Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-hour-long conversation with US-based podcaster and AI researcher Lex Fridman is set to be released on Sunday (March 16). Describing the upcoming episode as a “fascinating conversation,” the Prime Minister shared that he discussed a wide range of topics, including his childhood memories, time in the Himalayas, and journey in public life.
Who is Lex Fridman?
Lex Fridman is a Russian-origin American computer scientist and Artificial Intelligence researcher associated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge. His work primarily focuses on human-robot interaction and AI research.
Born in 1983 in present-day Tajikistan, Fridman was raised in Moscow during the final years of the Soviet Union before his family immigrated to the United States. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Drexel University in Philadelphia, where he developed a deep interest in AI and machine learning.
He later pursued a Master’s and PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the same institution, specialising in human-centered AI and machine learning applications. Following his PhD, Fridman joined MIT, where he worked on autonomous vehicle technology, focusing on AI-driven systems that understand and predict human behavior in self-driving cars.
His research explored how AI can interpret human expressions and behaviors to improve real-time decision-making in autonomous driving scenarios. In 2019, Elon Musk praised Fridman’s MIT study, which found that drivers remained attentive while using Tesla’s semi-autonomous driving system, further cementing his reputation in the AI and robotics field.
Fridman briefly worked at Google on AI-powered identity authentication but left to focus on independent research.
All about Lex Fridman Podcast
In 2018, Fridman launched the Lex Fridman Podcast (originally called the Artificial Intelligence Podcast), which quickly gained a large following. The show features deep-dive conversations with experts across various disciplines, including AI, robotics, neuroscience, philosophy, and economics.
With over 4.5 million subscribers on YouTube, 1.4 million followers on Instagram, and 4.2 million followers on Twitter (now X), Fridman has built a strong presence in the digital space, making his podcast one of the most influential in the world.
Lex Fridman Podcast’s impressive guest list
His guest list includes high-profile figures such as former US President Donald Trump, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, public intellectual Noam Chomsky, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, historian Yuval Noah Harari, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen.