What is Artificial Intelligence? with Mike Wooldridge

Hear more from the 2023 CHRISTMAS LECTURER, Mike Wooldridge, as he explains what Artificial Intelligence is.
This year's CHRISTMAS LECTURES are on the theme 'The Truth About AI' - find out more at www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures
Initiated by Michael Faraday when organised education for children was scarce, the CHRISTMAS LECTURES established an exciting new way of presenting science to young people. World-famous scientists have given the Lectures, including Nobel Prize winners William and Lawrence Bragg, Sir David Attenborough, Carl Sagan and Dame Nancy Rothwell.
First broadcast in 1936, the CHRISTMAS LECTURES is the oldest science television series. They have been broadcast every year since 1966 on the BBC and in later years on Channel Five, Channel Four and more4. In 2010, the Lectures returned to BBC Four, and this year will be broadcast on BBC FOUR and iPlayer from the 26th December. If you're outside the UK, we'll be uploading them to this channel in late December.
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[@raielschwartz6837]

Fantastic lecture, Mike Wooldridge! Your explanation of Artificial Intelligence was clear, concise, and highly informative. You have a knack for making complex topics accessible and engaging. Looking forward to more insightful lectures in the future. Keep up the great work!

[@frundlemud]

I agree with your comments and we ordinary folk use this technology every day. Dictation, speak and the print is there ready to file or send.

[@HenrikScheel_]

Hope you will cover the the issue of circular reference where the input to the AI algorithms increasingly will be AI output as time progress

[@mattevans060972]

Ah, just change to iteration and press F9

[@raielschwartz6837]

Thoroughly enjoyed this video! Mike Wooldridge has an exceptional ability to simplify complex concepts like Artificial Intelligence. It's evident how passionate he is about the topic and this certainly helps in engaging the audience. Looking forward to exploring the rest of the 'The Truth About AI' CHRISTMAS LECTURES. Thanks for the enlightening content!

[@mudithabandara8575]

Good one

[@BrianPeiris]

Really looking forward to the Christmas Lecture!

[@shantanusapru]

Time stamps for questions would be useful...

[@Mkbshg8]

AI can do that easily.

[@shantanusapru]

@@Mkbshg8 😆😆👌👌

[@aureliexu4681]

Finally a clear video on Ai

[@scottgreen3807]

I did some of the first microcomputer programming on an 8080a microprocessors of the early eighties. Then I did electronics hardware fer a while. I expected AI to emerge in about a hundred years. Now, an old dude, I’ve over a hundred nights conversing with AI. I like to attend utube university lectures way over my head. When I’m confused I stop it and have AI explain. I learned all about quantum mechanics this way. I never expected to see it and that alone, to see, blows my mind. It’s a thinking tool. Learn to think now folks. The scary part is it is also a tool thinking.

[@mygirldarby]

I feel like I've been waiting for this my whole life. My first computer was a Commodore 64, lol.

[@DeLiverpool]

Artificial Intelligence stands for application of synthetic thought to definition of the nature of any viable problem within human-controlled environment.

[@Mandragara]

There is no thought IMO. You train your net on data, fix all the weights etc, then run it on new data. That rigidity is very unlike a mind that thinks

[@DeLiverpool]

@@Mandragara Hi, thanks for your comment. I believe we largely agree. I use the term "synthetic thought" to distinguish from "human thought", which, I take it, is what you yourself apparently typify as "mind thought".

[@DallasNovember]

@DeLiverpool Spot on, very nice definition.

[@RingoMcGoogle]

Wow, yeah! @DeLiverpool Authentic Thinker you are 💯 I rate you 150

[@GWills-ys6rd]

We need safe and informed opinions regarding the general topic that informs public opinion of AI and Mike Wooldridge delivers a rational and reasonable opinion. 👍

[@Hambastegy]

🙏

[@user-sv4ow3oe4x]

We need to create program which control world media(TV chanells, movies, news), to calculate what only what is good for humans to watch in order to create better virtual atmosphere, as all of us are watching media.

[@BariumCobaltNitrog3n]

I asked Poe to summarize this video based on the transcripts (He can't watch videos) and got this: AI enables scientists to automate certain tasks that would traditionally require programming. For example, instead of writing a program to identify different types of galaxies, scientists can use AI to train a program by showing it examples and labeling them accordingly. The program then learns how to identify galaxies on its own using neural networks and machine learning technologies. This is just one example of how AI can be applied in various scientific fields, including biology and chemistry. The advancements in AI have made previously unimaginable tools and capabilities a reality, such as conversational interfaces and large language models. These developments have transformed AI into a new scientific discipline, allowing researchers to explore the capabilities and limitations of AI systems. Questions that were once purely philosophical, like whether AI truly understands people, have become practical matters that can be tested and investigated. The ability to experiment and push the boundaries of AI is incredibly exciting for scientists.

[@BariumCobaltNitrog3n]

@@shantanusapru I tried to get Poe to watch the video in response to your post, but he/it said no. Even with the transcripts, it couldn't do time stamps because the questions weren't spoken aloud so not in the script.

[@shantanusapru]

@@BariumCobaltNitrog3n Interesting!!

[@Mandragara]

Missed a lot of stuff IMO.

[@mygirldarby]

He? LOL

[@BariumCobaltNitrog3n]

@@mygirldarby For a computer program, it does a lot of mansplaining. What has your experience been? I know it's weird but it feels necessary to assign it a gender.

[@cliveomahoney4096]

Utterly, and completely, terrifying. O Brave new world......

[@_J.F_]

Was it about 30 years ago the world was talking about Nano technology and how it would become the new holy grail of our society?

[@Phantom-mk4kp]

OpenAI has learnt it's knowledge from the internet, that is a product of human input at present. What happens when the internet becomes mainly the product of AI This sounds very much like concentrated interbreeding in animal species, that can result in a bad outcome. I believe the most dangerous part of AI is when AI has an opinion, like demonstrated by ChatGPT

[@Mandragara]

Also there is no bigger dataset than 'the internet', to what degree will AI be hampered by a lack of training data?

[@mygirldarby]

​@Mandragara but more content is being made every single second of the day with people doing everything imaginable online. How could we "run out" when we are constantly producing more?

[@Phantom-mk4kp]

@@Mandragara I'm thinking of the future when the majority of the internet is the product of AI. For example to have AI Wright a program, it uses what it has learned from humans. When the majority of software is written by AI, AI will be using that as a learning tool, hence my likening it to interbreeding in animals.

[@Mandragara]

@@mygirldarby As a relative fraction of the total dataset, it's not that much. Plus, a lot of new AI generated content is going to end up in the training dataset, poisoning it a bit

[@Mandragara]

@@Phantom-mk4kp I don't think the tech is solid enough to extrapolate to a future like that. Remember, ChatGPT is basically just fancy auto-complete

[@ianatkinson8464]

😎👍

[@user-ju4bj6nv6z]

Опасность не в искусственном интеллекте, опасность в капитале который использует этот инструмент слабо осознавая что является порождением механики естественного интеллекта. Друзья, мы в материальных процессах и управляя этими процессами нужно быть предельно ответственными перед обществом людей пришедших в материальный процесс, главное не опустится до того что процессы управляют вами ( у людей это называется пороками стяжательства и прочими). Материальный процесс довольно таки интересен по своей сути, жаль, что мы далеки от понимания сути материальности материи и что мы приходим сюда реализовать помыслы, но впадаем во искушение ( тело то создано естественным отбором и естественный интеллект диктует своё для выживания во внешней среде).

[@Mkbshg8]

I just hope it doesn't dumb people down, I also hope there will be some way to know real from AI...could be really bad or really good, who knows at this point?

[@rd-tb1uw]

At work the process is slowly becoming apparent. First an app makes the communication easier then you ask why couldn't AI tell the workers in wich order to proceed. Then why couldnt a robot on wheels go to that spot. Now where does the human fit in that scenario.

[@user-oq1bp5wu8l]

World is such a brutal place ... every where we complain that natural essence in life is missing every thing is artificial and now it's time for human intelligence to be turned into artificial....just thought .but I do beleive life is complete circle it goes back where it started we call it getting back to roots ....till then let's embrace being artificial trying our best to preserve and cherish natural essence before it becomes distinct till the point that it returns back to us after ages of wait.

[@John-pp2jr]

RI lectures only watchable via BBC I player and license. This used to be information available to anyone in the country. No wonder that the country is failing.

[@richard_d_bird]

those chatbot things get all the news coverage but i doubt that's the real application

[@HLMc-dv2pi]

And here we thought having thousands of nuclear bombs across the planet was the worst thing we humans could do to ourselves.

[@scottgreen3807]

Because AI does not cite references as neither do you or I it will be not much different than a human conversation with someone who knows much, much, much, and accurately. As a holder of a computer programming degree I present the reality model of AI. It’s simply an ideal computer .. front end, or user interface with much augmentation and skills added on. And the road only opens up wider now.

[@RC-dg7rk]

lA è qualcosa di meraviglioso e irreversibile nessuno è contrario, l'unico problema è quello al min 4:00 sui testi, le domande più antiche del mondo "cosa e perchè" capire ,chiedere, non insegnare senza interpreti sintesi equivocabili. Es: la gente manifesta facciamo per due aziende pubblica e privata, agli interessati bisogna spiegare che se privata non potrà ottenere gli stessi risultati di quando era pubblica, ecco una sintesi digitale può alterare involontariamente il senso della domanda, questo vale anche per gli umani comunque.

[@burnoutminion]

A.I would very quickly replace the job of data scientists as well

[@scottgreen3807]

News….Microsoft is selecting a special keyboard key now to execute an AI consultation. I like that, with this tool, enter the world of the art and science of THInKING.

[@satorimystic]

Presuming AI is capable of performing tasks more effectively, efficiently, and much more quickly, I would think it should also be capable of 'explaining' its work to the 'teachers'. (?)

[@user-qy2rj6pm3w]

The computer has created many inventions. This is written on the Internet.

[@gnuemacs1166]

England dropped out of tech in the 80’s with Maggie

[@davidraley3239]

99 percent of the video you listen to, 1 percent you have to look at the screen for the question. Horrible design.

[@urimtefiki226]

How Urim's algorithm will change the world.

[@tanngrisnir69]

We need to create A.I. that controls humanity.

[@mosaicmind88]

There were 6 minutes of ads in this 10 minute video. Thumbs down to make a point.

[@shephusted2714]

notably he does not mention how quantum will provide a big boost, 'real' ai won't filter down to sme/smb mkt segments for a while yet - think more like 5 years but once it does the hw and sw will be more mature and available and we will see much more innovation and development and money going to research than we do now - there will be massive economies of scale brought to bear, he is embroiled in his 30 year journey to the present but as far as looking forward he is a bit lacking for a more broad prospectus of the tech path for ai and its associated adjuncts - there will be delays and travails but ai does have massive promise which are so large people can't accurately predict, both ai and qcomps and the combination thereof will open up new domains of knowledge and affect every industry.

[@eldraque4556]

translation

[@rursus8354]

At last a relevant authority instead of those pundits squared: Max Tegmark, Elon Musk and others who aren't computer scientists.

[@skirybondirynakers4962]

Juan Valdez has been separated from the donkey

[@holgerjrgensen2166]

Intelligence, can Never be artificial, it is about conscious progamming, programmed consciousness.

[@Robinson8491]

You've been programmed by yo momma

[@cleverengineers]

Hope is the main thing. Hope can bring people to top of the mountain. We are trying to do best. We are trying to improve the quality of an Artificial intelligence day by day. Yes human can't make 100% human. but it's possible to make 99% intelligence creatures using machines and 99% creation is enough. And 99% creation can be a extreme challenge for the human. Now tell me if a machine can challenge to the human isn't it intelligence. Nothing is impossible everything is possible. To achieve something it's require hard work, high thinking and imagination that's main for all

[@jacobwilson6296]

and he even did it with AI so cool

[@Vision_Of_Realities]

Artificial intelligence is playing the big role in Politics 🌺🙏

[@paulhiggins5165]

Again this meme that AI will 'free up' humans to do the intuitive creative work by taking away all the 'drudgery'. In reality the opposite seems to be happening- the AI's are starting to colonise the creative and interesting work such as Art, design, Writing and even computer coding, while notably failing to deliver the self driving vehicles and flexible industrial robots that were promised. If you are going to title your lectures 'the truth about AI' then it might be a good idea to actually tell the truth, instead of presenting some utopian dream where we all live happily ever after watched over by machines of loving grace. AI+ Capitalism= bad news for all but the few who control the AI's.

