Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:01:02image reveals the hidden superpower of Did I do the right
00:01:05thing? Should I go see a doctor?
00:01:09What should I cook for dinner? People are
00:01:11turning to artificial intelligence as a constant companion,
00:01:15chatting with it, almost like it's a close
00:01:17friend.
00:01:20But what is AI actually good at? When should we
00:01:23trust it, and when should we be more
00:01:26skeptical?
00:01:28Answers to those questions, and much more, this time on
00:01:32DW's Science Show, Welcome to Tomorrow
00:01:35Today.
00:01:38Helping with career decisions, replacing a psychotherapist or even
00:01:42a friend, whatever the problem, artificial intelligence
00:01:46always seems to have the right answer, but
00:01:49Hamburg-based AI researcher Maximilian Kennar encourages
00:01:52his students to think critically about AI
00:01:55responses.
00:02:19Yeah, maybe emails, that's just optimization, but talking
00:02:23to students, interacting, showing empathy, taking
00:02:26responsibility, you can't do that. You're just imitating.
00:02:30True, I am you, the optimized version.
00:02:33Many users believe AI really is the optimized version, that it can be
00:02:37the perfect friend, for example, and that's no
00:02:40surprise. Developers almost always design AI avatars to
00:02:44be friendly and non-confrontational.
00:02:48It presents itself like a human, it understands us, it sounds so
00:02:52real, and we need to protect ourselves against that.
00:02:55AI can create the illusion of being trustworthy, human and
00:02:59empathetic.
00:04:00Socratic AI differs from conventional AI in that it asks
00:04:03questions. It challenges me with critical follow-up
00:04:07questions and helps me find my own solution to a problem instead of just giving me
00:04:11answers.
00:04:13Asking follow-up questions leads to more balanced responses and helps
00:04:17build trust, especially among professionals. A study
00:04:20found that doctors, for example, often remain cautious about
00:04:23AI. That's because experts can sometimes
00:04:26underestimate what the technology is actually able to do.
00:04:31The A3G has been closed after an Antonov aircraft made an
00:04:35emergency landing. Fortunately, no one was
00:04:37injured. AI deepfakes like these have become
00:04:41very convincing in recent years and as computing power
00:04:44continues to grow, they're getting even more realistic. The same goes
00:04:48for deepfakes circulating on the dark web, but is that really
00:04:51innovation? Just because something's new doesn't make it
00:04:55innovation. There has to be value in it. For example, I
00:04:59find it difficult to see deep fake sexualized images of children
00:05:03as innovation. It may be technically new, but it's not
00:05:06innovation, it's something else. Innovation, that's something
00:05:09else. And ethics is exactly.
00:05:42is a vast network of computers housed in
00:05:45massive, highly secure facilities protected
00:05:49from dust and heat. And
00:05:51nowhere has more of them than Northern Virginia in the U.S., just
00:05:55next to Washington D.C. They
00:05:57take up enormous amounts of space, consume huge amounts
00:06:01of electricity, and they're not just an
00:06:04eyesore, they're pretty noisy
00:06:06too.
00:06:12stepped outside the home he just bought in 2012, he was
00:06:16surrounded by greenery, but where there was
00:06:18once a forest, there's now a data
00:06:21center. It's really frustrating. We, you
00:06:25know, how they how they could have voted to change the
00:06:29zoning to allow this so close to a neighborhood is beyond
00:06:32my comprehension. It's not just the view that's
00:06:36changed, the soundscape has
00:06:38too.
00:06:41It's just such an annoying
00:06:45sound of angry
00:06:47because, uh, uh, it will reduce the value of our properties
00:06:51here. Uh, angry because, uh, it's chased the
00:06:55wildlife away from us. The
00:06:58area in Northern Virginia has become a global hub for data centers
00:07:02where the information that powers giant companies such as Uber,
00:07:05Netflix and Amazon, as well as from AI applications, is
00:07:09stored and processed. AI
00:07:11data centers in particular require enormous amounts of
00:07:14electricity.
00:07:17These are data centers. Look that direction, that direction, behind
00:07:20us, all three sides. Elena Schlossberg is also
00:07:24frustrated. Of Virginia's more than 600 data
00:07:27centers, 260 are concentrated in just two residential
00:07:31communities. In the 1990s, the area was home
00:07:35to AOL, America's first major internet service
00:07:38provider. Today it's at the heart of the AI
00:07:41boom. Look, see another American flag. We're all a
00:07:45part of America when we're building out, uh, the wealthiest
00:07:48industry in the world and paying for their infrastructure.
