Author: The Conversation

When a human says an event is “probable” or “likely,” people generally have a shared, if fuzzy, understanding of what that means. But when an AI chatbot like ChatGPT uses the same word, it’s not assessing the odds the way we do, my colleagues and I found. We recently published a study in the journal NPJ Complexity that suggests that, while large language model AIs excel at conversation, they often fail to align with humans when communicating uncertainty. The research focused on words of estimative probability, which include terms like “maybe,” “probably” and “almost certain.” By comparing how AI models and humans map…

It’s 1 a.m. The argument is over, but you keep running it back in your head anyway. You replay the tone, timing and that one sentence that landed wrong. So you open an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot and type, “Am I right or am I overreacting? What do I say to what they said? What did they mean by XYZ?” Research on attachment, emotion regulation and online discourse helps explain why turning to AI is becoming increasingly popular. The reassurance that it provides, however, can consolidate a one-sided interpretation far too quickly and, ultimately, train expectations that real relationships struggle to meet.…

As a professor of the future of work, the question I get asked most often is whether AI is going to take everyone’s jobs. I hear it from students who worry that their degrees will be obsolete before they graduate. I hear it from office workers watching new tools appear in their software. And I hear it from people working in retail and logistics and hospitality and admin, who all suspect that their jobs put them most at risk. The issue has become a widespread worry in the workplace. And of course, I understand why people are worried. Because for a very…

American artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic this month attracted applause – and a surge in users – for clever advertisements poking fun at its competition. In the commercials, an AI assistant awkwardly breaks away mid-conversation to push products such as shoe insoles and dating services. “Ads are coming to AI”, the Super Bowl-tied spots warned, but not to Anthtropic’s own chatbot Claude. The campaign quickly generated buzz because it played to peoples’ worries that inviting advertising into AI platforms, which many of us now rely on – and confide in – risks blurring the line between helpful advice and paid influence. But that anxiety, while understandable, overlooks how advertising already works across much…

“Edge computing”, which was initially developed to make big data processing faster and more secure, has now been combined with AI to offer a cloud-free solution. Everyday connected appliances from dishwashers to cars or smartphones are examples of how this real-time data processing technology operates by letting machine learning models run directly on built-in sensors, cameras, or embedded systems. Homes, offices, farms, hospitals and transportation systems are increasingly embedded with sensors, creating significant opportunities to enhance public safety and quality of life. Indeed, connected devices, also called the Internet of Things (IoT), include temperature and air quality sensors to improve indoor comfort, wearable sensors to monitor patient health, LiDAR and…

Most AI training teaches you how to get outputs. Write a better prompt. Refine your query. Generate content faster. This approach treats AI as a productivity tool and measures success by speed. It misses the point entirely. Critical AI literacy asks different questions. Not “how do I use this?” but “should I use this at all?” Not “how do I make this faster?” but “what am I losing when I do?” AI systems carry biases that most users never see. Researchers analysing the British Newspaper Archive in 2025 found that digitised Victorian newspapers represent less than 20% of what was actually printed. The sample…

The financial industry is entering a new era, with AI and new regulations on accessing data transforming how finance works. These changes are giving people more options to manage their money in new ways – taking us closer to totally cashless transactions. Over the last century, banks implemented new technologies like ATMs, internet banking and smartphone apps to fundamentally change our relationship with money. Now, new regulations and initiatives around the world are forcing banks to allow fintech firms (companies that use technology to provide financial services) to access customers’ banking data. This includes regulations like the EU’s revised payment services directive (PSD2), which…

The strategic significance of the reference to energy reform in South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address cannot be overstated. Many media reports carried a sense of elation about how this clears the way for resolving the country’s long-term energy crisis. This sentiment is premature: there are many devils in the details that need to be attended to before the country can celebrate. Ramaphosa announced that the soon-to-be-established Transmission System Operator will own South Africa’s transmission assets. This would include all main powerlines and sub-stations. This was contrary to what had been expected, particularly by South Africa’s state-owned power utility Eskom. Its…

For years, big tech companies have placed the burden of managing screen time squarely on individuals and parents, operating on the assumption that capturing human attention is fair game. But the social media sands may slowly be shifting. A test-case jury trial in Los Angeles is accusing big tech companies of creating “addiction machines”. While TikTok and Snapchat have already settled with the 20-year-old plaintiff, Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is due to give evidence in the courtroom this week. The European Commission recently issued a preliminary ruling against TikTok, stating that the app’s design – with features such as infinite scroll and autoplay – breaches the…

One year after the AI Summit in Paris, the international community will meet again this week in New Delhi for the Global Summit on Artificial Intelligence, whose objective will notably be to support the diffusion of AI uses in developing countries. In Africa, AI and Tech investment remains concentrated in the “Big Four” – South Africa, Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria – at the expense of other countries across the continent. This analysis explores the causes of this imbalance and the levers that could be used to better direct capital. Between 2015 and 2022, investment in African start-ups experienced unprecedented growth: the number of start-ups…