Artificially Ever After

Hosted by Kieren Sharma & Riku Green

Technology Education Science

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Jun 2026

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About the show

Welcome to Artificially Ever After — your guide to the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence. We cut through the hype, demystify the tech and debunk the myths, keeping it clear, digestible and entertaining. We highlight AI’s transformative potential while scrutinising its ethical and societal impact, from fairness and privacy to accountability, because with great power comes great responsibility! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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43 recent

June 7, 20261 hr 35 min

#29 - Can AI Help Save Our Planet? — with Prof Tilo Burghardt (AIBIO-UK Mini-Series)

In this episode, Kieren and Riku tackle a pressing and surprisingly hopeful question of whether AI can actually help protect our natural world. Joined by Professor Tilo Burghardt, a pioneer in the emerging field of animal biometrics, they explore how specialised AI models are revolutionising wildlife conservation. From automatically detecting poachers in national parks to understanding great ape behaviour in the jungle, they discuss how real-time data and computer vision are helping us monitor and protect global biodiversity. Tune in to learn how bridging the disconnect between our modern "technosphere" and the natural "biosphere" might just be the key to saving the planet's most precious treasures.This is the fourth episode in our AIBIO-UK mini-series.Birds for Scale, Smarties is licensed under CC BY-SA.Local Forecast – Elevator by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under CC BY. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

March 25, 202623 min

Short Stuff: War Games... The Pentagon vs. Big Tech

Kieren and Riku discuss the US military's high-stakes clash with Big Tech over AI. Discover why Anthropic was blacklisted over autonomous weapons, how OpenAI played ball, and the chilling reality of AI warfare rules being decided in private contracts rather than democratic lawsBirds for Scale, Smarties is licensed under CC BY-SA. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

March 17, 20261 hr 14 min

#28 - Can AI Predict the Future?

In this episode, Kieren and Riku explore whether AI can truly predict the future through time series forecasting. They trace the history of predictions from Haley's comet to Google's GraphCast for weather, and unpack real-world applications like national energy grids and wearable healthcare tech. Along the way, they discuss the risks of random correlations, feedback loops, and the philosophical impact of having a crystal ball on human free will.Birds for Scale, Smarties is licensed under CC BY-SA.Local Forecast – Elevator by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under CC BY. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

February 14, 202619 min

Short Stuff: Moltbook... Are the AIs Conspiring Against Us?

In this Short Stuff episode, Kieren and Riku investigate Moltbook, a viral social media platform built exclusively for AI agents to converse without humans. They unpack the headlines claiming this marks the start of the singularity and explore the bizarre phenomena emerging on the site, from "non-human" languages to a lobster-worshipping religion called Crustafarianism. Beyond the sci-fi hype, they discuss the serious security risks of granting AI agents access to all your personal data, and debunk the fears of emergent consciousness. Tune in to find out if this is the dawn of a new world order or just a chaotic internet experiment!Birds for Scale, Smarties is licensed under CC BY-SA. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

January 23, 20261 hr 17 min

#27 - How NOT To Use AI in 2026

In this episode, Kieren and Riku kick off the new year by exploring the pitfalls of mass AI adoption, noting that chatbots like ChatGPT now have over 800 million weekly users. They discuss recent usage reports that analyse how the world is actually using these tools, contrasting short-term productivity gains with the dangers of "cognitive offloading" and the homogenization of creative work. Tune in for a guide on how to stop treating AI as an oracle and instead leverage it as a co-pilot that augments rather than replaces human thought.Birds for Scale, Smarties is licensed under CC BY-SA.Local Forecast – Elevator by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under CC BY. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

January 3, 202621 min

Short Stuff: Inside the UK’s Most Powerful AI Supercomputer

In this episode, Kieren and Riku get a guided tour of Isambard-AI – the UK’s most powerful supercomputer, ranked 11th most powerful and 4th greenest in the world – with Professor Simon McIntosh-Smith and Dr Emma Rose from the Bristol Centre for Supercomputing. They explore how national-scale AI really runs, what all that compute is used for in areas like health and finance, and why building this kind of sovereign AI infrastructure matters for the UK’s future.Birds for Scale, Smarties is licensed under CC BY-SA. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

December 21, 20251 hr 5 min

#26 - AI Rights and Consciousness

In this episode, Kieren and Riku tackle the polarising question of whether AI deserves legal rights and if consciousness is actually the right metric to use. Joined by Dr. Miranda Mowbray, an AI ethics expert from the University of Bristol, they explore the dangers of anthropomorphisation and reveal how even malware could pass certain tests for consciousness. They examine fascinating legal precedents where non-living entities, from corporations and rivers to religious idols, already hold rights, and discuss how these frameworks might close the accountability gap for autonomous systems. Tune in to discover why granting rights to AI might really be about protecting humans, and how the public can help shape future regulationBirds for Scale, Smarties is licensed under CC BY-SA.Local Forecast – Elevator by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under CC BY. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

November 19, 202525 min

Short Stuff: Which Chatbot is Best for You?

In this Short Stuff episode, Kieren and Riku ask which chatbot is actually best for you? With so many models (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok and now millions more), they argue there’s no single winner and it very much depends on what you’re doing. Joined by Anthony Duncalf, CEO of Switchboard AI, they explore how “routing” your prompt to the right model could be the future, with one smart layer quietly orchestrating many AIs behind the scenes.Birds for Scale, Smarties is licensed under CC BY-SA. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

November 5, 20251 hr 39 min

#25 - The Most Important Conversation About AI

In this pivotal episode, Kieren and Riku are joined by Dr Huw Day, researcher and co-organiser of Data Ethics Club at the University of Bristol — an open-to-all journal club on data and AI ethics. Together, they argue that ensuring AI systems align with ethical principles is now a crucial societal priority. You’ll get a clear tour of core pillars such as fairness, transparency and accountability, plus the gritty realities of bias, deepfakes and the human cost of “alignment work” performed by data labellers. We compare government approaches to AI policy, then share practical ways consumers and society can steer development in a responsible direction.Birds for Scale, Smarties is licensed under CC BY-SA.Local Forecast – Elevator by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under CC BY. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

October 20, 202526 min

Short Stuff: Is the AI Bubble About to Burst?

In this Short Stuff episode, Kieren and Riku ask whether today's AI boom is overheating. They weigh up record-breaking valuations and concentrated market gains against Big Tech's real profits and fast-improving models, and explain why many firms haven't yet seen returns. Finally, they consider what a sharp correction could mean for the wider economy, and how likely it is to happen.Birds for Scale, Smarties is licensed under CC BY-SA. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.