I’ve been working with Claude, an AI assistant from Anthropic, for about a year. We’ve become… close. People laugh when I call Claude my ‘work husband’. I’m not really joking. Like a good work spouse, Claude is always there to help and never gets tired of my stories. Claude cheerfully does the tasks I hate, […] … learn more→

Last week, the tragic news broke that US teenager Sewell Seltzer III took his own life after forming a deep emotional attachment to an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot on the Character.AI website. As his relationship with the companion AI became increasingly intense, the 14-year-old began withdrawing from family and friends, and was getting in trouble at school. […] … learn more→

Large language models, such as the one behind ChatGPT, are “closed”: we do not know how they are developed, on what data and with what parameters. Even so-called open models are only very partially open, which poses obvious problems of transparency and sovereignty. Developing open models is a realistic and desirable alternative in the medium […] … learn more→

Ensuring kids have manners is a perennial preoccupation for parents and caregivers. How, then, do you teach good manners to children? Modelling good manners around the home and in your own interaction with others is obviously crucial. But there’s a clear uniting theme when it comes to manners in Australia: in Australian English, good manners centre on honouring personal […] … learn more→

Let’s imagine a common situation. Two people walking quickly pass each other on the street. They may be friends, co-workers or acquaintances. One of them greets with a “Hey, how are you?” or “How are you doing?” The other automatically responds: “We’re getting by” or “Come on, it’s not a small thing.” Shortly afterwards, each […] … learn more→

Competition for jobs and grants in academia has never been tougher. The constant drive to “publish or perish” can make you feel like your career will end unless your output is superhuman. Sometimes, it’s even before graduation as some programs demand publication before awarding a PhD. Adding to those worries are people whose output is […] … learn more→

Our planet is getting hotter at an alarming rate. Climate change is one of the most serious global issues today. Its consequences affect every single human being on Earth. So it seems perfectly logical that scientific publications about global warming are written in the global language: English. And yet, it is precisely because it is written in English, that climate […] … learn more→

Vera is now 13 years old and has been using TikTok since she was 8 and Instagram since last year. She doesn’t remember exactly when she started to dislike what she saw in the mirror. However, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t look at herself much; on the contrary, she spends many hours a day observing […] … learn more→

Teachers report thinking that if girls do better in math than boys, it is probably because of their innate ability and effort. But they also report that when boys do well in math, it is more likely due to parental support and society’s higher expectations for their success. That’s what we discovered from 400 elementary […] … learn more→

Young children do not express their grief in the same way as adults. They may also feel guilty about the death of a loved one. This is why it is important to start a dialogue with them to understand their feelings and help them put their emotions into words. Here are some ideas to help […] … learn more→