Welcome back, young detectives, two mysteries of science, the podcast where we investigate the stuff

that keeps scientists on the edge of their seats. So smart machines are all around us today.

We're getting used to the idea of artificial intelligence. So for you, from the archives,

we've rebooted one of our classic cases. We're asking whether computers could

ever be smarter than humans. Hello and welcome to mysteries of science. My name's Dan and I'm

the editor of Science and Nature, the monthly magazine from the team behind the week junior.

And I'm Michael,

the junior editor. On this podcast, we take a look at our favourite mysteries of science. These are the strange phenomena and bizarre events that have left scientists scratching their heads and despite

their best efforts remain well and truly unsolved. Yes, this is the third episode of season four.

And so far in this series, we've been asking some really meaty, chewy questions, things like, is time travel possible? Does luck exist?

And now we've got another huge question for you. Is your computer smarter than you? Well, I'm sure my computer is smarter than me, but why do you ask? Well, Michael, you and our listeners might have heard of something called AI, which stands for artificial intelligence. You know, smart machines. These have featured loads in movies and in the news recently.

But what are they exactly?

How does AI work?

And could computers become so smart that they could do everything for us humans?

Those are some big questions, Dan.

I think it's time we went into the mind of the machine to get some answers.

This is Mysteries of Science.

QVolt unlocking machine sounds.

Now, Dan, we're talking about intelligence here, so I think we're going to need some super smart experts to help us out with this one.

Well, luckily, I know just the person.

Yeah, hi, I'm Dr. Beth Singler.

I'm an anthropologist who studies artificial intelligence,

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