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PODCAST

The IDEMS Podcast

IDEMS International

Stories from a social enterprise that uses mathematical sciences in impact-oriented work around the world. Our experiences range from helping some of the world"s poorest farmers get value from data, to enabling academics to use AI responsibly in their teaching. We never know what our next task will be but the last 6 years have shown that it is likely to lead to a story.

science mathematics

All Episodes

26:36

275 – The Agency Fund’s Social Sector Tech Stack: The...

The IDEMS Podcast ·

2026/06/30

"David and Santiago discuss The Agency Fund’s recent article on a technology stack for the social sector, exploring the backend systems that make modern AI-enabled tools possible. From LLM gateways and agent builders to data pipelines, monitoring, and experimentation, they examine the growing ecosystem of open tools that can help small organisations access capabilities once reserved for large technical teams. Along the way, they reflect on how these developments relate to IDEMS’ own work and why

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20:24

274 – The Power of the AI Narrative

The IDEMS Podcast ·

2026/06/26

In the final episode of the series, David and Kate explore the power of narratives in shaping the future of AI. Inspired by Karen Hao’s *Empire of AI*, they discuss how messaging, lobbying, and financial influence have created a sense of inevitability around one particular vision of AI, while alternative approaches struggle to gain visibility. They reflect on the importance of articulating and championing alternative visions for AI, concluding with a call for the liberation of AI from AI

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32:38

273 – The Future of Work Beyond AI Empires

The IDEMS Podcast ·

2026/06/23

Continuing their exploration of alternatives to today’s dominant AI paradigm, David and Kate reflect on what the future of work could look like beyond AI empires. They discuss the role of education, apprenticeships, and human expertise in a world increasingly shaped by AI, and consider how technology might free people to focus on more creative, collaborative, and meaningful work. The conversation highlights the importance of building alternative visions for the future and asks how societies can

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27:12

272 – The Foundations of Community-Centred AI

The IDEMS Podcast ·

2026/06/19

Building on their exploration of alternatives to today’s dominant AI paradigm, David and Kate discuss what a community-centred approach to AI might look like. They explore the importance of collaboration, deep interoperability, distributed ownership, and adaptability, arguing that effective AI systems should strengthen communities rather than replace them. The conversation considers how communities can retain agency over their data, tools, and knowledge while remaining connected to wider networks of

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26:07

271 – Why AI Matters Now

The IDEMS Podcast ·

2026/06/16

Continuing their examination of the assumptions underlying today’s dominant AI narrative, David and Kate reflect on why AI has become such an important topic within IDEMS. They discuss how years of work on community ownership, trust, interoperability, and complex social systems have shaped their thinking, and why recent advances in AI may finally make it possible to build technologies that support rather than constrain local agency. The conversation explores the relationship between technology,

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25:24

270 – Human Capital and the Future of AI

The IDEMS Podcast ·

2026/06/12

Continuing their examination of the assumptions underlying today’s dominant AI narrative, David and Kate explore the role of human expertise in building effective AI systems. They discuss the often-overlooked human work that underpins current AI, from reinforcement learning and quality assurance to research, teaching, and domain expertise. The conversation highlights how diverse forms of human capital, collaboration, and innovation may be far more important to the future of AI than simply increasing

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28:45

269 – Why Better Data Matters

The IDEMS Podcast ·

2026/06/09

Continuing their examination of the assumptions underlying today’s dominant AI narrative, David and Kate explore what makes data useful, trustworthy, and meaningful. They discuss the limitations of extraction-based approaches to AI, the importance of local context and data ownership, and the challenges of building systems that can learn across diverse communities without centralising control. The conversation highlights why better data—not just more data—may be key to building more effective and

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23:04

268 – What Lies Behind AI as a Product?

The IDEMS Podcast ·

2026/06/05

Continuing their examination of the assumptions underlying today’s dominant AI narrative, David and Kate explore the distinction between AI as a product and AI as a sociotechnical system. They reflect on the often-invisible infrastructure, labour, resources, and governance structures that sit behind AI technologies, and discuss why understanding these systems is essential for making informed choices about technology, impact, and innovation. The conversation highlights how different assumptions about

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22:11

267 – The Forces Shaping AI

The IDEMS Podcast ·

2026/06/02

Continuing their discussion on the future of AI, David and Kate explore the economic and institutional forces shaping today’s dominant AI models. They discuss the roles of investment, monopoly power, research funding, and commercial incentives in driving ever-larger AI systems, and consider how these pressures influence both technological development and public narratives around AI. The conversation highlights why the current trajectory of AI is not inevitable and what alternative paths might look

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28:18

266 – Building Better AI with Less

The IDEMS Podcast ·

2026/05/29

Continuing their discussion on the future of AI, David and Kate explore how advances in large language models could enable a new generation of smaller, more specialised AI systems. They discuss why the next wave of innovation may come from building tools that are more efficient, focused, and responsive to real-world needs rather than simply pursuing ever-larger models.

