logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2024
14m 32s

From algorithms to oceans

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

Two years living at sea taught New Generation Thinker Kerry McInerney values which she wants to apply to the development of AI. Her Essay explores the "sustainable AI" movement and looks at visions of the future in novels including Waste Tide by Chen Qiufan and Larissa Lai’s Salt Fish Girl. Dr McInerney is a Research Associate at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge and a New Generation Thinker on the scheme run by the BBC and the AHRC to put academic research on radio.

Producer: Julian Siddle

You can hear more from Kerry in Free Thinking and New Thinking episodes available as Arts & Ideas podcasts called AI, feminism, human/machines and Yellowface, AI and Asian stereotypes

Up next
Jul 4
Censorship, editing and self-censorship
Shahidha Bari looks at censorship, editing and self-censorship with guests including historian of China, Rana Mitter, Jemimah Steinfeld of Index on Censorship and Nigel Warburton, host of the Philosophy Bites podcast. Amelia Fairney discusses her research on sensitivity readers a ... Show More
57m 7s
Jun 27
Christian faith, politics and culture
Anne McElvoy and guests explore the intersections between Christian faith and political decision-making and look at some recent dramas which explore the impact of belief.Chine McDonald is director of the Christian Think Tank Theos, Mark Lawson is a writer, broadcaster and theatre ... Show More
56m 21s
Jun 20
Language
Journalists Peter Hitchens and Oliver Kamm, radio presenter and comedian Ellis James, languages expert Ross Perlin, Diana Sutton director of The Bell Foundation and podcaster and academic Reetika Revathy Subramanian join Matthew Sweet for a conversation about how language unites ... Show More
56m 44s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2023
How Smart Is AI? (Part One) with Meredith Broussard
Every time you interact with a targeted advertisement, use a drop-down menu, or scroll through TikTok, you’re engaging with an algorithm. And these algorithms are anything but objective. This week, Meredith Broussard returns to the show for a special two-part episode about algori ... Show More
39m 39s
Oct 2023
Power Trip: The Age of AI
When did you first hear of GPT, Claude, DALL-E or Bard? Feels like a while ago, right? In barely over a year AI has permeated our conversations, our places of work and it feels omnipresent in the culture. It also threatens to make some of the pillars of our society redundant. Joi ... Show More
37m 10s
Dec 2022
Ethical AI
In this episode of High Theory, Alex Hanna talks with Nathan Kim about Ethical AI. Their conversation is part of our High Theory in STEM series, which tackles topics in science, technology, engineering, and medicine from a highly theoretical perspective. In this episode, Alex hel ... Show More
22m 39s
Jan 2023
Is ethical AI possible?
Sean Illing talks with Timnit Gebru, the founder of the Distributed AI Research Institute. She studies the ethics of artificial intelligence and is an outspoken critic of companies developing new AI systems. Sean and Timnit discuss the power dynamics in the world of AI, the discr ... Show More
47m 59s
May 2024
What does AI mean for equality and inclusion?
‘AI’: two letters that conjure a whirlwind of questions, speculation, and, for many, concern. But what exactly is artificial intelligence, or ‘AI’, and how does this connect to human behaviour and society? Join us as we peel back the layers of AI and go beyond the hype to uncover ... Show More
41m 37s
Mar 2023
How Smart Is AI? (Part Two) with Meredith Broussard
We’re back with the second half of our special two-part episode about algorithms and artificial intelligence, featuring returning guest Meredith Broussard. Yesterday, we got the T on ChatGPT, and learned why we can’t trust algorithms to be fair or objective. Today, Jonathan and M ... Show More
59m 39s
Jun 2023
Women in artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is changing the way we live and work. Should we accept it, or push back? Kim Chakanetsa meets two women pioneers in the field of AI and ethics. Aleksandra Przegalińska is a philosopher and data scientist. She’s the vice-rector and the head of the Human-Mac ... Show More
27m 29s
May 2023
#116 — AI: Racing Toward the Brink
Sam Harris speaks with Eliezer Yudkowsky about the nature of intelligence, different types of AI, the “alignment problem,” IS vs OUGHT, the possibility that future AI might deceive us, the AI arms race, conscious AI, coordination problems, and other topics. Eliezer Yudkowsky is a ... Show More
48m 19s
Dec 2021
AI: A Future for Humans
Stuart Russell suggests a way forward for human control over super-powerful artificial intelligence. He argues for the abandonment of the current “standard model” of AI, proposing instead a new model based on three principles - chief among them the idea that machines should know ... Show More
58m 12s