July 28, 2025

WRITER 674: Toby Walsh demystifies his new book, 'The Shortest History of AI'

48 minutes

When Toby Walsh wrote his first book on AI, he figured he’d said all he had to say. But just a handful of years later, this British computer scientist and current Chief Scientist at UNSW Sydney’s AI Institute is here to discuss his FIFTH book, The Shortest History of AI – how it came about and some of the challenges around explaining this subject to a general audience.

00:00 Welcome
10:05 Writing tip: ‘Just start writing’
12:52 WIN!: The Midnight Estate by Kelly Rimmer
14:39 Word of the week: ‘Psithurism’
15:09 Writer in residence: Toby Walsh
15:55 Explaining The Shortest History of AI
17:00 Deciding on the six ideas for the book
18:25 How Toby developed his writing voice
20:06 Balancing the academia and hysteria
22:37 The purpose of writing AI books
23:24 The challenges of writing for the public
25:00 On becoming an accidental science communicator
28:03 The secret circle of science communicators
29:58 Untimely deaths in the timeline of AI
30:30 Adding his expertise to the ‘Shortest’ series
32:20 On designing his book cover and subtitle
35:48 The role of great editors in writing
37:24 Toby’s late night writing process
38:55 His next book project
39:59 A pivot to writing fiction?
42:07 Toby’s tip for writers
43:23 Final thoughts