When Toby Walsh wrote his first book on AI, he figured he’d said all he had to say. But just a handful of years later, this British computer scientist and current Chief Scientist at UNSW Sydney’s AI Institute is here to discuss his FIFTH book, The Shortest History of AI – how it came about and some of the challenges around explaining this subject to a general audience. 00:00 Welcome10:05 Writing tip: ‘Just start writing’12:52 WIN!: The Midnight Estate by Kelly Rimmer14:39 Word of the week: ‘Psithurism’15:09 Writer in residence: Toby Walsh15:55 Explaining The Shortest History of AI17:00 Deciding on the six ideas for the book18:25 How Toby developed his writing voice20:06 Balancing the academia and hysteria22:37 The purpose of writing AI books23:24 The challenges of writing for the public25:00 On becoming an accidental science communicator28:03 The secret circle of science communicators29:58 Untimely deaths in the timeline of AI30:30 Adding his expertise to the ‘Shortest’ series32:20 On designing his book cover and subtitle35:48 The role of great editors in writing37:24 Toby’s late night writing process 38:55 His next book project39:59 A pivot to writing fiction?42:07 Toby’s tip for writers43:23 Final thoughts Read the show notes Connect with Valerie and listeners in the podcast community on Facebook Visit WritersCentre.com.au | ValerieKhoo.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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