Blog Archives

No, AI probably won’t kill us all – and there’s more to this fear campaign than meets the eye

No, AI probably won’t kill us all – and there’s more to this fear campaign than meets the eye

Doomsaying is an old occupation. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a complex subject. It’s easy to fear what you don’t understand. These three truths go some way towards explaining the oversimplification and dramatisation plaguing discussions about AI. Yesterday outlets around the world were plastered with news of yet another open letter claiming AI poses an existential threat to […] … learn more→

Are machines smarter or do they fool us better?

Are machines smarter or do they fool us better?

Alan Turing, one of the fathers of modern computing and precursor of artificial intelligence, argued that in the future there would be machines advanced enough that their actions would be difficult to distinguish from humans. This idea has been extensively covered in literature and brought to the big screen on numerous occasions. Examples include the films The Stepford […] … learn more→

ChatGPT and other generative AI could foster science denial and misunderstanding – here’s how you can be on alert

ChatGPT and other generative AI could foster science denial and misunderstanding – here’s how you can be on alert

Until very recently, if you wanted to know more about a controversial scientific topic – stem cell research, the safety of nuclear energy, climate change – you probably did a Google search. Presented with multiple sources, you chose what to read, selecting which sites or authorities to trust. Now you have another option: You can […] … learn more→

Is generative AI bad for the environment? A computer scientist explains the carbon footprint of ChatGPT and its cousins

Is generative AI bad for the environment? A computer scientist explains the carbon footprint of ChatGPT and its cousins

Generative AI is the hot new technology behind chatbots and image generators. But how hot is it making the planet? As an AI researcher, I often worry about the energy costs of building artificial intelligence models. The more powerful the AI, the more energy it takes. What does the emergence of increasingly more powerful generative AI […] … learn more→

ChatGPT can’t think – consciousness is something entirely different to today’s AI

ChatGPT can’t think – consciousness is something entirely different to today’s AI

There has been shock around the world at the rapid rate of progress with ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence created with what’s known as large language models (LLMs). These systems can produce text that seems to display thought, understanding and even creativity. But can these systems really think and understand? This is not a question that can […] … learn more→

AI: evolution is making us treat it like a human, and we need to kick the habit

AI: evolution is making us treat it like a human, and we need to kick the habit

The artificial intelligence (AI) pioneer Geoffrey Hinton recently resigned from Google, warning of the dangers of the technology “becoming more intelligent than us”. His fear is that AI will one day succeed in “manipulating people to do what it wants”. There are reasons we should be concerned about AI. But we frequently treat or talk about AIs […] … learn more→

We need to prepare for the public safety hazards posed by artificial intelligence

We need to prepare for the public safety hazards posed by artificial intelligence

For the most part, the focus of contemporary emergency management has been on natural, technological and human-made hazards such as flooding, earthquakes, tornadoes, industrial accidents, extreme weather events and cyber attacks. However, with the increase in the availability and capabilities of artificial intelligence, we may soon see emerging public safety hazards related to these technologies that we […] … learn more→

Good science must be done integrating gender

Good science must be done integrating gender

Gender measures are sometimes perceived as something exclusively ideological. However, they serve to pay more attention to the complex reality that surrounds us: from the design of seat belts and space suits to the research of new drugs, when science does not attend to that complexity, it generates biases. The Integration of Gender Analysis in Research (IAGI) not […] … learn more→

What artificial intelligence teaches us about what intelligence really is

What artificial intelligence teaches us about what intelligence really is

The arrival of artificial intelligence to the general public has meant the beginning of a debate on whether it is possible for this automatic system to replace human intelligence. Multiple authors, from Noam Chomsky to epistemological philosophers , raise a series of doubts about this matter: Chomsky detects in her the banality of the evil of the philosopher Hannah Arendt, and […] … learn more→

A spellbound robot to teach words: educational robotics in the infant stage

A spellbound robot to teach words: educational robotics in the infant stage

In the educational sciences, there have been increasing attempts to interconnect the disciplines with the so-called 21st century skills: collaboration skills, creativity, critical thinking and communication. In this context, educational robotics is revealed as a propitious means to devise learning experiences where the contents of any curricular area are applied. How can the learning of lexical […] … learn more→