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28:22

265 – Connectionist Versus Symbolist AI

The IDEMS Podcast ·

2026/05/26

David and Kate explore the historical divide between Symbolist and Connectionist approaches to AI, reflecting on how today’s dominant AI narratives emerged and what may have been lost along the way. They discuss the difference between expert systems built on structured human knowledge and data-driven learning systems based on neural networks, and consider the implications of each for governance, traceability, social impact, and responsible technology development. The conversation highlights how

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27:16

264 – Earthkeepers versus AI Empires (Part 2)

The IDEMS Podcast ·

2026/05/22

In the second part of their discussion, David and Kate reflect more deeply on the Earthkeepers versus AI Empires convening in Zambia, exploring the diverse perspectives and tensions that emerged during the event. They discuss questions of power, governance, indigenous knowledge, and technological futures, as well as the growing recognition that current AI trajectories are not inevitable. The conversation highlights alternative visions for AI and digital technologies built around community ownership,

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19:22

262 – Rainfall Data and Quality Control

The IDEMS Podcast ·

2026/05/15

Lily and David discuss the challenges of working with rainfall and climate data, exploring ideas of data quality, data rescue, and data accreditation. They reflect on different sources of climate data—from weather stations and satellites to reanalysis products—and examine how these can be evaluated for specific applications such as agriculture. The conversation also highlights ongoing research into rainfall intensity, satellite validation, and the importance of building evidence around which climate

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20:46

261 – Embedded Scaling in Farmer Research Networks

The IDEMS Podcast ·

2026/05/12

Lucie and David continue their discussion on Farmer Research Networks (FRNs), focusing on the idea of embedded scaling and its implications. They explore how scaling out, scaling up, and scaling deep each change the nature of the data and the research itself, and reflect on the challenge of designing systems where farmers collect and use data for their own benefit while also contributing to wider learning and research.

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21:19

260 – Farmer Research Networks

The IDEMS Podcast ·

2026/05/08

Lucie and David discuss the origins and evolution of Farmer Research Networks (FRNs) within the work of the Global Collaboration for Resilient Food Systems. They explore how FRNs were conceived as a way to combine participatory research with large-scale data and reflect on ongoing debates around embedded scaling, participation, and the distinction between FRNs and approaches such as Participatory Action Research (PAR). The conversation highlights both the promise and the practical challenges of

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19:10

259 – Building the ePICSA Summaries Database

The IDEMS Podcast ·

2026/05/05

Lily and David discuss recent work on the ePICSA system, focusing on the development of a structured summaries database to support climate information for agriculture. They explore how moving from file-based systems to a database approach creates new opportunities for versioning, quality control, decentralised workflows, and accreditation of climate products. The conversation also reflects on the broader challenges of climate data quality, data rescue, and building sustainable systems that can

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20:17

258 – Exploring the STACK AI Assistant

The IDEMS Podcast ·

2026/05/01

Santiago and David discuss how a specialised AI assistant is supporting their work authoring and reviewing STACK questions. They explore the balance between human expertise and AI support, reflecting on how the assistant improves efficiency, enhances question quality, and helps navigate complex documentation and legacy code. The conversation also highlights the broader potential of specialised AI assistants as collaborative tools that augment, rather than replace, expert human work.

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19:51

257 – Behind the Open App Builder

The IDEMS Podcast ·

2026/04/28

Michele and David explore the ideas and design principles behind the Open App Builder, a system developed through IDEMS’ collaboration with Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH). They discuss the challenges of creating flexible, reusable app infrastructures that support collaboration across technical and non-technical teams, and reflect on the long-term vision of enabling local organisations to build and adapt their own digital tools. The conversation highlights both the complexity of the system and

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17:00

256 – The Facilitator Apps

The IDEMS Podcast ·

2026/04/24

Michele and David discuss the development of facilitator apps within the Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH) ecosystem, exploring how these tools support facilitators delivering parenting programmes in diverse contexts. They reflect on the growing role of adaptable digital tools for reporting, monitoring, and programme delivery, and discuss the wider opportunities these technologies create for scalable implementations, embedded research, and locally owned digital ecosystems that could support many

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22:09

255 – Authoring STACK Questions as a Service

The IDEMS Podcast ·

2026/04/21

Santiago and David discuss the emergence of STACK question authoring as a growing area of work within IDEMS. They reflect on the value of cross-institution collaboration, the role of formative assessment and feedback in mathematics education, and how expertise developed across diverse educational contexts can support universities internationally.

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167 results

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