In this first episode of series five, our Crossing Channels podcast host Richard Westcott welcomes three affiliated experts to explore how artificial intelligence is transforming higher education.

Jonathan Grant (Bennett School of Public Policy), and Jean-François Bonnefon and François Poinas (Toulouse School of Economics (TSE) & the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST)) share their different perspectives rooted in public policy, psychology, and economics.

They examine how AI is reshaping the way universities teach, conduct research, and connect with government, business, and civil society. They look into how generative tools are changing learning and assessment, how students and academics can build trust in AI systems, and what the rise of these technologies means for the skills and values that universities aim to foster.

Listen to this episode on your preferred podcast platform

Season 5 Episode 1 transcript

To find out more about the work of the Bennett School of Public Policy and IAST visit our websites: https://www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/ and https://www.iast.fr/.

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With thanks to:

• Audio production by Alice Whaley
• Associate production by Burcu Sevde Selvi, Bennett School of Public Policy
• Visuals by Tiffany Naylor and Pauline Alves, IAST, TSE

More information about our host and guests:

Podcast host

Richard Westcott is an award-winning journalist who spent 27 years at the BBC as a correspondent/producer/presenter covering global stories for the flagship Six and Ten o’clock TV news as well as the Today programme. Last year, Richard left the corporation and is now the Communications Director for Cambridge University Health Partners and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, both organisations that are working to support life sciences and healthcare across the city.

Podcast guests

Jean-François Bonnefon, is Director of the Social and Behavioural Sciences Department at Toulouse School of Economics (TSE) and the Institute of Advanced Studies in Toulouse (IAST). Jean-François is a CNRS research director, affiliated with TSE and IAST, and a cognitive psychologist whose work spans computer science, psychology, and economics. He is renowned for his expertise in moral preferences and decision-making, and is particularly recognised for his contributions to the ethics of advanced artificial intelligence, especially in autonomous driving.

Jonathan Grant is an Affiliated Researcher at the Bennett School of Public Policy, and Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). In his work for KAUST, he leads efforts to enhance the institution's global and national impact through transformative academic programming and strategic partnerships. An expert in health R&D policy, research impact, and the evolving role of universities, Jonathan has worked across Europe, the Middle East, North America, and Australia.

François Poinas is Assistant Professor and Dean of Education at Toulouse School of Economics since October 2023. After completing his PhD in Economics at University Lumière Lyon 2, he joined TSE and University Toulouse Capitole in 2010. His research is about applied microeconomics, focusing on labor and education economics. He produces scientific articles on schooling, the dynamics of intra-firm promotions, and migration decisions.

In this final episode of season 4, Richard Westcott is joined by Catherine Barnard (University of Cambridge) and Emmanuelle Auriol (Toulouse School of Economics) to explore the economic, legal, and social dimensions of migration.

Drawing on insights from law and economics, the conversation explores how migration affects labour markets, legal protections, and social cohesion — from post-Brexit realities in Great Yarmouth, UK, to global questions of fairness and opportunity. The episode examines who migrates and why, the limits of current border regimes, and what more effective and ethical migration policies could look like.

• Season 4 Episode 10 transcript: https://www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/S04E10-Final-transcript.pdf
• Listen to this episode on your preferred podcast platform: https://pod.fo/e/309b75

For more information about the Crossing Channels podcast series and the work of the Bennett School of Public Policy and the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, visit our websites at https://www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/ and https://www.iast.fr/.

Follow us on Linkedin, Bluesky and X.

