Author: The Conversation

The world’s most developed economies have also burned the most oil and coal (fossil fuels) over the years, causing the most climate change damage. Preventing further climate change means a global fossil fuel phase-out must happen by 2050. Climate change mitigation scientists Sven Teske and Saori Miyake analysed the potential for renewable energy in each of the G20 countries. They concluded that the G20 is in a position to generate enough renewable energy to supply the world. For African countries to benefit, they must adopt long-term renewable energy plans and policies and secure finance from G20 countries to set up renewable energy…

Jensen Huang believes questions of whether artificial intelligence could destroy humanity are fear-mongering – and get in the way of progress. The founder of Nvidia, which makes the computer chips enabling AI such as ChatGPT, he was rankled when a journalist wondered if he is “an AI Robert Oppenheimer”. He’s not building bombs, he responded. But for journalist Stephen Witt, what he terms “The Fear” (shared by arguably “the three most cited computer scientists alive”) was a motive for writing The Thinking Machine, his history of Nvidia. His book, which doubles as a biography of its founder, asks: what does the artificial intelligence Nvidia…

If you’ve worried that AI might take your job, deprive you of your livelihood, or maybe even replace your role in society, it probably feels good to see the latest AI tools fail spectacularly. If AI recommends glue as a pizza topping, then you’re safe for another day. But the fact remains that AI already has definite advantages over even the most skilled humans, and knowing where these advantages arise — and where they don’t — will be key to adapting to the AI-infused workforce. AI will often not be as effective as a human doing the same job. It won’t…

The problem is simple: it’s hard to know whether a photo’s real or not anymore. Photo manipulation tools are so good, so common and easy to use, that a picture’s truthfulness is no longer guaranteed. The situation got trickier with the uptake of generative artificial intelligence. Anyone with an internet connection can cook up just about any image, plausible or fantasy, with photorealistic quality, and present it as real. This affects our ability to discern truth in a world increasingly influenced by images. I teach and research the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI), including how we use and understand digital images. Many people ask how we…

Next time you’re working in a coffee shop or similar public space, take a moment to look around at your “co-workers” for the day, busy, like you are, with laptops, cellphones and tablets. How many of those devices belong to the organisations that employ them? Or are they – and you – using personal devices to conduct company business? Many businesses are embracing the convenience of a practice known as “bring your own device”. This allows employees to use their personal or privately owned devices such as smartphones, laptops, USB drives, and even personal cloud storage, for work purposes. A…

For years, astronomers have predicted a dramatic fate for our galaxy: a head-on collision with Andromeda, our nearest large galactic neighbour. This merger – expected in about 5 billion years – has become a staple of astronomy documentaries, textbooks and popular science writing. But in our new study published in Nature Astronomy, led by Till Sawala from the University of Helsinki, we find the Milky Way’s future might not be as certain as previously assumed. By carefully accounting for uncertainties in existing measurements, and including the gravitational influence of other nearby galaxies, we found there is only about a 50% chance…

People turn to the internet to run billions of search queries each year. These range from keeping tabs on world events and celebrities to learning new words and getting DIY help. One of the most popular questions recently asked was: “How to inspect a used car?”. If you asked Google this at the beginning of 2024, you would have been served a list of individual search results and the order would have depended on several factors. If you asked the same question at the end of the year, the experience would be completely different. That’s because Google, which controls the search engine market,…

About a century ago, scientists were struggling to reconcile what seemed to be a contradiction in Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Published in 1915, and already widely accepted worldwide by physicists and mathematicians, the theory assumed the universe was static – unchanging, unmoving and immutable. In short, Einstein believed the size and shape of the universe today was, more or less, the same size and shape it had always been. But when astronomers looked into the night sky at faraway galaxies with powerful telescopes, they saw hints the universe was anything but that. These new observations suggested the opposite…

It is “the policy of the United States to promote AI literacy and proficiency among Americans,” reads an executive order President Donald Trump issued on April 23, 2025. The executive order, titled Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth, signals that advancing AI literacy is now an official national priority. This raises a series of important questions: What exactly is AI literacy, who needs it, and how do you go about building it thoughtfully and responsibly? The implications of AI literacy, or lack thereof, are far-reaching. They extend beyond national ambitions to remain “a global leader in this technological revolution” or even…

Like it or not, artificial intelligence (AI) has become part of daily life. Many devices – including electric razors and toothbrushes – have become “AI-powered,” using machine learning algorithms to track how a person uses the device, how the device is working in real time, and provide feedback. From asking questions to an AI assistant like ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot to monitoring a daily fitness routine with a smartwatch, many people use an AI system or tool every day. While AI tools and technologies can make life easier, they also raise important questions about data privacy. These systems often collect large amounts of data,…