Building 32 from MIT CSAIL Alliances

Building 32

Welcome to Building 32 from MIT CSAIL Alliances. Building 32 is the iconic Stata Center, home to the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) where hundreds of curious researchers are building the future of computing. On Building 32, we go behind the research to explore the ideas, breakthroughs, and people behind MIT's largest lab, from technologies already shaping our lives to the discoveries still ahead. Stay ahead of the curve on AI and the future of computing with new episodes released the second Monday of every month.

  1. 6d ago

    The Geometry of Just About Everything

    What does Pixar, snow shoveling, and AI have in common? Geometry. At MIT CSAIL, Prof. Justin Solomon puts geometry at the center of his research, and it’s a lot more than shapes and angles. He explains how the same mathematical ideas can help self-driving cars recognize pedestrians, make computer graphics more realistic, and even guide New Englanders on the most efficient way to shovel snow. Solomon discusses the meaning of the Navier–Stokes equation breakthrough, why he thinks humans still matter in the lab and the classroom, high vs. low dimensional data, his early work with Pixar, and his Erdős–Bacon number. Learn what that is and more in this episode of Building 32. Episode Resources: Student Rickard Brüel Gabrielsson’s paper on LoRAs: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2407.00066 Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Degrees_of_Kevin_Bacon Erdős number: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erd%C5%91s_number Erdős–Bacon number: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erd%C5%91s%E2%80%93Bacon_number Justin’s IMDb page: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5152914/?ref_=fn_t_2&_ssoLoop=1 Learn more about Justin: Spotlight: https://cap.csail.mit.edu/engage/spotlights/justin-solomon-0 Personal website: https://people.csail.mit.edu/jsolomon/ CSAIL page: https://www.csail.mit.edu/person/justin-solomon Building 32 episodes, meet the host, and more: csail.mit.edu/podcast Connect with CSAIL Alliances: On our site: cap.csail.mit.edu/about-us/meet-our-team On LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/mit-csail

    The Geometry of Just About Everything

  2. Oct 13

    How a Mathematician Keeps Computers Honest

    Yael Tauman Kalai is a computer scientist who doesn’t code. Instead, this MIT CSAIL professor uses mathematics and cryptography to tackle some of computing’s biggest security questions: How can we know if a message is secure or if an LLM answer is correct? What does it mean to know anything when it comes to computation and trust? Professor Kalai’s work is setting the stage for verifiable, provable AI training, as well as keeping us safe in a post-quantum world. Learn what she thinks about the future of cryptography and why she sleeps well at night. Learn more about Yael Kalai Spotlight: https://cap.csail.mit.edu/engage/spotlights/yael-kalai Building 32 episodes, meet the host, and more: csail.mit.edu/podcast Connect with CSAIL Alliances: On our site: cap.csail.mit.edu/about-us/meet-our-team On LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/mit-csail #QuantumComputing #Encryption #Cybersecurity #Cryptography #Technology #ComputerScience #Quantum #MIT

    How a Mathematician Keeps Computers Honest

  3. Sep 14

    Materially Efficient: Knitting, Coding, and Concrete

    What if the future of sustainable construction looked less like traditional building and more like knitting? Speaking with Building 32 host Karen Given, MIT CSAIL Assistant Professor Mariana Popescu explains how, using a combination of computational design, digital fabrication, and industrial knitting machines, she is rethinking how we build complex structures. Her research explores using knitted textiles as lightweight, efficient concrete formworks, allowing architects and engineers to create complex geometries while using less material and producing less waste. Mariana discusses the origins of her work with fabric formwork, her early experiments with knitted structures, and how a small knitted bridge helped demonstrate the potential of the technique. She also explains why sustainability doesn't have to come at the expense of beauty or human experience. Episode Resources: More about Necto: https://necto-venice.com/ Biennale Architettura 2025: https://www.labiennale.org/it/architettura/2025 KnitCandela in Mexico City: https://maadpope.com/knitcandela/ See the piece Mariana showed Karen: https://maadpope.com/knitcrete/ Learn more about Mariana Popescu: Personal website: https://maadpope.com Spotlight: https://cap.csail.mit.edu/engage/spotlights/mariana-popescu Building 32 episodes, meet the host, and more: csail.mit.edu/podcast Connect with CSAIL Alliances: On our site: cap.csail.mit.edu/about-us/meet-our-team On LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/mit-csail #MITCSAIL #Building32 #Architecture #SustainableDesign #ComputationalDesign #DigitalFabrication #AI #Engineering

