Author: The Conversation

There has been increased interest in unidentified flying objects (UFOs) ever since the Pentagon’s 2021 report revealed what appears to be anomalous objects in US airspace, dubbed unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). Fast forward to 2023, and Nasa has already formed a panel to investigate the reports and appointed a director  for UAP research. A newly founded Pentagon desk has also released footage of mysterious metallic orbs. What is perhaps most remarkable is that David Grusch, a former intelligence officer, testified under oath before the US Congress, stating that he had interviewed around 40 people involved in secret programmes dealing with crashed UFOs. I am interested in searching the sky…

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to make a major impact on many sectors of society over the coming decades. Some of these effects may be positive, others less so. When ChatGPT was released, education, a profession that prides itself on integrity and high ethical standards, was rocked by the prospect that AI could allow students to cheat in their studies. The issue is still a live one. Some educators have pushed for new policies from their institutions, including arguing for the return of face-to-face exams. Others thought AI might be a fad, waiting for it to go away. Of course, AI isn’t going anywhere.…

Information warfare abounds, and everyone online has been drafted whether they know it or not. Disinformation is deliberately generated misleading content disseminated for selfish or malicious purposes. Unlike misinformation, which may be shared unwittingly or with good intentions, disinformation aims to foment distrust, destabilize institutions, discredit good intentions, defame opponents and delegitimize sources of knowledge such as science and journalism. Many governments engage in disinformation campaigns. For instance, the Russian government has used images of celebrities to attract attention to anti-Ukraine propaganda. Meta, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, warned on Nov. 30, 2023, that China has stepped up its disinformation operations. Disinformation is nothing new, and…

With the recent sacking and swift rehiring of Sam Altman by OpenAI, debates around the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) are once again in the spotlight. What’s more unusual is that a prominent theme in media reporting has been the ability of AI systems to do maths. Apparently, some of the drama at OpenAI was related to the company’s development of a new AI algorithm called Q*. The system has been talked about as a significant advance and one of its salient features was a capability to reason mathematically. But isn’t mathematics, the foundation of AI? How could an AI system have…

Technology is supposed to make our lives easier. Smart phones provide a palm-size window to the world, enabling us to do almost anything at the touch of a button. Smart homes look after themselves, and virtual meetings mean that for many, time spent commuting is a thing of the past. So we should have more free time. Time which is now spent sleeping, relaxing or simply doing nothing – right? If the idea that you have more time than ever before is making you choke on your coffee, you are not alone. There is growing evidence that while digital technology…

Supermassive black holes reside in some of the biggest galaxies in the universe. They tend to be billions of times more massive that our Sun, and not even light itself can escape a black hole once it gets too close. But it’s not all darkness. Supermassive black holes power some of the most luminous celestial objects in the universe – active galactic nuclei, which shine across the spectrum of light, including radio waves. The active galactic nucleus in nearby galaxy Messier 87 is a prodigious emitter of radio waves, 27 orders of magnitude more powerful than the most powerful radio transmitters…

The rampant increase of hate messages on social media is a scourge in today’s technology-infused society. Racism, homophobia, xenophobia and even personal attacks on people who have the audacity to disagree with someone else’s political opinion – these and other forms of online hate present an ugly side of humanity. The derision on social media appears in vile and profane terms for all to see. Obviously, the sole purpose of posting online hate is to harass and harm one’s victims, right? Not necessarily, according to recent studies about hate messaging in social media. Although seeing hate comments is unquestionably upsetting, new research suggests there’s…

Imagine brain scanning technology improves greatly in the coming decades, to the point that we can observe how each individual neuron talks to other neurons. Then, imagine we can record all this information to create a simulation of someone’s brain on a computer. This is the concept behind mind uploading – the idea that we may one day be able to transition a person from their biological body to a synthetic hardware. The idea originated in an intellectual movement called transhumanism and has several key advocates including computer scientist Ray Kurzweil, philosopher Nick Bostrom and neuroscientist Randal Koene. The transhumanists’ central hope is to…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already being used in health care. AI can look for patterns in medical images to help diagnose disease. It can help predict who in a hospital ward might deteriorate. It can rapidly summarise medical research papers to help doctors stay up-to-date with the latest evidence. These are examples of AI making or shaping decisions health professionals previously made. More applications are being developed. But what do consumers think of using AI in health care? And how should their answers shape how it’s used in the future? What do consumers think? AI systems are trained to look for patterns in large amounts of data.…

OpenAI, developer of ChatGPT and a leading innovator in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), was recently thrown into turmoil when its chief-executive and figurehead, Sam Altman, was fired. As it was revealed that he would be joining Microsoft’s advanced AI research team, more than 730 OpenAI employees threatened to quit. Finally, it was announced that most of the board who had terminated Altman’s employment were being replaced, and that he would be returning to the company. In the background, there have been reports of vigorous debates within OpenAI regarding AI safety. This not only highlights the complexities of managing a cutting-edge tech company, but…