WeWow on the Weekend (2/16/25)

Summary

Wow in the World - Episode Summary: "WeWow on the Weekend" (February 16, 2025)

Hosts: Dennis, Reggie the Giant, Mindy Thomas, and Guy Raz
Release Date: February 16, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this lively and entertaining episode of "Wow in the World," titled "WeWow on the Weekend," hosts Dennis, Reggie the Giant, Mindy Thomas, and Guy Raz embark on a whimsical journey exploring the intersections of artificial intelligence, humor, and time travel. The episode seamlessly blends educational content with playful banter, making complex topics accessible and engaging for both kids and their grown-ups.

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Promotional Announcements

The episode kicks off with Dennis announcing a special event:

• Dennis [00:02]: Introduces the "Make It Wow" listening party scheduled for February 15 at 7:00 PM Eastern. Members are invited to join a live listening session of the exclusive "Make It Wow. Live" show from New York City last November.

Mindy and Guy also share promotions:

• Mindy [02:04]: Highlights the availability of "What’s in a Wow" on Samsung Galaxy Watches for kids, encouraging listeners to download the app for daily games and a custom watch face.

• Guy Raz [03:09]: Promotes IXL Learning, an online educational program, offering listeners an exclusive 20% discount with the code "wow."

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Exploring Artificial Intelligence and Humor

The core of the episode delves into the fascinating world of artificial intelligence (AI) and its capabilities, particularly in humor and strategic games.

Robot Comedy Segment

• Mindy [10:09]: Hosts a robot-themed comedy segment titled "Robo Ho ho ho Ho." She attempts to engage robot comedians with jokes, which unfortunately fall flat:

  • Mindy: "Why was the robot angry?"

  • Dennis [10:57]: "Punchline unknown."

  • Mindy: "Because the programmer kept pushing his buttons."

  • Dennis [11:06]: "Sensors detect terrible joke."

This segment humorously highlights the challenges AI faces in understanding and delivering humor effectively.

Analysis of AI's Humor Capabilities

• Mindy [16:15]: Discusses AI's varying capabilities, sharing research from the University of Edinburgh. She explains how AI-generated jokes were only found funny 16% of the time compared to 33% for human-generated jokes:

  • Mindy: "Basically, you could say that the robot was about half as funny as a human."

• Reggie [14:50]: Expands on the concept of AI:

  • Reggie: "Artificial intelligence is an area of computer science that tries to make machines smarter."

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Time Travel Adventure: Witnessing AlphaGo's Victory

The hosts embark on an imaginative time-travel adventure to witness AlphaGo's historic match against Lee Sedol.

Setting Up the Time Machine

• Mindy [17:09]: Announces the discovery of tickets to the AlphaGo vs. Lee Sedol match and decides to use their time machine to attend the event.

• Reggie [18:45]: Expresses skepticism about the time machine's functionality, referencing previous malfunctions:

  • Reggie: "Wait, okay, here it is. It might be in this filing cabinet..."

Experiencing AlphaGo's Match

Upon arriving at the stadium, the hosts watch the intense match unfold:

• Mindy [19:26]: Reiterates the significance of Deep Blue and AlphaGo in AI history:

  • Mindy: "Deep Blue is the name of the artificially intelligent robot that beat world chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997."

• Reggie [27:07]: Asks a pivotal question:

  • Reggie: "If a computer was able to beat a human being at chess in 1997, how come it took another 20 years for scientists to build a computer that can beat a human Grandmaster at Go?"

Understanding AlphaGo's Success

• Mindy [28:13]: Explains the complexity of Go compared to chess, highlighting the vast number of possible moves:

  • Mindy: "With Go, there are up to 250 possible moves you can play on each turn, resulting in over 15 million different outcomes just three moves ahead."

• Reggie [28:52]: Connects computer science concepts to the discussion:

  • Reggie: "Because in computer science, the process of having machines learn from trial and error is called deep learning."

This segment underscores the advancements in AI, illustrating how techniques like deep learning have enabled machines to master complex games previously dominated by humans.

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Future Technologies: Autonomous Vehicles in 2020 Japan

The episode transitions into a discussion about future technologies, specifically focusing on autonomous vehicles observed during their time-travel excursion.

Encounter with a Self-Driving Car

• Mindy [33:31]: Interacts with a self-driving car:

  • Mindy: "Konnichiwa, sir. We would like to go to the Bonsai gardens, please."

• Reggie [34:08]: Clarifies the technology behind autonomous vehicles:

  • Reggie: "They use a bunch of scientific equipment like radars and lasers and GPS and even video to sense all of the things around it."

Benefits and Challenges of Self-Driving Cars

• Reggie [35:35]: Highlights the safety and efficiency of autonomous vehicles:

  • Reggie: "Self-driving cars will be much safer than normal cars because they're able to see so much, much further than our own human eyes can see."

• Mindy [36:10]: Attempts to infuse humor with the vehicle:

  • Mindy: "You want to hear a joke? What do you get when you cross a robot and a tractor? A Transformer."

