The Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel and AI reporter James Vincent discuss AI ethics and bias, and, specifically, what companies like Google are doing to tackle such challenges.

Earlier this year, James spoke to Google’s head of AI, Jeff Dean, about these questions.

Bias within AI is a huge problem. As algorithms are used to make important decisions in areas as varied as health care and housing, researchers want to make sure that these systems don’t reflect — or amplify — prejudices within society. As well as the technical difficulties of tackling bias, there are broader questions that need answering. Like, should we trust companies like Google and Amazon to regulate themselves? Do we need new legislation to make sure algorithms don’t run amok?

Related How companies like Google are dealing with the ethics of AI

As the man in charge of Google’s AI efforts, Jeff Dean is going to have a huge say over the future of artificial intelligence, including how we deal with the ethical challenges it raises. You can listen to Jeff, Nilay, and James thrash out some of these problems in this week’s episode: