93. 2021: A year in AI (so far) - Reviewing the biggest AI stories of 2021 with our friends at the Let’s Talk AI podcast

93. 2021: A year in AI (so far) - Reviewing the biggest AI stories of 2021 with our friends at the Let’s Talk AI podcast

Author: The TDS team July 21, 2021 Duration: 43:31

2020 was an incredible year for AI. We saw powerful hints of the potential of large language models for the first time thanks to OpenAI’s GPT-3, DeepMind used AI to solve one of the greatest open problems in molecular biology, and Boston Dynamics demonstrated their ability to blend AI and robotics in dramatic fashion.

Progress in AI is accelerating exponentially, and though we’re just over halfway through 2021, this year is already turning into another one for the books. So we decided to partner with our friends over at Let’s Talk AI, a podcast co-hosted by Stanford PhD and former Googler Sharon Zhou, and Stanford PhD student Andrey Kurenkov, that covers current events in AI.

This was a fun chat, and a format we’ll definitely be playing with more in the future :)


While the active production of Towards Data Science has concluded, its archive remains a vital resource. Created by The TDS team, this collection captures a specific moment in the rapid evolution of data science and artificial intelligence. Each conversation pulls you directly into the room with leading researchers and practitioners who were shaping the tools and theories of their time. The discussions are not abstract lectures; they are grounded explorations of real-world problems, ethical dilemmas, and technical challenges that defined the field's trajectory. You'll hear experts dissect the implications of their work, from algorithmic fairness to the practicalities of deploying models at scale. This podcast served as a forum for nuanced debate, where complex ideas were unpacked with clarity and depth. Listening now offers a unique historical perspective, a chance to understand the foundational conversations that continue to influence where technology is headed next. The archive of Towards Data Science stands as a substantive record of insight, preserving the voices and questions from the forefront of a digital revolution.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

Towards Data Science
Podcast Episodes
87. Evan Hubinger - The Inner Alignment Problem [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09:32
How can you know that a super-intelligent AI is trying to do what you asked it to do? The answer, it turns out, is: not easily. And unfortunately, an increasing number of AI safety researchers are warning that this is a…
86. Andy Jones - AI Safety and the Scaling Hypothesis [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:25:44
When OpenAI announced the release of their GPT-3 API last year, the tech world was shocked. Here was a language model, trained only to perform a simple autocomplete task, which turned out to be capable of language transl…
85. Brian Christian - The Alignment Problem [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:06:19
In 2016, OpenAI published a blog describing the results of one of their AI safety experiments. In it, they describe how an AI that was trained to maximize its score in a boat racing game ended up discovering a strange ha…
83. Rosie Campbell - Should all AI research be published? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:37
When OpenAI developed its GPT-2 language model in early 2019, they initially chose not to publish the algorithm, owing to concerns over its potential for malicious use, as well as the need for the AI industry to experime…
82. Jakob Foerster - The high cost of automated weapons [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:07
Automated weapons mean fewer casualties, faster reaction times, and more precise strikes. They’re a clear win for any country that deploys them. You can see the appeal. But they’re also a classic prisoner’s dilemma. Once…
81. Nicolas Miailhe - AI risk is a global problem [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:03
In December 1938, a frustrated nuclear physicist named Leo Szilard wrote a letter to the British Admiralty telling them that he had given up on his greatest invention — the nuclear chain reaction. "The idea of a nuclear…