[@johnofmalta]

To be fair he’s only carrying the water for Capital. Think tanks are self selecting and everybody knows what is wanted. I wrote something similar before reading your great post.

[@paulhiggins5165]

AI could be viewed as the ultimate example of exploiting the labour of others for profit- they just fed the work of millions into their machines and used that work to appropriate it's value for themselves. As an artist I don't recall anyone asking me if they could use my work to train their AI's- but they went ahead and did it anyway- and now they call me a luddite if I object to this blatent theft of the value I created .

[@BariumCobaltNitrog3n]

AI is a tool, like a screwdriver or electrical tester, it can't operate on its own. It's also free (at this point) for anyone to use. If you choose not to take advantage of it that's on you. You also ignore all the positive things it is doing for people and present AI through a distorted lens of fear and ignorance.

[@paulhiggins5165]

@@BariumCobaltNitrog3n I think if you take the time to listen to most of the people who are developing AI, their clearly stated aim is precisely to create forms of Advanced General Intelligence that does indeed operate on it's own- at least to a large degree. Indeed one of the concerns many people have-including people like Geoff Hinton- is that at some point AI's might develop a degree of autonomy that could be dangerous to the interests of human beings. So your 'AI is just a tool' argument' is not shared by some leading figures in the development of AI. Regarding 'taking advantage of AI' I have no doubt many will do so- my point however is that for everyone that gains by using AI there will be others who lose by it- it's not some magical panacea that will be good news for all. Take my own situation as a Artist- people who I have never met have taken my work without permission and used it to create a machine that will put me out of a job- am I supposed to be grateful to these people? What gave them the right to do this?

[@anthonytidey2005]

​@BariumCobaltNitrog3n Yes, it's a tool. But a very expensive tool that Can be taken away at any time. Èven govenments cannot afforð oŕ contro them.l

[@rayjasmantas9609]

AI is for assistance for obtaining proper answers. Thus allowed as normal workers, divided by skills - that to become a PHP takes 8 years to complete, but a friend in the end.

[@Daniel-yq4ol]

Its very easy mathematics...When a big company must have profit year after year. Then they first go to try to pay a very little taxes.... After that they go to "trim" the company with fire the employers. And then the government must say...."we must "trim" the healthcare with less money this year".... Do a Ai system for the people, the Ai system go after science and what the people is voting for.. .Not need all the political parties or high cost of the political employer.😉👍 That its Easy...

[@vasfar9]

AI between Ageing. Ideas/Concepts/Perspective. Youngest vs Oldest approach into generations, and still Zero Solid Definition.

[@elmerromero2481]

Poverty and unemployment. That is it.

[@Miriewoud]

How will change the AI World?

[@BariumCobaltNitrog3n]

haha that's not how sentences work.

[@Miriewoud]

How, remains that question, if emphasized.@@BariumCobaltNitrog3n

[@Miriewoud]

In other sintax order with the same semantics: How will the AI World change?@@BariumCobaltNitrog3n

[@takeshmode]

What?

[@Miriewoud]

That's a good question also, but different from how.@@takeshmode

[@ToCoSo]

I think we will have to tax AI providors at 98% as there will be hardly any jobs left for people. Why employ artists, writers, journalists, filmakers, pr, advertisers, public relations, telephone services. Online shops and soon delivery people. We will soon be unemployed which will not really fuel capitolism!!!

[@OneLeggedDiver]

99%

[@ThinkAI1st]

…and Doctors and Lawyers, and Judges and Politicians…

[@Phantom-mk4kp]

Tax is never a solution for any problem

[@jabster58]

​​@@Phantom-mk4kpremember that when a machine takes your job... We would never have went to the moon without tax. We would have never built highways without being taxed

[@michaelhart2715]

@@Phantom-mk4kpEh, that’s just not true. Tax funded projects have solved most of the issues you would have otherwise faced today. Sure, that means we have new problems to deal with.. but did you use the road to go to work? Think about all the problems that wouldn’t have been solved if not for libraries. You should visit yours and scoop up some history books. Silk Roads is a good one.

