Can AI compress the years long research time of a PhD into seconds? Research scientist Max Jaderberg explores how “AI analogs” simulate real-world lab work with staggering speed and scale, unlocking new insights on protein folding and drug discovery. Drawing on his experience working on Isomorphic Labs' and Google DeepMind's AlphaFold 3 — an AI model for predicting the structure of molecules — Jaderberg explains how this new technology frees up researchers' time and resources to better understan...
Mar 07, 2025•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Will progress in artificial intelligence continue to accelerate, or have we already hit a plateau? Computer scientist Jennifer Golbeck interrogates some of the most high-profile claims about the promises and pitfalls of AI, cutting through the hype to clarify what's worth getting excited about — and what isn't. After the talk, Modupe reminds us that AI is a tool and it's our responsibility to use it wisely. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Feb 28, 2025•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Humans have always been captivated by beauty, and for almost as long, we’ve been marketed products and new technologies to help us achieve certain beauty standards. Elise Hu is a journalist and the author of “Flawless: Lessons in looks and culture from the K-beauty industry.” In this episode of How to Be a Better Human, another podcast from the TED Audio Collective, Elise shares the fascinating insights she’s learned from years of studying the $10 billion K-beauty industry and the cutting-edge s...
Feb 21, 2025•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Can artificial intelligence be funny, or is comedy a uniquely human trait? In this witty and insightful talk, cartoonist Bob Mankoff explores the art of humor, the evolution of AI and what happens when the two collide. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 14, 2025•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Does AI pose a threat to democracy? Law professor Lawrence Lessig dissects how this emerging technology could influence democratic institutions, warning that we’ve already passed a point (before superintelligence or AGI) that deserves a lot more attention. After the talk, Sherrell reflects on the importance of media literacy and the need to remain vigilant and engaged to defend our democracy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Feb 07, 2025•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Sam Altman is the CEO and cofounder of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. He and Adam discuss AI's advances in creativity and empathy, its ethical challenges, and the role of human oversight. Sam and Adam also discuss strategies for adapting to a changing world and their hopes for technology that enhances human progress while maintaining human values. Available transcripts for ReThinking can be found at go.ted.com/RWAGscripts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jan 31, 2025•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast What if AI could think and adapt like a real brain? TED Fellow and AI scientist Ramin Hasani shares how liquid neural networks — a new, more flexible AI technology inspired by physics and living brains — could transform how we solve complex problems. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 24, 2025•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast In an astounding sonic experience, creative director Felipe Sánchez Luna takes you on a journey through the universe as told in sound. Take a deep breath, listen closely and discover the power of sound to provide you with a new emotional understanding of the world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 17, 2025•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast From its life-sustaining energy to its explosive geomagnetic storms, the Sun has many mysteries, says astrophysicist Nour E. Rawafi. He sheds light on NASA's latest endeavor to better understand our fiery neighbor and its impact on the future of society: sending the cutting-edge Parker Solar Probe deep into the Sun's atmosphere in humanity's closest-ever approach to a star. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jan 10, 2025•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is an episode of ReThinking with Adam Grant, another podcast from the TED Audio Collective. Nathan Myhrvold may be the closest thing we have to a modern-day Renaissance man. A co-founder, inventor, chef, photographer, dinosaur hunter, author, and former Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft, Nathan infuses creativity and innovation in everything he does. Nathan and Adam dive into the science behind the creative process, discussing what it takes to spark imagination and fight groupthink. Nat...
Jan 03, 2025•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Megafires, or fires that burn more than 100,000 acres, are becoming more frequent worldwide, wreaking havoc on landscapes and communities — and fire experts say the problem is only going to get worse. George T. Whitesides is focused on fighting these devastating natural disasters through innovative technologies and intentional changes to how we build communities. This week we're revisiting an episode where he presents three emerging solutions to this blazing dilemma, calling for us to redefine o...