00:07:51Northern Virginia leads the world in data center concentration,
00:07:55accounting for 14% of all data centers
00:07:58globally.
00:08:00Running those facilities doesn't require many workers, but it does
00:08:04consume vast amounts of electricity,
00:08:07and that's having an impact on local residents. Communities are in
00:08:11direct competition with
00:08:14industry that has an unprecedented need for power and
00:08:18water, and so those things that you normally rely on your
00:08:21affordable, clean energy is now being
00:08:24consumed by this one
00:08:27customer, and that's why you see your utility bills
00:08:30increasing. Electricity prices here have risen
00:08:34by 30% in just five years. The enormous demand
00:08:37for energy is one major downside of the AI
00:08:40boom. So it looked - so it was a matter of economic
00:08:44development and a good thing for the community, but they did
00:08:47not think through the implications for the ordinary
00:08:51ratepayer. Industry often needs a certain amount
00:08:54of power, but it tends to be distributed and the
00:08:57increases are predictable and
00:09:00measurable. There's almost nothing that compares to
00:09:04this in the past, but there are
00:09:06locals who are benefiting. Some residents have joined forces to
00:09:10sell farmland for the construction of centers and power
00:09:13plants.
00:09:16Mine has been a family farm for generations, and
00:09:20unfortunately my kids and grandchildren have
00:09:23absolutely no interest in it, and we came up with a win-win
00:09:27solution. The county's going to make money, the
00:09:31um, which helps them pay other people, all their employees,
00:09:35more money, get better parks, get better schools for everyone, and yes, we're going
00:09:39to make money. Data centers generate more than one billion
00:09:42dollars in tax revenue every year, and construction
00:09:46continues around the clock, but that growth comes at a
00:09:49cost. Depending on its capacity, a single AI
00:09:52data center can consume as much electricity as an entire
00:09:56city.
00:09:59Keeping buildings cool already accounts for more than 10% of
00:10:03global electricity consumption, and demand is only expected to
00:10:07rise. Researchers think they may have found a way to
00:10:11dramatically reduce the energy needs for air conditioners.
00:10:14They're developing new cooling technology that uses special
00:10:18metals that heat up when stretched and cool down again when
00:10:21released. only enough
00:10:55electricity and doesn't require environmentally harmful or flammable
00:10:59refrigerants, but how? The
00:11:02key lies in bundles of fine wires, a bit like artificial
00:11:05muscles that rotate around the cooling chamber.
00:11:09They're made from a shape memory alloy, a material engineered
00:11:12to return to a preset shape after being deformed.
00:11:16Palmotski is a professor of smart material systems at Saarland
00:11:20University. He uses an infrared camera to show us
00:11:23what's happening. The thermal
00:11:27the nickel titanium wires under tension. It's the same
00:11:31phenomenon seen in a balloon, phase
00:11:33transformation.
00:11:35The atoms arrange themselves differently depending on the temperature and the
00:11:38mechanical stress in the material. So when I
00:11:41stretch this bundle of wires, I force it into a different
00:11:44phase. The atoms reorganize themselves.
00:11:48That creates a different energy state. Heat is released and the material
00:11:51warms up. When I release the tension, the atoms rearrange
00:11:55themselves again, we get a different energy state, heat is absorbed and
00:11:59the bundle cools down again. This is known as
00:12:02an elastocaloric effect. It can create temperature
00:12:05differences of up to 40 degrees Celsius within the
00:12:08material. The phenomenon is well known, but only recently
00:12:12have researchers tried to harness it for use in refrigerators and heat
00:12:15pumps.
00:12:20How do we transfer the heat and cold that we generate to where it's actually
00:12:23needed? In a fridge, we need to bring the cooling into the interior and
00:12:27release the heat into the surroundings.
00:12:31Here, circulating air passes over the cooled wires, then
00:12:35flows around the cooling chamber, circled in blue, causing the
00:12:38contents inside to cool down too. The team from
00:12:42Saarbrücken demonstrates the technology with this mini refrigerator at trade
00:12:46shows and conferences. However, its compact design limits
00:12:49its cooling performance. Drinks inside can only be cooled to about
00:12:5312° Celsius.
00:12:55The team has also developed more powerful prototypes with cooling
00:12:59capacities of up to 250 watts, roughly what an average fridge
00:13:03needs. But in computer simulations,
00:13:06electricity consumption is about half that of comparable conventional
00:13:10systems. The technology is slowly gaining
00:13:13momentum. Startups around the world are developing caloric
00:13:17heat pumps and refrigerators. Both the
00:13:19European Commission and the U.S. Department of Energy see enormous
00:13:23potential. Air conditioners are becoming more common in
00:13:26households around the world, in India for
00:13:29example, and they consume huge amounts of
00:13:33energy. The world's roughly 1.6 billion air
00:13:36conditioning units account for around 30% of global electricity
00:13:40consumption, according to estimates from the International Energy
00:13:43Agency. That figure has at least tripled since
00:13:461990. Researchers at the Center for
00:13:50Mechatronics and Automation Technology in Saarbrücken are
00:13:53convinced we'll need innovative technology.