With thanks to:

• Audio production by Steve Hankey
• Associate production by Burcu Sevde Selvi
• Visuals by Tiffany Naylor and Aurore Carbonnel

More information about our host and guests:

Richard Westcott is an award-winning journalist who spent 27 years at the BBC as a correspondent/producer/presenter covering global stories for the flagship Six and Ten o’clock TV news as well as the Today programme. In 2024, Richard left the corporation and he is now the communications director for Cambridge University Health Partners and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, both organisations that are working to support life sciences and healthcare across the city. @BBCwestcott

Emmanuelle Auriol is a French economist and professor at Toulouse School of Economics. Her research combines theory and empirics in industrial organisation and development economics, focusing on market failures driven by rent-seeking, cognitive biases, and discriminatory norms. Her work blends neoclassical and behavioural economics and has been published in top journals. A CNRS Bronze Medalist and member of the Institut Universitaire de France, she is also a fellow of the EEA, CEPR, CESifo, and EUDN. She contributes to policy and development work with institutions like the French Development Agency and the World Bank. She serves on the Conseil d'Analyse Économique, is a member of the Cercle des Économistes, and has authored two award-winning books.

Catherine Barnard FBA, FLSW, FRSA is Professor of European Law at the University of Cambridge. She is the author of EU Employment Law (Oxford, OUP, 2012, 5th ed.), The Substantive Law of the EU: The Four Freedoms, (Oxford, OUP, 2025, 8th ed), and (with Peers ed), European Union Law (Oxford, OUP, 2023, 4th ed). She is a member of the European Commission funded European Labour Law Network (ELLN). She is a Senior Fellow of the UK in a Changing Europe where she considers the legal issues around migration, together with the legal and constitutional issues associated with Brexit, in particular the Withdrawal Agreement and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. She has appeared on the main media channels - BBC, ITV and Sky - as well as some of the more specialist programmes such as Law in Action, Woman's Hour, Question Ti

In this episode, Richard Westcott is joined by Wendy Ayres-Bennett and Benjamin Pitt to explore a big, everyday question: what is the value of speaking other languages? The conversation looks at how the languages we speak shape our sense of identity, influence how we think and reason, and affect how we relate to others. We explore how multilingualism can foster social cohesion, support cognitive flexibility, and even boost economic opportunities.

Our guests discuss why language is never just a tool for communication and why recognising its deeper value matters for how we design education, shape public policy, and navigate life in an increasingly interconnected world.

This episode is hosted by Richard Westcott (Cambridge University Health Partners and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus), and features experts Benjamin Pitt (IAST) and Wendy Ayres-Bennett (University of Cambridge).

• Season 4 Episode 9 transcript
• Listen to this episode on your preferred podcast platform

For more information about the Crossing Channels podcast series and the work of the Bennett Institute and IAST visit our websites at bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk and iast.fr

Follow us on Linkedin, Bluesky and X.

With thanks to:

• Audio production by Steve Hankey
• Associate production by Burcu Sevde Selvi
• Visuals by Tiffany Naylor and Aurore Carbonnel

More information about our host and guests:

Richard Westcott is an award-winning journalist who spent 27 years at the BBC as a correspondent/producer/presenter covering global stories for the flagship Six and Ten o’clock TV news as well as the Today programme. Last year, Richard left the corporation and he is now the communications director for Cambridge University Health Partners and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, both organisations that are working to support life sciences and healthcare across the city. @BBCwestcott

Benjamin Pitt is a cognitive scientist and current Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse. He studies how language and culture shape the way people think, and what this cognitive diversity can tell us about the structure of the human mind. He holds degrees from Brown University and the University of Chicago, and – starting next Spring – he will be joining the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, as assistant professor and director of the “Cognitive Construction” lab.

Wendy Ayres-Bennett is Emerita Professor of French Philology and Linguistics, University of Cambridge. She was Principal Investigator (2016-2021) on the AHRC-funded, multi-disciplinary research project, Multilingualism: Empowering Individuals, Transforming Societies, which promoted the value of languages for key issues of our time and explored the benefits of language learning for individuals and societies. An AHRC-funded follow-on project Promoting Language Policy provided research-based evidence for moving languages higher up the political agenda. She currently holds a Leverhulme Trust Emeritus Fellowship to write a book on language policy in the UK.