AI for science: Demis Hassabis, Jennifer Doudna and James Manyika

The most transformational impact of AI will probably be to make science faster and more productive. Solve that problem and you can do more great things even faster—alleviate disease, tackle climate change or help astronomers explore new worlds. In this episode, we speak to both the makers of AI models and the researchers who are already seeing the benefits of AI in their laboratories. Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor, interviews Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, and James Manyika, senior vice president of research, technology and society at Google. Jennifer Doudna, founder of the Innovative Genomics Institute, tells us how AI is already making a difference in her labs. The Economist’s Alex Hern considers the future of the field. For more on AI in science, check out our previous episodes of Babbage: how AI promises to revolutionise science (September 2023), our two-parter on AI and health (May 2024) and our series on the science that built the AI revolution (March 2024). Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.