Machines haven't taken over the world just yet, but they captured the attention of the world in 2016 when DeepMind's AlphaGo conquered Lee Sedol and an important frontier in artificial intelligence research; this year, the hit documentary AlphaGo showed us all how it happened. For this episode the microphone turns inward as Dom, whom Colin insists has a degree in this stuff, gives a crash course in AI research, what it means for mankind, and why we should care. You can join us as we try to deepen our minds below, here, or on iTunes here. Timestamps: 4:00 what is AI? 8:00 AI and games; why does this matter? 15:30 wider applications; what can AI do? 20:30 different priorities in games (exploitation vs GTO) 30:00 what humans and machines are/aren't good at 36:00 how does AI work? how does AlphaGo work? 48:15 crossover with other disciplines; AI and language 59:00 AI safety; the threat of superhuman AI 1:02:00 ethical and social implications of AI 1:16:00 AI and philosophy; what are consciousness and intelligence? how are they possible? 1:29:15 AlphaGo, the documentary; what games teach us Links: Google Translate's transformation and backstory A simple explanation of AI and AlphaGo AlphaGo, in context