Artificial Intelligence seems to be changing everything, everywhere, all at once. But how will the science of studying the very old be transformed by the technology of the new? In this episode Susie and Rob take a look at the risks and opportunities for palaeontology with the application of AI: palAIontology. Can we use AI to find, identify, and classify fossils?

The paper's discussed this week are: "Artificial intelligence in paleontology" by Congyu Yu and colleagues published in Earth Science Reviews May 2024 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2024.104765 and "Early humans and the balance of power: Homo habilis as prey" by Marina Vegara-Riquelme and colleagues published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences in September 2025 https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.15321