I’m a big podcast listener. I wish I was a better reader. But being able to listen to experts being interviewed by other experts (or expert interviewers), makes for a great learning experience that I can take with me wherever I go. In this edition of the Taking your AI Knowledge Deeper series, I’m going to go through a number of podcasts that I use to keep myself up to date with what’s going on in AI. I have two groups.
The first are podcasts that focus entirely on data science and AI. The second group are general news and information podcasts which are regularly circling back to AI as a topic. The former will benefit anyone, but especially people who are keen to get into the technical details of AI. The latter stay at a higher level and are great to inform yourself of the broader issues surrounding AI today. Let’s start with the AI-specific podcasts…
1. Super Data Science
The Super Data Science podcast is my go-to for in-depth interviews with AI experts. Host Jon Krohn is himself Chief Data Scientist at the AI Talent Acquisition Platform, Nebula. He uses his knowledge of the topic to invite his guests to share deep insights about their topic of focus, while translating difficult concepts and ensuring that less technical audience members aren’t left behind in the alphabet soup of AI terminology. He’s also good about warning you if the episode is going to be more accessible to non-technical listeners, or more for data science practitioners.
2. Last Week in AI
Last Week in AI is a weekly, all-inclusive, news summary podcast with a light discussion about each story. Where the Super Data Science podcast goes deep, Last Week in AI is super broad with news stories related to every part of AI including hardware, models, apps, security, policy, and more. While I’ve only discovered it recently, I’ve just set it to auto-queue in Pocket Casts (my preferred podcast app). It’s long, but it’s great because if it’s happening in AI, they’ll talk about it and give you a sense of what it means. They also have a newsletter you can subscribe to on SubStack if you prefer your updates in your inbox.
3. Unsupervised Learning
The Unsupervised Learning podcast by Redpoint Ventures is another excellent interview-focused podcast. With Redpoint being a VC firm, Unsupervised Learning takes an approach that looks at the subject at hand from the business side of AI, and what it takes to launch a new AI startup. The cadence of this podcast isn’t quite as frequent as some others, but I always enjoy the way the hosts dig into each subject’s motivation, thinking, successes, and failures to help understand what makes their technology tick.
4. Machine Learning Guide
Former web developer Tyler Renelle set out to transform his career into data science and AI. To help others, he launched the monologue-style Machine Learning Guide podcast. He talks about machine learning topics from the very basics, like linear regression, to more advanced topics like reinforcement learning and exploratory data analytics. Each topic is accompanied by a list of resources for further study. His style is quirky, funny, and at times even a bit cringy, but I appreciate hearing from someone else who went through what I’m going through: learning machine learning… from the ground floor up.
Be aware that many of the early episodes predate both the current AI hype wave and even the Transformer paper of 2017. But while AI has moved forward, much of the basics that he shares are useful. Machine Learning Guide is just that: a guide. As such, it isn’t an actual curriculum that will teach you AI, but it’s a great companion to hear another perspective on key machine learning topics.
Next, let’s move on to more general podcasts that have great AI coverage…
5. On with Kara Swisher
Is there anyone working in technology who doesn’t know who Kara Swisher is? She’s been doing great coverage on AI, both on Pivot with co-host and fellow yank-in-the-UK Scott Gallaway, and on her interview podcast: On with Kara Swisher. So this is a two-fer recommendation. In my opinion, these are podcasts everyone who works in technology should follow anyway, whether you’re trying to learn AI or not.
6. The Ezra Klein Show
I discovered Ezra Klein only a year ago. He’s done a series of episodes where he spoke to a number of AI luminaries. Currently, he is on book leave, but his show has caretaker hosts and continues to interview people of note. His interviews with Sam Altman, Gary Marcus, and Alondra Nelson were extremely insightful, and they helped me get my head out of the sand and really pay attention to this latest technology revolution. The Ezra Klein Show was named a best podcast of 2021 by Time, Vulture, Esquire, and The Atlantic.
7. Hard Fork
Hard Fork is just a year old, but this technology news round-up show hosted by journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton regularly features the relevant news of the day. Where Last Week in AI takes a view from the perspective of data science practitioners, Hard Fork is a for-the-masses podcast. They are supremely funny and irreverent. Hard Fork publishes weekly.
Summary
There is so much to learn in the AI space and time is our most precious commodity. Tuning into a podcast while you do some other task (cooking, cleaning, walking, gym) can give you back time. If you’re just trying to keep your finger on the pulse of technology, definitely check out Ezra Klein, Kara Swisher, and Hard Fork. You’ll get some AI content just for the fun of listening. But if you’re keen to really dive into the technology behind AI, these AI-specific podcasts are the way to go. If you have a favorite AI podcast you think I’ve left off, be sure to share in the comments.
Happy listening!