Paging Dr. Algorithm
Uncanny Valley | WIRED25 Kesä 2021

Paging Dr. Algorithm

Artificial intelligence is everywhere. And increasingly, it's becoming a critical part of healthcare. Doctors use it to try to suss out symptoms of deadly infections like sepsis; companies like Google are developing apps to help you identify ailments just by uploading some pics.

But AI is only as good as the data sets fed into these systems. And when the data sets are flawed, or the results are not properly interpreted, the software can misidentify symptoms (or fail to identify them entirely). In some cases, this may even result in false positives, or exacerbate already stark racial disparities in the healthcare system.

This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior writer Tom Simonite joins us to talk about the blind spots in medical AI and what happens when tech companies put these algorithms into their users' hands.

Show Notes:

Read Tom’s story about the flaws in the AI that predicts sepsis here. Read his story about Google’s new dermatology app. Read more about the racial bias in AI systems (and how those algorithms might be fixed). Also check out Lauren’s story about how the internet doesn’t let you forget.

Recommendations:

Tom recommends the novel No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood. Lauren recommends the book Girlhood by Melissa Febos. Mike recommends the album Acustico by Céu.

Tom Simonite can be found on Twitter @tsimonite. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.

If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Jaksot(426)

Iran Targets U.S. Tech; Polymarket’s Bar Flop; Trump's Plans for Midterms

Iran Targets U.S. Tech; Polymarket’s Bar Flop; Trump's Plans for Midterms

The team is back this week to discuss how top U.S tech companies are increasingly finding themselves as targets in the ongoing war with Iran. We also get an inside view into how Polymarket’s pop-up ba...

2 Huhti 27min

The Myth That AI Will Replace Language Learning

The Myth That AI Will Replace Language Learning

Luis von Ahn, Duolingo’s co-founder and CEO, joins Katie to discuss why we should still learn languages in the age of AI translation. He also talks about how Duolingo is dealing with falling share pri...

31 Maalis 47min

Trump's 80s Movie Approach to Foreign Policy w/ Chris Hayes

Trump's 80s Movie Approach to Foreign Policy w/ Chris Hayes

For the first episode of our second season, Katie sits down with fellow journalist Chris Hayes, host of MS NOW’S All In, to talk about covering the news and capturing attention during an all-consuming...

24 Maalis 40min

Nvidia’s “Super Bowl of AI”; Tesla Disappoints Fans; Meta’s VR Metaverse Is Over

Nvidia’s “Super Bowl of AI”; Tesla Disappoints Fans; Meta’s VR Metaverse Is Over

This week, Brian and Zoë discuss the highlights from Nvidia’s annual developer conference, and why Tesla recently got in trouble with some of its most loyal fans online. Plus, Meta’s decision of shutt...

19 Maalis 25min

Uncovering an AI Journalist

Uncovering an AI Journalist

This week we are bringing you a podcast recommendation. A great tech focused weekly show called Kill Switch, hosted by Dexter Thomas. On this episode Dexter goes down a rabbit hole. When an editor at ...

18 Maalis 32min

Can Anthropic Win Its Lawsuit?; War Memes; AI Comes for VCs Jobs

Can Anthropic Win Its Lawsuit?; War Memes; AI Comes for VCs Jobs

This week, the team discusses what’s at stake for Anthropic after the company sued the Department of Defense. They also take a look at the strategy behind the Trump administration sharing action-fille...

12 Maalis 31min

Iran Strikes in the AI Era; Prediction Markets Ethics; Paramount Beats Netflix

Iran Strikes in the AI Era; Prediction Markets Ethics; Paramount Beats Netflix

This week, the team dives into why disinformation and the AI industry battles have quickly positioned themselves at the center of the ongoing conflict between the U.S and Iran. They also discuss how p...

5 Maalis 33min

BIG INTV: Open AI’s Former Safety Lead Calls Out Erotica Claims (Rerun)

BIG INTV: Open AI’s Former Safety Lead Calls Out Erotica Claims (Rerun)

Steven Adler used to lead product safety at OpenAI. When Katie read his recent op-ed asking OpenAI to prove that they have and continue to address safety issues, she knew she wanted to talk to him. Th...

3 Maalis 39min