No tech is just about the tech. True adoption — or lack thereof — is often about issues of culture, which is why I’m thrilled to speak to today’s guest: Adam Bai, who’s an anthropologist as well as the Chief Strategy Officer of Glimpse, a company that leverages AI for market research solutions.

Adam’s team has done extensive research on both AI adoption — and how this intersects with a company’s culture, teamwork, people, etc. — and AI bias and equity. He’s helped diagnose the problem and has some ideas on the solution.

At heart, this discussion gets at the growing gap between AI promises and AI reality, as it helps explain why some organizations are struggling to adopt AI, and others are thriving.

Fun conversation! Thanks again to Adam and Glimpse.

Glimpse:
https://www.glimpseahead.ai/

Adam Bai:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-bai-68131799/

Jeff Wilser on Twitter/X:
https://twitter.com/jeffwilser

How will AI impact education?

One university isn't passively waiting to see how the dust settles, but is instead aggressively incorporating AI into its curriculum. That would be American University's Kogod School of Business, which has moved at warp-speed to modify its curriculum in 20 classes to incorporate AI this Fall.

I'm delighted to be joined by the two key players in this initiative: Kogod School of Business' Dean David Marchick, and Professor Angela Virtu, who is spearheading the AI training of faculty and the AI-ification of the curriculum.

We get into the many, many facets and complexities of AI and education... How is the faculty reacting? What does an "AI curriculum" look like, exactly? What about the obvious question of cheating?

We cover a ton of ground and I had a blast -- hope you enjoy the conversation.

Link to The Wall Street Journal story that covers Kogod's AI adventure:
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/generative-ai-mba-business-school-13199631

Boston Dynamics just unveiled their new robot, "Atlas." The AI space was floored. Some were excited, some startled, some terrified, all fascinated.

Whether we like it or not, thanks to the rapid acceleration of AI, robots -- specifically humanoid robots -- are closer than we think. Robots are now less science fiction and more a short-to-medium-term likelihood.

So where are we now with robots? Where are we headed? What will Robot Land look like in, say, 10 years?

Joining the pod to discuss all things robots is Kordel France, Founder and Lead Engineer of Theta, an AI and robots company with a novel focus on the olfactory sense--smell. Their theory is that smell can have surprising use cases in AI right now, and in the future it could be the key to unlocking more robust, more natural Artificial General Intelligence.

Fun convo - enjoy!

Theta
https://thetadx.ai/

Link to Boston Dynamics' Unveiling of Atlas:
Or as The Verge calls it, "Boston Dynamics’ new Atlas robot is a swiveling, shape-shifting nightmare"
https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/17/24133145/boston-dynamics-resurrects-atlas-humanoid-robot-electric-new