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Microsoft Research Podcast

Researchers across the Microsoft research community

An ongoing series of conversations bringing you right up to the cutting edge of Microsoft Research.

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  • 20 episodes
  • Avg 48 min
  • English

Episodes 20

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  • April 20 · 1 hr 1 min

    Can we AI our way to a more sustainable world?

    Doug Burger, sustainability expert Amy Luers, and optimization researcher Ishai Menache examine the global emissions implications of datacenter operations, efficiency gains, and AI's potential across electrification, materials, and food systems. Show notes

    • Transcript
  • April 9 · 54 min

    Ideas: Steering AI toward the work future we want

    Microsoft Chief Scientist Jaime Teevan and researchers Jenna Butler, Jake Hofman, and Rebecca Janssen unpack the New Future of Work Report 2025 and explore the ideal AI-driven working world. Plus, is AI a tool or a collaborator? And why the answer matters. Show notes

    • Transcript
  • March 23 · 1 hr 8 min

    Will machines ever be intelligent?

    Are machines truly intelligent? AI researchers Subutai Ahmad and Nicolò Fusi join Doug Burger to compare transformer-based AI with the human brain, exploring continual learning, efficiency, and whether today’s models are on a path toward human intelligence. The Shape of Things to Come podcast series

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  • March 3 · 2 min

    Trailer: The Shape of Things to Come

    Microsoft research lead Doug Burger introduces his new podcast series, The Shape of Things to Come, an exploration into the fundamental truths about AI and how the technology will reshape the future. The Shape of Things to Come podcast series

    • Transcript
  • Dec 1, 2025 · 56 min

    Ideas: Community building, machine learning, and the future of AI

    As the Women in Machine Learning Workshop (WiML) marks its 20th annual gathering, cofounders, friends, and collaborators Jenn Wortman Vaughan and Hanna Wallach reflect on WiML’s evolution, navigating the field of ML, and their work in responsible AI. Show notes

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  • Oct 6, 2025 · 52 min

    Ideas: More AI-resilient biosecurity with the Paraphrase Project

    Microsoft’s Eric Horvitz and guests Bruce Wittmann, Tessa Alexanian, and James Diggans discuss the Paraphrase Project—a red-teaming effort that exposed and secured a biosecurity vulnerability in AI-driven protein design. The work offers a model for addressing AI’s dual-use risks. Show notes

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  • Aug 7, 2025 · 1 hr 15 min

    Reimagining healthcare delivery and public health with AI

    Former Washington State Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah and Mayo Clinic CEO Dr. Gianrico Farrugia explore how healthcare leaders are approaching AI when it comes to public health, care delivery, the healthcare-research connection, and the patient experience. Show notes

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  • Jul 24, 2025 · 1 hr 16 min

    Navigating medical education in the era of generative AI

    Next-generation physicians Morgan Cheatham and Daniel Chen discuss how generative AI is transforming medical education, exploring how students and attending physicians integrate new tools while navigating questions on trust, training, and responsibility. Show notes

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  • Jul 21, 2025 · 29 min

    AI Testing and Evaluation: Reflections

    In the series finale, Amanda Craig Deckard returns to examine what Microsoft has learned about testing as a governance tool. She also explores the roles of rigor, standardization, and interpretability in testing and what’s next for Microsoft’s AI governance work. Show notes: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/podcast/ai-testing-and-evaluation-reflections/

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  • Jul 14, 2025 · 34 min

    AI Testing and Evaluation: Learnings from cybersecurity

    Drawing on his previous work as the UK’s cybersecurity chief, Professor Ciaran Martin explores differentiated standards and public-private partnerships in cybersecurity, and Microsoft’s Tori Westerhoff examines the insights through an AI red-teaming lens. Show notes

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  • Jul 10, 2025 · 1 hr 31 min

    How AI will accelerate biomedical research and discovery

    Daphne Koller, Noubar Afeyan, and Dr. Eric Topol, leaders in AI-driven medicine, discuss how AI is changing biomedical research and discovery, from accelerating drug target identification and biotech R&D to helping pursue the “holy grail” of a virtual cell. Show notes

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  • Jun 30, 2025 · 34 min

    AI Testing and Evaluation: Learnings from genome editing

    In this episode, Alta Charo, emerita professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, joins Sullivan for a conversation on the evolving landscape of genome editing and its regulatory implications. Drawing on decades of experience in biotechnology policy, Charo emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between hazards and risks and describes the field's approach to regulating applications of technology rather than the technology itself. The discussion also explores opportunities and challenges in biotech’s multi-agency oversight model and the role of international coordination. Later, Daniel Kluttz, a partner general manager in Microsoft's Office of Responsible AI, joins Sullivan to discuss how insights from genome editing could inform more nuanced and robust governance frameworks for emerging technologies like AI.

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  • Jun 23, 2025 · 20 min

    AI Testing and Evaluation: Learnings from Science and Industry

    In the introductory episode of this new series, host Kathleen Sullivan and Senior Director Amanda Craig Deckard explore Microsoft’s efforts to draw on the experience of other domains to help advance the role of AI testing and evaluation as a governance tool.

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  • May 29, 2025 · 1 hr 18 min

    What AI's impact on individuals means for the health workforce and industry

    Ethan Mollick and Azeem Azhar, thought leaders at the forefront of AI’s influence on work, education, and society, discuss the impact of AI at the individual level and what that means for the healthcare workforce and the organizations and systems in medicine.

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  • May 22, 2025 · 14 min

    Abstracts: Zero-shot models in single-cell biology with Alex Lu

    The emergence of foundation models has sparked interest in applications to single-cell biology, but when tested in zero-shot settings, they underperform compared to simpler methods. Alex Lu shares insights on why more research on AI models is needed in biological applications. Show notes

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  • May 21, 2025 · 9 min

    Abstracts: Aurora with Megan Stanley and Wessel Bruinsma

    A new Nature paper explores Aurora, an AI model that redefines weather prediction with application to other environmental domains such as tropical cyclones. Hear from senior researchers Megan Stanley and Wessel Bruinsma as they share their groundbreaking work. Read the paper

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  • May 20, 2025 · 41 min

    Collaborators: Healthcare Innovation to Impact

    In this discussion, Matthew Lungren, Jonathan Carlson, Smitha Saligrama, Will Guyman, and Cameron Runde explore how teams across Microsoft are working together to generate advanced AI capabilities and solutions for developers and clinicians around the globe. Get started with Azure AI Foundry Labs

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Showing 1–20 of 20 episodes