Stanford Lecture: Virtual Humans & Trusted AI
Course Details
Instructors
This guest lecture at Stanford University features the leadership team from Cougar, a Tokyo-based startup building the next generation of human-AI interaction tools. The speakers include:
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Satoshi Ishii, CEO of Cougar: A veteran engineer who spent years building large-scale systems at IBM before founding Cougar to pioneer virtual human technology.
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Kazuaki Kanzaki, Chief Blockchain Architect at Cougar: A self-taught developer who got his start as a DJ in Hollywood before moving into blockchain infrastructure, building systems to fix AI's trust and privacy problems.
Course Overview
Tired of all the empty AI hype? This talk cuts through the noise to deliver a practical, no-B.S. look at what's actually next for human-computer interaction. The team walks through their flagship product, Connectome — a platform that mixes IoT, AR, AI, and blockchain to build "virtual human agents," the next evolution beyond boring old voice assistants. They break down the hidden trust and privacy crises plaguing today's centralized AI, and show how decentralized tech can fix it, creating a future where anyone can build, share, and use trusted AI without relying on big tech monopolies.
Who This Course Is For
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AI product managers sick of building the same old voice assistants
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Blockchain developers tired of crypto bros and looking for real, legitimate use cases
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UX/UI designers working on immersive and AR experiences
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Startup founders building the next big AI or virtual human product
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Anyone sick of big tech hoarding your data and lying about AI safety
What You'll Learn
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How human-computer interfaces are evolving, and what comes after smartphones and smart speakers
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What virtual human agents actually are, and how they mix machine learning and game AI to feel like real people
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The hidden trust and privacy problems with today's centralized AI that big tech doesn't want you to know about
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How blockchain fixes AI's "black box" problem, making it transparent and verifiable
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How to build a decentralized marketplace for AI agents, no big tech gatekeepers allowed
