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AIs get worse at answering simple questions as they get bigger

Using more training data and computational power is meant to make AIs more reliable, but tests suggest large language models actually get less reliable as they grow




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Smart TVs take snapshots of what you watch multiple times per second

Smart TVs from Samsung and LG monitor what you are watching even when you are using the screens to display a feed from a connected laptop or video game console




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AI tweaks to photos and videos can alter our memories

It has become trivially easy to use artificial intelligence to edit images or generate video to remove unwanted objects or beautify scenes, but doing so leads to people misremembering what they have seen




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What voice assistants like Alexa know about you – and how they use it

Voice assistants can build profiles of their users’ habits and preferences, but the consistency and accuracy of these profiles vary




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Forcing people to change their passwords is officially a bad idea

A US standards agency has issued new guidance saying organisations shouldn’t require users to change their passwords periodically – advice that is backed up by decades of research




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Useful quantum computers are edging closer with recent milestones

Google, Microsoft and others have taken big steps towards error-free devices, hinting that quantum computers that solve real problems aren’t far away




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Drone versus drone combat is bringing a new kind of warfare to Ukraine

Machines are fighting machines on the Ukrainian battlefield, as a technological arms race has given birth to a new way to wage war




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Which AI chatbot is best at avoiding disinformation?

AI chatbots from Google and Microsoft sometimes parrot disinformation when answering questions about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – but their performance depends on language and changes over time




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It's parents who are anxious about smartphones, not their children

Smartphones have indeed created an "anxious generation", but it isn't young people, it is their parents, argues neuroscientist Dean Burnett




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Will semiconductor production be derailed by Hurricane Helene?

Hurricane Helene hit a quartz mine in North Carolina that is key to global semiconductor production, which could impact the entire tech industry. Here is everything we know so far




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Nobel prize for physics goes to pair who invented key AI techniques

The 2024 Nobel prize in physics has gone to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton for discoveries that enabled machine learning and are key to the development of artificial intelligence models like ChatGPT




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Microscopic gears powered by light could be used to make tiny machines

Gears just a few micrometres wide can be carved from silicon using a beam of electrons, enabling tiny robots or machines that could interact with human cells




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AIs can work together in much larger groups than humans ever could

It is thought that humans can only maintain relationships with around 150 people, a figure known as Dunbar's number, but it seems that AI models can outstrip this and reach consensus in far bigger groups




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Do the 2024 Nobel prizes show that AI is the future of science?

Two of the three science Nobel prizes in 2024 have been won by people working in AI, but does this mean that AI models are now vital for science?




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Fast forward to the fluffy revolution, when robot pets win our hearts

Our Future Chronicles column explores an imagined history of inventions and developments yet to come. We visit 2032 and meet artificial animals that love their owners, without the carbon footprint of biological pets. Rowan Hooper explains how it happened




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Millions of websites could be impacted by UK deal on Chagos Islands

The UK government's decision to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius surprisingly threatens the extinction of millions of website addresses ending in ".io", and no one is quite sure what will happen next




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Elon Musk's Tesla Cybercab is a hollow promise of a robotaxi future

Autonomous taxis are already operating on US streets, while Elon Musk has spent years promising a self-driving car and failing to deliver. The newly announced Tesla Cybercab is unlikely to change that




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Teaching computers a new way to count could make numbers more accurate

A new way to store numbers in computers can dynamically prioritise accuracy or range, depending on need, allowing software to quickly switch between very large and small numbers




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Human scientists are still better than AI ones – for now

A simulator for the process of scientific discovery shows that AI models still fall short of human scientists and engineers in coming up with hypotheses and carrying out experiments on their own




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6G phone networks could be 9000 times faster than 5G

Next-generation phone networks could dramatically outperform current ones thanks to a new technique for transmitting multiple streams of data over a wide range of frequencies




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How 'quantum software developer' became a job that actually exists

While quantum computers are still in their infancy, more and more people are training to become quantum software developers




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Writing backwards can trick an AI into providing a bomb recipe

AI models have safeguards in place to prevent them creating dangerous or illegal output, but a range of jailbreaks have been found to evade them. Now researchers show that writing backwards can trick AI models into revealing bomb-making instructions.




