Listen "#57: Bytes — The Black Box"
Episode Synopsis
Host Nono Martínez Alonso and Aziz Barbar on how complex machines work, technological polarization, and the growing need to make algorithms understandable.
Nono hosts the Getting Simple podcast, sketches things that call his attention, writes stories about enjoying a slower life, and records live streams and tutorials on creative coding and machine intelligence.
Aziz is an architect and design technologist. He occasionally teaches design courses on computation and the built environment.
Favorite quotes
"Do we have a backup plan? Very few of us know, we're just blindly trusting these black boxes."
"We're going to have to find ways - we as in the people making the algorithms and people who are technical - to explain how these programs are making decisions for them."
Links
Pascaline (Pascal's calculator)
Open Source Software
Python (programming language)
C# (programming language)
People mentioned
Lex Fridman
Travis Oliphant
Chapters
00:00 · Intro
00:22 · What's the machine doing?
01:21 · Visible mechanisms and the Pascaline
02:49 · Obscuring how mechanisms work
05:02 · Open Source Software
06:13 · Computers excel at complex and repetitive tasks
07:07 · Who's making the background algorithms we use daily?
08:51 · What does 'black boxing' mean?
10:03 · Two types of black box
10:37 · Machine learning and explainability
11:33 · Polarization and a growing need to make algorithms understandable
I'd love to hear from you.
Submit a question about this or any previous episodes.
Join the Discord community. Meet other curious minds.
If you enjoy the show, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds and really helps.
Show notes, transcripts, and past episodes at gettingsimple.com/podcast.
Follow Nono
Twitter.com/nonoesp
Instagram.com/nonoesp
Facebook.com/nonomartinezalonso
YouTube.com/nonomartinezalonso
Nono hosts the Getting Simple podcast, sketches things that call his attention, writes stories about enjoying a slower life, and records live streams and tutorials on creative coding and machine intelligence.
Aziz is an architect and design technologist. He occasionally teaches design courses on computation and the built environment.
Favorite quotes
"Do we have a backup plan? Very few of us know, we're just blindly trusting these black boxes."
"We're going to have to find ways - we as in the people making the algorithms and people who are technical - to explain how these programs are making decisions for them."
Links
Pascaline (Pascal's calculator)
Open Source Software
Python (programming language)
C# (programming language)
People mentioned
Lex Fridman
Travis Oliphant
Chapters
00:00 · Intro
00:22 · What's the machine doing?
01:21 · Visible mechanisms and the Pascaline
02:49 · Obscuring how mechanisms work
05:02 · Open Source Software
06:13 · Computers excel at complex and repetitive tasks
07:07 · Who's making the background algorithms we use daily?
08:51 · What does 'black boxing' mean?
10:03 · Two types of black box
10:37 · Machine learning and explainability
11:33 · Polarization and a growing need to make algorithms understandable
I'd love to hear from you.
Submit a question about this or any previous episodes.
Join the Discord community. Meet other curious minds.
If you enjoy the show, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds and really helps.
Show notes, transcripts, and past episodes at gettingsimple.com/podcast.
Follow Nono
Twitter.com/nonoesp
Instagram.com/nonoesp
Facebook.com/nonomartinezalonso
YouTube.com/nonomartinezalonso
More episodes of the podcast Getting Simple
#74: Andy Payne — Grasshopper 2
11/06/2024
#69: Q&A with Nono — Podcasting Tips
26/10/2022
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.