00:14:25That goal is still a long way off. For now, the latest
00:14:28prototype is tackling a different challenge. The nickel
00:14:31titanium wire bundles wear out over time.
00:14:35Depending on the alloy and the amount of force applied, they can withstand
00:14:38anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of
00:14:41cycles. The new replacement cartridge makes swapping them
00:14:45out relatively easy. In this case, just 28 grams of
00:14:49nickel titanium wire provide roughly 100 watts of cooling
00:14:52power, more than enough for the small laboratory.
00:14:58The technology is very well suited to places that need to be clean.
00:15:02The air passes directly over the wires and releases into the room
00:15:05without causing any problems.
00:15:08The Saarbrücken team believes its cooling systems could find a market in niche
00:15:12applications such as lab equipment. They believe the
00:15:16technology could be ready within two to three years, but they
00:15:19estimate it will be at least another decade before consumers can start
00:15:23replacing conventional.
00:15:30As temperatures rise around the world, so does the risk of
00:15:33wildfires. Particularly vulnerable.
00:15:38dominated by a single species and trees of the same
00:15:41age, one solution could be more resilient mixed
00:15:45forests, but choosing the right trees to plant for the future is
00:15:49a complex task. Forest
00:15:51owners have to think decades ahead. Could AI help
00:15:55them make those
00:15:56decisions?
00:16:01What I plant here today will be harvested by future generations and I hope I
00:16:05make the right decisions.
00:16:11If the decision is wrong, I have to make expensive changes, rebuild and
00:16:14basically start all over again. To
00:16:17create the forest of the future, you first need a lot of information about its
00:16:21current condition. A research team at Anhalt University of
00:16:25Applied Sciences in Central Germany is developing an app that
00:16:28allows anyone walking in the woods to share their
00:16:30observations.
00:16:35The app tells you to hold your smartphone.
00:17:37take photos on their walks.
00:17:41The project is called Minervalt car E, meaning My Forest
00:17:45AI.
00:17:48The researchers trained the AI model behind the app using more than
00:17:526,000 of their own photos from two
00:17:54forests.
00:17:57The next step is to encourage enough citizen scientists to take
00:18:00part. The first version of the free
00:18:04MyForest AI app is already available for Android. It
00:18:08should provide invaluable insights about the forest's current
00:18:11conditions, but many forest owners need to make changes
00:18:15now, like here in Munich. They need to know which tree species can
00:18:18best withstand heat, drought and pests, and these are big
00:18:22decisions: replacing the ecological benefits of a single
00:18:25mature tree, like water storage and carbon capture, can
00:18:29require up to 400 young trees at a cost of up to
00:18:32€25,000 euros per hectare, and they're having to
00:18:35make these decisions largely on their
00:19:07forester. That's why he founded a startup called Arbero.
00:19:11Using software and AI, he calculates which tree species can
00:19:15best survive in specific locations. To do that, he
00:19:18purchases data, including from the European Space
00:19:21Agency.
00:19:24The app combines factors from a wide range of
00:19:26data: how acidic is the soil,
00:19:30is the location expected to receive a lot of rainfall or very
00:19:33little,
00:19:36how much sunshine there, how are
00:19:39temperatures changing, and is the terrain flat or
00:19:43mountainous? All of this is mapped with precision down to just
00:19:47a few square meters, using data from the year 2000 up to
00:19:50now. The platform shows which of the existing
00:19:54tree species is most suitable, both today and in
00:19:57projections extending to the year 2100. I can
00:20:01also change the mix of tree species and see exactly which ones are best
00:20:05suited to that location.
00:20:08Today Sylvius is inspecting bark beetle damage with forester
00:20:12Thomas Venger, whose experience helped with the development of Arbero.
00:20:15After the outbreak, many
00:20:18beetle-infested trees had to be felled and removed, leaving large
00:20:21stretches almost empty of
00:20:23trees.
