WRITER 674: Toby Walsh demystifies his new book, 'The Shortest History of AI'

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 Welcome 10:05 Writing tip: ‘Just start writing’ 12:52 WIN!: The Midnight Estate by Kelly Rimmer 14:39 Word of the week: ‘Psithurism’ 15:09 Writer in residence: Toby Walsh 15:55 Explaining The Shortest History of AI 17:00 Deciding on the six ideas for the book 18:25 How Toby developed his writing voice 20:06 Balancing the academia and hysteria 22:37 The purpose of writing AI books 23:24 The challenges of writing for the public 25:00 On becoming an accidental science communicator 28:03 The secret circle of science communicators 29:58 Untimely deaths in the timeline of AI 30:30 Adding his expertise to the ‘Shortest’ series 32:20 On designing his book cover and subtitle 35:48 The role of great editors in writing 37:24 Toby’s late night writing process 38:55 His next book project 39:59 A pivot to writing fiction? 42:07 Toby’s tip for writers 43:23 Final thoughts Read the show notes Connect with Valerie and listeners in the podcast community on Facebook Visit WritersCentre.com.au | ValerieKhoo.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.