The chart-topping podcast which uncovers the extraordinary ways artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming our world is back for a second season. Join mathematician and broadcaster Professor Hannah Fry behind the scenes of world-leading AI research lab DeepMind to get the inside story of how AI is being created – and how it can benefit our lives and the society we live in. 

Recorded over six months and featuring over 30 original interviews, including DeepMind co-founders Demis Hassabis and Shane Legg, the podcast gives listeners exclusive access to the brilliant people building the technology of the future. Throughout nine original episodes, Hannah discovers how DeepMind is using AI to advance science in critical areas, like solving a 50-year-old grand challenge in biology and developing nuclear fusion. 

Listeners hear stories of teaching robots to walk at home during lockdown, as well as using AI to forecast weather, help people regain their voices, and enhance game strategies with Liverpool Football Club. Hannah also takes an in-depth look at the challenges and potential of building artificial general intelligence (AGI) and explores what it takes to ensure AI is built to benefit society.

“I hope this series gives people a better understanding of AI and a feeling for just how exhilarating an endeavour it is.” – Demis Hassabis, CEO and Co-Founder of DeepMind

For questions or feedback on the series, message us on Twitter @DeepMind or email podcast@deepmind.com. 

Credits
Presenter: Hannah Fry
Series Producer: Dan Hardoon
Production support: Jill Achineku
Sounds design: Emma Barnaby
Music composition: Eleni Shaw
Sound Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Editor: David Prest
Commissioned by DeepMind

Thank you to everyone who made this season possible! 

Further reading: 
AlphaFold blog, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/alphafold-a-solution-to-a-50-year-old-grand-challenge-in-biology
AlphaFold case study, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/research/case-studies/alphafold
It will change everything, Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03348-4
AlphaFold Is The Most Important Achievement In AI—Ever, Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/robtoews/2021/10/03/alphafold-is-the-most-important-achievement-in-ai-ever/?sh=359278426e0a
Bacteria found to eat PET plastics, NewScientist: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2080279-bacteria-found-to-eat-pet-plastics-could-help-do-the-recycling/
Protein Structure Prediction Center: https://predictioncenter.org/
An interview with Professor John McGeehan, BBSRC: https://bbsrc.ukri.org/news/features/enzyme-science/an-interview-with-professor-john-mcgeehan/
John McGeehan profile, University of Portsmouth: https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/en/persons/john-mcgeehan
Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi): https://dndi.org/
A doctor’s dream, DNDi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk31iucWYdE
The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry, BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07dx75g/episodes/downloads
Hannah Fry: https://hannahfry.co.uk/

S2, Ep 1: A breakthrough unfolds

Hannah explores the potential of language models, the questions they raise, and if teaching a computer about language is enough to create artificial general intelligence (AGI). Beyond helping us communicate ideas, language plays a crucial role in memory, cooperation, and thinking – which is why AI researchers have long aimed to communicate with computers using natural language. Recently, there has been extraordinary progress using large-language models (LLM), which learn how to speak by processing huge amounts of data from the internet. The results can be very convincing, but pose significant ethical challenges. 

For questions or feedback on the series, message us on Twitter @DeepMind or email podcast@deepmind.com. 

Interviewees: DeepMind’s Geoffrey Irving, Chris Dyer, Angeliki Lazaridou, Lisa-Anne Hendriks & Laura Weidinger 

Credits
Presenter: Hannah Fry
Series Producer: Dan Hardoon
Production support: Jill Achineku
Sounds design: Emma Barnaby
Music composition: Eleni Shaw
Sound Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Editor: David Prest
Commissioned by DeepMind

Thank you to everyone who made this season possible! 

Further reading: 
GPT-3 Powers the Next Generation of Apps, OpenAI: https://openai.com/blog/gpt-3-apps/
https://web.stanford.edu/class/linguist238/p36-weizenabaum.pdf
Never Mind the Computer 1983 about the ELIZA program, BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p023kpf8
How Large Language Models Will Transform Science, Society, and AI, Stanford University: https://hai.stanford.edu/news/how-large-language-models-will-transform-science-society-and-ai
Challenges in Detoxifying Language Models, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/research/publications/2021/Challenges-in-Detoxifying-Language-Models
Extending Machine Language Models toward Human-Level Language Understanding, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/research/publications/2020/Extending-Machine-Language-Models-toward-Human-Level-Language-Understanding
Language modelling at scale, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/language-modelling-at-scale
Artificial general intelligence, Technology Review: https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/10/15/1010461/artificial-general-intelligence-robots-ai-agi-deepmind-google-openai/
A Definition of Machine Intelligence by Shane Legg, arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/0712.3329
Stuart Russell - Living With Artificial Intelligence, BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001216k/episodes/player

S2, Ep 2: Speaking of intelligence

Cooperation is at the heart of our society. Inventing the railway, giving birth to the Renaissance, and creating the Covid-19 vaccine all required people to combine efforts. But cooperation is so much more. It governs our education systems, healthcare, and food production. In this episode, Hannah meets the researchers working on cooperative AI, and hears about their work and influences from the famous American psychologist - and pigeon trainer -  BF Skinner to the strategic board game Diplomacy.

