AccessWorld #39 -- New AFB AI Report on Assistive Tech

It's one of those things that it's in our space for assistive tech folks and those that are users who are blind or have low vision or have other disabilities.

It definitely is something that is leading the way in terms of innovation and development.

Like you said it right when we were talking earlier on another podcast episode about how it's almost like we're back at 2010 again and the iPhones come out.

But this is this I feel like is even greater.

There's so much anxiety, so much conversations around AI.

And I think it's And, you know, folks probably hear Aaron and I talk, you know, week after week on the power of artificial intelligence.

But the reality is, I mean, I'm fair to say, Aaron, it's huge right now.

Like we can't escape it.

Yeah, you can't escape it.

Every podcast I listen to now somehow, well, maybe with the exception of the one that talks about, you know, Queen Elizabeth, the history podcast I love.

But like the other ones, AI is a key topic.

You know, we're very fortunate at the American Foundation for the Blind.

to really have an expertise really being crafted out in this space with our Public Policy and Research Institute as the world tries to better understand how AI is impacting our lives and what does that mean for us, particularly for people with disabilities and for people who are blind or have low vision.

The AFB, Public Policy Research Institute, has had us in the forefront of their mind as they continue to release groundbreaking research in artificial intelligence and attitudes and its impact on the broader disability community and even broader community overall.

Folks may remember we had a chance to touch base with some of the folks from PPRI here at AFB back in the spring when they released the AI Quagmire report, where they had an opportunity to have a survey almost a year now, last fall it was, of over 1,700 people.

A large majority were people with disabilities, but a significant other large portion of that survey was also people without disabilities.

It was such a groundbreaking look into our space with AI and attitudes and really how this landscape is unfolding.

As day by day, things seem to change.

What's been great about the AI Quagmire report is AFB has been releasing many reports or scaled down reports that have taken that AI Quagmire report and broken it into more focused areas.

We had earlier this summer, back in June, one on transportation and one on employment.

And we are excited today to bring with you or to you, the audience, our director of research at the American Foundation for the Blind and our senior advisor for public policy and research, Dr. Ariel Silverman and Sarah Molaire.

Welcome back to the Access World podcast, the both of you, because we're going to get a chance to really find out Something that is real deep to the heart of our community in terms of the additional latest research that literally was just pushed out, I think, this past week.

But welcome.

Thank you so much.

It's good to be here.