# 514: Just Turn Off All the Computers

- Show: [Embedded.fm](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm)
- Published: 2025-11-14
- Length: 1h 10m
- Episode: 514
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-11-14-514-just-turn-off-all-the-computers
- Listen: https://embedded.fm/episodes/514

## Summary

Philip Koopman, a retired Carnegie Mellon University professor and author of 'Embodied AI Safety: Reimagining safety engineering for artificial intelligence in physical systems,' discusses the critical safety, security, and legal challenges of deploying AI in physical devices. He uses Waymo robotaxis as a primary example to illustrate how 'moral crumple zones' and human factors create liability gaps when AI supplants human agency. Koopman argues that current tort negligence laws are insufficient for holding manufacturers accountable for AI errors, necessitating a shift in how engineers approach hazard assessment and risk mitigation for embodied systems.

## Chapters

- [0:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-11-14-514-just-turn-off-all-the-computers#t=6) Introduction: Philip Koopman and Embodied AI Safety
- [2:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-11-14-514-just-turn-off-all-the-computers#t=120) Lightning Round: Robotaxis, Singularity, and Checklists
- [10:18](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-11-14-514-just-turn-off-all-the-computers#t=618) Book Audience and Accessibility: From Engineers to Regulators
- [18:50](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-11-14-514-just-turn-off-all-the-computers#t=1130) Hazard Assessment, Risk Mitigation, and Common Cause Failures
- [31:40](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-11-14-514-just-turn-off-all-the-computers#t=1900) AI Safety, Human Factors, and Moral Crumple Zones
- [41:18](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-11-14-514-just-turn-off-all-the-computers#t=2478) LLMs, Hallucinations, and the Turing Test
- [52:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-11-14-514-just-turn-off-all-the-computers#t=3156) Legal Liability, Tort Negligence, and Robotaxi Failures
- [1:02:07](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2025-11-14-514-just-turn-off-all-the-computers#t=3727) Security as Integrity and Safety Cases

## Topics

- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Security & privacy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/security-and-privacy)
- [Medical & health devices](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/medical-devices)
- [Policy, trade & tariffs](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/policy-trade-and-tariffs)
- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)

## Most relevant to

established companies

## Mentioned

- Carnegie Mellon University (company)
- Embodied AI Safety: Reimagining safety engineering for artificial intelligence in physical systems (product)
- Waymo (company)
- UL 4600 (other)
- EE Times (company)
- ELIZA (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Episode Thirty-One: Chris Atkeson](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2023-01-06-episode-thirty-one-chris-atkeson) (Robot Talk)
- [AI's Role in the Future of Robotics: Insights from 3Laws](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2026-02-27-ais-role-in-the-future-of-robotics-insights-from-3laws) (The Robot Report Podcast)
- [65. Pizzaiolo Robot & Autonomous Wheelchairs](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2022-04-12-65-pizzaiolo-robot-autonomous-wheelchairs) (The Next Byte Podcast)
- [S3 E5: AI in Hardware: The Future of Design, Manufacturing, and Innovation with Kristen Edwards](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2025-11-25-s3-e5-ai-in-hardware-the-future-of-design-manufacturing-and-innovation-with-kris) (The Builder Circle)
- [Building a Framework to Trust AI](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2021-09-24-building-a-framework-to-trust-ai) (EE Times Current)

## Citing this page

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