Episode 91: AI, ethics & dangers with JL Echochard

AI is going to save the world. Or kill us all. Or another, secret, third thing. Trying to find a pattern of truth within all the cultural noise about Artificial Intelligence is pretty hard right now, so we turned to someone who has been working on and with AI since the 1980s. Jean-Louis Ecochard has been in on the development of everythting from caller ID and online banking to video conferencing and e-health, and was one of the people behind what became WebMD. He now heads up the Center for the Digital Nonprofit and is Senior Head of Innovation for Nethope, an organisation that acts as a bridge between large NGOs with Big Tech.  He's also a whole lot of fun, and helped us reframe our thinking about AI. In this episode, we asked JL about the dangerous intersection between capitalism and AI (of course we did), the ethics of big data and what, if anything, humanity has to fear from this latest great jump forward in technology. It's a fascinating conversation that we hope will help you think about this much-hyped subject in a fresh way. We should also make clear that, if we didn't like JL so much or think this might reflect badly on him, this is the title we would have gone for: See the kind of restraint we show? You are all very welcome.  You can find out more about the Center for the Digital Nonprofit, its mission and research here.  We also recommend The Eye of the Master: a Social History of Artificial Intelligence for a left-wing academic take of what, really, is being automated.    New to Beer Christianity? Welcome! Beer Christianity is an anti-capitalist, pro-BLM, pro-LGBTQ+, anti-imperialist, post-post-post-evangelical podcast where we drink a bit and talk a lot. Our aim is to be real, to be helpful and entertaining. Follow Beer Christianity on Twitter: @beerxianity and find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.  Beer Christianity also has a newsletter in which Jonty and guest authors comment on the news, theological issues and stuff that matters.  Sign up to the Beer Christianity newsletter on Substack.  There's a connected Show With Music on Spotify called New Old Music. Check it out if you like eclectic music and weird chat. It's not terribly serious.  Jonty's novel, Incredulous Moshoeshoe and the Lightning Bird, is not available in all good bookshops, but if you bought it and left a review that would probably make that more likely.  We don't really want to preach at you, but some people like to know what we believe. It's this: Jesus Christ is the Son of God and came to teach us a better way to be while reconciling us to God and each other in a way we could never do without Him. He also changed water into wine. Nice.