Author: The Conversation

The US AI research company Anthropic has become known for building powerful AI models while simultaneously warning about their dangers. Most recently, its executives wrote about the threat posed by “recursive self-improvement”. This is the point when AI systems can improve themselves by themselves, potentially leading to “superintelligence” far beyond human control. “We are not there yet, and recursive self-improvement is not inevitable,” the Anthropic blogpost declared. “But it could come sooner than most institutions are prepared for.” In fact, the idea of recursive self-improvement dates back decades. The British mathematician Irving John Good, who worked with Alan Turing at British codebreaking HQ Bletchley Park, warned in the mid-1960s…

Consider the following scenario. Suzy is 63, recently retired, and trying to decide when to start receiving Social Security and how to manage her retirement savings to minimise the tax hit. She opens an AI chatbot, types in the details and gets a calm, well-organised, and confident answer: Claim now, convert this much, here is the reasoning. The chatbot sounds authoritative and even shows its work. So Suzy follows its guidance and never calls a financial planner. Maybe the advice was fine. But maybe it quietly ignored the fact that Suzy’s spouse is younger and in poor health, which can flip the Social Security…

Young people in low- and middle-income countries appear generally more optimistic about how AI can enhance their work prospects and social lives than their Western peers, according to our new survey of people in ten countries in Africa and South Asia. While debates in higher-income countries often focus on job losses, misinformation and mental health risks, many of the 1,864 young adults we surveyed (all aged 18-35) placed more emphasis on the opportunities artificial intelligence tools present for them. In particular, nearly 80% of our participants expect AI to deliver improved education and learning for them. Until now, there has been little evidence of how young people…

When I talk to my son, an engineering student, and we have a question or disagreement, he immediately turns to ChatGPT as his primary source of information and confirmation. He is not alone in this. The use of generative AI tools has exploded across different demographic groups. For many people, these tools can be entertaining, informative and beneficial. However, they also have a dark side. Generative AI is not formally recognised as addictive right now – the medical evidence is still being gathered. But there is a significant amount of data showing heavy use of chatbots and other systems that produce text,…

Earlier this year in Beijing, a humanoid robot crossed a half-marathon finish line in a blistering 50 minutes, 26 seconds. The feat immediately lit up global headlines for shattering the human world record by almost seven minutes. This performance came with many asterisks. The robot followed a pre-mapped track, stayed in its own dedicated lane, and had a human support crew trailing behind it in case something broke. But the performance gap didn’t just close; it evaporated – down from over 2.5 hours in 2025. This wasn’t just about better motors or lighter carbon fibre; it reflected a massive shift in what a robot…

By 2050, scientists estimate that antibiotic-resistant infections will be associated with more than eight million deaths around the world every year. These are bacterial infections that resist traditional antibiotics like penicillin. They can develop when you eat contaminated food, have an open wound or undergo surgery. E. coli is a good example, as several strains have become highly resistant to conventional antibiotics. They can also arrive as secondary infections, like pneumonia after a virus. We need new antibiotics and designing them is difficult. It can take 10 years and more than one billion dollars to bring just one new drug to market. And 10 out…

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the fitness industry: people can now ask chatbots to write marathon plans, build gym programs and even adjust workouts based on sleep or heart rate data. For many, AI feels like the future of fitness coaching because it is fast, cheap and readily available. But while AI can be helpful, research suggests it still has limitations, especially when compared with experienced human coaches. So, let’s look at how it all works and the pros and cons. Why are people using AI for training? There is very little research examining exactly why people use AI for exercise…

South Africa is moving away from coal-fired electricity, which currently supplies 74% of the country’s power, to wind and solar energy. But as the country’s experience shows, the transition is complex and is being slowed down. This is because renewable energy works very differently from coal. It needs a different kind of electricity system and new ways of planning and managing the grid. The transition also requires major changes at the state-owned electricity utility, Eskom, which has long dominated South Africa’s power sector. It involves transforming an electricity system built around a few large coal-fired power stations into one that can absorb power…

Generative artificial intelligence (AI), and especially large language models deployed as chatbots and digital assistants, are now part of everyday digital life. These models are being framed as a helpful assistant, a patient tutor, a customer service agent and even a source of emotional support. But what happens when even more human encounters are mediated by machines? This question matters especially in South Africa, where apartheid not only separated people by law, but also shaped who was seen, heard and recognised as fully human. Its legacy still lives in unequal access to education, healthcare, work, technology and public services. This is…

Interplanetary travel to Mars aboard nuclear-powered spaceships may sound like science fiction – yet NASA is planning to make it a reality. The Space Reactor-1 Freedom mission is scheduled for launch by December 2028 to explore Mars, with NASA heralding it as “the first nuclear-powered interplanetary spacecraft”. NASA also has plans to deploy a small nuclear reactor on the Moon by 2030 for its Artemis program, though any reactor on the lunar surface would look nothing like the large nuclear power plants found on Earth. And the White House has moved to establish a National Initiative for American Space Nuclear Power. The US isn’t alone in pursuing…