FTP: Future Tech and Policy

IGPA Science and Technology Working Group

The Future Tech & Policy (FTP) Podcast features a panel of interdisciplinary faculty experts from the 3 universities at the University of Illinois System that examines news, trends, and issues related to emerging technology like AI, quantum, energy, and future-looking computing and how these advancements influence policy and regulation in Illinois and beyond. A production of the Science and Technology Working Group at the Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA).  Episodes released bi-weekly.  Hosted by Jeremy Riel, Science & Technology Working Group Co-Lead and Assistant Professor, University of Illinois Chicago. Regular panelists are faculty members of the IGPA Science and Technology Working Group (https://igpa.uillinois.edu/working-groups/science-and-technology).

Episodes

  1. 27 JAN

    Ep. 5 - Wikipedia's "Don't Write Like AI" Enables AI Writing, AI is Always "Disrupting", and Age Verification Methods

    In this episode of the Future Tech & Policy (FTP) Podcast, the panel explores the Wikipedia community guidelines on spotting AI-written works to help with the editorial process only to have that set of guidelines used in a new plugin to make AI write less like AI, fake citations in AI papers (written by AI) and court cases, claims of disruption in jobs and the economy from AI leaders and how tech always promises different disruptions than we tend to actually see, and age verification technologies by tech companies to ensure child safety but are easily spoofable.  *Links to articles discussed* - Wikipedia volunteers spent years cataloging AI tells. Now there's a plugin to avoid them. [Ars Technica] https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/01/new-ai-plugin-uses-wikipedias-ai-writing-detection-rules-to-help-it-sound-human/ - GPTZero finds 100 new hallucinations in NeurIPS 2025 accepted papers [GPTZero] https://gptzero.me/news/neurips/ - Anthropic Economic Index report: Economic primitives [Anthropic] https://www.anthropic.com/research/anthropic-economic-index-january-2026-report - Artificial intelligence tools expand scientists’ impact but contract science’s focus [Nature] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09922-y - Claude Is Taking the AI World by Storm, and Even Non-Nerds Are Blown Away [The Wall Street Journal] https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-claude-code-ai-7a46460e - Anthropic CEO says government should help ensure AI’s economic upside is shared [MSN] https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/anthropic-ceo-says-government-should-help-ensure-ai-s-economic-upside-is-shared/ar-AA1UB0o4 - Palantir CEO says AI “will destroy” humanities jobs but there will be “more than enough jobs” for people with vocational training | Fortune [Fortune] https://fortune.com/2026/01/20/palantir-ceo-ai-humanities-jobs-davos-alex-karp/ - Our approach to age prediction [OpenAI] https://openai.com/index/our-approach-to-age-prediction/ - Age Verification Laws Came for the Open Internet [Engadget] https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/the-year-age-verification-laws-came-for-the-open-internet-130000979.html?src=rss *Panelists* - Zachary McDowell, Associate Professor, Communication, University of Illinois Chicago https://comm.uic.edu/profiles/zachary-mcdowell/ - Jeremy Riel (Host), Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Illinois Chicago & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-Lead https://education.uic.edu/profiles/riel-jeremy/ - Ken Suh, Adjunct Professor, Law, University of Illinois Chicago https://www.linkedin.com/in/kensuh *About The FTP Podcast* The FTP podcast brings together a panel of interdisciplinary faculty experts across the University of Illinois System to discuss trends and news from recent weeks in tech and policy while looking toward the future. Produced by the Science and Technology Working Group, Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA), University of Illinois System. https://igpa.uillinois.edu All opinions expressed on the FTP Podcast are those of the individual panelists and not the opinions of the University of Illinois System, The Institute of Government and Public Affairs, or the three UI universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, or Springfield.

