Artificial Intelligence seems more human-like and capable than ever before — but how did it get so good so quickly? Today, we’re pulling back the curtain to find out exactly how AI works. And we'll dig into one of the biggest problems that scientists are worried about here: The ability of AI to trick us. We talk to Dr. Sasha Luccioni and Professor Seth Lazar about the science.

This episode contains explicit language.

There’s also a brief mention of suicide, so please take care when listening. Here are some crisis hotlines:

United States: US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (2755) (Online chat available); US Crisis Text Line Text “GO” to 741741
Australia: Lifeline 13 11 14 (Online chat available)
Canada: Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention (See link for phone numbers listed by province)
United Kingdom: Samaritans 116 123 (UK and ROI)
Full list of international hotlines here

Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsAI

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) 64,000 willies

(05:13) A swag pope

(06:36) Why is AI so good right now?

(09:06) How does AI work?

(17:43) Opening up AI to everyone

(20:42) A rogue chatbot

(27:50) Charming chatbots

(29:42) A misinformation apocalypse?

(33:16) Can you tell me something good?!

(36:08) Citations, credits, and a special surprise…

This episode was produced by Joel Werner, with help from Wendy Zukerman, Meryl Horn, R.E. Natowicz, Rose Rimler, and Michelle Dang. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Erica Akiko Howard. Mix and sound design by Jonathon Roberts. Music written by Bobby Lord, Peter Leonard, Emma Munger So Wylie and Bumi Hidaka. Thanks to all the researchers we spoke to including Dr Patrick Mineault, Professor Melanie Mitchell, Professor Arvind Narayanan, Professor Philip Torr, Stella Biderman, and Arman Chaudhry.

Special thanks to Katie Vines, Allison, Jorge Just, the Zukerman Family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson.

Science Vs is a Spotify Original Podcast. Follow Science Vs on Spotify, and if you wanna receive notifications every time we put out a new episode, tap the bell icon!

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AI: Is It Out Of Control?