UK AI & science-optimised pasta

BBC Inside Science

BBC

Technology, Science

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 13 February 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Artificial intelligence is the big talking point of the week, with UK PM Sir Keir Starmer announcing a drive to unleash its full potential.

It’s already being used in healthcare, but recent studies have exposed both strengths and weaknesses.

We’re joined by Dr James Kinross, a surgeon and researcher at Imperial College London, to discuss the positives and the pitfalls.

Also this week, we talk all about what a Trump presidency might mean for science; why powerful winds are driving the deadly fires in LA – and anyone for science-optimised pasta? Marnie is helped by a physicist to make the perfect Cacio e Pepe.

Spoiler alert: Recipe below!

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Sophie Ormiston & Gerry Holt Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth 

To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.

Science-backed Cacio e Pepe:

For two servings: - 240 g pasta - Black pepper - 160 g pecorino cheese - 4g corn starch in 40ml water

Dissolve the corn starch in water and heat until it forms a gel. Let this cool before combining it with the cheese and black pepper. Cook the pasta, then drain, keeping some of the water. Let it cool then mix the pasta with the sauce. Enjoy!

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I want to tell you why I love podcasting.
0:04.7	Hi, my name's Tommy Dixon, and I make podcasts for the BBC.
0:08.4	I'm a big fan of stories, always loved a good book.
0:11.4	But when I started commuting for my first job, I discovered podcasts.
0:15.4	I was blown away by how a creative idea and the right mixture of sounds could take you into
0:19.2	a whole new world full of incredible stories. You know, the type that make you go, wow. And that kind of inspired me to
0:25.2	give it a go myself, which to cut a long story short led to a BBC training scheme and a whole
0:30.0	new career giving other people that exact same feeling. So if you want to hear amazing stories
0:34.2	that make you go wow like I did, they're just a tap or click away on BBC Sounds.
0:40.8	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. Welcome to the podcast for BBC Inside Science first broadcast on
0:48.9	the 16th of January 2025. I'm Marnie Chesterton. Hello, coming up, winds of change in America, both political
0:57.5	and the ones driving the LA fires. We explore the science of both. Also, I try to cook a tricky
1:04.3	pasta dish. Can adding physics make it foolproof? But we start with artificial intelligence. It's coming into our lives a pace,
1:12.7	and on Monday the Prime Minister declared it had vast potential for rejuvenating the UK's public
1:18.7	services. We're going to look at that potential in healthcare. It's already being used in the NHS
1:24.5	to aid diagnosis and in analysis of scans,
1:28.3	but a couple of recent studies have exposed AI's strengths, but also its weak spots.
1:34.3	Dr James Kinross is a surgeon who works on developing AI for use in medicine,
1:39.3	and I asked how often he uses it day to day.
1:42.3	Well, I'm beginning to use it a lot more than I did.
1:44.8	That is absolutely the case.
1:46.7	I think it's also fair to say, though, that much of my job is still pretty analogue.
	...

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