Dec 27, 2024•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is an episode of Fixable, another podcast from the TED Audio Collective. The evidence is clear that hybrid work is good for both people and organizations. So why are companies as big as Amazon now asking employees to come into the office all five days of the work week? Could “magical hallway conversations” actually make teams better — or is this a leadership play based on nostalgia and wishful thinking? In this provocative "Unsolicited Advice" episode, Anne Morriss and Frances Frei debate w...
Dec 20, 2024•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast As AI technology advances, it’s becoming harder and harder to distinguish between work done by humans and work done by computers. But is AI becoming more human, or are we becoming more digital? Synthesia is a video platform that uses AI to generate lifelike video avatars, further blurring the lines between humans and their digitized lookalikes. In this episode, Bilawal sits down with Synthesia’s CEO, Victor Riparbelli, to discuss the benefits of having your own AI avatar, how companies are using...
Dec 17, 2024•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Is it possible to meet the world's seemingly infinite demand for data storage while also caring for the natural environment? Biomedical researcher Keolu Fox and professional surfer and scientist Cliff Kapono believe that Indigenous knowledge combined with the science of genetics may offer such a solution: using the DNA of plant cells (like those found in sugar cane) as mini data warehouses. Learn more about the incredible potential of this technology — and how it could help foster ecosystem resi...
Dec 13, 2024•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Human brains are often described as computers — machines that are “wired” to make decisions and respond to external stimuli in a way that’s not so different from the artificial intelligence that we increasingly use each day. But the difference between our brains and the computers that drive AI is consciousness – our inner world, defined by experience and awareness. Anil Seth is a professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience at the University of Oxford. He studies human consciousness and...
Dec 10, 2024•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Over the last decade, humanitarian organizations have digitized many of their systems, from registering refugees with biometric IDs to transporting cargo via drones. This has helped deliver aid around the world, but it's also brought new risks to the people it's meant to protect. This week we're revisiting a talk by tech and human rights ethicist Aarathi Krishnan who points to the dangers of digitization — like sensitive data getting into the hands of the wrong people — and lays out five ethical...
Dec 06, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Computers have been outperforming humans for years on tasks like solving complex equations or analyzing data, but when it comes to the physical world, robots struggle to keep up. It can take years to train robots to function in the messy chaos of the “real world” — but thanks to some unlikely help from the film and video gaming industry, robots today are using AI to fast-track their learning and master new skills using simulated environments. Rev Lebaredian is the vice president of Omniverse and...
Dec 03, 2024•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast The emergence of data-driven mass surveillance "is threatening to turn privacy into a relic of the 20th century," says the anonymous YouTube creator known as Ordinary Things. Meanwhile, state-funded troll farms are spreading disinformation and curating chaos on platforms meant to connect us and revolutionize the way we live. This week, we're revisiting a talk in which Ordinary Things gives an enlightening account of the internet's strengths and weaknesses, warning that the fight for a free inter...
Nov 29, 2024•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s impossible to separate the way people engage with AI with the way they engage with the internet as a whole. This is an episode of ReThinking, another podcast from the TED Audio Collective, featuring a compelling discussion of why the internet can feel so unfriendly–and where we can go from there. You’ll hear from Jay Van Bavel, an award-winning professor of psychology and neural science at NYU, on the science of virality, why bad news commands our attention, and how we can find common groun...
Nov 26, 2024•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast What if your $1 donation could result in a $100 contribution to a cause you believe in? That’s the promise of quadratic funding: a new kind of crowdfunding model that uses math to distribute funds based on the number of contributors, rather than the amount given. Gitcoin founder Kevin Owocki dives into the principles and pitfalls of this approach to philanthropy, where “many small donors are more powerful than one large donor.” After the talk, Sherrell reflects on how digital tools are transform...
