Steven Shwartz

Why is it that when we think about Artificial Intelligence, a dystopian universe comes to mind? In this episode of Before IT Happened, our host Donna Loughlin talks with Steven Shwartz, author, researcher, entrepreneur, and one of the most influential thinkers in the space of Artificial Intelligence. Steven debunks the myths and misconceptions around Artificial Intelligence and shares what this technology truly is about. Will robots take over our jobs and ultimately the world? Is a Blade Runner-like future awaiting? Probably not. Listen now and learn what Artificial Intelligence really means and why we shouldn’t fear an AI future.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:24) - Stumbling into AI through Cognitive Psychology - “Roger Shank ran a lab with about 25 graduate students and lots of undergraduates, and it was one of the most exciting places I've ever, ever worked or been around.”

(05:54) - The two types of Artificial Intelligence - “People are trying to get computers not to be generally intelligent, but rather to be good at one small narrowly defined task.”

(10:19) - Early conversations around AI - “We were all investigating artificial general intelligence. And one of those dinner conversations was with Geoffrey Hinton who is now considered the father of AI.”

(16:04) - From academics to the business world - “I had a lot of AI experience but no business experience, and it took a lot longer to ramp up on business acumen than I ever expected.”

(21:54) - Debunking AI myths: Steven’s experience with Tesla’s ‘autonomy’ - “It's far from perfect. It's only a level two capability because you have to be ready to take over at any given time because it's going to make a lot of mistakes.”

(30:29) - The future for AI - “From nonprofits to retail, to government, to every single field, something is going on in AI that's providing beneficial capabilities.”

(32:49) - The misconceptions around the term AI - “If the field was called computational statistic, how many magazine covers would say, ‘Computational Statistics, changing the world?’”

(36:12) - Governments and AI regulation - “What we need to regulate is narrow AI and narrow AI needs to be regulated application by application.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Steven Shwartz through Twitter and AIperspectives.com

Read Steven’s book Evil Robots, Killer Computers, and Other Myths by Dr. Steven Shwartz

Read Level 3 Self-Driving is a Really Bad Idea by Dr. Steven Shwartz

Read Are Self-Driving Cars Really Safer Than Human Drivers? by Dr. Steven Shwartz

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Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.