Hardware Podcasts

AI Ethicist Rebecca Bultsma on Trust, Verification, and When NOT to Use AI in Your Shop | Ep. 52

Lights Out · 23 Oct 2026 · 54m · Episode 52

AI in practice: 2 real uses of AI described

What this episode covers

AI ethicist Rebecca Bultsma, who holds a master's degree in Data and Artificial Intelligence Ethics from the University of Edinburgh, joins the hosts to discuss the nuances of trust, verification, and ethical AI adoption in business and manufacturing. She argues that AI is a neutral tool like money or a hammer that amplifies human intent, and advises using it as a 'thought partner' or devil's advocate rather than a ghostwriter to maintain authenticity and critical thinking. The conversation covers the risks of automation bias, the importance of verifying AI-generated research, and the ethical implications of deepfakes and AI in decision-making.

AI in practice

Where this conversation describes AI being used to build or deliver a product. Part of the AI in practice tracker.

Running the companyAI agents

The guest runs automated agents that scrape the internet daily for news stories about deep fakes, compiling them into a database for her to review and analyze for trends.

“I have agents, so right now I'm really looking into deep fakes … every morning, I just have agents that go out on a schedule, come through the internet and find any news stories that have anything to do with deep fakes … and bring them back and put them in a database for me.”

Speaker 4 · Hear it at 27:36

Marketing & salesNavu

A sponsor uses an AI chat tool trained on company content to answer manufacturing buyers' questions on their website in real time, helping them find products and applications without human intervention.

“Navu adds AI chat to your website, trained on your own content. So visitors can get reliable, accurate answers in real time. It helps buyers find the right product, understand the right application, and take the next step without forcing your team to answer the same questions over and over.”

Speaker 5 · Hear it at 32:14

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Kennametal
Products
Hennig WorkFlow
Tools
ChatGPT, Navu, HubSpot, Salesforce, Slack, Claude, Google Gemini, Grok, Deep Seek
Also
Rebecca Bultsma, University of Edinburgh, Christopher Penn, Timothy Coombs, Hire MFG Leaders, New York Times

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