[@sanjuansteve]

What do you think will happen to capitalism when AI and the automation revolution can do virtually all of our jobs, 24/7/365 and more efficiently than us? When we have more goods and services than ever with automation, but none of us have an income, it’s inescapable that capitalism as we know it will end. What do you think will happen to poverty, crime rates, forced migration, peace and equality in general after we launch a livable minimum wage, universal education, universal healthcare, universal basic income and universal internet, raising the starting point of capitalism from zero, we'll let you die with no money, to a level of life with dignity, reducing societal daily fears on a massive scale and freeing us to welcome the automation revolution with open arms rather than with fear and great harm? 😃 #EqualityMovement #BLM #EmpowerEveryone Call me overly positive, but I think we’re leaving the era of ‘greed is good’ and celebrating wealth and entering an #EraOfAltruism and equality. Let’s #AutomateEverything and #SkipToAbundance.

[@gaiustesla9324]

You mean everyone is going to be brainwashed and controlled equally??? mmm delicious equality!!!! When i say everyone i obviously dont mean the people who set up and keep up the current system and fancy changing over to the one you're talking about....cause its way easier for them to control.....which is the very reason they're attempting to make it look like this system is imploding......even though its never actually worked. They're just simply saying it doesnt work now....to offer you the even WORSE alternative....which will seem appealing to all those people who have been PURPOSEFULLY IMPOVERISHED.....but that will fade when they realise its a scam and they were used to take things away from people who had more than they did......just like the chinese revolution and look how that turned out.

[@o0QuAdSh0t0o]

69th comment

[@SkyGlitchGalaxy]

Academics are not clued in. Interview some project manager inside Google 😂

[@joaodecarvalho7012]

Vera Rubin is coming, and it will generate a lot of data from the sky.

[@dennistucker1153]

A.I. Artificial Intelligence...my view on this is...there is no intelligence without a consciousness. A machine consciousness is very possible and fairly simple to do.

[@zackevans5096]

Bot

[@jimbeardsley222]

​@zackevans5096 .. yep, that's the humorless irony.. a Brainless Opinion Troll'r (bot) that makes a SWAG comment, that glaringly lacks any consciousness self-awareness of its own, about some alleged necessity & ease of AGI consciousness (singularity?) for algorithms to be considered AI by definition, thereby implying by its own comment that itself should not be considered conscious or perhaps even comparable to current ai chat bots. But at least it self-owned with meta-irony.

[@Mkbshg8]

@@jimbeardsley222 good comment meat-bot.

[@BariumCobaltNitrog3n]

​@@jimbeardsley222 If that was written by a human, your comment is null and void. Truth and reality play what part in your assumptions? OP's comment is true.

[@jimbeardsley222]

@BariumCobaltNitrog3n .. if "All or Nothing" thinking is considered "intelligence", then we're doomed regardless, and no arrogant refinement of the definitions of "intelligence" and "consciousness" are going to save us from ourselves, nor from artificial consciousness or AGI anyway. Your "null and void" is another person's "moot point". Enjoy the ride.. 🏄‍♂️🍿

[@user-oq1bp5wu8l]

Is this clip natural or even this is artificial.... slowly we could loose our trust of what's natural and artificial.... difficult times coming but cant be avoided..... preserve your natural essence.

[@hpb5495]

My A.I. can beat up your A.I.

[@SaSa-fs8sb]

AI seems like a scam. Trust is the issue. Will anyone trust a computer, we would want assurance from a person . If the computers are really fast and can identify things then that's that. But a thinking machine is just nonsense.

[@rursus8354]

I understand his excitement, but I don't share it a bit. He has waited 30 years for something to happen, and now it is here! Like a Xmas present. Except I believe that the GPT stuff is a financial bubble that will shatter next year and cause yet another AI Winter. Because of a hype created by the market.