  • Reggie [36:26]: "He's not laughing."

This segment explores both the technological marvels and the humorous interactions possible with advanced AI-driven systems.

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Conclusion and Final Thoughts

As the episode wraps up, the hosts reflect on their adventures and the intricate relationship between humans and AI. They emphasize the importance of continuous learning and adaptation in the face of rapidly evolving technologies.

• Mindy [37:25]: Concludes the time-travel escapade with humor:

  • Mindy: "What are we gonna do? How are we gonna get back?"

• Reggie [32:31]: Suggests taking a break and enjoying their temporary stay in the future:

  • Reggie: "Yeah, that's not such a bad idea. You know, in fact, I've always wanted to visit one of those bonsai gardens."

The episode closes with playful interactions and acknowledgments, reinforcing the show's mission to inspire wonder and curiosity about the world of science and technology.

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Notable Quotes

• Mindy [16:15]: "Basically, you could say that the robot was about half as funny as a human."
• Reggie [28:52]: "Because in computer science, the process of having machines learn from trial and error is called deep learning."
• Mindy [20:08]: "AlphaGo was able to look a few moves ahead, but not nearly as far ahead as it was able to in chess."

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Key Takeaways

• Advancements in AI: The episode provides insightful explanations of how AI has evolved to tackle complex tasks, such as strategic games, through methods like deep learning.

• Challenges in AI Humor: Demonstrates the current limitations of AI in understanding and delivering humor effectively compared to humans.

• Future Technologies: Explores the practical applications of AI in everyday life, particularly in autonomous vehicles, highlighting both their potential benefits and the humorous possibilities of human-AI interactions.

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Conclusion

"WeWow on the Weekend" successfully intertwines education with entertainment, offering listeners a captivating exploration of artificial intelligence, its achievements, and its humorous shortcomings. Through imaginative storytelling and engaging discussions, the episode not only educates but also inspires curiosity and wonder about the ever-evolving technological landscape.

Transcript

[Dennis]

Hello Wowzers. It's me, Dennis. And before we start the show, I wanted to invite you to a special spectacular, super secret event. Okay, fine, Reggie. Maybe it isn't a super secret anymore, but can I get a drum roll anyway?

[Reggie]

Thank you.

[Dennis]

Ahem. Introducing the Make It Wow. Listening party. That's right. On Saturday, February15 at 7:00pm Eastern, I will be hosting the second ever members only live listening party. And this time we'll be listening to the never heard before recorded performance of the Make It Wow. Live show in New York City from last November. Isn't that cool? Yes, Reggie. All of our members will be there and we can all chat together as we listen to it. It'll be like reviewsies, but in real. If you want to join the party, grown ups, you can sign up to become a member of the world organization of Wowzers. Today. Just visit Tinkercast.com membership. That's Tinkercast.com membership. Every membership helps support our podcasts and Tinkercast mission to spread WOW to families and teachers around the world. That's right, Reggie. Our members also get birthday cards from Mindy and Guy, quarterly mailings from you, Reggie, and so much more members. We'll see you there on Saturday, February 15th. Just go to tinkercast.comevents to get the secret password to join my live stream at 7pm Eastern. That's it. Now let's get back to my show. I mean our show. I mean the show.

[Mindy]

Hey, Wowzer fams. Mindy here. And before we start the show, did you know that you can now play two what's in a wow on your wrist? That's right, Reg two what's in a wow is now available on the Samsung Galaxy Watch for kids. Here's the scoop. When you download the two what's in a While app on Google Play, a new daily 2 what's in a while game will be pushed to the app at a different time every day, excluding school hours, of course. So now you can guess the wows from the what's Wherever you are. Plus, don't forget to add the free wow in the World seasonal watch face. So Guy, Raz, Reggie and I can all hang out with you on your watch. That's two what's in a wow now available to download on your Wear OS watch for free on Google Play. You can learn [e-mail] watch that's tinkercast.com watch.

[Guy Raz]

Hey grown ups, are you looking for more great ways to set your kids up for academic success? IXL Learning is an online learning program that enriches your homeschool curriculum. Trusted by 15 million students worldwide and backed by over 75 scientific research studies, kids can explore any topic in any grade level. From practice problems to lessons and video tutorials, IXL has resources for all kinds of students and learning styles. And importantly, IXL is fun. Kids can learn through IXL's educational games, win awards, and enjoy learning in a way that works for them. Make an impact on your child's learning. Get IXL now and wow in the world. Listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ixl.com wow visit ixl.com wow to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price.

[Dennis]

Ah, ah, ah. We wow on the weekend. We wow on the weekend. We wow on the weekend. Cause this is what we do on the weekend. Talking, laughing, me and Reggie singing, laughing. And then we. Oh, wait, no, I said laughing twice. Uh, whatever. We wow on the weekend. Yeah, we wow on the weekend. Clap clap. We wow on the weekend. Cause this is what we do on the weekend. Hello and welcome to Wee Wow on the Weekend. I'm your host, Dennis, and that's my co host, Reggie the Giant. Reggie, watch where you're flapping your wings. I know you were just stretching, but you hit me in my gorgeous, gorgeous face. Your feathers do smell nice, though. What kind of bird shampoo do you use? Ooh, Dove fancy. Wait, this gives me an idea for an amazing new segment. No, not a hair and feather washing segment. An exercise segment. Reggie, I'm amazing at exercise. Let's go.

