The Visionary Behind Siri: AI’s Past, Present & Future
Big Questions with Cal Fussman
Release Date: 02/04/2025
Your New Therapist: Talk To Ash
Big Questions with Cal Fussman
It was during the pandemic when Cal first realized how many people were searching for mental health professionals and couldn’t find them. Cal wished everyone could have access to the best therapist he’s ever met – Sallie Sanborn. But nearly 40 percent of Americans now live in what’s called Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas. So it should be no surprise that artificial intelligence has stepped into the void. Cal talks with Neil Parikh, one of the founders of TalkToAsh.com about the app that is very different breed of AI than...
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De Niro And A Day Of No Regrets
Big Questions with Cal Fussman
Cal has long believed the best way to avoid regret is to really listen when someone talks about theirs. One answer came to him during an interview with the actor Robert De Niro. Another, just recently, from the Godfather of Artificial Intelligence on a podcast. Both answers led Cal to a day he’ll never forget—and they just might lead you to one, too.
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Mr. Wonderful, Bill Gates & Free Money
Big Questions with Cal Fussman
Cal hears an interview with Kevin O’Leary – Mr. Wonderful on Shark Tank -- that puts into focus the loss of jobs coming with the onset of AI. Then he sees a robot cleaning floors at the convenience store of his gas station. And he wonders about the possibility and potential of Universal Basic Income in a world where there may not be that many jobs for humans to find. That leads Cal to Bill Gates and some thoughts on UBI that you definitely want to hear.
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Then I Look At AI . . . And The World’s Alright With Me
Big Questions with Cal Fussman
Cal reads a Wall Street Journal story about a graduation speech that ends with the audience asked to sing Bill Withers’ Lean On Me—a soulful anthem for uncertain times. The Class of ’25 faces a tough job market. Internships are disappearing to AI. Roughly 70% of Americans say they don’t trust companies to use artificial intelligence responsibly. And only one in six people are using it at work. Many who don’t use it are fearful of trying. Instead of commiserating, Cal makes a case for collaboration. He believes AI can help us unlock our most creative selves—and shape a future that...
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AI & Your Job
Big Questions with Cal Fussman
After speaking at a CREW conference in Texas, Cal meets a smart young Uber driver who was curious about the number of jobs that we can anticipate losing in America because of AI. The driver wanted to know what the lives of Americans who’d most likely lose their jobs were going to look like, and how these people might get by and transition. Cal finds some answers from Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, and Geoffrey Hinton, the Godfather of Artificial Intelligence. He also discovers a half-helicopter/half-airplane taxi service that looks like a job for the future as we head into the age of the...
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Elon, AI & The Curious Key To Peace
Big Questions with Cal Fussman
When an interview on AI and the future of warfare gets postponed by the birth of a child,Cal turns to the web to satisfy his curiosity on the topic —and stumbles upon something larger than he expected. What he finds is a fresh way to look at conflict in the age of intelligent machines… and an idea that could change everything. It’s simple. It’s ancient. And it’s something Elon Musk says may be our last best hope: curiosity. Tune in—this episode might just rewire how you see the future of war… and peace.
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AI & The Great Photographer
Big Questions with Cal Fussman
Cal reads about artificial intelligence models that have written their own code in order to escape being shut down. He ponders the friction between the light side and dark side of AI as he mourns the passing of the photographer Sebastiao Salgado, who made a life of finding the best in humanity in some of the darkest times imaginable. Sebastiao and his wife, Lelia, replanted a denuded ranch in Brazil that had lost its birds and animals with 2.5 million trees and restored it into a pristine forest, leaving behind a powerful legacy of light over darkness.
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A Breath Of The Future
Big Questions with Cal Fussman
Cal takes a breath of fresh air after a friend goes through double lung-transplant surgery and comes out with a new life. This story will make anyone with a medical problem wonder about the possibilities of medicine in the age of AI.
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Two Marathons A Day For 12 Days — And A Bold Question About AI
Big Questions with Cal Fussman
What kind of person runs 1,000 kilometers in 12 days – twice? Meet Natalie Dau, a Guinness World Record holder who doesn’t just push the limits of human endurance — she redefines them. Cal dives deep with Natalie to uncover how she uses pain as fuel, movement as a message, and her voice — amplified by AI — to raise money, shift perspectives, and help people live better lives. But beneath the inspiration lies a bigger global question: What happens to a world divided between those who have access to AI – and those who don’t? This is...
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Education, Cheating & AI
Big Questions with Cal Fussman
In times when college students are using artificial intelligence to answer even introductory course questions like: “Briefly introduce yourself and say what you’re hoping to get out of this class?” we really have to wonder about how education is going to adapt to a future where students delegate nearly all their classwork to AI. Cal speaks with James D. Walsh after Walsh’s New York Magazine article revealed a seismic shift that’s redefining the word “cheating” and nudging teachers to think about finding new professions.
info_outlineSiri didn’t emerge from a single mind—it was the product of many brilliant innovators. But in this episode, Cal talks with one of the key founders behind the company that built the digital assistant Steve Jobs had to have. Norman Winarsky takes us back to the moments Siri first stunned the world in the testing phase in 2009 and 2010 and shares his thoughts on today’s AI revolution—what excites him, what concerns him, and what leaves him in awe.