    Materially Efficient: Knitting, Coding, and Concrete

  4. Aug 10

    Why AI Still Can't Load the Dishwasher

    When The Jetsons imagined life in 2062, Rosie the robot maid seemed like pure science fiction. Today, chatbots can answer questions, analyze data and even crack jokes. But they still can't load the dishwasher. In this episode of Building 32, MIT CSAIL associate professor Vincent Sitzmann explains why building AI that understands and interacts with the physical world is a fundamentally different challenge. Sitzmann explains why today's AI still struggles with seemingly simple physical tasks and how researchers are teaching machines to see, predict, and interact with the world around them. In this episode: 00:00 - Intro 03:50 - From electrical engineering to computer science 05:05 - What is computer vision? 08:32 - Limitations of computer vision 09:41 - How do we fix the limitations of computer vision? 12:41 - Why can’t LLMs solve computer vision? 18:31 - How robots can learn like babies 20:57 - The future of robots in homes 23:59 - Continual learning and exploration 27:25 - Outro Episode Resources: 😃Learn more about Vincent Sitzmann: https://www.vincentsitzmann.com/ 🎥And the Scene Representation Group: https://scenerepresentations.org/ 📖Read the Nature article Karen referenced: https://bit.ly/45NzH7q 🤖Watch the Jetsons and meet Rosie: https://bit.ly/4bzEHjB Building 32 episodes, meet the host, and more: csail.mit.edu/podcast Connect with CSAIL Alliances: On our site: cap.csail.mit.edu/about-us/meet-our-team On LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/mit-csail #MIT #CSAIL #Building32 #ArtificialIntelligence #Robotics #TechInnovation #FutureOfAI #Podcast

    Why AI Still Can't Load the Dishwasher

  5. Jul 13

    Internet Pioneer David Clark’s Lessons for the AI Age

    Long before smartphones, social media, or ChatGPT, researchers at MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) helped lay the groundwork for the modern internet. In this episode of Building 32, MIT CSAIL senior research scientist, internet pioneer and former Chief Protocol Architect David Clark reflects on those early days and explains how a network designed to connect computers became a force that reshaped society. More than fifty years later, Clark is applying those same instincts to Artificial Intelligence. He argues that the biggest challenges aren't about algorithms—they're about power, incentives, and human behavior. Episodes, listener discounts, meet the host, and more can be found here: csail.mit.edu/podcast Connect with CSAIL Alliances: On our site: cap.csail.mit.edu/about-us/meet-our-team On LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/mit-csail #MIT #CSAIL #Building32 #ArtificialIntelligence #InternetHistory #TechInnovation #FutureOfAI #Podcast

    Internet Pioneer David Clark’s Lessons for the AI Age

  6. Jun 29

    Announcing Building 32, from MIT CSAIL Alliances

    MIT has a new podcast. Announcing Building 32, from MIT CSAIL Alliances. Behind every technological breakthrough is a story. From email to the fax machine to the Roomba and even OkCupid, innovations that shape our daily lives trace back to MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, or MIT CSAIL. And technology that is years ahead of the market is being developed in CSAIL labs now. Tune into Building 32 from MIT CSAIL Alliances, hosted by Karen Given, to hear the stories of CSAIL. Each episode features conversations with pioneers who helped define the digital age or researchers shaping tomorrow’s AI, robotics, computing, and beyond. Subscribe now. The first episode launches July 13, 2026. Learn more: csail.mit.edu/podcast Connect with CSAIL Alliances: On our site: cap.csail.mit.edu/about-us/meet-our-team On LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/mit-csail #MIT #CSAIL #ArtificialIntelligence #Robotics #ComputerScience #TechPodcast #Innovation #FutureOfTechnology

