Too busy to listen to the We Are ETH podcast? We have summarized the three personal questions that our host Susan Kish asks each guest at the end of the episode. 

What was David’s favourite place in Zurich? 

My favourite place right now is on a sailing boat on the lake in Zurich. 

I recently picked up my sailing license. It’s a tough test and a wonderful learning journey as well. Sailing on the lake is such a special thing.

What did David want to be when he grew up?

When I was a little boy, I wanted to become a physicist because Albert Einstein was a physicist, right? 

And I’m not too far off. My field is very technical, very science-y. I think Albert Einstein would have become a computer scientist in modern days! 

What is David reading? 

My favorite book is Matilda by Roald Dahl. 

I happen to read Matilda again every once in a while and you just caught me at the very moment I have it on my bedside table. 

Yeah, I really love Matilda.  

What is fascinating David right now?

My background in AI research. It has been such an interesting time to watch the field explode and come up with new ideas. 

So I learned a lot by following other researchers’ work on the AI frontier, but also at the same time I discovered a complete novel resource of knowledge. That’s the local knowledge and indigenous wisdom of the communities that I’ve worked with, and I think that is so beautiful. I want to translate this wisdom into a language of science that can benefit both scientific expertise and local knowledge in a more fair way. 

Listen to the full episode with David Dao, a climate change AI expert, and chief scientist at GainForest.Earth and hear about the importance of preserving cultural heritage with AI, how we can redefine climate finance, and winning the XPRIZE.