Can today’s biggest health challenges be solved through data analysis? What does the ethical use of artificial intelligence look like?  Is technology upgrading or downgrading the human species? These and other questions are all explored in a new podcast recorded and produced at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Why Not Change the World? The RPI Podcast brings together leading experts from different disciplines to discuss the global and interconnected challenges facing humanity. The entire first season is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and other major podcasting platforms.

“In putting this podcast together, we were largely inspired by the interdisciplinary nature of The New Polytechnic model for education and research at Rensselaer,” said Reeve Hamilton, the director of media relations and communications at Rensselaer. “Engaging discussions about fascinating and important topics occur every day on this campus and in the global Rensselaer community. We just happened to record a handful of them.”

Watch a teaser for the first episode, which focuses on the ethical use of artificial intelligence:

Each episode in the inaugural season of the podcast features a member of the Rensselaer media relations team in conversation with two experts. The team did not have to travel far to find authoritative voices on a range of relevant topics. Most of the guests hail from the Rensselaer faculty. There are also special appearances by prominent inventors — and even a bestselling author.

The recording of a second season of Why Not Change the World? has already begun and is expected to be released in the spring. The episodes are recorded in the soloist suite of EMPAC, the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center.