AI and humanity’s future: chilling or thrilling?

Radical with Amol Rajan

BBC

Society & Culture

4.5 • 917 Ratings

🗓️ 2 May 2024

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week we’ve taken inspiration from friend of the podcast, Stephen Fry, who challenged Amol and Nick to look at what the future of AI means for us all – and whether it will herald in a utopian or dystopian future.

Dame Wendy Hall, member of UK’s AI Council and adviser to the UN, explains why she is worried that it is too late to prevent AI-generated deepfakes impacting elections around the world this year.

And Professor Nick Bostrom, futurologist at Oxford University and the man known as Elon Musk’s favourite philosopher, on how AI might affect the future of humanity.

Plus actor and comedian Hugh Dennis pops into the studio to give us his take on how AI could affect comedy – and share his moment of the week.

Episodes of The Today Podcast land every Thursday and watch out for bonus episodes. Subscribe on BBC Sounds to get Amol and Nick's take on the biggest stories of the week, with insights from behind the scenes at the UK's most influential radio news programme. If you would like a question answering, get in touch by sending us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 4346 or email us Today@bbc.co.uk

The Today Podcast is hosted by Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson, both presenters of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the UK’s most influential radio news programme. Amol was the BBC’s media editor for six years and is the former editor of the Independent, he’s also the current presenter of University Challenge. Nick has presented the Today programme since 2015, he was the BBC’s political editor for ten years before that and also previously worked as ITV’s political editor.

The senior producer is Tom Smithard, the producers are Hazel Morgan and Joe Wilkinson. The editor is Louisa Lewis. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths. Technical production from Hannah Montgomery and digital production from Elliot Ryder.

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.
0:04.8	Today, we're diving headfirst into the binary abyss, the world of artificial intelligence.
0:10.2	Nick, are you ready to decode the matrix?
0:12.1	It's like strapping ourselves into a digital delorean and hurtling through the ones and zeros,
0:16.4	a bite-sized exploration of AI's impact on our lives.
0:19.9	Listeners, fasten your seatbelts.
0:22.1	Will AI be our salvation or our digital Pandora's box?
0:25.3	We're not the only ones whose interest has been peaked.
0:28.0	Hello, young Amol and hello young, slightly less young Nick.
0:32.5	This is Stephen Fry with a question for you.
0:35.2	I still don't really believe that people understand quite
0:38.7	how imminent a threat AI is. A threat and indeed a promise, I would say chilling and thrilling.
0:46.6	I feel the human family is sitting on a beach with their backs to the ocean while a tsunami
0:52.7	is preparing to engulf them, playing beach cricket and making
0:56.8	sandcastles. When Stephen asks, we deliver. So this week we'll be discussing the incredible
1:02.4	potential of AI, but we'll also be asking the tough questions. Can AI ever truly be unbiased?
1:08.3	Are we sleepwalking towards a future dominated by machines? This is the
1:14.0	Today podcast where bites meet brilliance and silicon meets soul. Let's dive in. That is so spooky.
1:24.7	Bloody hell. That's terrifying. That really is terrifying.
1:29.0	That is really, really.
1:30.5	Is it the same for you?
1:31.2	I don't think that properly sounds like me.
	...

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