"Artificial Intelligence: AI at the Edge" - A 100-episode journey into the heart of AI, hosted by Maitt Saiwyer. From the foundational theories of Turing and Minsky to the cutting-edge breakthroughs in deep learning and reinforcement learning, we explore the science, history, ethics, and politics that define artificial intelligence. Delve into the human side of AI, confronting its costs, its promises, and its potential futures—from corporate power struggles in Silicon Valley to the dream and danger of a technological singularity. Whether you're a builder, a skeptic, a policymaker, or simply curious, join us as we uncover the imagination and insight you need to understand the technology shaping our century.

Deep learning may be powerful, but it isn’t magic. This episode closes the first half of the series by examining the limitations of today’s models: their hunger for data and energy, their lack of reasoning and common sense, and their vulnerability to bias and adversarial attacks. We’ll discuss why critics warn that deep learning alone may not lead to general intelligence, and why researchers are already searching for the next paradigm shift.

By the mid-2010s, deep learning was leaving the lab and entering the real world. This episode highlights how neural networks transformed medicine, from cancer detection to drug discovery, revolutionized translation through systems like Google Translate, and even entered the arts through generative creativity. We’ll explore the successes and failures of applying AI to messy, high-stakes environments—and what this revealed about the promises and limits of deep learning.