KUNC presents "Possible," an audio series exploring the future of AI and how it could benefit humanity. The series is back for a second limited run, with five episodes airing between Dec. 9 and Dec. 13.
Hosts Reid Hoffman and Aria Finger explore what鈥檚 possible with forward-thinking leaders, deep thinkers, and ambitious builders across many fields, such as technology, art, education and healthcare. These conversations center on the ways technology 鈥� and, in particular, AI 鈥� is shaping the future. In episodes, AI tools such as OpenAI鈥檚 GPT-4 and Inflection鈥檚 Pi are at work, offering informational asides, prompting guests, or demoing what they can do.
Join us at 8 p.m. on 91.5 FM Monday through Friday that week for thought-provoking discussions about AI.
Here are the episode descriptions:
Dec. 9: Sal Khan on the future of K-12 education
What if every learner on the planet had access to a world-class education? This week鈥檚 guest has an impressive track record of using technology to make that dream a reality. Sal Khan is the founder and CEO of Khan Academy, an education nonprofit whose pioneering digital tools support K-12 students everywhere, along with parents, teachers, and school districts.
In this episode, Sal discusses how technology widens access to education and creates more meaningful learning experiences. He also shares his experience helping train Chat-GPT and speaks to why, 15 years after launching Khan Academy, he has decided to go all in on AI. Plus, a special guest joins the podcast to demo Khan Academy鈥檚 new AI chatbot tutor, Khanmigo.
Dec. 10: Kara Swisher on AI, media, and accountability
What will the media landscape look like as tech companies, as opposed to traditional media, own increasingly more ink? And who better to offer an optimistic take on the news industry鈥檚 future than 鈥� Kara Swisher?!
Reid and Aria speak with the famous 鈥� and famously direct 鈥� tech journalist, author, and podcast host about the roles and responsibilities of journalists covering rapidly developing innovations, along with those of the technologists driving advancements. They cover the OpenAI/New York Times lawsuit, disinformation, TikTok legislation, and AI鈥檚 potential to improve healthcare and climate outcomes. Plus, Kara makes the case that today鈥檚 content creators benefit from staying relatively small vs. striving for scale.
Dec. 11: Kevin Scott on AI and humanism
What if artificial intelligence becomes so ubiquitous that, in the future, we won鈥檛 be able to imagine what life was like without it? Kevin Scott is Executive Vice President of AI and Chief Technology Officer of Microsoft. He joins the Possible Podcast to talk about AI, its impact on education, healthcare and jobs, and how AI can benefit more of us, irrespective of our geography.
Kevin, Reid, and Aria discuss Kevin鈥檚 leading role in Microsoft鈥檚 OpenAI partnership, along with collective decision-making for ethical AI, how technology can empower rural communities, and what鈥檚 underlying Kevin鈥檚 humanist perspective on artificial general intelligence. Plus, Kevin reacts to some advice from Microsoft Copilot.
Dec. 12: Anne-Marie Slaughter on the future of the care economy
Can technology help us fulfill our potential as caring beings, as well as rational, calculating beings? Anne-Marie Slaughter is a scholar, public intellectual, and CEO of New America, a think tank that focuses on a wide range of public policy issues. She joins the podcast to talk about public interest technology, the care economy, and, ultimately, the ways technology can help make humans whole.
Reid, Aria, and Anne-Marie discuss caring for our elders, the childcare crisis, and speculate on what new era humanity is entering 鈥� and how AI and other technologies are contributing to that shift. Plus, Inflection鈥檚 Pi joins to offer information on the care economy.
Dec. 13: Siddhartha Mukherjee on the future of disease and diagnostics
Will artificial intelligence change what it means to be human? Cancer physician, researcher, and author Siddhartha Mukherjee joins the show to help rethink how we understand human health 鈥� and the ways AI can help.
Sid talks about using AI to emancipate patients from disease as well as enhance patient health and wellbeing. He also discusses the risks that come along with incorporating AI into the medical world and how new technologies in medicine are ushering in a 鈥渘ew human.鈥� Plus, Sid and Reid pose a thought exercise: if there were five spots on a spaceship about to be sent off to restart humanity, which professions would get those seats?