Better together

Cooperation is at the heart of our society. Inventing the railway, giving birth to the Renaissance, and creating the Covid-19 vaccine all required people to combine efforts. But cooperation is so much more. It governs our education systems, healthcare, and food production. In this episode, Hannah meets the researchers working on cooperative AI, and hears about their work and influences from the famous American psychologist - and pigeon trainer -  BF Skinner to the strategic board game Diplomacy.

For questions or feedback on the series, message us on Twitter @DeepMind or email [email protected]

Interviewees: DeepMind’s Thore Graepel, Kevin Mckee, Doina Precup & Laura Weidinger

Credits

Presenter: Hannah Fry

Series Producer: Dan Hardoon

Production support: Jill Achineku

Sounds design: Emma Barnaby

Music composition: Eleni Shaw

Sound Engineer: Nigel Appleton

Editor: David Prest

Commissioned by DeepMind

Thank you to everyone who made this season possible! 

Further reading: 

Machines must learn to find common ground, Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01170-0

Introduction to Reinforcement Learning, DeepMind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pWv7GOvuf0

B.F. Skinner, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._F._Skinner

The Tragedy of the Commons, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons

Staving Off The Ultimate Tragedy Of The Commons, Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgebradt/2021/11/02/staving-off-the-ultimate-tragedy-of-the-commons-by-making-better-complex-decisions-cooperatively-in-glasgow/

Understanding Agent Cooperation, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/understanding-agent-cooperation

The emergence of complex cooperative agents, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/capture-the-flag-science