For questions or feedback on the series, message us on Twitter @DeepMind or email podcast@deepmind.com. 

Interviewees: DeepMind’s Thore Graepel, Kevin Mckee, Doina Precup & Laura Weidinger

Credits
Presenter: Hannah Fry
Series Producer: Dan Hardoon
Production support: Jill Achineku
Sounds design: Emma Barnaby
Music composition: Eleni Shaw
Sound Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Editor: David Prest
Commissioned by DeepMind

Thank you to everyone who made this season possible! 

Further reading: 
Machines must learn to find common ground, Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01170-0
Introduction to Reinforcement Learning, DeepMind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pWv7GOvuf0
B.F. Skinner, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._F._Skinner
The Tragedy of the Commons, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons
Staving Off The Ultimate Tragedy Of The Commons, Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgebradt/2021/11/02/staving-off-the-ultimate-tragedy-of-the-commons-by-making-better-complex-decisions-cooperatively-in-glasgow/
Understanding Agent Cooperation, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/understanding-agent-cooperation
The emergence of complex cooperative agents, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/capture-the-flag-science

S2, Ep 3: Better together

Do you need a body to have intelligence? And can one exist without the other? Hannah takes listeners behind the scenes of DeepMind's robotics lab in London where she meets robots that are trying to independently learn new skills, and explores why physical intelligence is a necessary part of intelligence. Along the way, she finds out how researchers trained their robots at home during lockdown, uncovers why so many robotics demonstrations are faking it, and what it takes to train a robotic football team. 

For questions or feedback on the series, message us on Twitter @DeepMind or email podcast@deepmind.com. 

Interviewees: DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell, Viorica Patraucean, Jan Humplik, Akhil Raju & Doina Precup

Credits
Presenter: Hannah Fry
Series Producer: Dan Hardoon
Production support: Jill Achineku
Sounds design: Emma Barnaby
Music composition: Eleni Shaw
Sound Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Editor: David Prest
Commissioned by DeepMind

Thank you to everyone who made this season possible! 

Further reading: 
Stacking our way to more general robots, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/stacking-our-way-to-more-general-robots
Researchers Propose Physical AI As Key To Lifelike Robots, Forbes: ​​https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonchandler/2020/11/11/researchers-propose-physical-ai-as-key-to-lifelike-robots/
The robots going where no human can, BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/technology-41584738
The Robot Assault On Fukushima, WIRED: https://www.wired.com/story/fukushima-robot-cleanup/
Leaps, Bounds, and Backflips, Boston Dynamics: http://blog.bostondynamics.com/atlas-leaps-bounds-and-backflips
Now DeepMind is using AI to transform football, WIRED: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/deepmind-football-liverpool-ai

S2, Ep 4: Let's get physical

Hannah meets DeepMind co-founder and chief scientist Shane Legg, the man who coined the phrase ‘artificial general intelligence’, and explores how it might be built. Why does Shane think AGI is possible? When will it be realised? And what could it look like? Hannah also explores a simple theory of using trial and error to reach AGI and takes a deep dive into MuZero, an AI system which mastered complex board games from chess to Go, and is now generalising to solve a range of important tasks in the real world.

For questions or feedback on the series, message us on Twitter @DeepMind or email podcast@deepmind.com. 

Interviewees: DeepMind’s Shane Legg, Doina Precup, Dave Silver & Jackson Broshear

Credits
Presenter: Hannah Fry
Series Producer: Dan Hardoon
Production support: Jill Achineku
Sounds design: Emma Barnaby
Music composition: Eleni Shaw
Sound Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Editor: David Prest
Commissioned by DeepMind

Thank you to everyone who made this season possible! 

