In Machines We Trust MIT Technology Review

I Was There When is an oral history project that's part of the In Machines We Trust podcast. It features stories of how breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and computing happened, as told by the people who witnessed them.
In this first installment we meet Joseph Atick who helped create the first commercially viable facial recognition system.
Do you have a story to tell for this series? Do you want to nominate someone who does? We want to hear from you! Please reach out to us at podcasts@technologyreview.com.

CREDITS: This episode was produced by Jennifer Strong, Anthony Green and Emma Cillekens with help from Lindsay Muscato. It’s edited by Michael Reilly and Mat Honan, and mixed by Garret Lang, with sound design and music by Jacob Gorski. 

From chess to Jeopardy to e-sports, AI is increasingly beating humans at their own games. But that was never the ultimate goal. In this episode we dig into the symbiotic relationship between games and AI. We meet the big players in the space, and we take a trip to an arcade.

We Meet: 
Julian Togelius
Will Douglas-Heaven
David Silver 
David Fahri 

We Talked To: 
Julian Togelius
Will Douglas-Heaven
Karen Hao
David Silver 
David Fahri 
Natasha Regan

Sounds From:

Jeopardy 2011-02:The IBM Challenge
https://archive.org/details/Jeopardy.2011.02.The.IBM.Challenge/Jeopardy.2011.02.16.The.IBM.Challenge.Day.3.HDTV.XviD-FQM.avi 

Garry Kasparov VS Deep Blue 1997 6th game (Kasparov Resigns)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsMk1Nbcs-s 

Attack Like AlphaZero: The Power of the King
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0JK5Fa3AqI 

Miracle Perfect Anti Mage 16/0 - Dota 2 Pro Gameplay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59KnNcU9iKc 

DOTA 2 - ALL GAME-WINNING Moments in The International History (TI1-TI9)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJcNbuASl-Y 

Credits:
This episode was reported by Jennifer Strong and Will Douglas Heaven and produced by Anthony Green, Emma Cillekens and Karen Hao. We’re edited by Niall Firth, Michael Reilly and Mat Honan. Our mix engineer is Garret Lang. Sound design and music by Jacob Gorski.

When it comes to hiring, it’s increasingly becoming an AI’s world, we’re just working in it. In this, the final episode of Season 2, and the conclusion of our series on AI and hiring, we take a look at how AI-based systems are increasingly playing gatekeeper in the hiring process—screening out applicants by the millions, based on little more than what they see in your resume. But we aren’t powerless against the machines. In fact, an increasing number of people and services are designed to help you play by—and in some cases bend—their rules to give you an edge.

We Meet: 

Jamaal Eggleston, Work Readiness Instructor, The HOPE Program
Ian Siegel, CEO, ZipRecruiter
Sami Mäkeläinen, Head of Strategic Foresight, Telstra
Salil Pande, CEO, VMock
Gracy Sarkissian, Interim Executive Director, Wasserman Center for Career Development, New York University

We Talked To: 
Jamaal Eggleston, Work Readiness Instructor, The HOPE Program
Students and Teachers from The HOPE Program in Brooklyn, NY
Jonathan Kestenbaum, Co-founder & Managing Director of Talent Tech Labs
Josh Bersin, Global Industry Analyst
Brian Kropp, Vice President Research, Gartner
Ian Siegel, CEO, ZipRecruiter
Sami Mäkeläinen, Head of Strategic Foresight, Telstra
Salil Pande, CEO, VMock
Kiran Pande, Co-Founder, VMock

Gracy Sarkissian, Interim Executive Director, Wasserman Center for Career Development, New York University

Sounds From:

Curious Thing AI (Sound from their AI tool)

HireVue Video Interview: How To Beat The Algorithm and Get The Job: https://youtu.be/jn0dc1cOctA 

HIREVUE Interview Questions, Tips and Answers! How to PASS a HireVue Interview!: https://youtu.be/ycG5_uccoNk 

Video Interview Techniques - 3 Easy Hacks To Prepare for Hirevue / Spark Hire / VidCruiter: https://youtu.be/tp0jt4hoHsI 

How to PASS Psychometric Tests | Tips & Tricks for Aptitude Tests, Numerical Reasoning, Game Based: https://youtu.be/u_nWOnJevaA 


Credits:
This miniseries on hiring was reported by Hilke Schellmann and produced by Jennifer Strong, Emma Cillekens, Anthony Green and Karen Hao. We’re edited by Michael Reilly.

Increasingly, job seekers need to pass a series of ‘tests’ in the form of artificial intelligence games—just to be seen by a hiring manager. In this third, of a four-part miniseries on AI and hiring, we speak to someone who helped create these tests, we ask who might get left behind in the process and why there isn’t more policy in place. We also try out some of these tools ourselves.

We Meet:
Matthew Neale, Vice President of Assessment Products, Criteria Corp. 
Frida Polli, CEO, Pymetrics 
Henry Claypool, Consultant and former Obama Administration Member, Commission on Long-Term Care
Safe Hammad, CTO, Arctic Shores  
Alexandra Reeve Givens, President and CEO, Center for Democracy and Technology
Nathaniel Glasser, Employment Lawyer, Epstein Becker Green
Keith Sonderling, Commissioner, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

We Talked To: 
Aaron Rieke, Managing Director, Upturn
Adam Forman, Employment Lawyer, Epstein Becker Green
Brian Kropp, Vice President Research, Gartner
Josh Bersin, Research Analyst
Jonathan Kestenbaum, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Talent Tech Labs
Frank Pasquale, Professor, Brooklyn Law School
Patricia (Patti) Sanchez, Employment Manager, MacDonald Training Center 
Matthew Neale, Vice President of Assessment Products, Criteria Corp. 
Frida Polli, CEO, pymetrics 
Henry Claypool, Consultant and former Obama Administration Member, Commission on Long-Term Care
Safe Hammad, CTO, Arctic Shores  
Alexandra Reeve Givens, President and CEO, Center for Democracy and Technology
Nathaniel Glasser, Employment Lawyer, Epstein Becker Green
Keith Sonderling, Commissioner, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

Sounds From:
*Science 4-Hire, podcast
*Matthew Kirkwold’s cover of XTC’s, Complicated Game, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tumM_6YYeXs

Credits:
This miniseries on hiring was reported by Hilke Schellmann and produced by Jennifer Strong, Emma Cillekens, Anthony Green and Karen Hao. We’re edited by Michael Reilly.

