Subvolts take AI tackles real-world problems in health, biology, and climate change, facing practical hurdles. Aug 27, 2019 - Developers
- Learn about real-world AI applications and the challenges in their deployment.
- Business
- Understand how AI can solve significant problems in healthcare, science, and energy efficiency.
- Everyday users
- Discover how AI is being used to make a positive impact on society and the environment.
This episode provides a solid interview discussing AI's practical applications and the challenges in deploying it.
Out of the lab
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Summary and analysis by Subvolts editorial, AI-assisted.
This Google DeepMind podcast episode, "Out of the Lab," features host Hannah Fry discussing AI's real-world applications. The episode explores how AI systems can save sight, solve biological problems, and reduce energy consumption to combat climate change. It also addresses obstacles to AI's effective, safe, and fair use.
This podcast explores how smart computer programs, called AI, are being built to help people. They can help doctors save people's eyesight, help scientists understand life better, and even help cool down big computer centers to fight climate change.
This episode offers a look at AI's practical impact beyond the lab. It is for anyone interested in how AI solves tangible problems, from healthcare to climate. The discussions on real-world deployment and challenges connect directly to current efforts by frontier labs like Google DeepMind to move AI from research into beneficial applications.
- HostHannah Fry
- Episode Title: Out of the Lab
- Show: Google DeepMind: The Podcast
- Length: 31 minutes
- AI Applications Mentioned: Saving sight, solving biology problems, reducing energy consumption for climate change.
- AI Project Example: AlphaFold for scientific discovery.
The ambition of much of AI research is to create systems that can help to solve problems in the real world. In this episode, Hannah meets the people building systems that could be used to save the sight of thousands, help us solve one of the most fundamental problems in biology and reduce energy consumption in an effort to combat climate change. But whilst there is great potential, there are also important obstacles that will need to be tackled for AI to be used effectively, safely and fairly.
If you have a question or feedback on the series, message us on Twitter (@DeepMind using the hashtag #DMpodcast) or email us at podcast@deepmind.com.
Further reading:
- Wired: Inside DeepMind's epic mission to solve science's trickiest problem
- DeepMind blogs on the partnership with Moorfields NHS eye hospital and predicting eye disease, and Moorfields’ news announcement on its research with DeepMind
- DeepMind blog: AlphaFold: Using AI for scientific discovery
- DeepMind blogs on reducing Google’s energy bill for datacentre cooling and how this project has progressed
- Research paper: Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning
- Quanta magazine: How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Science
- DeepMind blog: How evolutionary selection can train more capable self-driving cars
Other examples of the application of AI for real-world impact include:
- Francis Crick Institute: machine learning models that can help predict heart disease
- NASA: AUDREY machine learning system to better guide first responders through fires
- University of Southern California: Protection Assistant for Wildlife Security using AI to help wildlife conservation
Interviewees: Pearse Keane, consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital; Sandy Nelson, Product Manager for DeepMind’s Science Program; and DeepMind Program Manager Sims Witherspoon.
Credits:
Presenter: Hannah Fry
Editor: David Prest
Senior Producer: Louisa Field
Producers: Amy Racs, Dan Hardoon
Binaural Sound: Lucinda Mason-Brown
Music composition: Eleni Shaw (with help from Sander Dieleman and WaveNet)
Commissioned by DeepMind
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- Obstacles include ensuring AI is used effectively, safely, and fairly, which will need to be tackled for successful implementation.
Page generated Oct 19, 2026. Summaries are Subvolts' own; the audio, artwork and notes belong to Hannah Fry.