exploration is so important and exciting - What do we do about big tech and regulation - Why August isn't worried about AI consciousness or superintelligence - The reason food science and clean meat is such a promising field to pursue - Why immigration is a stupid topic to focus on when it comes to jobs - Science fiction as a safety net