Madhumita Murgia

“Over the past few years, we have taken a gigantic leap forward in our decades-long quest to build intelligent machines: the advent of the large language model, or LLM.” It sounds like the beginning of a storybook – which, in a sense, it is. It is the opening paragraph of Madhumita Murgia’s clear, beautifully written and ambitious visual article about how generative AI, which has rapidly infiltrated our lives and language, actually works.

Murgia has also been at the forefront of breaking news since her appointment to the new role of Artificial Intelligence editor in January 2023. For example, in a major global exclusive she and colleagues revealed Elon Musk’s plans to start his own AI company, and she produced a scoop-filled, behind-the-scenes look at the merger between Google’s UK-based DeepMind and US-based Brain divisions. 

Murgia wears her deep technical knowledge lightly, and explains complex subjects in compelling and enlightening ways – an increasingly critical skill given the growing need for understanding and scrutiny in a rapidly evolving sector. Judges said Murgia “led the field in analysing the technology around AI and also the business machinations that come in its wake and the subsequent impacts they have on economies and politics.”