How AI Knows Things No One Told It

Trouble viewing? View in your browser. View all Scientific American publications.

    

May 16, 2023

Large language models, like the artificial intelligence system that underpins ChatGPT, can perform tasks they were not trained to do, such as solving math equations and passing the bar exam. Researchers are trying to understand how these "emergent abilities" arise—and what they tell us about the inner workings of these AI. Read more in this week's top story!

Sophie Bushwick, Associate Editor, Technology

Artificial Intelligence How AI Knows Things No One Told It Researchers are still struggling to understand how AI models trained to parrot Internet text can perform advanced tasks such as running code, playing games and trying to break up a marriage By George Musser

Public Health Astronomy Tool Can Now Detect COVID in Breath Laser-based optical frequency combs, originally developed to time atomic clocks, can also perform fast, noninvasive tests for COVID—and potentially other diseases as well By Starre Vartan

Food Tweaking Vegetables' Genes Could Make Them Tastier--And You'll Get to Try Them Soon Flavor is a tricky target, but technology and powerful genetic techniques are making it more feasible to improve the taste of vegetables By Meghan Bartels

Materials Science New Material Is Squishy, Conductive and Self-Healing A new electrically conductive material could lead to better self-healing soft robots By Sophie Bushwick

Biotech Virtual Reality System Lets You Stop and Smell the Roses A wireless device worn on the face or lip can produce fragrances such as lavender and green tea in a virtual world By Simon Makin

Energy What Is the Future of Fusion Energy? Nuclear fusion won’t arrive in time to fix climate change, but it could be essential for our future energy needs By Philip Ball

Food Science Shows Why Traditional Kimchi Making Works So Well A new study reveals why handmade fermentation vessels called onggi stand the test of time By Rachel Crowell

Animals Lab-Grown Monkey Embryos Reveal in 3-D How Organs Begin At 25 days old, these specimens could be the oldest primate embryos ever grown outside the womb By Gemma Conroy,Nature magazine

Energy Why Nuclear Fusion Won't Solve the Climate Crisis Nuclear fusion will scale up too late to avoid climatic catastrophe By Naomi Oreskes

FROM THE STORE Scientific American Volume 328, Issue 6

QUOTE OF THE DAY "Each week brings more companies announcing they will replace jobs with AI, Twitter threads about departments that have been laid off, and pseudo-academic reports about how vulnerable millions of livelihoods are to AI. So, from labor organizing to class-action lawsuits to campaigns to assert the immorality of using AI-generated works, there's an increasingly aggressive effort taking shape to protect jobs from being subsumed or degraded by AI." Brian Merchant, Los Angeles Times

FROM THE ARCHIVE 50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: June 2023 Computer chess master; private bathing for birds By Mark Fischetti | June 2023

LATEST ISSUES

Questions?   Comments?

Download the Scientific American App

To view this email as a web page, go here. You received this email because you opted-in to receive email from Scientific American. To ensure delivery please add news@email.scientificamerican.com to your address book. Unsubscribe     Manage Email Preferences     Privacy Policy     Contact Us