022 – Evidence, Research and Society

FromThe IDEMS Podcast

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022 – Evidence, Research and Society

FromThe IDEMS Podcast

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Length:

41 minutes

Released:

Jan 26, 2024

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

David and Lucie discuss the role of evidence in research and in our wider society. What is good evidence? How should evidence be used? The last decade has seen the erosion of public trust in facts – so what can and should we be doing differently?

Released:

Jan 26, 2024

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (51)

Stories from a social enterprise that uses mathematical sciences in impact-oriented work around the world. Our experiences range from helping some of the world's poorest farmers get value from data, to enabling academics to use AI responsibly in their teaching. We never know what our next task will be but the last 6 years have shown that it is likely to lead to a story.

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004 – Zach Mbasu and INNODEMS, The Follow-Up: Zach Mbasu, Director of INNODEMS, introduced some of his work and his shared passion for education with David in the first IDEMS Interviews Podcast episode. This follow up explores who Zach is, how and why he created INNODEMS, and how IDEMS actually exis by The IDEMS Podcast
29 min listen
006 – Bletchley Park AI Safety Summit: In the first episode of a series on Responsible AI, Dr Lily Clements and David Stern discuss the “AI Safety Summit” that took place at Bletchley Park in November 2023. Are we listening to the right experts on AI? Should we be worried about killer robots? by The IDEMS Podcast
25 min listen
002 – What is IDEMS?: In this episode, we break down and discuss the acronym “IDEMS”, which stands for “Innovations in Development, Education and the Mathematical Sciences”. Santiago Borio interviews David Stern, a co-founder of IDEMS, to delve deeper into the organisation’s by The IDEMS Podcast
24 min listen
008 – The IDEMS Business Model: David Stern, co-founder of IDEMS, is interviewed by Santiago Borio on the business model IDEMS has developed. The discussion presents a qualitative analysis of a three part model based around the creation of public goods, and the offer of human and digit by The IDEMS Podcast
28 min listen
001 – Maths Minds: Thinking Hard About Supporting a Collaborative Society: The first episode of The IDEMS Podcasts. Its title, “Maths Minds: Thinking hard about supporting a collaborative society”, represents some of what IDEMS does and how we intend to tell our stories. Dr Lily Clements interviews David Stern, a co-founder of by The IDEMS Podcast
25 min listen
011 – Response to “Reluctant Entrepreneurs”: The IDEMS team enjoyed listening to how Danny and David were reluctant entrepreneurs and hearing about how social impact became an important goal for IDEMS in Episode 010, but they had some concerns. In this podcast, in accordance with IDEMS’ principle o by The IDEMS Podcast
41 min listen
007 – IDEMS’ views on agriculture: Dr Lucie Hazelgrove Planel interviews David Stern, co-founder of IDEMS, on IDEMS’ views on agriculture. They delve into why IDEMS supports a diverse range of projects related to agriculture based on innovations that lead to sustainable development, and w by The IDEMS Podcast
34 min listen
015 – New Year’s Resolutions: In this festive episode, Lucie and David reflect on the idea of New Year’s resolutions through the lenses of IDEMS’ three mechanisms for monitoring and evaluations: guiding principles, pathways of change and value creation stories. by The IDEMS Podcast
18 min listen
013 – Responsible AI: Festive Special: Can how you spend the festive season influence the future of entertainment? Following the release of Alan Warburton’s film highlighting the potential effects of AI on the entertainment industry, Lily and David discuss what role AI could play in our consu by The IDEMS Podcast
29 min listen
005 – IDEMS as a Community Interest Company: In this episode, we delve deeper into the legal structures behind IDEMS as a social enterprise. Santiago Borio interviews David Stern, a co-founder of IDEMS, and questions him on the technicalities behind IDEMS the business, the somewhat challenging deci by The IDEMS Podcast
24 min listen
009 – Demystifying AI: As part of their series of conversations on Responsible AI, Dr Lily Clements and David Stern discuss “artificial intelligence” in general, breaking it down into three fundamental components: source data, algorithms, and learning cycles. Topics touched on by The IDEMS Podcast
23 min listen
003 – Interviews 01: Zach Mbasu and INNODEMS: The first in the IDEMS interviews series. David interviews Zach Mbasu, a long term collaborator and the founding director of INNODEMS, an exciting Kenyan social enterprise. Zach tells his story from high school teacher to social entrepreneur, through his by The IDEMS Podcast
29 min listen
031 – Who wants to be a trillionaire?: WARNING: This episode was recorded outside on a mobile phone, and the audio quality reflects this. If that kind of thing bothers you, you may want to skip this one! Reports based on current trends predict that the world could have its first trillionaire by The IDEMS Podcast
27 min listen