[Reggie]

Ahem.

[Dennis]

Get off the couch and work those buns. Exercise time for everyone's working out. Okay, Reggie, on your feet. Reggie, stand up. Because you're the one who wanted to stretch. Now up, up, up, up, up, up, up. There we go. Let me just put on some cool workout tunes and let's get moving. Reach down, touch your toes. Yeah. Reach down, touch your toes. Reach down, touch your toes. Toesy woesy woes. Now make your elbows kiss. Make your elbows kiss. Now make your elbows. Ow. Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow. Reggie, my elbows kissed right on the funny bone. Ah. Nobody make your elbows kiss. It's a bad exercise. Yeah, I'm gonna cross it off my exercise idea list real quick. And also this idea where you kick yourself in the face. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time, Reggie. Fine. Let's move on and do a little Q and A segment. The Q and A segment. Alright, let's just get the old answering Machine pulled up here. Okay, here we go. Hi, you've reached Dennis from Wewow on the weekend. That's me. Do you have a question? Well, I do too. Lots of them. And who's gonna answer all my questions? You? Probably not. But I guess I can answer yours. Leave me a message.

[Mindy]

Hey, Dennis. I'm Moshe from Toms River, New Jersey.

[Dennis]

Hi, Moshe. What's going on?

[Mindy]

I want to know what's your favorite milkshake flavor? Mine's ketchup.

[Dennis]

Ketchup, Moshe, you put ketchup in your milkshakes? Reggie, is it good? Have you had a ketchup milkshake before? Well, me neither. We should try it right now. I know we just started the Q and A segment, but I want to do a cooking segment now. Let's change gears. Hooray. Cooking segment. Ah, ahem. Dish it up on a dish. Anything that you wish. Take a bite that's delish. Dishing it up with Dennis and Reggie. Okay, first we need ketchup. Uh, check that drawer over there. No, not that one. The one with the rubber bands and the dead batteries. Yeah, grab all those ketchup packets and bring them over. Okay, now we need milk, milk, milk, milk. Oh, I have half a bowl of apple cinnamon cereal here. Let me just finish the cereal and we'll be fine. Reggie, warm apple cinnamon cereal flavored milk will be so good with ketchup. I'm sure of it. Okay, adding the ketchup package to the milk. There we go. And then what else do we need for a milkshake? Just shake it. Are you sure? Okay, here we go. And shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. Ah, Reggie, look what you did. Well, you told me to shake it in a blender. Reggie, now our milkshake is everywhere. It's all over my hair and my face and. Hmm. Well, that's not bad. No, I'm lying. It's horrible. Let's just move on. Okay, next up is a little segment I like to call Inside Tinkercast Studios. Inside Tinkercast Studios. This is the part where we revisit an episode of one of my favorite Tinkercast shows. And today we're listening to wow in the World, Season 2, Episode 15, called SmartBots. Yeah, we really could have used a smartbot just a second ago, but say lovey. Okay, here we go. And play.

[Mindy]

Wee.

[Dennis]

Wow.

[Mindy]

Will be right back. Grown ups, this message is for you. That's it. Now back to the show.

[Dennis]

Wow in the World. Welcome to Robo Ho ho ho Ho, the premier robotic comedy club. Now is the time to activate applause servos and execute welcome protocol for the human Mindy.

[Mindy]

Oh, thank you. Thank you. Hi, everyone. Can you hear me? Thing on. Hi, Micah. Okay, great. Well, it's great to be here at the robo. Ho, ho, ho. How are we all doing tonight? Okay. All right. Tough crowd. Okay, you bots ready to laugh or, I don't know, process some auditory humor?

[Dennis]

Anticipation sensors running at 12%.

[Mindy]

Okay. All right, how about a joke? Why was the robot angry? Processing. Huh.

[Dennis]

Punchline unknown.

[Mindy]

Because the programmer kept pushing his buttons.

[Dennis]

Sensors detect terrible joke.

[Mindy]

Okay, all right, well, there's more where that came from. Why did the robot go back to school?

[Dennis]

To collect valuable information?

[Mindy]

Because he was a little rusty. Not funny. Rust requires lubrication. You get it?

[Reggie]

Please contact your system administrator.

[Dennis]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

[Mindy]

I got another one. You're gonna like this one, I promise you. What do you call a pirate droid?

[Dennis]

My mother was a pirate droid.

[Mindy]

R2D2. Yeah, no fun. Shy.

[Reggie]

Mindy, are you okay? I could hear from all the way over at my house.

[Mindy]

Yeah, I'm fine, guy Raz. I was just trying out some new robo humor in my head, and needless to say, it was not going well.

