Computer Sciences news

Computer Sciences

Prompt coaching tool raises user awareness of bias in generative AI systems

A coaching tool built into artificial intelligence (AI)-powered systems may raise user awareness of bias in AI algorithms and help individuals better prompt generative AI tools to produce more inclusive content, according ...

Computer Sciences

AI chatbot teaches AI 'student' to love owls, even after data is scrubbed

Large language models (LLMs) can teach other algorithms unwanted traits, which can persist even when training data has been scrubbed of the original trait, according to new research published in Nature. In one example, a ...

Engineering

Mechanical computers use springs and bolts to count, sort odd-even pushes and remember force

Published in Nature Communications, researchers from St. Olaf College and Syracuse University built a computer made entirely of mechanical components that can perform simple computations without electricity or batteries.

Computer Sciences

Revealing the hidden logic behind AI's judgments of people

In a world where artificial intelligence is quietly shaping who gets hired, who receives loans, and even how medical decisions are made, a new question is emerging: How does AI judge us? A new study by Prof. Yaniv Dover and ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Can hyper-real virtual worlds make us feel better?

Virtual reality tools have untapped potential to elicit positive emotions for use in education, health care, architecture and psychological therapy, according to a recent study from Murdoch University that looked at four ...

Computer Sciences

A simple baseline for AI forecasting in machine learning

In a recent paper, SFI Complexity Postdoctoral Fellow Yuanzhao Zhang and co-author William Gilpin show that a deceptively simple forecasting strategy can outperform several leading machine learning forecasting models.

Computer Sciences

Helping resolve quantum computers' memory problem

A major problem with quantum computers is memory, as the information they contain can be quickly lost. Quantum computers are not yet fully reliable—they are far too unstable. However, all around the world, people are trying ...

Computer Sciences

New AI testing method flags fairness risks in autonomous systems

Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used to help optimize decision-making in high-stakes settings. For instance, an autonomous system can identify a power distribution strategy that minimizes costs while keeping ...

Computer Sciences

Can AI understand literature? Researchers put it to the test

Even with all the recent advances in the ability of large language models (like ChatGPT) to help us think, research, summarize, and learn complex and technical texts, how do they fare in understanding storytelling and literature? ...

Computer Sciences

AI model excels in single image reflection removal

Capturing a picturesque scene through reflective materials, such as glass, often results in an unintended superimposition—showing both the transmitted scene and the undesired reflected scene. While traditional reflection ...

Robotics

Sheepdogs reveal a better way to guide robot swarms

Sheepdogs, bred to control large groups of sheep in open fields, have demonstrated their skills in competitions dating back to the 1870s. In these contests, a handler directs a trained dog with whistle signals to guide a ...

Computer Sciences

What flocking birds can teach AI about reducing noise

Among the primary concerns surrounding artificial intelligence is its tendency to yield erroneous information when summarizing long documents. These "hallucinations" are problematic not only because they convey falsehoods, ...

Computer Sciences

Shortest paths research narrows a 25-year gap in graph algorithms

Most of you have used a navigation app like Google Maps for your travels at some point. These apps rely on algorithms that compute shortest paths through vast networks. Now imagine scaling that task to calculate distances ...

Computer Sciences

The AI that taught itself: How AI can learn what it never knew

For years, the guiding assumption of artificial intelligence has been simple: an AI is only as good as the data it has seen. Feed it more, train it longer, and it performs better. Feed it less, and it stumbles. A new study ...

Computer Sciences

Improving AI models' ability to explain their predictions

In high-stakes settings like medical diagnostics, users often want to know what led a computer vision model to make a certain prediction, so they can determine whether to trust its output. Concept bottleneck modeling is one ...

Computer Sciences

Deep AI training gets more stable by predicting its own errors

Artificial intelligence now plays Go, paints pictures, and even converses like a human. However, there remains a decisive difference: AI requires far more electricity than the human brain to operate. Scientists have long ...

Computer Sciences

Don't panic: 'Humanity's last exam' has begun

When artificial intelligence systems began acing long-standing academic assessments, researchers realized they had a problem: the tests were too easy. Popular evaluations, such as the Massive Multitask Language Understanding ...

Computer Sciences

Adaptive drafter model uses downtime to double LLM training speed

Reasoning large language models (LLMs) are designed to solve complex problems by breaking them down into a series of smaller steps. These powerful models are particularly good at challenging tasks like advanced programming ...