In Machines We Trust MIT Technology Review

We're so excited this episode has been selected as a New York Festivals finalist! Please enjoy this encore edition and we'll see you back next week!

Digital twins of humans capture the physical look and expressions of real humans. Increasingly these replicas are showing up in the entertainment industry and beyond and it gives rise to some interesting opportunities as well as thorny questions. 

We speak to:
Greg Cross, CEO and co-founder of Soul Machines

Credits: This episode was produced by Anthony Green with help from Emma Cillekens. It was edited by Jennifer Strong and Mat Honan, mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from Jacob Gorski.

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 and watershed moments in artificial intelligence and computing happened, as told by the people who witnessed them.

In this episode we meet Marc Raibert, the founder and chairman of Boston Dynamics.

CREDITS: This project was produced by Jennifer Strong, Anthony Green and Emma Cillekens. It was edited by Mat Honan and mixed by Garret Lang, with original music by Jacob Gorski. Artwork by Eric Mongeon.

Computers are ranking the way people look—and the results are influencing the things we do, the posts we see, and the way we think.
Ideas about what constitutes “beauty” are complex, subjective, and by no means limited to physical appearances. Elusive though it is, everyone wants more of it. That means big business and increasingly, people harnessing algorithms to create their ideal selves in the digital and, sometimes, physical worlds. In this episode, we explore the popularity of beauty filters, and sit down with someone who’s convinced his software will show you just how to nip and tuck your way to a better life.

Reporting links:
https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/03/13/1069649/hyper-realistic-beauty-filters-bold-glamour/
https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/08/19/1057133/fight-for-instagram-face/

We meet:
Shafee Hassan, Qoves Studio founder 
Lauren Rhue, Assistant Professor of Information Systems at the Robert H. Smith School of Business

Credits:
This episode was reported by Tate Ryan-Mosley, and produced by Jennifer Strong, Emma Cillekens, Karen Hao and Anthony Green. We’re edited by Michael Reilly and Bobbie Johnson.
 

How we test and train fighter pilots—both real and artificial—is undergoing a series of rapid changes. Some themes are quite familiar. In order for these systems to be useful we need to trust them, but figuring out just how, when and why remains a massive challenge. In this second of a two-part series, we look at how AI is being used to teach human pilots to perform some of the most dangerous and difficult maneuvers in aerial combat, and we experience synthetic dogfighting first hand. 

We Meet:
Tom "T-Mac" Mackie, Director of Red6
Chris Cotting, Director Research, US Air Force Test Pilot School
Bill Gray, Chief Test Pilot, US Air Force Test Pilot School
Daniel Robinson, Founder & CEO Red6

Credits:
This episode was reported and produced by Jennifer Strong, Anthony Green and Emma Cillekens. It was edited by Mat Honan, and mixed by Garret Lang, with original music by Garret Lang and Jacob Gorski. Art by Stephanie Arnett.

A boy wrote about his suicide attempt. He didn’t realize his school's software was watching.
While schools commonly use AI to sift through students' digital lives and flag keywords that may be considered concerning, critics ask at what cost to privacy.

We Meet:
Jeff Patterson, CEO of Gaggle
Mark Keierleber, investigative reporter at The 74
Teeth Logsdon-Wallace, student
Elizabeth Laird, director of Equity in Civic Technology at Center for Democracy & Technology

Sounds From:
"Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of Your Fist" from the band Ramshackle Glory's 2011 album Live the Dream.
"Spying or protecting students? CBS46 Investigates school surveillance software" from CBS46 in Atlanta, GA on February 14, 2022.
"Student Surveillance Software: Schools know what your child is doing online. Do you?" from WSPA7 News in Greenville, SC on May 5, 2021.
"Spying or protecting students? CBS46 Investigates school surveillance software" from News 5 in Cleveland, OH on February 5, 2020.

Credits:
This episode was produced by Anthony Green and Emma Cillekens with reporting from Mark Keierleber. It was edited by Jennifer Strong and Michael Reilly, and mixed by Garret Lang with original music from Jacob Gorski. Art by Stephanie Arnett.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/oct/12/school-surveillance-dragnet-suicide-attempt-healing
https://www.the74million.org/contributor/mark-keierleber/
You can support our journalism by going to http://www.techreview.com/subscribe.

Late last year the US Department of Defense successfully ran a dozen flight tests in which AI agents piloted an experimental fighter jet. We explore the program that got it there and what this milestone means.

We Meet:
Chase Kohler, Edwards Air Force Base
Sue Halpern, The New Yorker
Paul Scharre, Center for a New American Security

Additional sources and sound:
DARPA's AlphaDogfight Trials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzdhIA2S35w
The Rise of A.I. Fighter Pilots: Artificial intelligence is being taught to fly warplanes: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/01/24/the-rise-of-ai-fighter-pilots
https://www.edwards.af.mil/News/Article/3297083/dod-artificial-intelligence-agents-successfully-pilot-fighter-jet/

Credits:
This episode was reported and produced by Jennifer Strong and Anthony Green with help from Emma Cillekens. It was edited by Jennifer Strong and Mat Honan, and mixed by Garret Lang with original music from Garret Lang and Jacob Gorski. Artwork by Stephanie Arnett.