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I've been boosting my ego with a sycophant AI and it can't be healthy

Google’s NotebookLM tool is billed as an AI-powered research assistant and can even turn your text history into a jovial fake podcast. But it could also tempt you into narcissism and nostalgia, says Jacob Aron




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Google tool makes AI-generated writing easily detectable

Google DeepMind has been using its AI watermarking method on Gemini chatbot responses for months – and now it’s making the tool available to any AI developer




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Musical AI harmonises with your voice in a transcendent new exhibition

What happens if AI is trained to write choral music by feeding it a specially created vocal dataset? Moving new exhibition The Call tackles some thorny questions about AI and creativity – and stirs the soul with music




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Battery-like device made from water and clay could be used on Mars

A new supercapacitor design that uses only water, clay and graphene could source material on Mars and be more sustainable and accessible than traditional batteries




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AI models fall for the same scams that we do

Large language models can be used to scam humans, but AI is also susceptible to being scammed – and some models are more gullible than others




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AI helps driverless cars predict how unseen pedestrians may move

A specialised algorithm could help autonomous vehicles track hidden objects, such as a pedestrian, a bicycle or another vehicle concealed behind a parked car




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Are we really ready for genuine communication with animals through AI?

Thanks to artificial intelligence, understanding animals may be closer than we think. But we may not like what they are going to tell us, says RSPCA chief executive Chris Sherwood




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Spies can eavesdrop on phone calls by sensing vibrations with radar

An off-the-shelf millimetre wave sensor can pick out the tiny vibrations made by a smartphone's speaker, enabling an AI model to transcribe the conversation, even at a distance in a noisy room




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How a ride in a friendly Waymo saw me fall for robotaxis

I have a confession to make. After taking a handful of autonomous taxi rides, I have gone from a hater to a friend of robot cars in just a few weeks, says Annalee Newitz




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One in 20 new Wikipedia pages seem to be written with the help of AI

Just under 5 per cent of the Wikipedia pages in English that have been published since ChatGPT's release seem to include AI-written content




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3D printing with light and sound could let us copy human organs

One day, doctors might be able to 3D print copies of your organs in order to test a variety of drugs, thanks to a new technique that uses light and sound for rapid printing




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Slick trick separates oil and water with 99.9 per cent purity

Oil and water can be separated efficiently by pumping the mixture through thin channels between two semipermeable membranes




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AI helps robot dogs navigate the real world

Four-legged robot dogs learned to perform new tricks by practising in a virtual platform that mimics real-world obstacles – a possible shortcut for training robots faster and more accurately




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The sci-fi films and TV that explore AI in eerily prescient ways

Hollywood has been imagining the impact AI might have on our lives for decades, but how accurate are these portrayals?




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The real reason VAR infuriates football fans and how to fix it

The controversies surrounding football’s video assistant referee (VAR) system highlight our troubled relationship with uncertainty – and point to potential solutions




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Google Street View helps map how 600,000 trees grow down to the limb

AI and Google Street View have created 'digital twins' of living trees in North American cities – part of a huge simulation that could help make urban tree planting and trimming decisions




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Bali chaos as Tiger row deepens

Tigerair has again cancelled flights in and out of Denpasar, and there is no sign of the dispute being resolved.




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Chamberlain funeral next week

Michael Chamberlain, who has died at 72, will be farewelled at Cooranbong, on the NSW Central Coast.




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Alba Rohrwacher Unearths the Mystery of My Brilliant Friend

After seven years of voicing Elena Ferrante’s ambitious heroine, the Italian actress brings Lenù Greco home.






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The Rock Hall Was Cold As Ice to Foreigner

“Somehow, I couldn’t sing a rock song at the Rock Hall of Fame when I’m being inducted? It doesn’t make any sense to me, and it sticks in my craw.”





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Below Deck Sailing Yacht Recap: To Plate or Not to Plate

Gary is up to his usual schtick with Dani. Will he or the new stews ever learn? (Don’t answer that.)




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Warn Your Children: Deadpool & Wolverine Is Now on Disney+

Just in time to watch with the whole family over Thanksgiving.




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When Robots Meet Cute: Maybe Happy Ending

“It might feel like 2064 on the surface, but in its nostalgic, rechargeable heart, the show parties like it’s 1999.”