2023-12-19
37 分钟Humans have a long-held fascination with the idea of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a dystopian threat: from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, through to the Terminator movies. But somehow, we still often think of this technology as 'futuristic': whereas in fact, it's already woven into the fabric of our daily lives, from facial recognition software to translator apps. And if we get too caught up in the entertaining sci-fi narrative around AI and the potential threat from machines, there's a more pressing danger that we overlook real and present concerns - from deep fakes to electoral disinformation. That's why Michael Wooldridge is determined to demystify AI and explain how it can improve our lives, in a whole host of different ways. A Professor of Computer Science at the University of Oxford, and the Director of Foundational AI Research at the Alan Turing Institute, Mike believes the most common fears around this technology are "misplaced". In a special 300th edition of The Life Scientific, recorded in front of an audience at London's Royal Institution (RI), Mike tells Jim Al-Khalili how he will use this year's prestigious RI Christmas Lectures to lift the lid on modern AI technology and discuss how far it could go in future. Mike also reminiscences about the days when sending an email was a thrilling novelty, discusses why people love talking to him about the Terminator at parties, and is even challenged to think up a novel future use of AI by ChatGPT... Produced by Lucy Taylor.
BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts.
Hello, and welcome to the podcast edition of the Life Scientific.
I'm Jamal Khalili and this is the show where I get to talk with some of the world's leading scientists and you get to find out what drives them.
So sit back, get comfortable and enjoy the episode.
Welcome to our final episode of the year, also our 300th life scientific coming to you, complete with audience from London's Royal Institution, a the center of scientific education and celebration for more than two centuries.
Hopefully today we're contributing a little bit towards that grand tradition.
Now, I propose to consider the question, can machines think those aren't actually my words.
That question was the opening line of a paper written in 1950 by the great British computer scientist Alan Turing, leading to the test for machine sentience known as the Turing Test.
And here we are, more than 70 years on, still fascinated by the same question.
In fact, it's more relevant than ever now that artificial intelligence has migrated from science fiction into our everyday lives.
We might not quite be at the sentient robot stage, but we have seen incredible breakthroughs recently, from facial recognition software to ChatGPT.
And so to my guest.
Michael Woolridge is a professor of computer science at the University of Oxford and the director of foundational AI research at the Alan Turing Institute.
And despite the dramatic AI threats in futuristic films or even media headlines, Michael is reassuringly positive about this technology's future, saying the most common fears are misplaced.
His is an opinion worth listening to.
Mike's published hundreds of articles and a number of Books on AI.
In 2020, he received the coveted Lovelace Medal from the British Computer Society.
And this year, he happens to be delivering the Royal Institution's famous Christmas lectures from this very theatre.
He advises us to forget the science fiction, insisting the science fact is much more interesting.
Professor Michael Wooldridge, welcome to Life Scientific.