This is Cognitive Revolution, my show about the personal side of the intellectual journey. Each week, I interview an eminent scientist, writer, or academic about the experiences that shaped their ideas. The show is available wherever you listen to podcasts.
I first became familiar with Pedro's work through his 2015 book, The Master Algorithm. But as it turns out, his existence extends prior to my familiarity with him—which is what the bulk of what we explore in this conversation. Pedro is a professor at the University of Washington and a venerable AI researcher. He has a great quote about how as fields grow, their textbooks become larger. Then, as they mature, the textbooks become smaller again. I don't know if that's true. But it's a nice line, coming from a guy who wrote a book about getting AI down to a single master algorithm.
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#54: Pedro Domingos on Making the Textbook Smaller