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Illustration: 80's Child (Shutterstock)Can AI Help with Mental Health?Over the past few months, artificial intelligence (AI) has entered the global conversation as a result of the widespread adoption of generative AI-based tools such as chatbots and automatic image generation programs. Prominent AI scientists and technologists have raised concerns about the hypothetical existential risks posed by these developments. Having worked in AI for decades, this surge in popularity and the sensationalism that has followed have…

Photo: University of AlbertaCan AI Help with Mental Health?Rapid progress in artificial intelligence (AI) has spurred some leading voices in the field to call for a research pause, raise the possibility of AI-driven human extinction, and even ask for government regulation. At the heart of their concern is the idea AI might become so powerful we lose control of it.But have we missed a more fundamental problem? Ultimately, AI systems should help humans make better, more accurate decisions. Yet even the most impressive and…

Illustration: Golden Dayz (Shutterstock)Can AI Help with Mental Health?Warnings about artificial intelligence (AI) are ubiquitous right now. They have included fearful messages about AI’s potential to cause the extinction of humans, invoking images of the Terminator movies. The UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has even set up a summit to discuss AI safety.However, we have been using AI tools for a long time – from the algorithms used to recommend relevant products on shopping websites, to cars with technology that recognises…

Germany’s best-selling newspaper, Bild, is reportedly adopting artificial intelligence (AI) to replace certain editorial roles, in an effort to cut costs.Netflix Passwords, ChatGPT Can’t Detect AI, and No More CoTweets | Editor PicksIn a leaked internal email sent to staff on June 19, the paper’s publisher, Axel Springer, said it would “unfortunately part with colleagues who have tasks that will be replaced by AI and/or processes in the digital world. The functions of editorial directors, page editors, proofreaders,…

Illustration: Marko Aliaksandr (Shutterstock)How Conspiracy Theories and Disinformation Spiral Out of Control on the Internet | TechModoFake news is a complex problem and can span text, images and video.For written articles in particular, there are several ways of generating fake news. A fake news article could be produced by selectively editing facts, including people’s names, dates or statistics. An article could also be completely fabricated with made-up events or people.Fake news articles can also be machine-generated…

Photo: Spencer Platt (Getty Images)Generating Video Via Text? | Future TechUntil 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 pose your question to ChatGPT or another generative artificial intelligence platform and quickly receive a succinct…

Image: Andrey_Popov (Shutterstock)Maybe AI-Written Scripts are a Bad Idea?Could organizations use artificial intelligence language models such as ChatGPT to induce voters to behave in specific ways?Sen. Josh Hawley asked OpenAI CEO Sam Altman this question in a May 16, 2023, U.S. Senate hearing on artificial intelligence. Altman replied that he was indeed concerned that some people might use language models to manipulate, persuade and engage in one-on-one interactions with voters.Altman did not elaborate, but he might…

Science fiction has always been a tool for processing life on Earth. Norwegian sci-fi expert Karl Kristian Swane Bambini has said that the space-bound genre is well placed to “interrogate and reimagine real-world economic disparities.”Taking out the Trash (in Space)He gives the examples of, among other things, the 2013 blockbuster Elysium, wherein healthcare is only accessible off-world to people with spaceships, and Kim Stanley Robinson’s 1990s Mars trilogy of novels, which opposes the egalitarianism of a Martian society…

Illustration: Ole.CNX (Shutterstock)ChatGPT’s Creator Buddies Up to Congress | Future TechThis week a group of well-known and reputable AI researchers signed a statementconsisting of 22 words: Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.As a professor of AI, I am also in favour of reducing any risk, and prepared to work on it personally. But any statement worded in such a way is bound to create alarm, so its authors should…

Photo: Win McNamee (Getty Images)Generating Video Via Text? | Future TechTakeaways:A new federal agency to regulate AI sounds helpful but could become unduly influenced by the tech industry. Instead, Congress can legislate accountability.Instead of licensing companies to release advanced AI technologies, the government could license auditors and push for companies to set up institutional review boards.The government hasn’t had great success in curbing technology monopolies, but disclosure requirements and data privacy…