Inside AI

Scientific knowledge is growing faster than any researcher can keep up with. Eric Olson, co-founder and CEO of Consensus, is building an AI-powered search engine designed to help researchers navigate millions of scientific papers, synthesize evidence, and accelerate discovery.
In this episode, Marcel Salathé talks with Eric about the future of scientific literature in the age of large language models. They discuss how AI is changing literature reviews and how Consensus is building trust through evidence-first design. They also explore the evolving role of journals, the rise of AI-native scientific workflows, and whether research papers themselves may soon look very different.
The conversation also offers a candid look at building an AI startup in a rapidly evolving landscape, covering competition with frontier AI models, why focus matters more than "moats," and what founders can learn from building for one of the world's most demanding audiences: scientists.

Production :Ethan Nyffenegger

In this episode Marcel Salathé speaks with EPFL professor Rachid Guerraoui about the distributed systems that make modern AI possible. They discuss the limits of today’s AI models, the challenge of building trustworthy and robust systems, and the growing importance of privacy and sovereignty in AI deployment. The conversation also explores Guerraoui’s startup, Anyway Systems, which enables organizations to run powerful AI models on their own infrastructure, as well as Europe’s role in the global AI landscape and the future of computer science in the age of AI.

REPLAY - JP is one of the co-founders of Cerebras, a company known for pioneering AI hardware. JP has focused much of his career on designing and optimising hardware solutions for high performance computing environments. Cerebras is currently on an impressive trajectory, having produced the largest and fastest AI chip in the world. In this episode, we look into his journey as a founder in the AI chip industry, and we at the rapid development of AI in the recent years. We'll gain his unique perspective on navigating the startup landscape during this transformative period.

What and why should we still learn when AI can do so much for us?

In this episode, Marcel and EPFL experts Patrick Jermann and Francesco Mondada explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping education, from coding and assessment to the very purpose of learning. Drawing on real experiments at EPFL, they reveal what AI gets right, where it falls short, and why true learning still requires effort, curiosity, and human interaction.

Production: Ethan Nyffenegger

What happens when AI stops being just a tool—and starts acting like an autonomous agent?
In this episode of Inside AI, host Marcel Salathé speaks with EPFL professor and Applied Machine Learning Days co-founder Bob West about the growing rift shaping today’s AI landscape. Drawing on insights from his sabbatical at Microsoft Research, West unpacks how AI has evolved into a general-purpose technology with real-world power.

From the surprising persuasive abilities of large language models, to hidden English-centric biases, to the emerging need for “machine psychology,” the conversation explores how modern AI systems think, adapt, and influence us. They also tackle the risks of AI as a self-improving actor—and the hopeful promise of accelerating scientific discovery and medical breakthroughs.

A deep dive into the future of human–machine intelligence, and what it means for the world we’re rapidly entering.

Production: Melissa Anchisi