022 – Evidence, Research and Society: David and Lucie discuss the role of evidence in research and in our wider society. What is good evidence? How should evidence be used? The last decade has seen the erosion of public trust in facts – so what can and should we be doing differently? by The IDEMS Podcast
41 min listen
012 – Fundamentally Profitable: Santiago Borio interviews David Stern on the concept of being “fundamentally profitable” and how and why IDEMS prioritises this over maximising profit. They explain how this idea evolved through the years in its implementations and present some challenge by The IDEMS Podcast
24 min listen
014 – IDEMS Blunders of the Year 2023: In the spirit of celebrating failures as learning opportunities, and in accordance with a burgeoning festive tradition, David and Santiago discuss various self-defined “blunders” that members of IDEMS staff have made over the last 12 months. There can be by The IDEMS Podcast
28 min listen
010 – Reluctant Entrepreneurs: A discussion between David and Danny, IDEMS directors, on how they became co-founders – despite originally considering themselves to be “reluctant entrepreneurs”. by The IDEMS Podcast
24 min listen
019 – Is Nepotism always harmful? Part 2: In this second part of the discussion of nepotism, Santiago questions David further on whether the win-win scenarios presented in the first part do not mean a loss for someone else and consider this in a local and global context. They delve deeper into o by The IDEMS Podcast
27 min listen
016 – Responsible AI: Regulation: David and Lily consider regulation around the development of AI technologies. They discuss Amazon’s gender-biased AI recruitment debacle, and why many big companies are embracing regulation. Can regulation be designed to protect society at large from the by The IDEMS Podcast
28 min listen
017 – Responsible AI: How Data Lies: As society embraces AI, interpreting its results can be a matter of life and death. Lily and David consider how we can be misled by data in general, including the results of AI models. They discuss how misinterpreting the output of data often comes down by The IDEMS Podcast
24 min listen
018 – Is Nepotism always harmful? Part 1: Santiago Borio interviews David Stern on the issue of nepotism. They analyse a common definition of the term, look into examples where it’s harmful and examples where it may even be necessary. They consider how IDEMS is a nepotic organisation and what th by The IDEMS Podcast
35 min listen
021 – Where Things Have Gone Wrong with AI: David Stern and Dr Lily Clements dig deeper into the Dutch Childcare AI scandal, its causes and consequences. They analyse how this could have been avoided or mitigated and highlight the need for more work on the responsible use of AI, and particularly t by The IDEMS Podcast
24 min listen
020 – Research and Impact in Challenging Contexts: IDEMS supports researchers at a number of research institutions in low resource environments, and in this episode David and Lucie discuss some challenges that these researchers are up against. In challenging contexts such as these, unique opportunities c by The IDEMS Podcast
33 min listen
037 – Generating AI Images: Between Bias and Absurdity: In this follow-up to episode 035, Lily and David consider a recent development in the realm of AI image generation: Google’s Gemini model recently came under criticism for generating historically inaccurate images, seemingly as a result of overcorrecting by The IDEMS Podcast
33 min listen
024 – The Privilege of Wealth: In this nuanced discussion, David and Santiago discuss wealth as a privilege, examining their own privileges in various contexts. Should we view aspiration differently in low resource environments compared to high resource ones? Is it always wrong to use by The IDEMS Podcast
37 min listen
027 – Why doesn’t IDEMS simply focus?: While many organisations seem to focus on a small area of expertise, IDEMS is involved in a wide range of projects and activities, in a wide variety of roles. In this episode, David talks to Santiago about the thinking behind, and advantages of, embracin by The IDEMS Podcast
31 min listen
025 – AI and Consciousness: Lily and David discuss consciousness in relation to AI. Whilst there is a lot of popular debate in this area, can we really have a meaningful discussion without a clear definition of consciousness? They consider advancements in AI, ethical dilemmas surro by The IDEMS Podcast
24 min listen
035 – Generating AI Images: Do AI implementations suppress diversity?: Lily and David discuss the challenges of using AI to generate images, highlighting biases observed in the results – in particular, regarding race and gender. They discuss the importance of recognising and addressing these biases, proposing solutions such by The IDEMS Podcast
28 min listen
033 – IDEMS’ Vision and Mission: Description David and Santiago delve deeply into IDEMS’ vision and mission. David explains how these guide most of what IDEMS does and by The IDEMS Podcast
40 min listen
026 – GUIDE-ing Principles vs SMART Goals: SMART goals and principles are common monitoring and evaluation tools, but what’s the difference between them? Lucie and David compare the two approaches and their respective acronyms, considering when being SMART is useful, and when a GUIDE might be mor by The IDEMS Podcast
35 min listen

