Neil Lawrence: Being human in the age of the machine

Stephen Sackur speaks to leading artificial intelligence
researcher Neil Lawrence. He’s Professor of Machine Learning at
the University of Cambridge and has a Senior AI Fellowship at the
Alan Turing Institute. His new book – The Atomic Human – explores
the transformational potential of artificial intelligence, while
reflecting on the qualities of the human mind that cannot be
replicated by even the most sophisticated machines.


As more and more aspects of our lives are impacted by the rollout
of machine learning, as control of big data and the development
of algorithms to exploit it becomes a source of immense power in
the 21st century, tech futurists are divided on whether we should
embrace AI or fear it. In the end what will matter most isn’t the
technology but the humans who develop and deploy it. Should we
have faith in ourselves to get it right?