The Internet of Nature: applying emerging technologies to improve the health of urban ecosystems, with Nadina Galle

In today’s episode we are joined by Linda McIver, Executive Director at the Australian Data Science Education Institute and author of Raising Heretics: teaching kids to change the world.

In the book she explores how data science education can change the world and she proposes a new approach to education that empowers children to solve real problems, challenge their own results, and shake up the status quo on the basis of evidence and data. 

In todays episode we talk about Linda’s upcoming book and explore the current education system, data literacy, the ways in which were misunderstanding science and how we can change our education system and raise heretics. 

In this episode we are joined by Caroline Sinders, machine-learning-design researcher artist and online harassment expert.  We talk about human-rights centered design, and Caroline’s multi-year feminist data set project.  In specific, we discuss one of her latest initiatives called technically responsible knowledge, a tool and advocacy initiative spotlighting unjust labor in the machine learning pipeline.

In today’s episode we are joined by Jenn Gamble (PhD). Jenn is the Data Science Practice Lead at Very and holds a PhD in electrical engineering.  We talk about building machine learning products and the different practices it involves. We dive into the data science development lifecycle, agile development practices, interdisciplinary team work and practices such as ML Ops, test driven development and pair programming. 

Today we're joined by Niya Stoimenova, a PhD Researcher in AI and Design at TU Delft. We talk about her research on uncovering the unintended consequences of AI. We also talk about her recently published paper on designing with and for artificial intelligence, and finally, we talk about adaptive organisations in the context of artificial intelligence. 

In this episode, we are joined by Sherif Elsayed-Ali, Co-founder and CEO of Carbon Re, a recently founded climate tech start-up. Previously Sherif headed up the AI for Climate practice at Element AI, and prior to that co-founded and led Amnesty Tech. 

We talk about Sherif’s company, Carbon Re, and how they’re helping organisations to increase efficiency and reduce emissions. We also talk about the ‘Tech for Climate’ space in general and explore the role that technology can play in the climate challenges we are facing. 

In this episode, we're joined by Cansu Canca, philosopher and founder of AI Ethics Lab. At AI Ethics Lab, Cansu leads teams of computer scientists, philosophers, and legal scholars to provide ethics analysis and guidance to researchers and practitioners. 

In this episode, we dive into the work Cansu does at AI Ethics Lab, and in particular their latest initiative, “Dynamics of AI Principles”. We talk about the role of AI principles, the difference between core principles and instrumental principles, and how organisations can go about operationalising AI ethics. We also discuss the flagship model of AI Ethics Lab: “Puzzle-Solving in Ethics”.

In this episode we are joined by B Cavello, Program Lead at the Partnership on AI, a non-profit multi-stakeholder initiative to address the most important and difficult decisions on the future of artificial intelligence. 

B is a technology and facilitation expert, passionate about creating social change by empowering everyone to participate in technological and social governance. 

In this episode, we dive into the work B does at the Partnership, particularly around the topics of responsible sourcing and the AI and Shared Prosperity Initiative. Within this conversation, we explore big questions such as 'How can you steer technology in a direction that increases economic prosperity for the many rather than the few?'

In this episode, we are joined by Cennydd Bowles, author of Future Ethics, and Director of NowNext, the ethical design and futures studio. 

In the episode, we talk about Future Ethics, and how we can use methods from disciplines such as speculative design and future studies to stimulate moral imagination. We also discuss the role of ethical guidelines, bringing those into practice, and how you can start having more conversations within your team or organisation around ethics. 

In this episode, we are joined by Ricardo Baeza-Yates, director of Data Science at Northeastern University in Silicon Valley.  We talk about bias, which has been a central topic in Ricardo’s research for the last 12 years. We discuss the many different types of biases that are out there, zoom in on bias on the web and bias in recommender systems.  Beyond that, Ricardo shares valuable advice about what we can all do to become more aware of our own biases. 

In this episode, we are joined by Nadina Galle (PhD), award-winning ecological engineer and entrepreneur. 

We talk about how she applies emerging technologies to improve the health of urban ecosystems, through the “Internet of Nature”: a framework she developed during her PhD under the supervision of Dr Francesco Pilla (UCD Spatial Dynamics Lab). 

We also discuss Green City Watch, an open-source geoAI initiative, which Nadina co-founded. Green City Watch's flagship product, TreeTect, is an open-source urban tree detection algorithm to help create AI-enabled tree inventories.