[Reggie]

Robo humor?

[Mindy]

Yeah, you wanna see?

[Reggie]

I'm okay.

[Mindy]

No, really. Let me just pop the top of my head here.

[Reggie]

No, no, Mindy, stop. You know it freaks me out when you do that.

[Mindy]

Got it open. Now I'm just gonna bend down here so you can take a quick peek from the top, okay?

[Reggie]

Okay, let me just see here. Are those scrambled eggs?

[Mindy]

What? No. Phew. They're poached. Look what's happening. Okay, please close it up. I can't take it anymore.

[Reggie]

Phew. You were right, Mindy. Things looked pretty rough in there.

[Mindy]

Yeah, I know, right? Nobody's laughing at my jokes. I'm getting to work on my timing. Or get a new audience.

[Reggie]

Well, why were you trying out your computational comedy anyway?

[Mindy]

Well, I was inspired by these researchers at the of Edinburgh in Scotland. They actually created a robot that can tell jokes.

[Reggie]

Wow. Well, if that robot comedian is so funny, why don't you tell me one of its jokes?

[Mindy]

Okay, but you better hold on to your humorous for this one.

[Reggie]

You do know the humorous bone has nothing to do with.

[Mindy]

Ahem. Okay, so here's one that the robo comedian told you. Ready? How do you stop a baby astronaut from crying? You rock it. You get it. You rock it. You rock it like a baby.

[Reggie]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Mindy]

Not bad, huh?

[Reggie]

Yeah, that wasn't really that funny.

[Mindy]

Okay, so maybe the Robo comedian humorbot might not know how to knock jokes out of the park like I can, but it's still like 16% funny.

[Reggie]

16% funny, Mindy, what are you talking about? How do you put a percentage on funny?

[Mindy]

Okay, well, so those same scientists at the University of Edinburgh, they were able to quantify or measure just how funny this robo comedian humorbot was. And then they compared it to real, live human comedians.

[Reggie]

But how were they able to measure the different levels of funny?

[Mindy]

Yeah, so These researchers took 50 jokes, some written by human comedians and some written by the robo comedian humorbop, and then they asked people in the audience to judge whether the joke jokes were funny or not. And of the human jokes, 33%, or about one third of them were considered funny, whereas the robo comedian Humorbot's jokes were only considered funny about 16% of the time. So basically, you could say that the robot was about half as funny as a human.

[Reggie]

That's pretty interesting, Mindy. And you know, a prime example of artificial intelligence.

[Mindy]

Yeah, artificial intelligence. You know, I keep hearing that term everywhere I go, but I don't know exactly what it means. I mean, is it like fake cheese but for your brain or.

[Reggie]

Well, I'm not entirely sure, but as far as I understand, Mindy, artificial intelligence is an area of computer science that tries to make machines smarter. And in fact, we're surrounded in our everyday lives by examples of artificial intelligence.

[Mindy]

Really? Like what?

[Reggie]

Well, let's see. Oh, oh, here, here. My phone.

[Mindy]

Your phone.

[Reggie]

Modern day smartphones are packed full of artificial intelligence. Like, aha. See this, Mindy? This is the last time I used my GPS and it was able to check the traffic in my neighborhood and tell me the fastest way to get to my favorite kombucha bar.

[Mindy]

Wait, you have a favorite kombucha bar? How many do you visit?

[Reggie]

Let's see what else we got here. Oh, okay. This app, Mindy. This is an app that I use to translate my voice into another language. Wow. In the world, these two things on my phone are both examples of artificial intelligence.

[Mindy]

I don't know, Guy Raz. My GPS once led me into the middle of a cake at a one year old's birthday party. So I don't know if I really trust its intelligence.

[Reggie]

Well, this kind of artificial intelligence is known as narrow AI, and that basically means that it's pretty good at performing one specific task.

[Mindy]

Oh, so like translating words or navigating directions.

[Reggie]

Exactly. And what scientists are trying to do is to create an artificial intelligence that's good at performing lots of different tasks.

[Mindy]

Just like a human can.

[Reggie]

And that sort of artificial intelligence is called General AI or Strong AI.

[Mindy]

AI Artificial intelligence. Okay, but for the meantime, I guess we're gonna have to settle with robots that can track our pizzas and beat us at chess.

[Reggie]

Beat us at chess?

[Mindy]

Oh, yeah. In fact, follow me. Guy Raz, I gotta show you something. This is gonna blow your. Mindy, come on.

[Reggie]

Mindy. Where are we going?

[Mindy]

To the archives.

[Reggie]

Do you have an archive in your gingerbread house?

[Mindy]

Uh, gingerbread mansion. Just added an indoor marshmallow pit.

[Reggie]

Oh, right.

[Mindy]

Anywho, I have to show you something. Let me just get the door to my library here.

[Reggie]

Whoa. You got even more books than the last time I was in here. Wait, is that an entire shelf of. Mindy, why do you have all my baby photo albums?

