On My Mind in December

One morning, I woke up to a curious, ethereal pink glow cast on the rusty, orange autumn leaves. Otherworldly. Rubbing my eyes in the early morning, I was nearly expecting to see an extraterrestrial being or a goddess resting on my balcony. Taking a brief look at the celestial, pink glow the creature had just cast. Like a spell. Ephemeral. But when I opened the balcony door, I was only greeted by my rose. Quite a miracle too! That it was still in bloom.

• The Ebb & Flow of Creativity: Tons of work. Somewhere under those digital spreadsheets it must be hiding! My creative spark!

• Environment: 50 simple ways to make your life greener

• Go Carbon Neutral: ClimateHero.

• For the Environment: Tango and Flamenco at The Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

• Christmas Market: At the Royal Stables.

• On my Radio: The Reith Lectures. Stuart Russell explores the future of Artificial Intelligence and reflects on the birth of AI, tracing our thinking about it back to Aristotle. He outlines the definition of AI, its successes and failures, and the risks it poses for the future. 

  Referencing the representation of AI systems in film and popular culture, Professor Russell examines whether our fears are well founded. He explains what led him, alongside previous Reith Lecturer Professor Stephen Hawking, to say that “success would be the biggest event in human history…and perhaps the last event in human history.” He asks how this risk arises and whether it can be avoided, allowing humanity and AI to coexist successfully.

  Professor Stuart Russell is founder of the Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence at the University of California, Berkeley. The lecture was recorded at the Alan Turing Institute at the British Library in London.

• At Home: Reupholstering my dining chairs. Preparing for Christmas.