The future of the Internet • 2014 • episode "2/10" • Curiosity Retreats: 2014 Lectures

59:00

Mike Wooldridge reveals the huge role AI already plays in our daily lives – sometimes without us even realising its role. Mike investigates how games like chess and Go have become a training ground for AI, helping to bring about key advances we are now seeing in the field, and he reveals how simple methods of learning, like rewarding success, have been used to train AI in spectacular ways. We also feature some of the revolutionary innovations that AI has brought about in healthcare, from the use of AI tools in planning cancer treatment, to monitoring Parkinson's. Mike is joined by members of DeepMind's AlphaFold team, who use AI to predict the structures of large numbers of proteins, which will revolutionise the creation of new drugs across the world. We also reveal the huge impact AI has had on our creative lives – as it is able to write songs and create artworks in seconds. With the help of artist Eric Drass (aka shardcore), the audience creates a collaborative artwork and discovers how image generation works. Mike explores the thorny question of who the creator is – the AI itself, the human who set it to work, or the creators of the art that AI has learned from? The Christmas Lectures are the most prestigious event in the Royal Institution calendar, dating from 1825, when Michael Faraday founded the series. They are the world's longest running science television series, and always promise to inspire and amaze each year through explosive demonstrations and interactive experiments with the live theatre audience.

S1E2 • BBC Royal Institution Christmas Lectures: The Truth about AI • 2023 • Technology

55:38

Los Angeles becomes America's "arsenal for democracy" during World War II while critics see an unhealthy alliance develop between the federal government and aircraft manufacturers.

S1E1 • Blue Sky Metropolis • 2020 • Technology

54:51

Learn how robots were first conceptualized in ancient Rome and see how their use has evolved over the centuries, from the calculator to the Roomba. Then, take a sneak peek at what future robots will be able to do. Narrated by Patrick Stewart.

Breakthrough the Ideas that Changed the World • 2019 • Technology

52:57

Phenomena of incredible speed that we cannot see, captured in stunning detail using high-speed cameras. Watch the mechanics of dogs in motion (do their feet touch the ground?) Learn how a cat’s tongue works, experience the shockwaves of explosions, see the dynamics of fire -- and more!

S1E3 • Invisible Universe • 2016 • Technology

48:39

As we embark upon the 21st century, sports now occupy a central role in our lives. They set the pace of our daily routines, influence our lifestyles, and maintain our health and general well being. This episode will show how the athletes of 2050 will be spoiled with technological choices.

S1E10 • Dream the Future • 2017 • Technology

25:39

Currently, the only destination for Astronauts and Cosmonauts is the orbiting research platform known as the International space station. This episode exposes the working life of people who spend months orbiting in microgravity.

S1E4 • Zenith: Advances in Space Exploration • 2021 • Technology