[Mindy]

Okay, now I just need to remember which book to pull so we can open the secret door.

[Reggie]

Secret door.

[Mindy]

No, it's not that one. No, that's not it. Oh, here it is.

[Reggie]

How do you know?

[Mindy]

Oh, because it says it right here in the title. See, this book opens the secret door by Dr. Pull here.

[Reggie]

What?

[Mindy]

Go ahead, pull the book. See what happens.

[Reggie]

Whoa.

[Mindy]

Okay, now where did I put it? It might be in this filing cabinet. Man, where are there cats and all my stuff? Okay, Guy Raz, will you hold these cats? Okay, now let me see here. What do we have? Newspaper archive. Yes. Okay, let me see here. Giant mysterious pigeon spotted over Washington. Nope. Microbial humanoid life perplexes scientists. No, it's not that either. Oh, here it is. Deep Blue. Crowned World Chess Champion, 1997. That's it.

[Reggie]

Deep Blue. That's an odd name.

[Mindy]

Yeah, well, if you think that's odd, you might want to consider the fact that this Chess Grandmaster weighed 1.5 tons.

[Reggie]

1.5 tons. That's as heavy as a hippopotamus.

[Mindy]

Also became a world champion at just four years old.

[Reggie]

Four years old.

[Mindy]

And is so big that it takes up an entire room in downtown New York City.

[Reggie]

Wait a second. Mindy, are you talking about a computer?

[Mindy]

Winner, winner, chicken dinner. You know I am Guy Raz. Deep Blue is the name of the artificially intelligent robot that beat world chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997.

[Reggie]

Oh, I remember now. Mindy, Garry Kasparov originally beat the Deep Blue robot the year before in 1996.

[Mindy]

Yep. And after that crushing defeat, the scientists from IBM, you know, the company that built Deep Blue, they went away and came back 15 months later with a smarter, sharper, chess playing mastermind.

[Reggie]

Wait, check it out, Mindy. It says here that the rematch lasted more than a week. And in the end, Deep Blue emerged the winner, becoming the first artificial intelligence to beat a grandmaster at chess.

[Mindy]

Exact oritos, Guy Raz. But artificial intelligence, or AI, has been crushing us at all kinds of board games ever since then.

[Reggie]

Like which ones?

[Mindy]

Well, for one, the game I'm thinking of is over 2,500 years old, making it the oldest board game in the world.

[Dennis]

Uh huh.

[Mindy]

It's played on a 19 by 19 grid board.

[Reggie]

Okay.

[Mindy]

And it's played by more than 40 million people across Asia.

[Reggie]

Oh, I think I've got it. You're. You're talking about the ancient Chinese board game Go.

[Mindy]

You know it, Guy Raz.

[Reggie]

You know, I remember reading about that in the newspaper.

[Mindy]

Here, move over, Mindy, there's not enough room.

[Reggie]

Okay, let me see here.

[Mindy]

Ugh, I wish there was some sort of artificial intelligence system that could help search through all this information.

[Reggie]

Sorry, what were you saying, Mindy?

[Mindy]

Like some sort of a research engine? I don't know.

[Reggie]

Uh, no, I. Oh, wait.

[Mindy]

What?

[Reggie]

No, I. Oh, wait, wait, here it is. Artificial Intelligence AlphaGo beats the reigning World Go Champion, Lee Sedal in epic seven day match.

[Mindy]

Yes. That's one of my favorite intelligence smackdowns in all of history. And guess what, Guy Raz?

[Reggie]

What?

[Mindy]

I just so happen to have the hottest tickets in town.

[Reggie]

What are you talking about, Mindy?

[Mindy]

The Match. Guy Raz. I've been saving these for a while. Here, check them out.

[Reggie]

AlphaGo versus Lee Seadol. Brain versus bit. Mindy, I think we might be a little bit late for this match. These tickets say the game was on March 15, 2016.

[Mindy]

Well, it's a good thing we've got a mostly functional time machine.

[Reggie]

Oh, no. Oh, yes, Mindy, the seats were so sticky the last time we rode in it. It took you an hour just to pull me out. What was that anyway?

[Mindy]

Oh, that was just the runoff. Maple syrup.

[Reggie]

Maple what?

[Mindy]

Don't worry about it, Guy Raz. What you should know is that the time machine just got a new makeover and it is looking awesome. I'm talking new flame decals from the front to the the back and. Oh, man, just wait until you see it. Come on, hop on my back. Okay. Run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run.

[Reggie]

Phew, man.

[Mindy]

Okay, let me just open the garage door here. And. So, nice weather we're having, huh? It's just. It's just gonna take another few minutes to open.

[Reggie]

Wow. You know, Mindy, you may need to Oil those tracks on that garage door.

[Mindy]

Ah, there we go.

[Reggie]

Whoa, whoa. I have to admit, Mindy, I was a little skeptical, but those are some cool looking decals.

[Mindy]

I know, right? You can thank Reggie for those. He actually designed them.

[Reggie]

Reggie designed those?

