logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2024
18m 13s

Why AI is incredibly smart -- and shocki...

TED Tech
About this episode

Computer scientist Yejin Choi is here to demystify the current state of massive artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT, highlighting three key problems with cutting-edge large language models (including some funny instances of them failing at basic commonsense reasoning.) She welcomes us into a new era in which AI is becoming almost like a new intellectual species -- and identifies the benefits of building smaller AI systems trained on human norms and values. (Followed by a Q&A with head of TED Chris Anderson)



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Jul 24
Sherrell's Top 5 (#1): How we built Watch Duty, the lifesaving wildfire alert app with John Mills
After finding himself alone in an unreported wildfire in the woodlands of California, John Mills decided to take matters into his own hands. Hear the incredible story of how he rallied fire survivors and retired first responders to create Watch Duty, the nonprofit emergency alert ... Show More
11m 53s
Jul 24
Sherrell's Top 5 (#2): Inside India's astonishing solar revolution with Kanika Chawla
In 2014, the world’s second largest coal consumer made a bold promise: to increase its solar capacity from three gigawatts to 100 gigawatts in just eight years. Many people called it overly ambitious, but energy expert Kanika Chawla saw the opportunity of a lifetime. She tells th ... Show More
13m 24s
Jul 24
Sherrell's Top 5 (#3): How one of China’s biggest tech companies is tackling carbon removal with Xu Hao
Tencent is one of China’s biggest tech companies, running the popular Chinese messaging app WeChat and the world’s largest video game vendor. Now, it’s also an up-and-coming force in the field of carbon removal. Xu Hao, the vice president of Sustainable Social Value at Tencent, o ... Show More
23m 41s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2023
Why AI is incredibly smart -- and shockingly stupid | Yejin Choi
Computer scientist Yejin Choi is here to demystify the current state of massive artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT, highlighting three key problems with cutting-edge large language models (including some funny instances of them failing at basic commonsense reasoning.) S ... Show More
16m 7s
Nov 2023
Episode 5: Yejin Choi
Few people are better at explaining the science of artificial intelligence than Yejin Choi. She’s a computer science professor at the University of Washington, senior resource manager at the Allen Institute for AI, and the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. I thought her recent ... Show More
31m 30s
Jan 2023
Can you teach a computer common sense?
Over the past decade, AI has moved right into our houses - onto our phones and smart speakers - and grown in sophistication. But many AI systems lack something we humans take for granted: common sense. In this episode Emily talks to MacArthur Fellowship-winner Yejin Choi, one of ... Show More
13m 10s
Oct 2025
We’re doing AI all wrong. Here’s how to get it right | Sasha Luccioni
Artificial intelligence is changing everything — but at what cost? AI sustainability expert Sasha Luccioni exposes how tech companies' massive data centers are burning through energy and wrecking the planet. She introduces a powerful alternative: small but mighty AI models that c ... Show More
12m 12s
Mar 2023
Does AI actually understand us? | Alona Fyshe
Is AI as smart as it seems? Exploring the "brain" behind machine learning, neural networker Alona Fyshe delves into the language processing abilities of talkative tech (like the groundbreaking chatbot and internet obsession ChatGPT) and explains how different it is from your own ... Show More
10m 15s
Nov 2024
The Future of AI: Predictions and Realities
In this episode, Jaeden Schafer discusses the current challenges and developments in the AI industry, particularly focusing on the limitations faced by major players like OpenAI and Anthropic. The conversation explores the anticipated improvements in AI models, the predictions fo ... Show More
19m 52s
Oct 2021
AI isn’t as smart as you think -- but it could be | Jeff Dean
What is AI, really? Jeff Dean, the head of Google’s AI efforts, explains the underlying technology that enables artificial intelligence to do all sorts of things, from understanding language to diagnosing disease -- and presents a roadmap for building better, more responsible sys ... Show More
13m 36s
Oct 2025
We’re doing AI all wrong. Here’s how to get it right | Sasha Luccioni
Artificial intelligence is changing everything — but at what cost? AI sustainability expert Sasha Luccioni exposes how tech companies' massive data centers are burning through energy and wrecking the planet. She introduces a powerful alternative: small but mighty AI models that c ... Show More
12m 12s
May 2024
What really went down at OpenAI and the future of regulation w/ Helen Toner
If there’s one AI company that’s made a splash in mainstream vernacular, it’s OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. Former board member and AI policy expert Helen Toner joins Bilawal to discuss the existing knowledge gaps and conflicting interests between those who are in charge of ... Show More
40m 28s
Jan 2024
Why AI Should Be Taught to Know Its Limits
One of AI’s biggest, unsolved problems is what the advanced algorithms should do when they confront a situation they don’t have an answer for. For programs like Chat GPT, that could mean providing a confidently wrong answer, what’s often called a “hallucination”; for others, as w ... Show More
14m 58s