The Best Podcasts To Learn About AI

Since the launch of Chat GPT in November 2022, it feels like AI is everywhere. More and more of what we read online is computer-generated and it's getting harder and harder to know if what we're reading was written by a human (we promise this blog actually was!) 

Much like AI is all over the news, podcasters are also jumping into the debate. We’ve listed the podcasts that are at the forefront of the machine-learning conversation, using new formats to dive into the ethical, philosophical and business questions around the recent artificial intelligence boom. 

The Podcasters Exploring the Future of AI

Playing with reality 

We work with digital transformation experts, Sogeti, to create their podcast, Playing with Reality. From travelling back in time to exploring the depths of the Metaverse to its latest season exploring the thrilling field of artificial intelligence, Playing With Reality takes a look at technology as it happens and challenges its boundaries. 

Hosted by Menno Van Doorn, Research Director at Sogeti, as he takes a deep dive into technology with experts from the industry. This season, Menno is asking the biggest questions about AI, including discovering what effect it will have on the creative sectors, and whether there could ever be a general AI that transcends the boundaries of human intelligence.

Hard Fork 

A technology podcast from The New York Times, on Hard Fork, Hosts Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore stories from the bleeding edge of tech. What’s real? What’s hype? Hard Fork is here to help you make sense of it. 

In their most recent episode, they're exploring how a conversation with Bing AI (aka Sydney) turns romantic and bizarre. The two embark on a journey to discover why Microsoft’s AI search tool appears more powerful — and unsettling — than we thought.

Data Skeptic 

Data Skeptic is your source for a perspective of scientific skepticism on topics in statistics, machine learning, big data, artificial intelligence, and data science. Their weekly podcast and blog bring stories and tutorials to help you better understand our data-driven world.

In their episode, Ad- Tech: Debiasing GPT-3 Job Ads, we hear about the impeccable achievements of GPT-3 models, but with such accomplishments such large generative models come with their bias as well. On the show, Conrad Borchers, a Ph.D. student in Human-Computer Interaction, discusses the bias in GPT-3 for job ads and how such large models can be de-biased. 

Eye on AI 

Eye on AI tracks new development in artificial intelligence research, hosted by longtime New York Times journalist Craig S. Smith. In each episode, Craig discusses aspects of AI with some of the people making a difference in the space, putting incremental advances into a broader context. This podcast knows that AI is going to change the world, and they are paying attention.

In the most recent episode Yann LeCun talks about what’s missing in large language models and about how new joint embedding predictive architecture may be a step toward filling that gap. 

Talking to Machines: LISP and the Origins… 

Creating a machine that thinks may have seemed like science fiction in the 1950s. But John McCarthy decided to make it a reality. And he started with a language he called LISP. Colin Garvey describes how McCarthy created his first language for AI. Sam Williams covers how early interest in thinking machines spread from academia to the business world, and how- after certain projects didn’t deliver on their promises- a long AI winter eventually set in.

Ulrich Drepper explains that the dreams of AI went beyond what the hardware could deliver at the time. This podcast episode covers much more, as well, including discussion of the processing power to handle the resource requirements of AI, and the language of AI beyond LISP- evidence of the different kinds of tasks AI is now being prepared to do. 

The Times Radio: Stories of our Time 

One remarkable story, told in depth, each day. Their daily news podcast takes you to the heart of the stories that matter, with exclusive access and reporting. Published for the start of your day and hosted by Manveen Rana and David Aronovitch. The episode “Artificial intelligence: Bright new future or the end of humanity?” aired on February 22, 2023.

The episode explores what experts are now describing as a golden age of AI. If machines could be our surgeons, our judges, our artists, what would it then mean to be human? This episode talks with philosophers trying to save humanity from the matrix.

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