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In this episode, we dive deep into the core teachings and tenets of Hinduism. Join us to explore what this rich philosophical and faith tradition can teach us about bringing AI into the world in a way that is both pro-human and pro-humanity. We also examine the power of plurality and discover meaningful connections shared with other faith traditions, including Judaism.
Host:
Gilad Berenstein is currently working in venture capital in Seattle after founding and leading a successful travel personalization startup and serving as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2). Gilad holds masters and undergraduate degrees from the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington.
Guests:
Pawan Deshpande is an investor and former product leader, entrepreneur and machine learning researcher. Pawan runs Curata Ventures, an early-stage investment fund, and previously founded and led product at multiple AI startups. His interests are in applying Hindu philosophical principles, particularly Satya (truth) and Ahimsa (non-violence) to AI governance and technology policy. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Kush Varshney is an IBM Fellow at IBM Research – Thomas J. Watson Research Center, where he directs research in human-centered trustworthy AI, bridging moral philosophy, machine learning, and systems governance. He earned a B.S. from Cornell University in electrical and computer engineering, and an S.M. and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in electrical engineering and computer science.
His work spans several areas of artificial intelligence including value alignment, fairness, creativity, and safety. All of which are grounded in rigorous engagement with moral psychology and non-Western ethical traditions including Vedanta. He co-led IBM’s Science for Social Good initiative, served as general chair for the AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society, and has developed widely-used open-source tools for AI fairness, explainability, uncertainty quantification, and harm detection. Varshney authored the book “Trustworthy Machine Learning.” He combines technical research with philosophical inquiry into how AI systems can embody dharma while reflecting diverse value frameworks and supporting human flourishing across cultures.
Lav R. Varshney is the Della Pietra Infinity Professor and Inaugural Director of the AI Innovation Institute at Stony Brook University. He is co-founder and CEO of Kocree, Inc., a startup company building novel human-controllable AI for discovery and creativity, and chief scientist of Ensaras, Inc., a startup company focused on AI and wastewater treatment. He holds appointments at RAND Corporation and at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Lav was previously on the faculty of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a visiting scholar at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, a principal research scientist at Salesforce Research AI, and a research staff member at IBM Research. He is a former White House staffer, having served on the National Security Council staff as a White House Fellow, where he contributed to national AI and wireless communications policy. His research interests include information theory and artificial intelligence. He received his B.S. degree from Cornell University and his S.M. and Ph.D. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Views and opinions expressed by podcast guests are their own. They do not necessarily reflect the view of AI and Faith or any of its leadership.
Meet the team:
Production: Penny Yuen
Host: Gilad Berenstein
Guests: Pawan Deshpande, Kush Varshney and Lav R. Varshney
Editing: Isabelle Braconnot
Music from #Uppbeat
License code: 1ZHLF7FMCNHU39
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