Babbage from The Economist (subscriber edition)

Gary Marcus, a cognitive science professor emeritus and author of "Taming Silicon Valley," offers a critical view on AI's trajectory towards 2025. He highlights the glaring limitations of large language models in reasoning and reliability. Emphasizing the need for diverse scientific approaches, Marcus argues against the narrow focus on deep learning, advocating for a fusion of symbolic AI and neural networks. He also warns about the urgent need for effective AI regulation to prevent risks like misinformation and discrimination in hiring.

It wouldn’t be January without new year’s resolutions. Pledges to get in shape or cut back on vices are often guided by a plethora of wellness trends doing the rounds on social media and elsewhere. But what does science have to say about all those good intentions you might have?This week, we examine the evidence behind three popular ideas: does intermittent fasting work? Will melatonin fight your post-holiday jet lag? And can you breathe your stress away?Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: The Economist’s science correspondents Tim Cross, Emilie Steinmark and Ainslie Johnstone.For more guides to health and wellness like these, check out “Well informed”, a new weekly series in The Economist’s science and technology section.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Bacteriophages, or “phages”, are viruses that can infect bacteria. With the number of bacteria that can evade antibiotics growing worryingly large, interest in using phages as therapies against drug-resistant infections has been rising. As we reported in 2023, phages have been used in Georgia for over a century, but they’re not approved for use in most other countries. Now, more than a year later, we’re asking: what would it take to bring a phage-therapy revolution to the rest of the world?In this episode, The Economist’s Gilead Amit travels to the University of Leicester’s Centre for Bacteriophage Research in Britain to meet co-directors Martha Clokie and Andy Millard. We also revisit Gilead’s 2023 trip to the Eliava Institute in Georgia, where he met Mzia Kutateladze and her team, as well as Barry Rud, a patient at the institute. Are phages finally about to get the attention they deserve?Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Join Alex Hern, The Economist's AI correspondent, and Mati Staniszewski, co-founder of ElevenLabs, as they unravel the voice AI revolution. They discuss the significant advancements in voice technology, including the emotional nuances and contextual understanding of AI-generated voices. Hear heartwarming stories of using voice cloning to connect with lost loved ones and the ethical implications of these innovations. They also explore potential risks tied to voice cloning and envision a future where AI enhances everyday interactions and communication.

Sound is central to life underwater. The list of marine creatures that are known to rely on sound for navigation, communication and much more is growing, as is the awareness of the complex ways in which they use it. But as humanity has extended its footprint into the seas, it has done so noisily. The soundscape of the ocean has been thrown out of balance and researchers are now developing new technologies—from bubble screens to “acoustic black holes”—to protect marine life from the excessive noise.Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Moira Donovan, a journalist who writes for The Economist; Amorina Kingdon, science writer and author of “Sing Like Fish”, and Tom Smith of University College London. Special thanks to John Hildebrand of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. This episode features audio from Sea Search. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Join Sarah Teichmann, a leading researcher from the University of Cambridge, and Muzlifah Haniffa, head of Cellogenomics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, as they dive into the revolutionary Human Cell Atlas project. They discuss the astonishing diversity of human cells and how cutting-edge AI and sequencing technologies are enabling scientists to map these cells meticulously. The conversation also explores the potential for creating digital twins for predicting treatment responses and the exciting future of lab-grown organs in medicine.

From poker to Playstations, people love games. In recent years, “gamification” has become big business as tech companies have tapped into gameplay as a way to make their products more compelling. Dating apps, ride-hailing services and social media, to name just a few, have all deployed the techniques of games to keep us hooked. Games have influenced how our brains have developed and they’ve also intruded into many unexpected aspects of our lives. In this episode, we learn how games have changed the course of history and how they’re already starting to shape our future. The Economist’s Tom Standage interviews Kelly Clancy, a neuroscientist, physicist and the author of “Playing With Reality”. Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor, hosts.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

In this engaging discussion, Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, James Manyika from Google, and Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna explore the game-changing role of AI in scientific research. They highlight how AI tools like AlphaFold are revolutionizing drug discovery and structural biology, enabling breakthroughs in combatting diseases. Doudna shares insights on AI's impact on genetic research, especially in enhancing CRISPR technology. The conversation also touches on the future of computational biology and the data-driven evolution of AI, aiming to tackle global challenges.

Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel, bad for both the environment and human health. But it still produces a third of the world’s electricity. Eliminating its use will be crucial in the fight against climate change but the task is proving very challenging. As world leaders gather in Azerbaijan this week for the UN’s COP29 climate summit, we travel to South Africa to learn how to (and how not to) phase out coal. We also hear about the issues making waves at COP29—including what Donald Trump’s second presidential term could mean for climate change policy around the world.Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: The Economist’s Vijay Vaitheeswaran, Rachel Dobbs and John McDermott.For more on COP29, check out the latest episode of our “Money Talks” podcast, which examines whether the bill for the energy transition has been overestimated.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Diagnoses of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are on the rise around the world. ADHD has traditionally been treated as a dysfunction in the brain, which leads to a range of symptoms that need to be fixed or mitigated, sometimes with medication. But the scientific evidence for that view is beginning to fray. A growing number of experts think that ADHD may simply represent another part of the spectrum of neurodiversity—a different way of being normal. This week, we explore the science underlying this view and the consequences it could have for the way in which the condition could be managed. Is it time to re-think ADHD? Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Duncan Astle of the University of Cambridge; and The Economist’s Slavea Chankova and Rachel Dobbs.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.