Read the summary and watch or listen to the interview here: https://www.crowleylawllc.com/podcasts/exploring-ai-robotics-with-professor-brendan-englot/
Introduction to the Podcast
Voice-Over: Welcome to the From Lab to Patient, Garage to Market podcast with your host, Phil Crowley. In each episode, we discuss the professionals serving the tech startup market and the key issues important to these companies. You can find this show on all major platforms, including YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and on our website, Crowleylawllc.com. Now, here’s your host, Phil Crowley.
Phil Crowley: Welcome, and thanks for tuning into our podcast. We focus on interviewing experts in life sciences and tech, who offer insights into researching, developing, and commercializing great ideas—ideas like the ones you may be working on right now. We aim to bring forward people with practical experience to help you on your entrepreneurial journey.
Meet Professor Brendan Englot
Phil Crowley: Today, I’m delighted to have with me Professor Brendan Englot, a faculty member at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, and the director of the Stevens Institute of Artificial Intelligence. Brendan has had a distinguished academic career and is expanding further into AI, which is a hot topic today. I’m looking forward to discussing his background and the significant areas of AI development.
Brendan Englot: Thanks, Phil. It’s a pleasure to be here.
Journey into Artificial Intelligence
Phil Crowley: Brendan, can you tell us about your background? How did you get involved in AI? And, for our academic listeners, how did you choose academia over business or industry?
Brendan Englot: Great questions. My path to AI wasn’t conventional, though it’s becoming more common. I started with a mechanical engineering background and an interest in robotics. I’ve been excited about robotics since I was a kid, especially the idea of robots performing tough, dangerous jobs and exploring new frontiers. As I studied robotics in undergrad, grad school, and during my PhD, AI became more impactful. It’s allowed robots to understand the world, make decisions, and act more intelligently. That’s how I got into AI—using it to improve robots’ capabilities and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Now, I also encourage others at Stevens to use AI in their research.
Phil Crowley: It’s interesting how AI crosses so many academic disciplines.
The Stevens Institute for Artificial Intelligence
Phil Crowley: Can you tell us how you built the Stevens Institute for Artificial Intelligence? What’s its significance for Stevens?
Brendan Englot: Sure! Fortunately, many of the pieces were already in place, and my role was to bring together the talent we had. The Institute was founded in 2018 under Professor Subha Subhalakshmi in our Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. I joined as director in 2023, and by then, we had about 50 faculty members. I worked on expanding the Institute by reaching out to faculty across disciplines, from business to humanities, to show them the possibilities of AI. Within a year, we doubled our membership to over 100 faculty, which is nearly a third of Stevens’ total faculty. This shows how AI is becoming integral to research across many fields.
Phil Crowley: That’s a great example of how AI is used across disciplines.
AI’s Impact and Challenges
Phil Crowley: We’ve heard a lot about the potential dangers of AI. What areas are you researching that focus on these risks? What are the main dangers of using AI without fully understanding it?
Brendan Englot: As a robotics researcher, I focus on how robots can use AI to perform helpful actions safely in the physical world. The real concern comes when robots begin interacting physically with the environment. How do we ensure they act safely and as intended? The large AI models used today, like vision-language models, are advancing, and the next step is integrating vision, language, and physical action. The challenge is making sure robots don’t pose safety risks when they make decisions based on what they see or hear and take action in the real world. That’s a big focus of my research—how to make these systems safe.
Phil Crowley: It sounds like AI could replace many jobs.
Brendan Englot: AI is becoming more capable, but it still has limitations. It can’t generate new knowledge; that’s something humans do. AI works with existing knowledge, but we need human expertise to push the frontiers of knowledge. So, while AI can handle many tasks, humans will remain key in advancing new ideas and discoveries.
Phil Crowley: What other benefits do you see from AI, and which ones are most likely to lead to commercial applications?
Brendan Englot: As a robotics researcher, I think AI is especially useful for tasks that are dull, dirty, and dangerous—tasks that put humans at risk. For example, AI can help automate dangerous jobs like deep-sea diving, hazardous construction, or space exploration. It can also support decision-making, reducing human error and improving safety. There are huge commercial opportunities in automating such tasks and using AI to assist human experts in critical decisions.
Phil Crowley: We’ve also heard about the problem of AI “hallucinations,” where systems like ChatGPT generate incorrect or fictitious information. How do curated systems differ?
