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 podcast@deepmind.com.

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_commo
Staving Off The Ultimate Tragedy Of The Commons, Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/g....eorgebradt/2021/11/0
Understanding Agent Cooperation, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/blog/arti....cle/understanding-ag
The emergence of complex cooperative agents, DeepMind: https://deepmind.com/blog/arti....cle/capture-the-flag

Find Seasons 1 & 2 on YouTube: http://dpmd.ai/3geDPmL

Or search “DeepMind: The Podcast” and subscribe on your favourite podcast app:

Apple Podcasts: http://dpmd.ai/2Rzlmcu
Google Podcasts: http://dpmd.ai/3geDjp5
Spotify: http://dpmd.ai/3w29cb4
Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/30m1