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051 – Digital Jobs in Rural Environments: Lucie and David discuss IDEMS’ aims to create digital opportunities for young people in rural areas. By building technology differently, and supporting local development, David shares how he has seen young people not only empower themselves, but also str by The IDEMS Podcast
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050 – The Role of Observation in Shaping IDEMS: In this 50th episode of the IDEMS podcast, co-founders David Stern and Danny Parsons celebrate the milestone by reflecting on the crucial role of observation in their professional journeys and its impact on IDEMS development. They discuss the transition by The IDEMS Podcast
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049 – Artificial Words: The Unseen Bias of AI in Everyday Language: This episode delves into the nuances of language discrimination, specifically focusing on the impact of language models like ChatGPT on linguistic perceptions and the inadvertent biases they might reinforce. Hosts Lily Clements and David Stern discuss a by The IDEMS Podcast
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048 – An Approach to Language and Tolerance: In this episode, Santiago Borio and David Stern delve into the use of language and its implications in today’s sensitive cultural landscape. Motivated by a prior discussion that mentioned white and black economies, and recognising the potential associati by The IDEMS Podcast
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047 – Kate Fleming: IDEMS’ Strategy: David and Kate, two of the three IDEMS directors, explore how to productively think about IDEMS’ multiple work streams as an overarching strategy. In doing so, they reflect on IDEMS’ role, and by extension technology’s role, in promoting “human flourishi by The IDEMS Podcast
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046 – Moustapha Moussa: Processing Food: David Stern talks to Moustapha Moussa about his work with communities in West Africa on processing units to transform local food into nutritious products. They discuss how a chance encounter led to Mustapha working with the McKnight foundation to build u by The IDEMS Podcast
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045 – Bruce Hamaker: Processing Nutritional Foods in Low Resource Rural Environments: In this episode, David Stern talks to Bruce Hamaker, Distinguished Professor of Food Science at Purdue University. They discuss his projects in West and East Africa, making nutritious foods for local markets using local ingredients, and IDEMS’ role, thro by The IDEMS Podcast
21 min listen
044 – An Interview with our Incoming Director, Kate Fleming: David Stern introduces Kate Fleming, IDEMS incoming director, discussing her alignment with IDEMS values and their shared focus on complex data and community problems. They touch on the challenges of merging technology with social impact, the importance by The IDEMS Podcast
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043 – The Journey to IDEMS Internships: In this episode, Santiago Borio and David Stern delve into the evolution of IDEMS internships, tracing their roots from the African Maths Initiative in Kenya to their expansion across Africa. They discuss the inspiration from university attachments at Ma by The IDEMS Podcast
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042 – Navigating the Future: Work and Skills in an AI-Influenced World: In this episode, Dr Lily Clements and David Stern discuss the evolving landscape of skills for a world shaped by AI. They delve into the transformation of different job roles and the education system, proposing a future where critique, creativity, and hu by The IDEMS Podcast
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041 – Scalable Impact Through Internships: IDEMS has big ambitions, including to become redundant in our Research Methods Support (RMS) work for the Global Collaboration for Resilient Food Systems. David and Lucie discuss the ongoing RMS internship program in West Africa and how, through the prog by The IDEMS Podcast
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040 – The STACK Internships: In this episode, Santiago Borio and David Stern explore the journey of transforming maths education in Africa through STACK internships. They discuss how former team members, now PhD students, and local talents leveraged STACK, an open-source tool, to in by The IDEMS Podcast
