Former Google Chief Decision Scientist Cassie Kozyrkov on AI, Decisions, and Human Responsibility
1/13/20261 hr 20 min
What happens when one of the world’s foremost decision-making and AI ethics leaders steps into a room built around integrity-based human influence?
In this powerful episode of Unblinded with Sean Callagy, Sean sits down with Cassie Kozyrkov—former Chief Decision Scientist at Google and a global authority on AI, data, and decision intelligence—for a conversation that reframes how we think about choices, responsibility, and the future of AI.
From her unconventional upbringing in South Africa and early obsession with spreadsheets, to her groundbreaking work at the intersection of human judgment and machine intelligence, Cassie...
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First 90 secondsCassie Kozyrkov· Guest0:00
Well, when I was about eight or nine years old, I discovered the most beautiful thing in the universe, spreadsheets. I had to go and go get full immersion in the decision disciplines. [laughs] I went to college when I was 15. I had actually, growing up where I did, I didn't realize how big the world was.
Sean Callagy· Host0:19
And she's way smarter than me by, like, a million X.
Cassie Kozyrkov· Guest0:23
Every single story is never about the genie. It is about the unskilled wisher. Knowing what you want, that's the hardest thing, isn't it?
Sean Callagy· Host0:30
So when they're making their genie wishes pre-AI in the world of Unblinded, that was our f- matrix, our framework.
Cassie Kozyrkov· Guest0:36
AI, not autonomous in the sense that humans can wash their hands of responsibility for it. Huh. If a data point falls in a forest, does anybody care? And if information isn't connected to action, does it matter? Every company now is saying it's an AI company, and the leadership of these companies, do they know what they're doing? If not, oh, dear God.
Sean Callagy· Host0:57
Yes. But so what a welcome to the stage, the Unblinded space, none other than Cassie Kozyrkov. Let's welcome Cassie. On your feet. Come on, I said Cassie.
Cassie Kozyrkov· Guest1:11
[upbeat music] I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath. Scared to rock the boat and make a- Cassie, you're from South Africa.
Sean Callagy· Host1:23
How fun is that? Is it all about zebras and giraffes? No. No, we had a joke about that, and I