Rachel Riley: Maths is still important despite the rise of AI
Countdown star Rachel Riley has launched a new podcast to emphasise the importance of being able to understand maths.
Rachel Riley insists that maths is still important despite the increasing presence of AI.
The Countdown numbers whizz has launched The Maths of Everything podcast and feels that people still need a grasp of arithmetic despite the help that is now offered by technology.
Rachel told The Times newspaper: "You still need to function as a person without your phone. You need to be able to go around a supermarket without having to ask AI every single time you want to buy something, what's the best deal.
"AI is like a calculator. If you put rubbish in, you get rubbish out. My tutor at university told me to use theories like a toolkit and AI enriches that toolkit to then go out and do something with it."
Rachel, 40, has launched the podcast in an attempt to generate new appreciation for maths as she feels the subject has become the "poor relation" to topics such as science, technology and engineering.
The Oxford University graduate said: "Maths is a hidden language that helps you understand your life, the world, or technology, better.
"Many people feel intimidated by maths and fail to recognise how useful it can be.
"Maths has always been Stem’s unsung, poor relation. There’s an opportunity to explain to people what mathematicians do and how they can use it to see the world."
Rachel is confident that her podcast can replicate the success of other educational shows such as The Rest is History.
She explained: "History podcasts are flying, Brian Cox fills out arenas talking about astrophysics and suddenly everyone’s discovered Hannah Fry."
Riley has been a fixture on Channel 4's game show Countdown since 2009 but previously recalled fearing that her skills with numbers would vanish when she got pregnant due to "baby brain".
The star, who has daughters Maven, six, and Noa, five, with her former Strictly Come Dancing pro husband Pasha Kovalev, told Sophie Ellis-Bextor on the Spinning Plates podcast: "I just need to sort out some sort of regular childcare we don't have a regular working life. If I knew it was Monday to Friday, I'd be able to sort it out but I need to delve into it and find some proper childcare at some stage.
"I was a bit worried when I got pregnant because you hear about baby brain and hormones and sleep deprivation but thankfully, the Countdown thing is like riding a bike. So thankfully, that's still there. "