    Announcing Building 32, from MIT CSAIL Alliances

  7. Apr 21

    How Enterprises are Getting AI Wrong with MIT CSAIL Armando Solar-Lezama

    Professor Armando Solar-Lezama, MIT CSAIL Associate Director, says there are currently three camps in AI discourse: the utopian thinkers, the alarmists, and the skeptics. And all of them are wrong. Plus, hear his thoughts on AI Agents, neurosymbolic programming, vibe coding, and more. In this conversation, Professor Solar-Lezama explains how "vibe coding" is transforming daily productivity for those who already know how to code, why software development is becoming a capital-intensive business for the first time in its history, and why the developers who benefit most from AI tools are the ones with the strongest foundations. He also offers a warning on AI agents: that simple attacks have been patched but major vulnerabilities remain, and deploying agents in high-stakes environments without understanding those risks is a gamble organizations shouldn't take yet. Plus, get a closer look at emerging technologies like neurosymbolic programming and areas where human expertise will be more important than ever. Episodes, listener discounts, meet the host, and more can be found here: csail.mit.edu/podcast Connect with CSAIL Alliances: On our site: cap.csail.mit.edu/about-us/meet-our-team On LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/mit-csail #ArtificialIntelligence #AITrends #MachineLearning #TechPodcast #FutureOfWork #SoftwareDevelopment #AIEthics #Innovation

    How Enterprises are Getting AI Wrong with MIT CSAIL Armando Solar-Lezama

  8. Mar 2

    Chalk Radio: MIT Economist Andrew Lo on Finance, AI, and Human Behavior (Guest Episode)

    This month we’re featuring a special guest episode from our friends at MIT OpenCourseWare's Chalk Radio. Host Sarah Hansen sits down with Professor of Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management and CSAIL PI Andrew Lo for a wide-ranging conversation about money, learning, and making financial advice accessible to everyone. Andrew Lo explains why he believes finance is a language we all need to speak and that an advanced math degree is not required to be successful. Exploring how money quietly shapes nearly every path we take, Professor Lo reflects on his work with MIT OpenCourseWare which reached millions of learners worldwide and why breaking down “impenetrable” financial concepts has become central to his mission. And of course, he tackles the timely question: Should you use ChatGPT to plan your retirement? For many people, hiring a financial advisor might be a financial impossibility, but Professor Andrew Lo and his colleagues are working to develop an AI financial advisor that not only gives ordinary people access to sound financial advice, but ultimately acts with the best interest of the user. Andrew Lo is the faculty director of FinTechAI@CSAIL, a research initiative with CSAIL Alliances. https://cap.csail.mit.edu/members/initiatives/fintechaicsail Find episodes, listener discounts, meet the host, and more: https://csail.mit.edu/podcast For more episodes from Chalk Radio: https://chalk-radio.simplecast.com/ Connect with CSAIL Alliances: On our site: cap.csail.mit.edu/about-us/meet-our-team On LinkedIn: linkedIn.com/mit-CSAIL License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA #CSAIL #ChalkRadio #FinancialEconomics #FinTech #AIandFinance #PersonalFinance #LifelongLearning

    Chalk Radio: MIT Economist Andrew Lo on Finance, AI, and Human Behavior (Guest Episode)
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About

Welcome to Building 32 from MIT CSAIL Alliances. Building 32 is the iconic Stata Center, home to the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) where hundreds of curious researchers are building the future of computing. On Building 32, we go behind the research to explore the ideas, breakthroughs, and people behind MIT's largest lab, from technologies already shaping our lives to the discoveries still ahead. Stay ahead of the curve on AI and the future of computing with new episodes released the second Monday of every month.

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