Brendan Englot: Hallucinations occur when AI systems are trained on large, unverified datasets. AI tries to predict answers based on what it’s learned, but it can’t always distinguish between correct and incorrect information. Curated systems, on the other hand, use verified data and impose rules to ensure the AI gives accurate answers within a specific domain. For example, AI systems that operate in law or medicine need to be tightly controlled to avoid errors. In the future, AI might need to interact with rule-based systems to avoid hallucinations and ensure the accuracy of its responses.
Phil Crowley: I’ve heard about instances where AI, like ChatGPT, has made errors in legal cases, generating citations that didn’t exist. It’s a good reminder to always vet AI results.
Brendan Englot: Exactly. That’s why it’s important to use AI in specialized domains where its knowledge can be curated and verified. AI is a tool, but it still requires human oversight to ensure accuracy.
Crowley Law Advertisement
Phil Crowley: Before we continue, a word about Crowley Law. We are a boutique law firm focused on helping life sciences and tech entrepreneurs turn great ideas into reality. If you’re a startup or developing an idea, reach out to us at [email protected]. We’re here to help protect your work and ensure you’re positioned to succeed.
AI in Cybersecurity
Phil Crowley: Brendan, one of the challenges companies dependent on technology have faced in recent years is cybersecurity, including ransomware, phishing attacks, and system breaches. What role does AI play in cybersecurity?
Brendan Englot: It’s a critical issue. AI tools can now generate convincing text, images, video, and audio that appear authentic but are fake. This is becoming a major concern, as highlighted in the recent AI executive order. One key priority in that order is watermarking AI-generated content to help users identify it. However, not all content can be watermarked, and some may still try to bypass these safeguards. It will be an ongoing challenge, and we’ll need our best minds to develop creative, secure solutions to identify AI-generated content.
Phil Crowley: That’s an important point, Brendan. Governments set up regulatory frameworks, but these often burden law-abiding citizens while criminals find ways to bypass the system. The result is that the regulations make it harder for lawful citizens to comply, and they risk liability, while criminals remain hidden. It’s a complex issue for lawyers working with new technologies. New technologies have been disruptive since the industrial revolution. Do you think AI will replace jobs, or will it create new opportunities?
Brendan Englot: I think this is another wave of technological innovation, similar to past revolutions. Yes, some jobs will be displaced, but new opportunities will emerge. AI can increase the efficiency of office workers and improve safety in physical work environments. It will also change job roles, requiring people to be lifelong learners, especially in STEM fields. I’m optimistic about the potential of AI to create new opportunities.
Phil Crowley: I agree. New technologies often require new regulations, but there should be a balance. For example, regulations for low-risk activities could be less stringent, while high-risk activities like autonomous driving should have stricter rules. You’ve had an interesting career path. What advice would you give someone looking to pursue AI academically or on the business side?
Brendan Englot: I’d encourage anyone interested in AI not to be intimidated. Most people using AI today are newcomers. At the core, AI involves mathematics and statistics, and anyone from a STEM background can understand and innovate with AI. Even those without a STEM background, like business professionals, can get involved as users. Many online courses are available for anyone looking to start, and some have transitioned to new careers after taking just a few courses. It’s not too late to get involved.
Phil Crowley: With so many online resources available, the key is being a lifelong learner and adapting to new skills. What are your thoughts on quantum computing and its potential impact on AI?
Brendan Englot: Quantum computing has the potential to greatly enhance AI. While it’s still in its infancy, combining quantum computing with AI could lead to breakthroughs. Quantum computing allows us to work at the molecular scale and perform calculations that are currently impractical with traditional methods. In the future, we could see more democratized computing where AI and quantum computing work together in unconventional ways, benefiting everyone.
Phil Crowley: Could you briefly explain what quantum computing is?
Brendan Englot: Quantum computing involves designing algorithms for quantum-scale computing, where things like cracking encryption codes become possible much faster than with traditional methods. It also explores shrinking computing down to the molecular level, which opens up new ways to perform computations. AI can be integrated into quantum computing to make use of this new computational power.
Phil Crowley: Fascinating. How can someone learn more about the Stevens Institute of Artificial Intelligence?
Brendan Englot: You can visit the Stevens website at stevens.edu/siai to find information about the Stevens Institute for Artificial Intelligence. You can also search my name to learn more about my activities and the exciting work happening at the institute.
Phil Crowley: Thank you, Brendan. This has been incredibly informative. I hope our listeners found it helpful. If you enjoyed this conversation, please subscribe to our podcast channel so you don’t miss future episodes. Thanks and goodbye.
Voice-Over: You’ve been listening to the From Lab to Patient Garage to Market podcast with Dr. Phil Crowley. Find us on YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and at crowleylawllc.com. If you found this helpful, please subscribe, like, leave a positive review, and share with others.
