Inside the AI Debate: Hope, Hype, Or Harm? A Big Brains Panel Weighs In
One of the benefits of producing this podcast at the University of Chicago is that there are often events on campus that bring in not just one Big Brain, but many in order to find answers to the some of the most complex problems of our time. I recently had the pleasure of hosting one such event on artificial intelligence that we want to share with you today. It was part of the Graham School’s Leadership & Society Initiative Symposium, examined how AI could change everything and, more importantly, whether it should.Artificial intelligence is evolving faster than most of us can keep up with—and its impact is already reshaping our lives, from the hospital to the courtroom to the art studio. Is AI moving too fast? Are we focusing on the wrong questions? And what comes after today’s generation of models? It’s a candid, complex, and eye-opening conversation you won’t want to miss.
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Are Your Medications Safe And Effective?, with Jerry Avorn
For a more than a century, the Food and Drug Administration has worked to protect public health. In his research, Harvard University physician-researcher Jerry Avorn has examined how the FDA’s once-rigorous gold standard approval process has been affected by a powerful shortcut known as the Accelerated Approval Program—originally designed for desperate AIDS and cancer patients. He says that change in the 1990s has allowed more than half of all new drugs onto the market before drug companies have proven they actually help people.In his new book Rethinking Medications: Truth, Power and the Drugs We Take, Avorn cites numerous examples: from a cold medicine that doesn’t de-congest to billion-dollar cancer treatments that only shrink lab results to the controversial Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm—approved despite no clear cognitive benefits. In this episode, Avorn explores whether some prescriptions in your medicine cabinet are safe, effective and worth the money.
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Are We Making AI Too Human?, with James Evans
Prof. James Evans, a University of Chicago sociologist and data scientist, believes we’re training AI to think too much like humans—and it’s holding science back.In this episode, Evans shares how our current models risk narrowing scientific exploration rather than expanding it, and explains why he’s pushing for AIs that think differently from us—what he calls “cognitive aliens.” Could these “alien minds” help us unlock hidden breakthroughs? And what would it take to build them?
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Inside The Disease That Changes Your Personality, with Bruce Miller
When someone we know or love starts to develop psychological issues, we don't often associate it with a form of dementia. However, this trait is one of the most common signs of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) — the most common neurodegenerative disease in people under the age of 65. In his new book, Mysteries of the Social Brain: Understanding Human Behavior Through Science, Dr. Bruce Miller highlights his experiences observing people with FTD and what they have taught him about what he calls the "social brain."Dr. Bruce Miller has been observing people with FTD for decades in the Memory and Aging Center at the University of San Francisco, where he is also Professor of Neurology and the Founding Director of the Global Brain Health Institute. He shares key insights on how to keep our "social brain" healthy and how it can even unlock our creative potential.
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Meet The ‘Planet Hunter’ Searching For Alien Life, with Jacob Bean
The search for life beyond Earth is no longer science fiction—it takes a lot of data, powerful telescopes and a bit of cosmic detective work. And at the center of this search is University of Chicago astrophysicist Jacob Bean. Bean was part of the team that made history by detecting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a distant planet using the James Webb Space Telescope—a major step forward in our ability to study exoplanets.Bean uses cutting-edge tools and discoveries that are reshaping how we think about planet habitability, biosignatures and our place in the universe. From potentially habitable exoplanets like K2-18b to false hopes like Gliese 486b, Bean shares why the atmospheres of these faraway worlds might hold the key to one of humanity’s oldest questions: Are we alone in the universe?
Big Brains explores the groundbreaking research and discoveries that are changing our world. In each episode, we talk to leading experts and unpack their work in straightforward terms. Interesting conversations that cover a gamut of topics from how music affects our brains to what happens after we die.
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