    44 min

  2. 13 JAN

    Ep.4 - CES AI Products and E-Waste, Who Regulates AI?, Chief AI Preparedness Officers, and Licensed AI Characters

    In this episode of the Future Tech & Policy (FTP) Podcast, the panel returns from winter break with a look at the light-hearted "Worst In Show" awards for products from the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the US Executive Order toward federal AI regulation preemption over state laws, the new "Head of Preparedness" officer being hired by OpenAI to investigate risks and challenges with their models, and the recent licensing agreement between Disney and OpenAI to use everyone's favorite Disney characters on the company's AI products like ChatGPT and Sora.    *Links to articles discussed* - CES Worst in Show Awards Website https://www.worstinshowces.com - ‘Worst in Show’ CES products include AI refrigerators, AI companions and AI doorbells (AP) https://apnews.com/article/ces-worst-show-ai-0ce7fbc5aff68e8ff6d7b8e6fb7b007d - “Worst in Show” Returns at CES 2026, Calling Out Gadgets That Make Things Worse (iFixIt) https://www.ifixit.com/News/115344/worst-in-show-returns-at-ces-2026-calling-out-gadgets-that-make-things-worse - Trump tries to block state AI laws himself after Congress decided not to (Ars Technica)  https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/12/trump-tries-to-block-state-ai-laws-himself-after-congress-decided-not-to/ - Trump’s AI executive order promises ‘one rulebook’ — startups may get legal limbo instead (TechCrunch) https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/12/trumps-ai-executive-order-promises-one-rulebook-startups-may-get-legal-limbo-instead/ - OpenAI is looking for a new Head of Preparedness (TechCrunch) https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/28/openai-is-looking-for-a-new-head-of-preparedness/ - Disney invests $1 billion in OpenAI, licenses 200 characters for AI video app Sora (Ars Technica) https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/12/disney-invests-1-billion-in-openai-licenses-200-characters-for-ai-video-app-sora/ - Disney has accused Google of copyright infringement on a 'massive scale' (Engadget) https://www.engadget.com/ai/disney-has-accused-google-of-copyright-infringement-on-a-massive-scale-163737642.html - Extracting books from production language models (arxiv) https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.02671 *Panelists* - Zachary McDowell, Associate Professor, Communication, University of Illinois Chicago https://comm.uic.edu/profiles/zachary-mcdowell/ - Jeremy Riel (Host), Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Illinois Chicago & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-Lead https://education.uic.edu/profiles/riel-jeremy/ - Gagandeep Singh, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-Lead https://siebelschool.illinois.edu/about/people/faculty/ggnds - Ken Suh, Adjunct Professor, Law, University of Illinois Chicago https://www.linkedin.com/in/kensuh *About The FTP Podcast* The FTP podcast brings together a panel of interdisciplinary faculty experts across the University of Illinois System to discuss trends and news from recent weeks in tech and policy while looking toward the future. Produced by the Science and Technology Working Group, Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA), University of Illinois System. https://igpa.uillinois.edu All opinions expressed on the FTP Podcast are those of the individual panelists and not the opinions of the University of Illinois System, The Institute of Government and Public Affairs, or the three UI universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, or Springfield.

    55 min

  3. 09/12/2025

    Ep. 3 - FTP Podcast - Forgetting Passwords, Genesis Mission, Gov AI Tech Registries, Children AI Facial Recognition, Bot Sentience

    In this episode of the Future Tech & Policy (FTP) Podcast, the panel discusses some interesting cases for forgotten passwords and cybersecurity, the US Executive Order on the new Genesis Mission for AI research infrastructure via the NAIRR program and high-performance computing resources, Canada's new AI Register that inventories AI technologies being used by the Canadian federal government, the potential use of AI facial recognition technology with children who play the game Roblox, and the persisting question of whether AI is sentient. Links to articles discussed Magician forgets password to his own hand after RFID chip implant (The Register)Cryptographers Held an Election. They Can’t Decrypt the Results (The New York Times)Trump signs executive order launching AI initiative being compared to the Manhattan Project (NBC News)Launching the Genesis Mission (The White House)Government of Canada AI Register (Minimum Viable Product) (Government of Canada)Roblox will require age estimation to chat starting next year (The Verge) Panelists Zachary McDowell, Associate Professor, Communication, University of Illinois ChicagoJeremy Riel (Host), Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Illinois Chicago & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-LeadGagandeep Singh, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-LeadKen Suh, Adjunct Professor, Law, University of Illinois Chicago About The FTP Podcast The FTP podcast brings together a panel of interdisciplinary faculty experts across the University of Illinois System to discuss trends and news from recent weeks in tech and policy while looking toward the future. Produced by the Science and Technology Working Group, Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA), University of Illinois System. https://igpa.uillinois.edu All opinions expressed on the FTP Podcast are those of the individual panelists and not the opinions of the University of Illinois System, The Institute of Government and Public Affairs, or the three UI universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, or Springfield.