Nov 22, 2024•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ever since generative AI tools like Midjourney became available to the public in 2022, curious users and AI fanatics alike have been experimenting with the technology. But for tech aficionados and AI enthusiasts like Justin Meyer and Maxfield Hulker, Midjourney’s closed-source model wasn’t enough — they wanted to go deeper. That’s why Justin and Max created Citivai, an open-source generative AI tool and social platform where users can create, share, and experiment with new image generation model...
Nov 19, 2024•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast "New possibilities for storytelling are emerging faster than at any other time in history," says film producer Mark Grimmer. With an immersive approach to art exhibitions, he shares several multidisciplinary projects — including a kaleidoscopic exhibit of David Bowie's world-changing career and a luminous, interactive show that brings visitors inside the paintings of David Hockney — and shows what's possible when ideas collide. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Nov 15, 2024•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast When it comes to preparing for an interview or making an important life decision, more and more people are turning to AI for advice. ChatGPT’s new voice interface, Advanced Voice Mode, allows users to speak out loud and converse with a chatbot as they would with another human — but is it really as seamless as a chat with a friend? Bilawal runs a series of experiments with Advanced Voice Mode to test the limits of this new technology and its potential uses, from weighing the pros and cons of a cr...
Nov 12, 2024•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Can strawberries grown inside a building taste sweeter than those grown in a field? Farming entrepreneur Hiroki Koga explores how his team is combining solar-powered vertical farms with AI, robotics and indoor bee colonies to grow delicious strawberries year-round — and how this practice, if widely adopted, could deliver a harvest of benefits for the future of food. After the talk, Sherrell dives deeper into the impact of vertical farming. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informat...
Nov 08, 2024•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast We’ve had conversations about AI’s online influence on politics, from deepfakes to misinformation. But AI can also have profound effects on hardware – especially when it comes to national security and military capabilities like weapons and stealth technologies. Kathleen Fisher is an office director at DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency tasked with the research and development of emerging technologies for use by the U.S. military. Despite its bureaucratic name, DARPA is anything...
Nov 05, 2024•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Stars have cores hot and dense enough to force atomic nuclei together, forming larger, heavier nuclei in a process known as fusion. In this process, the mass of the end products is slightly less than the mass of the initial atoms. But that “lost” mass doesn’t disappear — it’s converted to energy ... a lot of energy. So, can we harness this energy to power the world? George Zaidan investigates. This TED-Ed lesson was directed by Igor Ćorić, Artrake Studio, narrated by George Zaidan and the music ...
Nov 01, 2024•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Many people associate innovation with secrecy—privately toiling away on a project until you're ready to share it with the world. While that may work for some, there's a benefit to putting all your cards on the table. Bilawal sits down for a conversation with Thomas Wolf, whose company Hugging Face pivoted from privately building an AI chatbot to sharing all of its knowledge with a growing online community. Thomas discusses the history of Hugging Face, why embracing open source development has sh...
Oct 29, 2024•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast “Memories are the architects of our identity,” says technologist Pau Aleikum Garcia, but they’re not permanent. Photos can be lost amid political unrest or natural disaster, while illnesses like Alzhemier’s can rob people of their past. He puts forward a novel solution — “synthetic memories,” or dreamlike visualizations of long-gone moments created through generative AI — and explores how it could reconnect families or even enhance cognitive abilities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for ...
Oct 25, 2024•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast From vetting resumes to screening candidates, many employers are using AI tools to identify top talent. But what happens when companies start relying on AI to help them decide who to hire or promote…and who to fire? Bilawal speaks with journalist Hilke Schellmann, whose research on the rapidly growing use of AI in the workplace highlights where algorithms are helping – and hurting – business. Hilke shares the surprising (and not surprising) ways AI works in the hiring process, and argues that tr...
Oct 22, 2024•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast What if AI could bring the past to life? Cartoonist Amy Kurzweil shares how she helped train an AI chatbot on her late grandfather’s archives, allowing her to connect with a family member she never met — and discover family history she never knew. Backed by her own original drawings, she reveals the profound impact art and AI can have in keeping memories alive. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 18, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
