Embedded Beings: How we Blended our Minds With our Devices

Can the next generation of AI outperform the human brain? Advances in machine learning and Large Language Models (LLMs) could make it possible.

As CEOs trip over themselves to invest in AI, the models are falling apart at the seams and going mad from cannibalism.

Researchers Thomas Costello (MIT, American University), Gordon Pennycook (Cornell University), and David Rand (MIT) recently published an article in Science, entitled, "Durably reducing conspiracy beliefs through dialogues with AI." As part of their research, they created "Debunk Bot," which uses GPT-4 Turbo to engage users in dialogues about conspiracy theories. They found that these dialogic interventions, which focused on presenting non-conspiratorial explanations, facts, and counterevidence, and on encouraging critical thinking, reduced participants' belief in their chosen conspiracy theory by about 20%.

This film is something special – it's been put together entirely with AI. Sure, it might not be perfect, and it’s definitely different from the movies that are typically made by people. But you can’t deny it's getting better every day. We wanted to show you this project to give you a peek at how quickly technology is advancing. At heart, this film is all about the interesting interplay between human creativity and the exactness of machines. We’re not saying AI should replace humans in filmmaking, but rather, it can be another tool for artists to use in expressing themselves.

Brain studies show that language is not essential for the cognitive processes that underlie thought.

There is a lot of misinformation around AI. Breaking down the facts from the myths, especially for those in the corporate world.

So-called agentic artificial intelligence doesn’t require a human to tell it what to do. At least, that’s the idea.

How students and other writers are using chatbots such as ChatGPT in ways that have little to do with simple plagiarism.

Children's perception of time is relatively understudied. Learning to see time through their eyes may be fundamental to a happier human experience.

When your mind is wandering, your brain’s “default mode” network is active. Its discovery 20 years ago inspired a raft of research into networks of brain regions and how they interact with each other.

Startups and tech giants are trying to move from chatbots that offer help via text, to AI agents that can get stuff done. Recent demos include an AI coder called Devin and agents that play videogames.

Since its coinage by philosopher David Chalmers thirty years ago, that label has worked its way into a variety of contexts; about a decade ago, Tom Stoppard even used it for the title of a play. 

Anthropic researchers are warning that humans may soon be little more than "meat robots" for near-future AI overlords.

Artificial intelligence is being used to generate paintings, images and even sculptures, with some selling for thousands of dollars. Do we need to reframe our definition of art?

For decades, neuroscientists have focused on neuron firing—tiny "spikes" of voltage—as the way information is transmitted in the brain. These spikes are thought to play a foundational role in generating…

A quirk in the Unicode standard harbors an ideal steganographic code channel.

In 2024, Geoffrey Hinton was awarded the Nobel Prize for his contributions to artificial intelligence. A key milestone in his work came in 2012 with AlexNet, a neural network he developed with his students Alex Krizhevsky and Ilya Sutskever, sparking a revolution in AI. But more than a decade earlier, in 2001, Paul Viola and Michael Jones first gave machines the ability to see you in real-time.

In early 2023, AI-generated commercials became a bit of a trend, and their unique results were found to be quite amusing. However, in 2024, AI technology has made significant leaps! This video showcases a comedic McDonald's parody commercial, created with beautiful still images generated by the latest Adobe Firefly and animated footage using Luma Dream Machine, all edited together with Adobe Premiere.

Dippy, a startup that offers “uncensored” AI companions, lets you peer into their thought process—sometimes revealing hidden motives.

The initial version of Apple Intelligence focuses on helping you with words and photos. Prepare to be impressed and unnerved.

Applied mathematicians have to find a balance between models that are realistic enough to be useful and simple enough to be implemented.

AI runs unfathomable operations on billions of lines of text, handling problems that humans can't dream of solving – but you can probably still trounce them at brain teasers.

As AI is increasingly integrated into our lives, scientists building the tech are still trying to understand it, the MIT Tech Review reports.

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