    49 min

  4. 25/11/2025

    Ep. 2 - FTP: Future Tech & Policy Podcast - AI Regulation Debates, Teddy Bear Bots, and Insuring AI

    In this episode of the Future Tech & Policy (FTP) Podcast, the panel discusses the recent federal and state debates regarding AI regulation and who should be responsible for AI policy, AI-infused toys and teddy bears and their recent safety testing results, and how AI products and initiatives might be insured. Links to articles discussed Here’s the Trump executive order that would ban state AI laws (The Verge)Trump administration might not fight state AI regulations after all (TechCrunch)Amazon Still Selling Multiple OpenAI-Powered Teddy Bears, Even After They Were Pulled Off the Market (Futurism)Do Not, Under Any Circumstance, Buy Your Kid an AI Toy for Christmas (Gizmodo)AI is too risky to insure, say people whose job is insuring risk (TechCrunch)Insurers retreat from AI cover as risk of multibillion-dollar claims mounts (Financial Times)Panelists Jeremy Riel (Host), Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Illinois Chicago & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-LeadKen Suh, Adjunct Professor, Law, University of Illinois ChicagoGagandeep Singh, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-LeadAlvin Chin, Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor, Information and Decision Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago About The FTP Podcast The FTP podcast brings together a panel of interdisciplinary faculty experts across the University of Illinois System to discuss trends and news from recent weeks in tech and policy while looking toward the future. Produced by the Science and Technology Working Group, Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA), University of Illinois System. https://igpa.uillinois.edu All opinions expressed on the FTP Podcast are those of the individual panelists and not the opinions of the University of Illinois System, The Institute of Government and Public Affairs, or the three UI universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, or Springfield.

    51 min

  5. 18/11/2025

    FTP Episode 1 - New Podcast! Sora, AI Pilot Projects, OpenAI Chat Logs, Tilly Norwood

    In this inaugural episode of the FTP Podcast, panelists discuss AI-related news from recent weeks, as AI continues to present imaginative use cases and potential policy questions. Topics include the release of the Sora AI-generated video social networking app for Android, a report on pilot projects and startups having a high rate of failure, a recent court decision requiring chat logs from OpenAI to be turned over for discovery in a case, and the newest non-human Hollywood star Tilly Norwood and the impacts on AI in creative industries.  Links to articles discussed:  Sora for Android saw nearly half a million installs on its first day (TechCrunch)MIT report: 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing (Fortune)OpenAI Must Turn Over 20M User Logs, Judge Orders (Law360)AI star Tilly Norwood shocked Hollywood. Now her creator plans for 40 more (San Francisco Chronicle)Panelists: Jeremy Riel (Host), Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois Chicago & IGPA Science and Technology Working Group Co-Lead.Ken Suh, Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Illinois ChicagoThe FTP podcast brings together a panel of interdisciplinary faculty experts across the University of Illinois System to discuss trends and news from recent weeks in tech and policy while looking toward the future. Produced by the Science and Technology Working Group, Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA), University of Illinois System.

    36 min
  • 5 Episodes

About

The Future Tech & Policy (FTP) Podcast features a panel of interdisciplinary faculty experts from the 3 universities at the University of Illinois System that examines news, trends, and issues related to emerging technology like AI, quantum, energy, and future-looking computing and how these advancements influence policy and regulation in Illinois and beyond. A production of the Science and Technology Working Group at the Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA).  Episodes released bi-weekly.  Hosted by Jeremy Riel, Science & Technology Working Group Co-Lead and Assistant Professor, University of Illinois Chicago. Regular panelists are faculty members of the IGPA Science and Technology Working Group (https://igpa.uillinois.edu/working-groups/science-and-technology).

Information

  • Creator
    IGPA Science and Technology Working Group
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    5
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 FTP: Future Tech and Policy
  • Show Website
    FTP: Future Tech and Policy