
The Life Scientific
BBC Radio 4
Categories: Science & Medicine
Listen to the last episode:
When you think of Artificial Intelligence, does it inspire confidence, or concern?
Although it's now generally accepted that this technology will play a major role in our future, a lot of conversations around AI and machine learning come back to the argument over us losing control and robots taking over.
Happily, Neil Lawrence has a more optimistic view of the power of AI, and how we might navigate the potential pitfalls. Neil is the DeepMind Professor of Machine Learning at the University of Cambridge, and over the course of his career has been involved in deploying AI and machine learning in both academic and commercial scenarios, with a stint at Amazon as well as working across fields as varied as movie animation, Formula 1 strategy, and medical research.
Speaking with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Neil says ultimately his efforts are all about making a difference to our everyday lives - and that we need to learn how to embrace AI, albeit with a healthy dollop of scepticism; not least when it comes to how our data is used, and the power of 'the digital oligarchy'...
Presented by JIm Al-Khalili Produced for BBC Studios by Lucy Taylor
Previous episodes
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337 - Neil Lawrence on taking down the 'digital oligarchy' and why we shouldn't fear AI Tue, 10 Jun 2025
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336 - Liz Morris on Antarctic adventures and the melting polar ice sheets Tue, 03 Jun 2025
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335 - Anthony Fauci on a medical career navigating pandemics and presidents Tue, 27 May 2025
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334 - Brian Schmidt on Nobel Prize-winning supernovae and the joys of making wine Tue, 22 Apr 2025
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333 - Jacqueline McKinley on unearthing bones and stories at Britain's ancient burial sites Tue, 15 Apr 2025
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332 - Jonathan Shepherd on a career as a crime-fighting surgeon Tue, 08 Apr 2025
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331 - Doyne Farmer on making sense of chaos for a better world Tue, 01 Apr 2025
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330 - Tori Herridge on ancient dwarf elephants and frozen mammoths Tue, 25 Mar 2025
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329 - Sir Magdi Yacoub on pioneering heart transplant surgery Tue, 18 Mar 2025
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328 - Tim Peake on his journey to becoming an astronaut and science in space Tue, 31 Dec 2024
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327 - Anna Korre on capturing carbon dioxide and defying expectations Tue, 24 Sep 2024
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326 - Rosalie David on the science of Egyptian mummies Tue, 17 Sep 2024
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325 - Peter Stott on climate change deniers and Italian inspiration Tue, 10 Sep 2024
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324 - Ijeoma Uchegbu on using nanoparticles to transform medicines Tue, 03 Sep 2024
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323 - Darren Croft on killer whale matriarchs and the menopause Tue, 27 Aug 2024
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322 - Bill Gates on vaccines, conspiracy theories and the pleasures of pickleball Tue, 20 Aug 2024
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321 - Kip Thorne on black holes, Nobel Prizes and taking physics to Hollywood Tue, 06 Aug 2024
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320 - Vicky Tolfrey on parasport research and childhood dreams of the Olympics Tue, 30 Jul 2024
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319 - Dawn Bonfield on inclusive engineering, sustainable solutions and why she once tried to leave the sector for good Tue, 23 Jul 2024
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318 - Raymond Schinazi on revolutionising treatments for killer viruses Tue, 16 Jul 2024
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317 - Janet Treasure on eating disorders and the quest for answers Tue, 09 Jul 2024
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316 - Anne Child on Marfan syndrome and love at first sight Tue, 02 Jul 2024
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315 - Conny Aerts on star vibrations and following your dreams Tue, 25 Jun 2024
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314 - Mike Edmunds on decoding galaxies and ancient astronomical artefacts Tue, 23 Apr 2024
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313 - Hannah Critchlow on the connected brain Tue, 16 Apr 2024
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312 - Molly Stevens Tue, 15 Nov 2011
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311 - Colin Blakemore Tue, 08 Nov 2011
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310 - Sir Michael Marmot Tue, 01 Nov 2011
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309 - Steven Pinker Tue, 18 Oct 2011
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308 - Paul Nurse Tue, 11 Oct 2011
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307 - Fiona Rayment on the applications of nuclear for net zero and beyond Tue, 09 Apr 2024
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306 - Nick Longrich on discovering new dinosaurs from overlooked bones Tue, 02 Apr 2024
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305 - Sheila Willis on using science to help solve crime Wed, 27 Mar 2024
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304 - Sir Charles Godfray on parasitic wasps and the race to feed nine billion people Tue, 19 Mar 2024
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303 - Jonathan Van-Tam on Covid communication and the power of football analogies Tue, 12 Mar 2024
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302 - Michael Wooldridge on AI and sentient robots Tue, 19 Dec 2023
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301 - Mercedes Maroto-Valer on making carbon dioxide useful Tue, 12 Dec 2023
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300 - Sir Harry Bhadeshia on the choreography of metals Tue, 05 Dec 2023
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299 - Cathie Sudlow on data in healthcare Tue, 28 Nov 2023
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298 - Sir Michael Berry on phenomena in physics' borderlands Tue, 21 Nov 2023
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297 - Professor Sarah Harper on how population change is remodelling societies. Tue, 14 Nov 2023
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295 - Edward Witten on 'the theory of everything' Tue, 31 Oct 2023
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294 - Alex Antonelli on learning from nature's biodiversity to adapt to climate change Tue, 19 Sep 2023
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293 - Paul Murdin on the first ever identification of a black hole Tue, 12 Sep 2023
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292 - Bahija Jallal on the biotech revolution in cancer therapies Tue, 05 Sep 2023
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291 - Sir Colin Humphreys on electron microscopes, and the thinnest material in the world Tue, 29 Aug 2023
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290 - Chris Barratt on head-banging sperm and a future male contraceptive pill Tue, 22 Aug 2023
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289 - Gideon Henderson on climate ‘clocks’ and dating ice ages Tue, 15 Aug 2023
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288 - Deborah Greaves on wave power and offshore renewable energy Tue, 08 Aug 2023