In the past, hiring decisions were made by people. Today, some key decisions that lead to whether someone gets a job or not are made by algorithms. The use of AI-based job interviews has increased since the pandemic. As demand increases, so too do questions about whether these algorithms make fair and unbiased hiring decisions, or find the most qualified applicant. In this second episode of a four-part series on AI in hiring, we meet some of the big players making this technology including the CEOs of HireVue and myInterview—and we test some of these tools ourselves.

We Meet: 

Kevin Parker, Chairman & CEO, HireVue

Shelton Banks, CEO, re:work

Mark Adams, Vice President of North America, Curious Thing AI

Benjamin Gillman, Co-Founder and CEO, myInterview

Fred Oswald, Psychology Professor, Rice University 

Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Computer Science Professor, Brown University

Clayton Donnelly, industrial-organizational psychologist, myInterview


We Talked To: 

Kevin Parker, Chairman & CEO, HireVue

Lindsey Zuloaga, Chief Data Scientist, HireVue

Nathan Mondragon, Chief IO Psychologist, HireVue

Shelton Banks, CEO, re:work

Lisa Feldman Barrett, Psychology Professor, Northeastern University

Cathy O’Neil, CEO, O'Neil Risk Consulting & Algorithmic Auditing

Mark Adams, Vice President of North America, Curious Thing AI

Han Xu, Co-founder & CTO, Curious Thing AI

Benjamin Gillman, Co-founder & CEO, myInterview 

Fred Oswald, Psychology Professor, Rice University 

Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Computer Science Professor, Brown University

Clayton Donnelly, industrial-organizational psychologist, myInterview

Mark Gray, Director of People, Proper

Christoph Hohenberger, Co-founder and Managing Director, Retorio

Derek Mracek, Lead Data Scientist, Yobs

Raphael Danilo, Co-founder & CEO, Yobs

Jonathan Kestenbaum, Co-founder & Managing Director of Talent Tech Labs

Josh Bersin, Global Industry Analyst

Students and Teachers from the Hope Program in Brooklyn, NY

Henry Claypool, policy expert and former Director of the U.S. Health and Human Services Office on Disability


Sounds From: 

Curious Thing AI 

myInterview 

Dolly Parton - 9 To 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbxUSsFXYo4


Arirang News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30oCHwwLxy4


CBS News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbRBCU6SHHo 

CBS Philly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wiPoCsZFFs 


Credits:
This miniseries on hiring was reported by Hilke Schellmann and produced by Jennifer Strong, Emma Cillekens, Karen Hao and Anthony Green with special thanks to James Wall. We’re edited by Michael Reilly. Art direction by Stephanie Arnett.

If you’ve applied for a job lately, it’s all but guaranteed that your application was reviewed by software—in most cases, before a human ever laid eyes on it. In this episode, the first in a four-part investigation into automated hiring practices, we speak with the CEOs of ZipRecruiter and Career Builder, and one of the architects of LinkedIn’s algorithmic job-matching system, to explore how AI is increasingly playing matchmaker between job searchers and employers. But while software helps speed up the process of sifting through the job market, algorithms have a history of biasing the opportunities they present to people by gender, race...and in at least one case, whether you played lacrosse in high school.

We Meet: 

Mark Girouard, Attorney, Nilan Johnson Lewis

Ian Siegel, CEO, ZipRecruiter

John Jersin, former Vice President of Product Management, LinkedIn

Irina Novoselsky, CEO, CareerBuilder 


We Talked To: 

Mark Girouard, Attorney, Nilan Johnson Lewis

Ian Siegel, CEO, ZipRecruiter

John Jersin, former Vice President of Product Management, LinkedIn

Irina Novoselsky, CEO, CareerBuilder 

Derek Kan, Vice President of Product Management, Monster

Aleksandra Korolova, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of Southern California 

Brian Kropp, Vice President Research, Gartner

Matthew Neale, Vice President of Assessment Products, Criteria Corp

Josh Bersin, Research Analyst

Jonathan Kestenbaum, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Talent Tech Labs

Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Assistant Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy


Sounds From: 

How to Keep a Job, Coronet Instructional Films: https://archive.org/details/HowtoKee1949 

Curious Thing AI (Sound from their AI tool)


Credits:
This episode was reported by Hilke Schellmann, and produced by Jennifer Strong, Emma Cillekens and Anthony Green with special thanks to Karen Hao. We’re edited by Michael Reilly.

Additional reporting from us:
https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/06/23/1026825/linkedin-ai-bias-ziprecruiter-monster-artificial-intelligence/
https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/02/11/1017955/auditors-testing-ai-hiring-algorithms-bias-big-questions-remain/
https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/04/09/1022217/facebook-ad-algorithm-sex-discrimination/
https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/11/07/75194/hirevue-ai-automated-hiring-discrimination-ftc-epic-bias/
https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/02/14/844765/ai-emotion-recognition-affective-computing-hirevue-regulation-ethics/