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039 – How to Lie with Smoking Statistics: This episode features a conversation between Dr Lily Clements and David Stern on the influence of misinformation, initially focussing on the tobacco industrys attempts to distort statistics related to smoking and health. They discuss the historical conte by The IDEMS Podcast
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038 – What Does Development Look Like?: A simple question, but not such an easy answer. Starting from their observations of street vendors and students in Burkina Faso and Niger, David and Lucie discuss what development could look like in this context. How does development in Niger, for exampl by The IDEMS Podcast
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037 – Generating AI Images: Between Bias and Absurdity: In this follow-up to episode 035, Lily and David consider a recent development in the realm of AI image generation: Google’s Gemini model recently came under criticism for generating historically inaccurate images, seemingly as a result of overcorrecting by The IDEMS Podcast
33 min listen
036 – Response to “IDEMS’ Vision and Mission”: This episode is a follow-up to episodes 033 and 034, which were a conversation between Santiago and David on IDEMS’ vision and mission. Here, Danny and David respond to that discussion, further explicating how they view the vision and mission and taking by The IDEMS Podcast
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035 – Generating AI Images: Do AI implementations suppress diversity?: Lily and David discuss the challenges of using AI to generate images, highlighting biases observed in the results – in particular, regarding race and gender. They discuss the importance of recognising and addressing these biases, proposing solutions such by The IDEMS Podcast
28 min listen
034 – IDEMS’ Vision and Mission in practice: Following a more theoretical assessment of IDEMS’ vision and mission in the previous episode, Santiago challenges David to explicitly analyse how these apply to three IDEMS projects. These are explained and contextualised before exposing how the vision r by The IDEMS Podcast
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033 – IDEMS’ Vision and Mission: Description David and Santiago delve deeply into IDEMS’ vision and mission. David explains how these guide most of what IDEMS does and by The IDEMS Podcast
40 min listen
032 – Impact Activation Postdoctoral Fellow: Lily and David discuss the Impact Activation Postdoctoral Fellow role at IDEMS. They discuss the objectives and experiences of the fellowship program, and its impact on both individuals and the broader organisation. They explore the flexibility and oppor by The IDEMS Podcast
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031 – Who wants to be a trillionaire?: WARNING: This episode was recorded outside on a mobile phone, and the audio quality reflects this. If that kind of thing bothers you, you may want to skip this one! Reports based on current trends predict that the world could have its first trillionaire by The IDEMS Podcast
27 min listen
030 – Cross Disciplinary Study Types: Lucie and David discuss various forms of study, including opportunistic studies, surveys, questionnaires and experiments. They consider some best practices for good research, using anthropology and agroecology as examples. How might modern data science b by The IDEMS Podcast
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027 – Why doesn’t IDEMS simply focus?: While many organisations seem to focus on a small area of expertise, IDEMS is involved in a wide range of projects and activities, in a wide variety of roles. In this episode, David talks to Santiago about the thinking behind, and advantages of, embracin by The IDEMS Podcast
31 min listen
026 – GUIDE-ing Principles vs SMART Goals: SMART goals and principles are common monitoring and evaluation tools, but what’s the difference between them? Lucie and David compare the two approaches and their respective acronyms, considering when being SMART is useful, and when a GUIDE might be mor by The IDEMS Podcast
35 min listen
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24 min listen
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021 – Where Things Have Gone Wrong with AI: David Stern and Dr Lily Clements dig deeper into the Dutch Childcare AI scandal, its causes and consequences. They analyse how this could have been avoided or mitigated and highlight the need for more work on the responsible use of AI, and particularly t by The IDEMS Podcast
24 min listen

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022 – Evidence, Research and Society

022 – Evidence, Research and Society

Description

Titles in the series (51)

More Episodes from The IDEMS Podcast