Science Friction

AI is often portrayed as being all about technology. But it is also about money and control. Because those who control AI, may control the world.In the AI world, there are two names that keep coming up: OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, and its CEO, Sam Altman.Who is Sam Altman? How did his tiny company leapfrog the tech giants and win the scramble for control of AI? And what are Altman's plans for the future?

When you think about a driverless car future, perhaps your mind goes to being driven around, watching movies from the backseat and drinking martinis.For over a decade, perfect driverless cars have seemed only a few years away. But in reality, they were nowhere close.Now, driverless cars are finally being rolled out in some cities.But (like humans) they're crashing and causing chaos.So are driverless cars finally here? Or is teaching a car to drive simply too difficult?

As ChatGPT shows us, AI can do some amazing stuff. But it does some creepy stuff as well. And it's already been responsible for locking up innocent people.The story of how AI scanned millions of drivers licences and accused Michigan man Robert Wiliams of a crime he didn't commit.When human biases lead to neural networks going rogue.

Exploring the victory of AlphaGo against a human Go champion, the podcast discusses the rise of AI and the power of neural networks. It delves into the historical dispute between Minsky and Rosenblatt regarding AI development and highlights the early days of neural networks research.

2023 has been the breakout year of artificial intelligence. After decades of investment and improvement, the technology suddenly went mainstream.  For many, it was as though a miraculous machine was plonked in our midst.But AI didn't come from nowhere. And it hasn't been a smooth and simple process. It's been a story rife with drama, conflict, and disagreement.So where did it come from? Who made it? Who controls it?Welcome to our new Science Friction series Hello AI Overlords!Across six fascinating episodes, we'll tell you the human stories that shaped the emergence of today's AI technology over more than half a century and where we might be heading.First episode out Wednesday 25th October

Two groups of boys on a camp in the wilds of America are pitted against each other. But the camp leaders have only one thing on their minds. Science. The mind-blowing story of a psychological experiment that crossed a line. Big time.

What family secrets lie deep inside your cells? A story of survival against the odds, hope after the Holocaust, and the eye-opening new science of epigenetics… Can biology help you transcend the traumas of your ancestors, or forever burden you with their legacy?

At the heart of this moving and extraordinary medical mystery is Robbie, a man in a genetic lottery. Two rare mutations made his life uniquely interesting. Then came a third, random event...a chance encounter, a global detective quest and science at the cutting edge.

Tai Poole is a self-described scientist and the teenage star of multi-award-winning podcast Tai Asks Why. Love, climate change, death, dreaming…there is nothing Tai's tenaciously, voraciously hungry mind won't take on. He joins Natasha Mitchell to talk life, the universe, and everything.

When pioneering Australian RNA biologist Archa Fox was a  child, her parents were drawn into the orbit of the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Her family packed up their life to join the Orange People communes in India and Oregon as disciples. Archa shares her candid, confronting story of what happened when this spiritual movement morphed into a cult.