Machine learning & AI news

Electronics & Semiconductors

AI speeds up discovery of next-gen computer chips and electronic materials

An international study team, led by Flinders University in collaboration with Khalifa University UAE, built the machine-learning platform to act like a "smart materials discovery engine," which is capable of dramatically ...

Robotics

Motion tracking system shows robots the path most traveled by, keeping them on task

There's a delicate art to teaching robots, even when you're preparing them for predictable environments like factories, where they'll repeat the same tasks a little differently depending on the obstacles they face. Whether ...

Robotics

New framework helps robots turn complex language into precise 3D actions

Over the past few decades, roboticists worldwide have introduced increasingly advanced robots that can understand human instructions, move in their surroundings and reliably complete basic manual tasks. While they perform ...

Robotics

Unlocking soft robotics control with AI's cousin: Reservoir computing

Soft robotics—machines made of flexible, muscle-like materials—can bend and stretch in fluid ways that put the rigid robots of old sci-fi movies to shame. But the flexibility that lets them pick ripe tomatoes or navigate ...

Robotics

What AI taxis and robots can learn from bees

Even advanced technology can struggle when the real world becomes unpredictable. In April 2026, a Waymo robotaxi in San Antonio, Texas, drove into a flooded lane during severe weather, prompting the company to recall about ...

Internet

US enforces law to crack down on sexual deepfakes

The United States on Tuesday began enforcing a law requiring tech platforms to remove sexual deepfakes and other non-consensual intimate imagery, but experts warned of shortcomings and raised online censorship concerns.

Machine learning & AI

When AI imagines cities, smaller communities can disappear

When College of Natural Resources and Environment geospatial data scientist Junghwan Kim asked an artificial intelligence (AI) image generator to create a picture of Blacksburg, the result wasn't quite right. "The image looked ...

Machine learning & AI

From graduation boos to voter unease: AI anxiety grows in the US

Speakers promoting AI are getting booed at universities, voters are rebelling against data centers, and even AI-friendly Trump administration officials are starting to retreat as an artificial intelligence backlash gathers ...

Security

AI can seem more human than real humans in a classic Turing test

A new University of California San Diego study unveils the first empirical evidence that a modern artificial intelligence system can pass the Turing test—a major scientific benchmark that asks whether a machine can imitate ...

Robotics

Video-based AI gives robots a visual imagination

In a major step toward more adaptable and intuitive machines, Kempner Institute Investigator Yilun Du and his collaborators have unveiled a new kind of artificial intelligence system that lets robots "envision" their actions ...

Consumer & Gadgets

AI overly affirms users asking for personal advice, study finds

In a new study published in Science, Stanford computer scientists showed that artificial intelligence large language models are overly agreeable, or sycophantic, when users solicit advice on interpersonal dilemmas. Even when ...

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 ...

Machine learning & AI

OpenAI shelves plans for erotic chatbot

OpenAI has put plans for a sexually explicit chatbot on hold indefinitely, the company said Thursday, amid mounting concerns about the societal and reputational risks of releasing such a product.

Internet

Here's how AI can (and can't) help you in your job hunt

For many job seekers, it might seem like there's never been a harder time to find a job. Hiring for white-collar jobs has been especially weak, part of what economists call a "low-hire, low-fire" job market in which businesses ...

Software

AI tech recognizes human actions from just a few example videos

Typically, AI requires massive amounts of training data to understand complex human actions. However, in real-world scenarios, it is often difficult to secure sufficient video data for specific actions. A research team led ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Asking AI to act like an expert can make it less reliable

To get the best out of AI, some users tell it to provide answers as if it were an expert. Others ask it to adopt a persona, such as a safety monitor, to guide its responses. However, this approach can sometimes hurt performance, ...

Consumer & Gadgets

LLMs and creativity: AI responses show less variety than human ones

Can using a large language model (LLM) make a person more creative? Prior work has shown that using LLMs can make creative outputs more homogeneous, but this homogenization could stem from the specific LLM used or from widespread ...

Business

Widespread AI adoption masks deeper problem, study shows

Irrespective of the ethics and the apocalyptic predictions, artificial intelligence (AI) has already become a central component of economic and institutional decision-making. Research in the International Journal of Intelligent ...