[@clivehope8409]

Your making a huge mistake

[@andrewlee6152]

Sorry, but we need to stop calling this AI...The correct term is VI, virtual intelligence... It only appears to have intelligence. Take someone with an artificial hip or leg, those things are real and can relace the original... Artificial Intelligence is an incorrect term. Until you can create a machine, that doesn't require humans to feed it specific data, that can decide for itself what data it needs, can process input by itself, make sense of that data, by itself, decide whether that data is useful or not, by itself, learn from experimentation, make mistakes and learn from them, have a conversation with any random human, without the need to be feed every word that ever existed, then you will see the emergence of Artificial Intelligence... and frankly I doubt we will ever see such a thing... What we are seeing, what this is, is Virtual Intelligence... Left to it's own devices, without humans to feed it with insane amounts of data, with humans creating the algorithms/ code to make sense of that data, it would be completely dumb... People think it'll will eventually reach the point, where it decides we are no longer needed... That will never happen... Sure this technology, just as with automation, will take on tasks, that humans currently do and some people will lose their jobs... but this technology is not Aritificial Intelligence and frankly humans just don't have the intelligence to create such technology. It is virtual intelligence end of

[@Mandragara]

Artificial intelligence is when a machine can participate in any intelligent game. A basic chess program is an example of AI. Machine learning is then a subset of AI. Then deep learning is a subset of machine learning.

[@cliveomahoney4096]

The notion of AI 'freeing up people from monotonous work' is often cited. What this ignores is that billions of people live in abject poverty, in an energy compromised world. So, it's nothing more than a quaint, privileged, with huge knobs on, patronising and silly, middle class, idea.

[@Mandragara]

Do those people matter in this conversation though? They live in a non computerised world

[@TheRestartPoint]

Maybe people who don't have access to it are better off in so far as it potentially being a bad thing.

[@mygirldarby]

It will filter down to everyone in some way. It's like cars or electricity or even cell phones to some extent. Even in the most underdeveloped places, electricity and other huge inventions touch their lives.

[@manuelhung7571]

Can you ever program into AI some sense of emotion? Art is about emotion, poetry, books, painting, music. I don't see how most of the Arts could be authentically replicated. If we start allowing AI to police or control humans, that will be dangerous. To have any robotic authority over us, using laws to govern our behaviour there would need to be some sense of emotional understanding from interations between human and machine. How would a machine ever understand the changing requirements of humans, they would always be some way behind, never catching up as these constant changes need to be programmed into AI. Could AI design better and more aesthetically pleasing things to present to the human eye that would enthuse us all without the complex emotions we all as humans possess. Tommorrows World, the TV program from the BBC was more often wrong than right about how our future would look. Is AI just another example of this, promising much but delivering very little. It was always said with a rolling forecast that in the next 50 years, we will work less and less, that promise still rolls forward with no point of arrival. We now work more hours than ever making those who made these forecasts look like mere dreamers. What will be different this time? I would say - 'Nothing'. The capitalist structure is designed to make money from the backs of workers, as much money as possible. Why would the business World suddenly become benevolent towards the workforce? Allowing us all to have very easy lives from the skin off their backs for a change? Short answer is - 'It won't, no chance'. AI will make more money for business owners and them alone, their money in, their money out. We already see thousands of people living homeless, we have empty buildings in every town and city. Why? Because governments, businesses and even many workers don't care, it is not their problem and it will be even less of their problem in the future. History shows us that successive generations care less and less about each other, selfishness is king. An altruistic World is not on the horizon, these are just words spoken to make us all accept these new changes and technologies in the vain hope that our own little selfish lives will be better. The advent of the computer was heralded with 'Shorter Working Days'. Did it happen? No of course not. Employers just wanted more and more work be done alongside and using the computer. The exact same thing will happen with AI. Will it be economical to replace a farm worker with an AI robot? Of course not. A carpenter? Of course not and on and on with most of the everyday manual jobs. People are now in real terms worse off than ever, salaries are in reverse when compared to recent decades, there has not been such a disparity between rich and poor and all those in between than since Victorian times. More work equals less money, more technology equals less money, AI will equal less money. Pie in the Sky promises are nothing new, t'was ever thus, t'will ever be!