Alistair Lowe-Norris, Chief Responsible AI Officer at Iridius and co-host of The Agentic Insider podcast, joins to discuss AI compliance standards, the importance of narrowly scoping systems, and how procurement requirements could encourage responsible AI adoption across industries. We explore the gap between the empty promises companies provide and actual safety practices, as well as the importance of vigilance and continuous oversight.
Listen to Alistair on his podcast, The Agentic Insider!
As part of my effort to make this whole podcasting thing more sustainable, I have created a Kairos.fm Patreon which includes an extended version of this episode. Supporting gets you access to these extended cuts, as well as other perks in development.
Chapters
GPT-5 Commentary
Customer Service and AI Adoption
Standards
Governance and Regulation
Microsoft AI Compliance
I'm joined by my good friend, Li-Lian Ang, first hire and product manager at BlueDot Impact. We discuss how BlueDot has evolved from their original course offerings to a new "defense-in-depth" approach, which focuses on three core threat models: reduced oversight in high risk scenarios (e.g. accelerated warfare), catastrophic terrorism (e.g. rogue actors with bioweapons), and the concentration of wealth and power (e.g. supercharged surveillance states). On top of that, we cover how BlueDot's strategies account for and reduce the negative impacts of common issues in AI safety, including exclusionary tendencies, elitism, and echo chambers.
2025.09.15: Learn more about how to make design effective interventions to make AI go well and potentially even get funded for it on BlueDot Impact's AGI Strategy course! BlueDot is also hiring, so if you think you’d be a good fit, I definitely recommend applying; I had a great experience when I contracted as a course facilitator. If you do end up applying, let them know you found out about the opportunity from the podcast!
Follow Li-Lian on LinkedIn, and look at more of her work on her blog!
As part of my effort to make this whole podcasting thing more sustainable, I have created a Kairos.fm Patreon which includes an extended version of this episode. Supporting gets you access to these extended cuts, as well as other perks in development.
Defense-in-Depth
X-clusion and X-risk
AIxBio
Persuasive AI
AI, Anthropomorphization, and Mental Health
Miscellaneous References
More Li-Lian Links
Relevant Podcasts from Kairos.fm
Andres Sepulveda Morales joins me to discuss his journey from three tech layoffs to founding Red Mage Creative and leading the Fort Collins chapter of the Rocky Mountain AI Interest Group (RMAIIG). We explore the current tech job market, AI anxiety in nonprofits, dark patterns in AI systems, and building inclusive tech communities that welcome diverse perspectives.
Reach out to Andres on his LinkedIn, or check out the Red Mage Creative website!
For any listeners in Colorado, consider attending an RMAIIG event: Boulder; Fort Collins
Tech Job Market
Dark Patterns
Colorado AI Regulation
Other Sources
Will Petillo, onboarding team lead at PauseAI, joins me to discuss the grassroots movement advocating for a pause on frontier AI model development. We explore PauseAI's strategy, talk about common misconceptions Will hears, and dig into how diverse perspectives still converge on the need to slow down AI development.
Will's Links
Related Kairos.fm Episodes
Exclusionary Tendencies
AI in Warfare
Legislation
The Gavernor
Misc. Links
I am joined by Tristan Williams and Felix de Simone to discuss their work on the potential of constituent communication, specifically in the context of AI legislation. These two worked as part of an AI Safety Camp team to understand whether or not it would be useful for more people to be sharing their experiences, concerns, and opinions with their government representative (hint, it is).
Check out the blogpost on their findings, "Talking to Congress: Can constituents contacting their legislator influence policy?" and the tool they created!
Links to all articles/papers which are mentioned throughout the episode can be found below, in order of their appearance.
The almost Dr. Igor Krawczuk joins me for what is the equivalent of 4 of my previous episodes. We get into all the classics: eugenics, capitalism, philosophical toads... Need I say more?
If you're interested in connecting with Igor, head on over to his website, or check out placeholder for thesis (it isn't published yet).
Because the full show notes have a whopping 115 additional links, I'll highlight some that I think are particularly worthwhile here:
Chapters
Links
Links to all articles/papers which are mentioned throughout the episode can be found below, in order of their appearance. All references, including those only mentioned in the extended version of this episode, are included.
