Humans Find AI-Generated Faces More Trustworthy Than the Real Thing

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February 15, 2022

Dear Reader,   In the past, attempts to make computers generate human faces produced subtly unrealistic images that fell into the "uncanny valley." But now artificial intelligence has gotten much better at this task—so much better that, in a new study, people thought the AI-generated faces seemed more trustworthy than actual human visages.

Sophie Bushwick, Associate Editor, Technology

Artificial Intelligence Humans Find AI-Generated Faces More Trustworthy Than the Real Thing Viewers struggle to distinguish images of sophisticated machine-generated faces from actual humans By Emily Willingham

Defense Russia-Ukraine Conflict Prompted U.S. to Develop Autonomous Drone Swarms, 1,000-Mile Cannon The U.S. military has new technology on the drawing board in response to warfare trends previously demonstrated in the region By Jason Sherman

Artificial Intelligence AI Outraces Human Champs at the Video Game Gran Turismo The program also challenges certain assumptions about self-driving cars By Sophie Bushwick

Medicine Messenger RNA Therapies Are Finally Fulfilling Their Promise Instructing our cells to make specific proteins could control influenza, autoimmune diseases, even cancer By Drew Weissman

Defense Cyberattack Misinformation Could Be Plan for Ukraine Invasion A falsified video would be an update on the traditional use of propaganda campaigns during warfare By Sophie Bushwick

Quantum Physics Turbulence Equations Discovered after Century-Long Quest The formulas describe the complex behavior of a liquid when it meets a boundary By Rachel Crowell

Renewable Energy White House Rolls Out $5 Billion Electric Vehicle Charging Program The announcement unleashes a flood of federal money to states for the construction of a national network of charging stations By Arianna Skibell,E&E News

Engineering Synthetic Enamel Could Make Teeth Stronger and Smarter Scientists say that the new material is even more durable than real dental enamel By Joanna Thompson

Electronics New Charging Technique Puts Crumbling Batteries Back Together The method could extend the lifetime of lithium-metal batteries by 30 percent, a new study suggests By Sophie Bushwick

FROM THE STORE Scientific American Volume 326, Issue 3

QUOTE OF THE DAY "The tiny biohybrids, based on zebrafish, are built from paper, plastic, gelatin and two strips of living heart muscle cells. One strip runs along the left side of the robot's body, the other along the right. When the muscle cells on one side contract, the tail moves in that direction, propelling the fish through the water." Jon Hamilton, National Public Radio

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