Further reading: 
Real-world challenges for AGI, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/real-world-challenges-for-agi
An executive primer on artificial general intelligence, McKinsey: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/an-executive-primer-on-artificial-general-intelligence
Mastering Go, chess, shogi and Atari without rules, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/muzero-mastering-go-chess-shogi-and-atari-without-rules
What is AGI?, Medium: https://medium.com/intuitionmachine/what-is-agi-99cdb671c88e
A Definition of Machine Intelligence by Shane Legg, arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/0712.3329
Reward is enough by David Silver, ScienceDirect: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0004370221000862

S2, Ep 5: The road to AGI

Step inside DeepMind's laboratories and you'll find researchers studying DNA to understand the mysteries of life, seeking new ways to use nuclear energy, or putting AI to the test in mind-bending areas of maths. In this episode, Hannah meets Pushmeet Kohli, the head of science at DeepMind, to understand how AI is accelerating scientific progress. Listeners also join Hannah on a [virtual] safari in the Serengeti in East Africa to find out how researchers are using AI to conserve wildlife in one of the world’s most spectacular ecosystems.

For questions or feedback on the series, message us on Twitter @DeepMind or email podcast@deepmind.com. 

Interviewees: DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis, Pushmeet Kohli & Sarah Jane Dunn; Meredith Palmer of the Princeton University

Credits
Presenter: Hannah Fry
Series Producer: Dan Hardoon
Production support: Jill Achineku
Sounds design: Emma Barnaby
Music composition: Eleni Shaw
Sound Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Editor: David Prest
Commissioned by DeepMind

Thank you to everyone who made this season possible! 

Further reading:
Using AI for scientific discovery, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/AlphaFold-Using-AI-for-scientific-discovery
DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis on its breakthrough scientific discoveries, WIRED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WRow9FqUbw
The AI revolution in scientific research, The Royal Society: https://royalsociety.org/-/media/policy/projects/ai-and-society/AI-revolution-in-science.pdf
DOE Explains...Tokamaks, Office of Science: https://www.energy.gov/science/doe-explainstokamaks
How AI Accidentally Learned Ecology by Playing StarCraft, Discover: https://www.discovermagazine.com/technology/how-ai-accidentally-learned-ecology-by-playing-starcraft
Google AI can identify wildlife from trap-camera footage, VentureBeat:
https://venturebeat.com/2019/12/17/googles-ai-can-identify-wildlife-from-trap-camera-footage-with-up-to-98-6-accuracy/
Snapshot Serengeti, Zooniverse:
https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/zooniverse/snapshot-serengeti
The Human Genome Project, National Human Genome Research Institute: https://www.genome.gov/human-genome-project
Exploring the beauty of pure mathematics in novel ways, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/exploring-the-beauty-of-pure-mathematics-in-novel-ways
Predicting gene expression with AI, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/enformer
Using machine learning to accelerate ecological research, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/using-machine-learning-to-accelerate-ecological-research
Accelerating fusion science through learned plasma control, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/Accelerating-fusion-science-through-learned-plasma-control
Simulating matter on the quantum scale with AI, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/Simulating-matter-on-the-quantum-scale-with-AI
How AI is helping the natural sciences, Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02762-6
Inside DeepMind's epic mission to solve science's trickiest problem, WIRED: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/deepmind-protein-folding
How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Science, Quanta: https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-artificial-intelligence-is-changing-science-20190311/

S2, Ep 6: AI for science

AI doesn’t just exist in the lab, it’s already solving a range of problems in the real world. In this episode, Hannah encounters a realistic recreation of her voice by WaveNet, the voice synthesising system that powers the Google Assistant and helps people with speech difficulties and illnesses regain their voices. Hannah also discovers how ‘deepfake’ technology can be used to improve weather forecasting and how DeepMind researchers are collaborating with Liverpool Football Club, aiming to take sports to the next level.

For questions or feedback on the series, message us on Twitter @DeepMind or email podcast@deepmind.com. 

Interviewees: DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis, Raia Hadsell, Karl Tuyls, Zach Gleicher & Jackson Broshear; Niall Robinson of the UK Met Office

Credits
Presenter: Hannah Fry
Series Producer: Dan Hardoon
Production support: Jill Achineku
Sounds design: Emma Barnaby
Music composition: Eleni Shaw
Sound Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Editor: David Prest
Commissioned by DeepMind

Thank you to everyone who made this season possible! 

