COVID-19 and Crisis Innovation: Sharing our data to save the world

Better Innovation

This week, we’re back with the Safe Paths team as Jeff sits down with its founder, MIT Associate Professor Ramesh Raskar. Jeff and Ramesh explore the inspiration for Safe Paths and Ramesh’s vision for establishing Path Check, a nonprofit committed to developing leading technology to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Ramesh’s inspiration for the Safe Paths technology stems from his experience at Burning Man in 2017, where he was asked to be on the receiving end of a phone booth experience called “Talk to God.” As dozens of strangers shared intimate personal details with Ramesh, he realized that it wasn’t God they were looking for, but instead an impartial broker to receive their most personal information - free of judgment and repercussion. What if technology - and AI in particular - could be that impartial broker?

Join this free-flowing conversation exploring, among other topics, the dichotomy between data privacy and its utility, through the lens of Safe Paths’ revolutionary platform.