Author: The Conversation

The AI doomsday news cycle plays on anxieties about the future. The media has tended to prioritise sensational takes on the risk at the expense of more thoughtful opinions by, for example, experts in the ethics of AI. Alarmist fantasies of superintelligence – where artificial intelligence surpasses that of the most gifted human minds – are criticised for distracting from real concerns and threats. AI is energy hungry, environmentally damaging, and has prompted urgent calls for legislation relating to a slew of ethical concerns. Apocalyptic AI visions drawn from science fiction engage public interest. One fascinating scenario can be found in the 2018 movie…

Astronomers have catalogued billions of stars and hundreds of billions of galaxies. We have found thousands of planets orbiting stars. We can also map where these galaxies sit and trace how the universe changes over time. The universe also contains objects that are too faint, too far away, or too crowded to study easily. Simply taking a picture of a galaxy tells us only parts of its story. When we look at breathtaking pictures of the universe, we rarely see the hidden limits of the machine that built them. Even the best telescopes have mechanical blind spots that can quietly miss key galaxies.…

The transformation of the human body has been a recurring concern of science fiction for more than 200 years. It has reflected both our hopes of overcoming physical limitations and our fears about how technology may change what it means to be human. Science fiction is an important creative and speculative space in which to explore these possibilities, and the ethics surrounding them. It encourages us to reflect on the values that shape the futures we are building. Ranging from the iconic to the overlooked, these six screen offerings have all stretched our understanding of what technology could do to humans –…

Look up at the night sky with your naked eye, and it may seem like it rarely changes. Yet the universe is in constant flux. Stars drift through space, orbiting the centre of the Milky Way as planets orbit them. They rotate, showing off spots on their surfaces and sometimes producing violent outbursts that affect planetary atmospheres much like solar storms produce auroras on the Earth. As stars age, they can die dramatically as supernovae, releasing material that will form the next generation of stars and planets. A new NASA telescope — named after NASA’s first chief of astronomy and first female executive, Nancy Grace Roman — will…

Earlier this week, OpenAI published a trove of hundreds of mathematical results it claimed could “push the frontier of human knowledge”. Produced largely by an unreleased artificial intelligence (AI) model, the 722 papers relate to 372 open problems covering everything from algebra and geometry to theoretical computer science. Several papers have since been retracted or amended, but the sheer scale and form of the release – variously described as a drop, a dump, a carpet bombing and a mathocalypse – have sent shockwaves through the mathematical community. Some papers claim significant advances on high-profile, long-standing problems including the Riemann hypothesis and the Birch–Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture, each of which carries a bounty of US$1 million (A$1.4…

A few months ago, a friend posted something that caught my eye on social media. She struggled listening to what she termed “(literally) breathless AI voices for audiobooks”. When I asked her what part she found the most off-putting, she said she had to stop listening because there was no natural breathing or variation – it’s just too formulaic. This might seem like a small complaint. But it points to a much bigger question about language and artificial intelligence: what happens when we design systems to produce language without paying enough attention to the people who listen to it or…

This year, members of Seattle Mountain Rescue have been setting off into the wilds of the US Pacific north-west wearing an unusual piece of kit. They’ve been hiking into the wilderness with powered assistive devices attached to their hips and legs. Designed to increase lower-body strength when climbing or carrying heavy loads, these pieces of equipment are being tested to see if they can boost rescuers’ speed and endurance when it matters most – during searches for stranded people. Devices like these are called human exoskeletons. They attach to parts of the body to create an external – or “exo” – mechanical structure. This…

At the recent World Humanoid Robot Games 2026 in Beijing, robots sprinted, boxed, played football and tackled tasks inspired by factories, restaurants and emergency situations. The robot Tiangong Ultra even completed the 100 metres in 8.64 seconds, quicker than Usain Bolt’s 9.58-second world record. But if we really want to know whether humanoid robots are ready for everyday life, a far less glamorous challenge may tell us more: doing the laundry. Can a robot take a crumpled T-shirt from a laundry basket, work out which way round it is, fold it neatly and recover when the sleeve slips from its hand? No robot system…

Knowledge workers such as scientists, teachers, lawyers and business leaders are increasingly using generative artificial intelligence applications for tasks that demand imagination, creativity and problem-solving. Ironically, perhaps, recent research shows that people who interact with generative AI for work tasks can end up not thinking critically. They can surrender to AI’s quick and confident answers, which can lead to speedy but low-quality solutions. Scholars refer to this increasingly prevalent problem as cognitive offloading. They are showing that it can erode the very skills that make knowledge workers valuable. My research at the intersection of artificial intelligence and knowledge work provides a different view, however. In one study, my colleagues…

Approximately 30% of U.S. adults who were learning a language in 2025 reported that they were using artificial intelligence as a resource. People can use AI-powered chatbots, like ChatGPT and Gemini, to practice conversations in other languages, ask what an unfamiliar phrase means or get feedback on their writing. These apps and websites also offer voice features for speaking and listening in another language. But can someone learn a language with a chatbot alone? Research suggests that these tools can help learners build language skills, but there isn’t evidence that strictly using these apps is enough to become fluent in another language. That said,…