The Alien in the Room

In this episode of Radiolab, hosts Latif Nasser and Simon Adler delve into the complexities of artificial intelligence, aiming to demystify the technology and its evolution. They explore AI's capabilities through the lens of the Animal AI Olympics, comparing AI problem-solving skills to those of animals, and discuss AI's unique profile of skills. The hosts trace the history of AI from early text-to-speech programs like NETtalk to modern large language models, explaining the underlying neural networks and the shift from rule-based programming to machine learning. They discuss the role of GPUs and parallel processing in advancing AI, and touch on the philosophical implications of AI surpassing human capabilities, featuring insights from a professional Go player who lost to AlphaGo, and a professor of Chinese history.