On a visit to J. Robert Oppenheimer’s Los Alamos house earlier this year, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright referred to the development of artificial intelligence as a “second Manhattan Project race” that the U.S. needs to win. With Los Alamos National Laboratory’s supercomputers, scientific workforce and collaborations with companies including OpenAI and NVIDIA, lab officials have said the facility aims to be a leader in the AI arena.

In the latest episode of “Conversations Different,” LANL Director Thom Mason speaks with host Inez Russell Gomez about artificial intelligence, describing what it is and why so many people are excited about it. He also discusses how AI is being used at LANL and how it can help increase productivity for lab workers.

Mason talks about Venado, the lab’s newest supercomputer, and what it’s used for. Gomez asks him about the lab’s need for more power, and how much of that comes from its AI endeavors.

Mason also discusses how AI can be used in education, how it could impact the workforce, the opportunities for AI in New Mexico, and concerns that have arisen about the technology as it becomes more advanced.

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