Over the next week, The Economist will investigate how AI could change the enterprise of science. We kick off with the first in a two-part series of “Babbage”, our podcast on science and technology.

This week, Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor speaks to Mustafa Suleyman, the founder of Inflection AI, and co-founder of Google DeepMind. Mustafa outlines how he thinks the technology can develop responsibly, what hurdles need to be overcome and how society should prepare for this new age of ubiquitous AI.

Also, in a new film, The Economist will bring together Yuval Noah Harari, the historian and philosopher, and Mustafa Suleyman to grapple with the biggest technological revolution of our times. They debate the impact of AI on our immediate futures, how the technology can be controlled and whether AI could ever have agency.

The film will be available to watch on Thursday September 14th.

Next week on “Babbage”, we will investigate whether AI will revolutionise the paradigm of science. We will visit the robots that are automating some of the drudge of the scientific process and we will hear from The Economist’s correspondents on the ways research could accelerate the pace of scientific discivery.

“Babbage” from The Economist is released every Wednesday. Listen to more episodes on generative AI at economist.com/AI-pods.

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