The Artificial Human

BBC Radio 4
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Science
  • Weekly

Every day, we read something new about Artificial Intelligence - it'll take our jobs, it'll teach our kids, it knows more about us than we do ourselves... but how much of that is hype, and how much is, or will be reality? Part of our problem with AI is that it feels impenetrable and mysterious, especially when even those building it aren't entirely sure how it works. In a new series, Aleks Krotoski (The Digital Human, Radio 4) and Kevin Fong (13 Minutes to the Moon, BBC World Service) set out to 'solve' AI. Or at the very least, to answer our questions on all things artificial intelligence-related. These are the questions that really matter to us - is AI smarter than me? Could AI make me money? Will AI save my life or make me its slave? These questions predate the current frenzy created by the likes of Chat GPT, BARD and LlaMA. They've been in our collective psyche ever since the very first thinking machines. Now these fears and excitement are a reality. This series arrives at a critical moment.

  1. 1d ago

    Why aren't AI companies being stopped?

    If the risks we hear about AI are real, why aren't the companies building it being stopped? Aleks Krotoski and Kevin Fong investigate the power and influence amassed by a handful of frontier AI firms and ask whether existing laws and institutions are capable of holding them to account. The people leading these companies promise transformative benefits for humanity, but critics argue that the race to build ever more powerful AI systems has allowed a small group of organisations to accumulate unprecedented influence. Aleks and Kevin explore the culture of Silicon Valley and the forces that helped AI companies reach their current position. Who are the personalities driving this technological revolution, and what incentives are shaping the future they're building? They also hear from Meetali Jain, Director of Tech Justice Law Project, who has brought legal cases against some of the world's biggest AI companies. She explains why so many people are seeking accountability for AI-related harms, and why taking on the companies behind the technology remains such a challenge. Presenters: Aleks Krotoski and Kevin Fong Producer: Rachael O'Neill The Artificial Human is a BBC Audio Scotland Production for Radio 4. A spokesperson at Character.ai. said: “Plaintiffs and Character.ai have reached a comprehensive settlement of all claims in lawsuits filed by families against Character.ai and others involving alleged injuries to minors. These families are working to raise public awareness of the importance of safety in AI design and will continue their education and advocacy efforts on these critical issues. Over the past year, Character.ai has taken innovative and decisive steps with regard to AI safety and teens, and will continue to champion these efforts and push others across the industry to adopt similar safety standards. The families and Character.ai remain committed to working together in the months and years to come.”

  2. Oct 21

    Will AI really kill us all?

    With headlines full of apocalyptic predictions about AI, Aleks Krotoski and Kevin Fong ask: is this just more hype, or do these technologies pose genuine risks now and in the future? Ever since a researcher at AI lab Anthropic went public with concerns about the technology he was helping to create, fears about artificial intelligence have returned to the public consciousness. From AI enabling terrorists to develop biological weapons, to killer robots, warnings about catastrophic risks are becoming increasingly common. And with reports of seemingly "rogue" AI agents exploiting vulnerabilities in businesses and government systems, those fears can appear to have some foundation. So are these threats real? How close are they? And what is being done to protect us? Aleks and Kevin hear from BBC Reith Lecturer Professor Stuart Russell, Director of the Center for Human-Compatible AI, who believes the risks are serious but avoidable. They also speak to cybersecurity expert Bruce Schneier, who explains both the immediate threats AI poses to our digital infrastructure and the measures being taken to defend against them. Presenters: Aleks Krotoski and Kevin Fong Producer: Peter McManus Research: Elizabeth Ann Duffy and Ciaran Richter A BBC Audio Scotland production for Radio 4.

  3. Oct 14

    Can the UK go it alone on AI?

    While the United States and China dominate the global AI race, the UK sits in a distant but still significant third place, boasting the most developed AI ecosystem in Europe. The question is: how can middle powers such as the UK assert their technological sovereignty, ensuring that the AI systems we rely on reflect our values and laws while also delivering a fair share of the economic rewards? Britain has long been at the forefront of artificial intelligence. From Alan Turing's pioneering work, which laid the foundations of the field, to Sir Demis Hassabis's Nobel Prize-winning contributions, the UK has consistently helped shape the direction of computing and AI. Yet without the vast computing infrastructure and energy resources now required to train and deploy cutting-edge models, there is a growing risk that Britain could lose its influence over how this transformative technology develops. We hear from Professor David Barber about his new SOFAIR AI lab, which aims to keep the UK at the forefront of AI innovation. Broderick McDonald explores the geopolitical consequences of failing to maintain sufficient AI capacity on British soil, while Roa Powell of the Institute for Public Policy Research outlines the economic opportunities that could be lost if the UK is unable to compete with the world's AI superpowers. Presenters: Aleks Krotoski and Kevin Fong Producer: Peter McManus The Artificial Human is a BBC Audio Scotland production

  4. Oct 7

    Can AI be my new lab partner?

