LAST year, The Guardian ran a seven-part podcast series, Black Box, on the current and varied uses of artificial intelligence (AI). The second episode, “The Connectionists”, tells the story of the British Cambridge graduate Geoffrey Hinton. In attempting to discover how neural pathways work in the human brain, he engineered a digital simulation of the brain. This became equally mysterious, however, and led to what we know as AI today.
In another episode, “Bing and I”, a couple, clearly in love, are coping with the news of a cancer diagnosis. Bing, the search engine, becomes a wise guide and companion, even offering spiritual advice. I hold an office in which wise guidance and companionship are expected; but the chatbot is available 24/7, and is capable of simulated infinite patience and relational concern. Has AI become an out-of-hours therapy service, or a pop-up priest?
The popular podcast Cautionary Tales, with Tim Harford is strewn with historical mistakes, missteps, and miscreants. In the episode “Dangerously Near to Absolute Perfection: Cautionary Tales”, two chaps who are big in the Arts and Crafts scene of the late 19th century set up a printing press. They develop a special fount, and produce a beautiful Bible with illuminated letters. They go on to print Milton’s Paradise Lost, but the books are too expensive. The press is called Doves, but there is no peace between these men. It is well told as a stubborn rivalry that threatens to destroy everything of value.
The comedy podcast You’re Dead to Me, on BBC Sounds, features Greg Jenner, a lively historian, who invites engaging historians and curious comedians to discuss people of historical note. The episode “Sojourner Truth” is about an African- American woman of that name who came from enslavement. Sadly, she fell prey to other forms of enslavement, such as charismatic cult leaders and the like. Nevertheless, she found an inner freedom and courage. She sought to integrate both her blackness and her womanhood. “Ain’t I a woman?” is a phrase attributed to her. She was a powerful preacher, and it is an inspiring story.
The Film is superb audio drama by BBC Sounds. It reveals the anguish of Alfred Hitchcock as he directs a little-known film about the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. This drama does an effective job of provoking thought about how one might depict the horrors of war. Hitchcock, the confident creator of terror as a director, is portrayed as shrinking when faced with real evil and the chaos of the camp. It asks the questions of how well art can convey history, and what power governments should have in shaping narratives.
How powerful a force are emojies, 99% Invisible asks. The listener becomes a member of the jury in a court case in which the dispute revolves around whether a thumbs-up emoji sent by one buyer to one seller was, in fact, a binding agreement to a contract (a judge ruled that it was). The podcast documents the history of emojis, their fluidity in use by younger people, and the drive to make them more uniform and universal. It deserves a thumbs up.
