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Episode 1 · Jul 18, 2022

The Tech We Won’t Build

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Where should tech builders draw the line on AI for military or surveillance? Just because it can be built, doesn’t mean it should be. At what point do we blow the whistle, call out the boss, and tell the world? In this episode, find out what it’s like to sound the alarm from inside a big tech company, and more.

Who’s in this episode?

Laura Nolan shares the story behind her decision to leave Google in 2018 over their involvement in Project Maven, a Pentagon project which used AI by Google.

Yves Moreau explains why he is calling on academic journals and international publishers to retract papers that use facial recognition and DNA profiling of minority groups.

Yeshimabeit Milner describes how the non-profit Data for Black Lives is pushing back against use of AI powered tools used to surveil and criminalize Black and Brown communities.

Shmyla Khan, describes being at the receiving end of technologies developed by foreign superpowers as a researcher with the Digital Rights Foundation in Pakistan.

Further reading

About IRL

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla, the non-profit behind Firefox. In this season that doubles as Mozilla’s 2022 Internet Health Report, our host Bridget Todd, shares stories of people who are building and regulating AI systems in more equitable ways.

Tell us what you think

We’d love to hear what ideas this year’s report sparked for you. Do you build or research AI? Do you work on AI policy? Which podcast episodes inspired you or challenged you? If you send us a comment in this form, we guarantee it will be read by a human.

Transcript