[Mindy]

Yeah, apparently he used to own his own design firm in Pasadena.

[Reggie]

Huh, who would have guessed?

[Mindy]

Now, just to open the hatch.

[Reggie]

Still gets jammed up, huh?

[Mindy]

Yeah. Maybe I should have spent some of that decal money on fixing these hinges. There we go. After you, Guy Raz.

[Reggie]

If you insist.

[Dennis]

Sorry, sorry. We gotta stop for a sec. Because I need a snack, that's why. Sure, I'll get you some crackers or something. Reggie, no, don't press play. I'll be right back. I'm back. Reggie. Want a cracker? Here you go. And one for Dennis. Ready to finish the episode? Okay, great. Let's do it. Here we go.

[Mindy]

Yep, still smells the same.

[Reggie]

Uh, am I smelling bloomin onions and maple syrup?

[Mindy]

Oh, yeah, long story, but my lunch exploded in here yesterday.

[Reggie]

I better clean this up.

[Mindy]

Okay, now, just gotta punch in the time coordinates. Um, what does the ticket there say?

[Reggie]

It says March 15, 2016.

[Mindy]

March 15, 2016. 16. All right, that should do the trick. Thought I was gonna take off on a.

[Dennis]

Phew.

[Mindy]

A lot of turbulence through that time space continuum, but I think this must be the place. Looks like we made it. Guy Raz. Guy Raz.

[Reggie]

Hah.

[Mindy]

Boy. Gyro. All right, little buddy, come on. You're just gonna have to shake it off. Come on, shake it off.

[Reggie]

Whew.

[Mindy]

Okay, well, I'm just gonna open up the hatch here and. Wow, looks like we made it to the stadium just in time. The GO Championship is just about to start.

[Announcer]

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage the South Korean sensation, the strong stone, the current reigning GO World champion, Lee Sedon.

[Mindy]

Quick, come on, hurry up. Guy Raz, we don't want to be late.

[Reggie]

Well, I mean, if we have to travel back in time two years to experience something, well, then, I mean, technically, we're already late.

[Mindy]

Oh, come on. They're taking tickets over there.

[Reggie]

Well, hold on one sec, Mindy, because all that time time travel made me really hungry. Can we hit up the concession stand before we go in?

[Mindy]

Guy Raz, there's no time for snacks. The championship is about to start.

[Reggie]

But they're selling kelp noodle cones. My favorite.

[Mindy]

Oh, there's our row. Excuse me. Excuse me. Coming through. Oops, sorry. Watch your legs.

[Reggie]

Made it.

[Announcer]

And now, please welcome tonight's contender, all the way from the United Kingdom, the Computational Commando, the processing powerhouse.

[Dennis]

Alpha Doe.

[Mindy]

Yes, here they go. You guys have the 10 already?

[Dennis]

Shh.

[Reggie]

Uh, Mindy, how long do these games usually last?

[Mindy]

I don't know, like a few hours or so.

[Reggie]

So yeah. So Mindy, if a computer was able to beat a human being at chess in 1997, how come it took another 20 years for scientists to build a computer that can beat a human Grandmaster at go?

[Mindy]

Well, there's just a lot of stuff for the computer to compute. I mean, in a normal chess game There are usually 32 different moves you can make on your turn. So if you wanted to look ahead three moves, you times 32 by 32 by 32, which would leave you with 32,768 possible outcomes, or 32,768 different ways to play those three moves.

[Reggie]

She must have a calculator in her brain.

[Mindy]

Anywho, with go, there aren't 32 moves you can play with each turn. There are up to 250 possible moves you can play on each turn.

[Reggie]

Wow.

[Mindy]

Which means that there would be over 15 million different outcomes if you wanted to look just three moves into the future.

[Reggie]

Which I suppose might be a little bit difficult even for a computer.

[Mindy]

Right, so AlphaGo was able to look a few moves ahead, but not nearly as far ahead as it was able to in chat. Yes, so the scientists at DeepMind, which is the computer company that invented AlphaGo, had to come up with a different technique for beating a Grandmaster.

[Reggie]

So what did they do?

[Mindy]

They taught it to play itself.

[Reggie]

They taught it to play itself?

[Mindy]

Yep. The computer scientists programmed AlphaGo to play millions and millions of games against itself. And each time it would figure out what worked, what didn't work, and then put those techniques to work in the next machine match.

[Reggie]

Ah, of course, because in computer science, the process of having machines learn from trial and error is called deep learning.

[Mindy]

But to the rest of us it's just called practice makes perfect.

[Reggie]

So what happened?

[Announcer]

Well, and I think this is it. Here comes AlphaGo with what will surely be the final blow.

[Reggie]

I can't watch, I can't watch.

[Dennis]

I can't watch.

[Reggie]

I can't. Watch again, watch again, watch again.

[Mindy]

That's it. Pulling your plug.

[Dennis]

Ouch.

[Mindy]

Guy. Raz. The next time that happens, I'm going to reboot you.

[Dennis]

What? Oh, shh.

