Every day, we read something new about Artificial Intelligence - it'll take our jobs, it'll teach our kids, it knows more about us than we do ourselves... but how much of that is hype, and how much is, or will be reality? Part of our problem with AI is that it feels impenetrable and mysterious, especially when even those building it aren't entirely sure how it works. In a new series, Aleks Krotoski (The Digital Human, Radio 4) and Kevin Fong (13 Minutes to the Moon, BBC World Service) set out to 'solve' AI. Or at the very least, to answer our questions on all things artificial intelligence-related. These are the questions that really matter to us - is AI smarter than me? Could AI make me money? Will AI save my life or make me its slave? These questions predate the current frenzy created by the likes of Chat GPT, BARD and LlaMA. They've been in our collective psyche ever since the very first thinking machines. Now these fears and excitement are a reality. This series arrives at a critical moment.
Every day, we read something new about Artificial Intelligence - it'll take our jobs, it'll teach our kids, it knows more about us than we do ourselves... but how much of that is hype, and how much is, or will be reality? Part of our problem with AI is that it feels impenetrable and mysterious, especially when even those building it aren't entirely sure how it works. In a new series, Aleks Krotoski (The Digital Human, Radio 4) and Kevin Fong (13 Minutes to the Moon, BBC World Service) set out to 'solve' AI. Or at the very least, to answer our questions on all things artificial intelligence-related. These are the questions that really matter to us - is AI smarter than me? Could AI make me money? Will AI save my life or make me its slave? These questions predate the current frenzy created by the likes of Chat GPT, BARD and LlaMA. They've been in our collective psyche ever since the very first thinking machines. Now these fears and excitement are a reality. This series arrives at a critical moment.
When Chinese AI startup DeepSeek released their R1 model on the world it sent shockwaves through Silicon Valley. Out of nowhere was an AI that performed as well as any of big tech's products but had been built at a fraction of the cost and with a fraction of the resources.
Now the dust has settled they’re asking themselves whether the driving idea of bigger models, trained on ever bigger datasets still holds up. They're also asking if their business model of fiercely protecting the secrets behind how their technology works is the best way to innovate. DeepSeek is what’s called Open Source meaning that its creators have made the software available for others to study, use and modify. The race is on to see which of these approaches will dominate and see AI embedded into more and more of our lives.
Presenters: Aleks Krotoski & Kevin Fong Producer: Peter McManus Researcher: Juliet Conway Sound: Neva Missirian & Fraser Jackson