00:20:26The losses were substantial. In the future, the digital forester
00:20:30he created will hopefully reduce that risk, but
00:20:34these AI supported systems won't make decisions for people, nor will
00:20:38they replace foresters. Instead, they provide information to
00:20:42support reforestation planning, and that's becoming
00:20:45increasingly important. In such a
00:20:48dry phase in spring, dry spell in spring, and it goes six
00:20:52weeks without rain, what you've planted for the season goes to
00:20:55waste, then we have to replant. In those
00:20:58situations, we have losses of up to 50 to
00:21:0160%.
00:21:03The forest of the future will look different to those we know
00:21:06today. Experts envision something like
00:21:08this: uniform monocultures such as
00:21:12spruce forests will be replaced by mixed forests made up of deciduous
00:21:16and coniferous trees of different ages and heights. This
00:21:20creates distinct forest layers: the canopy, middle layer and
00:21:23undergrowth. Light and shade alternate across the forest
00:21:26floor, encouraging different layers of growth. Sustainability
00:21:30will also play a role; only individual trees will be removed,
00:21:34a process known as group selection
00:21:36harvesting. The gaps allow the forest to
00:21:40regenerate without losing its cool, moist
00:21:42microclimate.
00:21:46It starts with a single decision: which tree and where.
00:22:20They also receive some information about the
00:22:22forests.
00:22:24Building the forest of the future means making decisions today that will
00:22:28affect generations to come. No one knows
00:22:31exactly what these forests will look like in a hundred years, but the
00:22:34process of creating them has already
00:22:37begun.
00:22:42And now for something on a completely different note. A
00:22:45new invention allows people who are deaf or hard of hearing to
00:22:49feel music through their entire body and get out
00:22:53on the dance floor. Now everyone's picking up good
00:22:56vibrations.
00:23:04Young musicians are competing for recognition, prestige and
00:23:07prize money in one of Switzerland's biggest talent
00:23:10contests. The crowd is feeling the music, especially
00:23:14the people standing on these special platforms. They convert
00:23:17sound into vibrations, sending it directly through the
00:23:20body.
00:23:24That makes the concerts a tangible experience, even for people with
00:23:28hearing
00:23:28impairments.
00:23:33It makes a huge difference. When I go
00:23:36to a party, I can feel vibrations through my
00:23:38body, but I don't pick up the finer nuances of the
00:23:42music. Here with this part, they really come
00:23:45through. Wow, wow,
00:23:48incredible. I've experienced anything like this. The
00:23:52platform, the music, it's fantastic.
00:23:56I want more of it, much more, a thousand times
00:24:00more.
00:24:02It's amazing. They should keep doing
00:24:04this.
00:24:08Until now, sign language interpreters could only convey song lyrics and
00:24:12the mood of the music.
00:24:14Now deaf concert-goers are getting a much more immersive sensory
00:24:18experience. The vibration platform is being used at
00:24:22concerts for the first time and still requires close supervision from its
00:24:25inventor, Roland.
00:24:32This is a live concert, not pre-recorded music.
00:24:35As soon as the band gets on stage, you have to be ready to make adjustments and
00:24:39bring out the frequencies that are best felt through the
00:24:41body.
00:24:45Event technology specialist Roland developed the platform largely
00:24:49from home. He had to do a lot of experimenting to make
00:24:52sure all the key elements of a piece of music could be felt
00:24:55physically. There were no technical models to
00:24:58follow. The vibration platform is his own
00:25:02design.
00:25:07This is the tactile transducer.
00:25:09Inside there's a large coil that creates a magnetic field from the signal we
00:25:13send to it.
00:25:16That moves a 1.5 kilogram iron core which taps against the house.
00:25:22The vibration platform came about during preparations for the Eurovision
00:25:26Song Contest in Basel. Roland was
00:25:29part of the communications team at Swiss Public Broadcaster,
00:25:32SRG.
00:25:36The motto was "united by music," and we really wanted to embody that
00:25:39idea. The goal was to bring as many people together as
00:25:43possible. Including those who can't hear music, and let them
00:25:46experience it. The vibration
00:25:49platform made its debut at Eurovision Disco where it
00:25:53proved to be a hit with people both with and without hearing
00:25:56impairments.
00:26:03Back at the talent competition, installing the technology cost
00:26:07organizers several thousand Swiss francs, but the team says
00:26:11it's money well spent.
00:26:13Music is for everyone. Personally, I think it's one of the most beautiful
00:26:17experiences there is. Every emotion is connected to music. Why should
00:26:21anyone be left out?
00:26:24As a deaf community, we're often left out. A concert without a
00:26:27vibration platform isn't nearly as engaging. Here we can take part
00:26:31on equal terms.
00:26:35The goal is to make live music more accessible and more inclusive
00:26:39so that more people can enjoy it together, sharing that extra
00:26:42buzz.