[Announcer]

And there we have it, ladies and gentlemen, the all new, all artificial GO Grandmaster.

[Mindy]

Oh man, what a match.

[Reggie]

One for the ages.

[Mindy]

Okay, well, I hate to cut the fun short, but we gotta get out of here. Guy ran. We gotta Beat the crowd. Looking at my watch here, I think the parking meter's about to run out on our time machine. Oh, come on.

[Reggie]

Oh, Scooby. Sorry. Pardon me.

[Dennis]

Scooby.

[Reggie]

Sorry. Pardon me.

[Mindy]

That was a tight squeeze. Come on, quick, through the turnstile. Oh, look, there's a time machine right there. And we've only got one second to spare. Come on. Made it. Here are the keys. Just open the hatch. So much grunting for one day.

[Reggie]

We have to fix this hatch, Mindy.

[Mindy]

Yeah.

[Reggie]

Wait a second. Why is it so slippery? Did you put fair trade palm oil on this?

[Mindy]

Oh, yeah, I smeared it all over the time machine because I thought, I don't know, maybe it would help us to slip through the time space continuum a little bit more easily. I mean, you know how it is.

[Reggie]

Uh, sure.

[Mindy]

Ah, there we go. Hop on side, Guy Raz. Next stop, present day.

[Reggie]

Uh, you sure those are the right buttons, Mindy?

[Mindy]

Yes, of course. I'm not sure these are the right buttons, Guy Raz. Now hold on tight, because here we go. Ah, made it.

[Reggie]

I have to say, Mindy, that fair trade palm oil really does the trick.

[Mindy]

I know. What'd I tell ya? Wait, that was weird.

[Reggie]

What's weird, Mindy?

[Mindy]

Um, I'm just gonna step out of this time machine, but I want you to stay really close by, okay? Cross your fingers.

[Dennis]

Whoa.

[Reggie]

Where are we, Mindy? When are we?

[Mindy]

Um, well, I don't know.

[Reggie]

You don't know?

[Mindy]

Maybe some of that slippery palm oil got into the control panel and it went too far. I don't know, Guy Raz.

[Reggie]

Well, it certainly doesn't look like North America in present day. Mindy, I think we might be in Japan in.

[Mindy]

In what, what year could it be?

[Reggie]

Oh, hey, look, a newspaper stand. Let's see here. 2020.

[Mindy]

2020. Oh, see, I didn't overshoot by that much.

[Reggie]

Oh, Mindy, what are we gonna do? How are we gonna get back?

[Mindy]

Why don't we just chillax, Guy Raz. I mean, the time machine still has. Has plenty of syrup to run on. It could totally get us back home. But in the meantime, let's just take a break. See the sights of future Japan. I mean, just think about it. We could go watch a robo Robo sumo match or take a jetpack tour of the city. Maybe visit one of those restaurants where your food is delivered by a levitating train. I mean, how often do we get to be stuck in the future?

[Reggie]

Yeah, that's not such a bad idea. You know, in fact, I've always wanted to visit One of those bonsai gardens. You know, those tiny little trees that they grow in some Asian countries.

[Mindy]

Yeah, I know what bonsai trees are. But, Guy Raz, we're in future Japan. Let's do future stuff. I mean, bonsai trees are old enough to be our great, great, great, great, great, great, grand plants. Uh, I mean, is that really how you want to spend our time here?

[Reggie]

Well, yeah.

[Mindy]

Okay, we'll. But remember, when we get back to the present day, you have to let me push you through the grocery store in a shopping cart while you wave to the other shoppers, pretending like you're on a parade float.

[Dennis]

Whoa.

[Mindy]

Now let me just tail us a hover cab. Ooh la la. That was quick. This must be one really reliable driver.

[Reggie]

Uh, Mindy.

[Mindy]

Now go ahead and hop inside. Guy Raz. I'm so excited. I've never met a ride hover cab driver from the future before. I've never met anyone from the future before.

[Reggie]

Mindy, I really think that, um.

[Mindy]

Konnichiwa, sir. We would like to go to the Bonsai gardens, please.

[Reggie]

Mindy, look.

[Mindy]

What? Where's the driver? Guy Raz, there is no driver.

[Reggie]

I've been trying to tell you that.

[Mindy]

Well, something is driving this thing.

[Reggie]

This must be an autonomous vehicle.

[Mindy]

An autonomous vehicle? A self driving car. Well, welcome to the future.

[Reggie]

Well, actually, Mindy, this sort of research into self driving cars has been going on for several years now.

[Mindy]

Yeah, that's what I thought. But.

[Reggie]

But what we're seeing right here in the future is how much these cars will change the way we get around.

[Mindy]

Wait, so self driving cars already exist in the present day?

[Reggie]

Well, yeah. And in fact, companies like, like Google and Tesla all have research projects to build the very first fully autonomous self driving car.

[Mindy]

So without a driver, how exactly do these cars work?

[Reggie]

Well, they use a bunch of scientific equipment like radars and lasers and GPS and even video to sense all of the things around it.