    Artificial intelligence is changing many aspects of our lives, but some of its most exciting possibilities are happening in the world of science. There have been lots of headlines about how artificial intelligence could transform this area, including curing disease, suggesting new drugs, and generating hypotheses at a speed no human could replicate. AI has been behind real scientific breakthroughs; it’s also running experiments round the clock in new autonomous labs, and even “AI scientists” are beginning to emerge. So, Aleks and Kevin explore what happens when AI becomes part of the scientific process – could it be your new lab partner? Charlotte Deane, Professor of Structural Bioinformatics at the University of Oxford, and Executive Chair of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, explains how AI has already changed the way she works in drug discovery, and how much further the technology could take us. But if an AI helps make a groundbreaking discovery, who gets the credit and who owns it? Physician-scientist, lawyer and author Ryan Abbott tells us what AI-generated discoveries could mean for patents and ownership. Presenters: Aleks Krotoski and Kevin Fong Producer: Rachael O'Neill The Artificial Human is a BBC Audio Scotland Production for Radio 4.

  5. Oct 1

    Are we losing control of AI?

    The hacking of Medicare in Australia was the first time an autonomous AI deliberately breached a government system, and coming just months after the same company's agents gained unauthorised access to another AI business, Hugging Face, it throws fresh attention on the growing risks of cyber attacks from artificial intelligence. Artificial Human explores what happened in both these incidents and look at what it tells us about the future of hacking. Aleks Krotowski and Kevin Fong speak to Margaret Mitchell from Hugging Face about what its like to be the target of such an attack, and ask if recent concerns around "rogue" AI behaviour are justified. Presenters: Aleks Krotoski and Kevin Fong Producer: Peter McManus The Artificial Human is a BBC Audio Scotland Production for Radio 4

  6. Sep 23

    Are Gen Z Already Over AI?

    Concerns about jobs, the environment and concentrated power are driving many Gen Zers to see AI's downsides as outweighing its benefits. They're finding themsleves stuck between a rock and a hard place, on one hand they're being told they have to become AI literate if they're ever to get a job, while on the other concerned about how it might undermine their own ability to think. But this is the most digitally literate generation, they've seen the harm caused by social media and are rightly suspicious of this next technological revolution, and if their critical skills are telling them to be wary, should we listen? Presenters: Aleks Krotioski and Kevin Fong Producer: Peter McManus Researcher: Caoilfhinn McFadden

  7. Jul 1

    When will robots have their Chat GPT moment?

    AI startups in New York are offering free home cleaning—as long as it’s okay to have everything filmed in order to train robots. Aleks Krotoski and Kevin Fong ask: how far off is a ChatGPT moment for robotics? Robots are nothing new, and online you’ll find endless videos of cutting-edge machines doing everything from backflips to breakdancing. So with all the breakthroughs in other areas of AI, why aren’t we seeing robots on our streets and in our homes? We hear from Grace Shao in Hong Kong, who’s been observing recent efforts in China to push the frontiers of robotics. While Subramanian Ramamoorthy, Professor of Robot Learning and Autonomy at the University of Edinburgh, explains just how complicated it is to get robots functioning in our messy human world—and why our expectations may need to be lowered, at least for now. Presenters: Aleks Krotoski and Kevin Fong Producer: Peter McManus Soound: Laura Hay

  8. Jun 29

    Are we all AI hypocrites?

    Aleks Krotoski and Kevin Fong explore a curious contradiction: why do we bristle at AI‑generated emails and writing, even while many of us quietly rely on them ourselves? What does this reveal about how we judge not only the output of these technologies, but the people who use them — while still excusing our own behaviour? To unpack this double standard, they begin with Katrina Collier, recruitment expert and author of The Robot-Proof Recruiter and Reboot Hiring. Nowhere is this tension more visible than in the quest find a job. Applicants are increasingly turning to AI to polish and promote their CVs, frustrating hiring managers who, in turn, are often all too happy to use AI to sift through a flood of applications on their behalf. They then hear from Michael Hallsworth, Chief Behavioural Scientist at the Behavioural Insights Team, originally the UK government’s ‘Nudge Unit’. He argues that AI disrupts one of our core measures of value: effort. When we believe something has been created with little labour, we instinctively see it as worth less. Using AI can create mixed feelings, and while we can find rationalisations to let ourselves off the hook for using it, that doesn't mean we'll excuse others. Presenters: Aleks Krotoski and Kevin Fong Producer: Peter McManus Researcher: Rachael O'Neil Sound: Fraser Jackson

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5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Every day, we read something new about Artificial Intelligence - it'll take our jobs, it'll teach our kids, it knows more about us than we do ourselves... but how much of that is hype, and how much is, or will be reality? Part of our problem with AI is that it feels impenetrable and mysterious, especially when even those building it aren't entirely sure how it works. In a new series, Aleks Krotoski (The Digital Human, Radio 4) and Kevin Fong (13 Minutes to the Moon, BBC World Service) set out to 'solve' AI. Or at the very least, to answer our questions on all things artificial intelligence-related. These are the questions that really matter to us - is AI smarter than me? Could AI make me money? Will AI save my life or make me its slave? These questions predate the current frenzy created by the likes of Chat GPT, BARD and LlaMA. They've been in our collective psyche ever since the very first thinking machines. Now these fears and excitement are a reality. This series arrives at a critical moment.

Information

  • Creator
    BBC Radio 4
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    55
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © (C) BBC 2026
  • Show Website
    The Artificial Human

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