Babbage from The Economist (subscriber edition)

After years of slow progress, robots have suddenly been getting a lot cleverer and more capable. The technology behind ChatGPT—large language models—has given machines in the real world a dramatic brain upgrade. How is artificial intelligence bringing about a renaissance in robotics and allowing them to finally work in the world of humans?Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Dinesh Jayaraman, Arjun Krishna and Jason Ma of the University of Pennsylvania; Tom Standage, Shailesh Chitnis and Trisha Parayil of The Economist.Want to learn more about generative artificial intelligence? Listen to our series on the science that built the AI revolution.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.

Have you ever had a visit from an angel, a ghost or perhaps even an alien? Plenty of people throughout history think they have. Some even report real, physical symptoms from their interactions with supernatural beings. But, although alien abductions and ghosts are not likely to be real, the stories around these paranormal events tell scientists a lot about how the human mind works. Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor, interviews Chris French, a psychologist and author of a new book, “The Science of Weird Shit”.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Get a world of insights for 50% off—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.

Narendra Modi is one of the most popular politicians on the planet. India’s prime minister is eyeing a third term atop the world’s biggest democracy. A tea-seller’s son, Mr Modi began life an outsider and the man behind the political phenomenon remains hard to fathom. India has become an economic powerhouse during his ten years in charge. But he’s also the frontman for a chauvinistic Hindu nationalist dogma. Can Mr Modi continue to balance both parts of his agenda and finish the job of turning India into a superpower? The Economist’s Avantika Chilkoti finds out what makes him tick. Launching June 2024.To listen to the full series, subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

A technological revolution is under way in the world of health care. In the second of two episodes on the potential of artificial intelligence to transform the field, we gaze into the future to ask: how will medical researchers and doctors use the latest AI models to understand and treat disease in completely new ways?Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Natasha Loder, The Economist's health editor; Frank Uhlmann of The Francis Crick Institute; Regina Barzilay of MIT; Parashkev Nachev of UCL; The Economist’s Trisha Parayil.Want to learn more about generative artificial intelligence? Listen to our series on the science that built the AI revolution.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Get a world of insights for 50% off—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.

Artificial intelligence is already making its mark in health care—but new, bigger, models promise to improve how patients access services, help doctors spot diseases faster and transform how medical research is done. In the first of two episodes on the potential of AI in health care, we ask: how will patients benefit from the technology behind ChatGPT? Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Natasha Loder, The Economist's health editor; Gerald Lip of NHS Grampian; Peter Kecskemethy of Kheiron Medical; Pranav Rajpurkar of Harvard Medical School; Hugh Harvey of Hardian Health.Want to learn more about generative artificial intelligence? Listen to our series on the science that built the AI revolution.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Get a world of insights for 50% off—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.

Earth’s southern pole has traditionally been neglected in the narrative around climate change, partly because scientists used to think that Antarctica was a relatively stable place. Their models, it turns out, were wrong. Some jaw-dropping events and extremes in recent years have shown that Antarctica is undergoing massive changes on land, sea and in the atmosphere. As a result, a new portrait of the continent is emerging which has, so far, received little attention. Polar scientists are warning of a “regime shift”. Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Catherine Brahic, The Economist’s environment editor; Jonathan Bamber of the University of Bristol; Nadine Johnston of the British Antarctic Survey.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Get a world of insights for 50% off—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.

Disinformation—falsehoods that are intended to deceive—is on the rise. AI is making it easier to create deceptive content, while social media enables it to spread faster than ever before. With half the world’s population heading to polls in 2024, this presents a growing threat to democracy. There is a glimmer of hope, though. Scientists are starting to understand the technology and tactics behind disinformation campaigns, opening up new possibilities to fight them. Can countries and companies come together to fend off fake media? Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Tom Standage, The Economist’s deputy editor; Hollie Berman, a news editor at The Economist; Ainslie Johnstone, our data and science correspondent.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.

Ever since there have been smartphones and social media, there have been concerns about how they might be affecting children. Over the past decade, doctors have seen a decline in mental health in the young in much of the rich world. But whether that rise can be attributed to technology is still a matter of fierce debate. Nevertheless, demands are growing to proactively restrict teenagers’ access to phones and social media, just in case. How concerned should parents and teachers be? Or is this just another moral panic? Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Tom Wainwright, The Economist's technology and media editor; Clare Fernyhough, co-founder of Smartphone Free Childhood; Carol Vidal of Johns Hopkins University; Pete Etchells, a psychologist at Bath Spa University and the author of “Unlocked: The Real Science of Screen Time”.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.

Humans are master communicators. It’s the reason our species has become so successful. But if it's so innate to our behaviour, why do people so often mess it up? Author Charles Duhigg set out to answer this question in his new book “Supercommunicators”. He joins host Alok Jha to explain the psychology and neuroscience that shape human interaction—and the secrets of those who do it best. They also examine how conversations are changing in the digital age and whether AI can offer insights into the scientific understanding of how communication works.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.

Scientists are still uncovering the myriad ways in which the gut microbiome affects human health. An out-of-kilter ecosystem of microbes can cause diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. But it has also been linked to obesity and conditions such as liver disease and Alzheimer’s. Understanding those connections opens up a new type of medicine. Is the era of microbiome treatments about to arrive?Host: Gilead Amit, The Economist’s science correspondent. Contributors: Désirée Prossomariti and Simon Goldenberg of St Thomas’ Hospital in London; Glenn Gibson of the University of Reading; Debbie Shawcross of King’s College London; Matt Cheng, boss of Kanvas Biosciences; Natasha Loder, The Economist's health editor. 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.