[Mindy]

Oh, and then the artificially, the intelligent part of the car just takes all of that information and figures out how to get from one place to another without bashing into buildings, people and other cars.

[Reggie]

Exactamundo. And the cab that we're traveling in right now was developed by a Japanese company called Robotaxi, which is actually sending out a whole fleet of self driving taxis around the city of Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics.

[Mindy]

Whoa. The 2020 Olympic Games are getting self driving taxis?

[Reggie]

Yes, yes, and some of the most brilliant scientific minds in the world are predicting that these self driving cars are going to completely change how we travel.

[Dennis]

Wow.

[Mindy]

Well, in what ways?

[Reggie]

Well, for starters, self driving cars will be much safer than normal cars because they're able to see so much, much further than our own human eyes can see. And also Mindy, they can see in all different directions at the same time.

[Mindy]

Man, talk about having eyes in the back of your head. Right? But they're able to drive a lot safer than most humans too.

[Reggie]

Well, that's the idea. Like this autonomous vehicle we're sitting in. Which reminds me, Mindy, we shouldn't Chi Wa.

[Mindy]

It can talk Guy Raz. Maybe it can process humor too. Hey, Robo taxi.

[Reggie]

What?

[Mindy]

You want to hear a joke?

[Reggie]

Sure. Oh no.

[Mindy]

Okay, I think you're really gonna like this one. What do you get when you cross a robot and a tractor?

[Reggie]

What do you get?

[Mindy]

A Transformer. Really? Nothing.

[Reggie]

He's not laughing.

[Mindy]

It's not funny. Okay, well there's a lot more where that came from.

[Reggie]

Okay, let me try one.

[Mindy]

Oh boy.

[Reggie]

What is Soda Pop's favorite activity?

[Dennis]

Hum.

[Mindy]

What is Soda Pop's favorite activity?

[Reggie]

Physical activity.

[Dennis]

Oh my.

[Reggie]

Now that was funny.

[Mindy]

Ha Ha ha ha.

[Reggie]

Phys. Get it? As in CO2 physical activity. Good one Guy Raz.

[Mindy]

Well, maybe it's time for scientists to stop working so hard on self driving robots and instead invent some self laughing ones. Maybe we just need to go back to the present day Guy Ra and work on our jokes. Well, excuse me, self driving Robo car.

[Dennis]

What?

[Mindy]

Why don't you hang a UI and skip the bonsai gardens? I think we're ready to go back home. 10, 4.

[Reggie]

Mindy here.

[Dennis]

Wow, that was so cool. Computer programs that can play games like chess and go. Do you think the computer could play my favorite game? Well, I like Settlers of Cadenis and Denisopoly and guess who? It's Dennis. Reggie, those are real games. I just taped pictures of myself to all the boxes and pieces. Well, let's finish the show and then we can go upstairs and play one. Thanks to all you listeners out there for tuning in to Wee Wow on the Weekend. If you have a question for me, call and leave me a message at 1-8887-WOW. Wow. That's 1-8887-WOW. Wow. I just might answer your question on We Wow on the Weekend. Okay, let's go. Right, so here's how you play Guess who. It's Dennis. First I pick a Dennis and then you ask me questions like is he a handsome Dennis? Or would this dentist be really good at modeling seasonal outfits in a casual wear catalog? And then I say yes and then you say.

[Mindy]

Grown ups. If you like wow in the World you can listen early and ad free right now on Wondery.

[Reggie]

Join Wondery in the Wondery app or on Wondery Kids plus on Apple Podcasts prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music.

[Mindy]

And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short [e-mail].

[Dennis]

Thanks for joining us for this edition of Wee Wow on the weekend. Our show is written by Ruth Morrison and Jed Anderson. The role of Baby Dennis is played by Jed Anderson. Ah, well then who plays the role of Big Dennis? Never you mind. Tee hee. Original sound design and production is done by Henry Moskal with contributions from Jed and Anderson and Tyler Thol. Original music for Wewow is composed and performed by Tyler Thole. Special thanks to Jessica Bode, Rebecca Caban, Dr. Natasha Crandall, Kenny Curtis, Lizzie Froehlich, Kristin Yang, Meredith Halpin, Ranzer Thuy Mac, Erica Medina, Henry Muskill, Jody Nussbaum, Ali Paksima, Guy Raz, Linda Rothenberg, Steph Sosa, Mindy Thomas, Joanna Weber, Anna Sigorski, and all of the other tinkerers at Tinkercast HQ. Be sure to visit tinkercast.com where you can become an official member of the World Organization of wowzers. Learn about upcoming events, shop our wow. Shop, find our best selling books, and learn about all the other amazing podcasts from Tinkercast. Thanks again for hanging out in the basement this weekend. Be sure to check out episodes of wow in the World every Monday and remember who Wows igow. No Baby Dennis. We wow. All right. We wow wow Wow in the World.

[Reggie]

Wow in the World Wow in the.

[Mindy]

World was made by Tinkercast and sent to you by Wondery.