Further reading: 
A generative model for raw audio, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/wavenet-generative-model-raw-audio
WaveNet case study, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/research/case-studies/wavenet
Using WaveNet technology to reunite speech-impaired users with their original voices, DeepMind:| https://deepmind.com/blog/article/Using-WaveNet-technology-to-reunite-speech-impaired-users-with-their-original-voices
Project Euphonia, Google Research: https://sites.research.google/euphonia/about/
Nowcasting the next hour of rain, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/nowcasting
Now DeepMind is using AI to transform football, WIRED: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/deepmind-football-liverpool-ai
Advancing sports analytics through AI, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/advancing-sports-analytics-through-ai
MetOffice, BBC: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/
The village ‘washed on to the map’, BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-28523053
Michael Fish got the storm of 1987 wrong, Sky News: https://news.sky.com/story/michael-fish-got-the-storm-of-1987-wrong-but-modern-supercomputers-may-have-missed-it-too-11076659#:~:text=In%20a%20lunchtime%20broadcast%20on,%2C%22%20he%20confidently%20told%20viewers.

S2, Ep 7: Me, myself and AI

AI needs to benefit everyone, not just those who build it. But fulfilling this promise requires careful thought before new technologies are built and released into the world. In this episode, Hannah delves into some of the most pressing and difficult ethical and social questions surrounding AI today. She explores complex issues like racial and gender bias and the misuse of AI technologies, and hears why diversity and representation is vital for building technology that works for all.

CTA: For questions or feedback on the series, message us on Twitter @DeepMind or email podcast@deepmind.com.  

Interviewees: DeepMind’s Sasha Brown, William Isaac, Shakir Mohamed, Kevin Mckee & Obum Ekeke

Credits
Presenter: Hannah Fry
Series Producer: Dan Hardoon
Production support: Jill Achineku
Sounds design: Emma Barnaby
Music composition: Eleni Shaw
Sound Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Editor: David Prest
Commissioned by DeepMind

Thank you to everyone who made this season possible! 

Further reading: 
What a machine learning tool that turns Obama white can (and can’t) tell us about AI bias, The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/21298762/face-depixelizer-ai-machine-learning-tool-pulse-stylegan-obama-bias
Tuskegee Syphilis Study, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Syphilis_Study
Ethics & Society, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/about/ethics-and-society
Row over AI that 'identifies gay faces', BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41188560
The Trevor Project: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/
AI takes root, helping farmers identify diseased plants, Google: https://www.blog.google/technology/ai/ai-takes-root-helping-farmers-identity-diseased-plants/
How Can You Use Technology to Support a Culture of Inclusion and Diversity?, myHRfuture: https://www.myhrfuture.com/blog/2019/7/16/how-can-you-use-technology-to-support-a-culture-of-inclusion-and-diversity
Scholarships at DeepMind: https://www.deepmind.com/scholarships
AI, Ain’t I a Woman? Joy Buolamwini, YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxuyfWoVV98
How to be Human in the Age of the Machine, Hannah Fry: https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/book-prizes/science-book-prize/2018/hello-world/

S2, Ep 8: Fair for all

Hannah wraps up the series by meeting DeepMind co-founder and CEO, Demis Hassabis. In an extended interview, Demis describes why he believes AGI is possible, how we can get there, and the problems he hopes it will solve. Along the way, he highlights the important role of consciousness and why he’s so optimistic that AI can help solve many of the world’s major challenges. As a final note, Demis shares the story of a personal meeting with Stephen Hawking to discuss the future of AI and discloses Hawking’s parting message.

For questions or feedback on the series, message us on Twitter @DeepMind or email podcast@deepmind.com. 

Interviewee: Deepmind co-founder and CEO, Demis Hassabis

Credits
Presenter: Hannah Fry
Series Producer: Dan Hardoon
Production support: Jill Achineku
Sounds design: Emma Barnaby
Music composition: Eleni Shaw
Sound Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Editor: David Prest
Commissioned by DeepMind

Thank you to everyone who made this season possible! 

Further reading: 
DeepMind, The Podcast: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/welcome-to-the-deepmind-podcast
DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis on its breakthrough scientific discoveries, WIRED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WRow9FqUbw
Riemann hypothesis, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riemann_hypothesis
Using AI to accelerate scientific discovery by Demis Hassabis, Kendrew Lecture 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm-VkgVX-2o
Protein Folding & the Next Technological Revolution by Demis Hassabis, Bloomberg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhd4ENh5ON4
The Algorithm, MIT Technology Review: https://forms.technologyreview.com/newsletters/ai-the-algorithm/
Machine learning resources, The Royal Society: https://royalsociety.org/topics-policy/education-skills/teacher-resources-and-opportunities/resources-for-teachers/resources-machine-learning/
How to get empowered, not overpowered, by AI, TED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LRwvU6gEbA

The promise of AI with Demis Hassabis

We research and build safe AI systems that learn how to solve problems and advance scientific discovery for all. Explore our work: (link: http://deepmind.com) deepmind.com

S2, Ep 7: Me, myself and AI

DeepMind

Related tracks