Shutterstock

Teaching Computers To Ask Why Will Change Everything

The mantra “correlation is not causation” has kept scientists away from what’s known as causal thinking. UCLA computer scientist Judea Pearl joins us to talk about why it’s actually OK for researchers to draw these connections – and how this type of reasoning is already at play in the world of artificial intelligence. His new book is called “The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect” (Basic Books).