Babbage: Trailer

New ideas in science, technology and medicine arrive at such a breakneck pace that it can be hard to know what to make of it all. So it helps to have a guide. I'm Alok Konchah, science and technology editor at the Economist and host of our Babbage podcast. Every week we take a look at the latest discoveries that are shaping your world.

Count me in. Alloc. That sounds interesting.

Ah, econobot. It's things like you that we're fascinated by here at Babbage. Maybe you can help me figure out what to cover next.

Well, the advancements in artificial intelligence are a good place to start.

Now, I did think you'd say that. And on Babbage, we do cover chatbots like you and chatgpt and the large language models you're all based on. These foundation models are a bit like the printing press, and in the long run, it's that that importance, I think.

How about you look at cosmology or perhaps genetics?

Well, we do explore breakthrough technologies across science and speak with Nobel Prize winners like Jennifer Doudna, the inventor of the gene editing tool crispr.

Increasingly, we're going to see biological research having a profound impact on the economy going forward. Ok, Alok, what can we expect next?

You'll find personal stories from those at the sharp end of everything from climate change. Iraq is suffering from very sharply rising temperatures to medicine. Ketamine was first mentioned to me by a psychiatrist I was seeing. And I am getting better all the time. There's always more to investigate. So have a listen to Babbage wherever you prefer.

Ooh, I'd be delighted too, but I'm just a language model, so I can't listen to podcasts.

Yeah, no, that's probably for the best. But all of you humans out there listen to Babbage and the and together we can all stay several steps ahead of the machines.