Machine learning & AI news

Robotics

Chinese humanoid robots smash human records in 100m sprint and high jump at Beijing robot games

Chinese humanoid robots broke records set by humans, including beating Usain Bolt's 100-meter sprint world record, on the opening day of the Olympics-like World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Saturday.

Machine learning & AI

AI agents can build consensus on a scale humans can't

Everyone is familiar with the situation: A larger group of people plans to visit a restaurant together, but it can take time and sometimes a great deal of patience to agree on a time and place to meet. The better the participants ...

Business

AI-generated ads outperform human designers in live campaign, advantage holds 18 months later

The common belief throughout the marketing and advertising world is that generative AI can produce striking visuals, but it struggles to match the performance and brand discipline of skilled human designers. New research ...

Robotics

Robots learn new skills from a single video—in just 29 seconds

To operate reliably in dynamic real-world settings, robots should be able to acquire new skills quickly without undergoing extensive additional training. Most existing robotic systems, however, primarily perform well on the ...

Machine learning & AI

AI helps turn citizen photos into water-level data

For the past 15 years, Christopher Lowry, Ph.D., has led CrowdHydrology, a University at Buffalo citizen-science project that relies on thousands of volunteers to collect water-level observations from streams and other waterways ...

Machine learning & AI

Q&A: Promise and perils of agentic AI

Chatbots and large language models can execute a seemingly countless number of tasks, from writing emails and reports to generating code and analyzing data. However, they still primarily act only in response to user prompts ...

Security

How attackers persuade AI agents to break the rules

Today, most of us interact with AI assistants—reactive bots that wait for human instructions. Yet AI assistants are rapidly being replaced by agentic AI agents that can interact with external tools, browse the web, generate ...

Machine learning & AI

OpenAI says ads are coming to ChatGPT in Europe next week

European users of ChatGPT's free and low-cost artificial intelligence agents will start seeing ads Aug. 24 as its creator, OpenAI, expands its plan to extract more revenue from its models.

Machine learning & AI

China goes rural with data centers in quest to power AI

In China's hilly Guizhou province, a cluster of European-style buildings complete with a clock tower and a multi-arched bridge emits a low, permanent hum—a clue to its unexpected identity as tech giant Huawei's largest data ...

Machine learning & AI

New world for users and brands as ads hit AI chatbots

The introduction of advertisements and sponsored content in chatbots has spawned privacy concerns for AI users as brands scramble to stay relevant in a fast-changing online environment.

Machine learning & AI

India plans AI 'data city' on staggering scale

As India races to narrow the artificial intelligence gap with the United States and China, it is planning a vast new "data city" to power digital growth on a staggering scale, the man spearheading the project says.

Consumer & Gadgets

Feeling 'AI anxiety'? Here are the risks people fear most

A patient said to me the other day, half-smiling but clearly unsettled: "I think I've got anxiety about AI." They weren't having a panic attack or describing clinical anxiety. What they were expressing was a persistent sense ...

Computer Sciences

From flattery to debate: Training AI to mirror human reasoning

Generative artificial intelligence systems often work in agreement, complimenting the user in its response. But human interactions aren't typically built on flattery. To help strengthen these conversations, researchers in ...

Hi Tech & Innovation

How much can an autonomous robotic arm feel like part of the body?

When AI-powered prosthetic arms that move autonomously become widespread, understanding how people feel about them and accept them will be crucial. In a study appearing in Scientific Reports, scientists used virtual reality ...

Security

Your AI chat may reveal more than you think

As the use of large language model agents, such as virtual assistants or chatbots, increases at work, at home and in schools, users may be sharing more private information than they realize, according to new research from ...

Consumer & Gadgets

What chatbots can teach humans about empathy

Over half of U.S. adults are using large language models (LLMs)—such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot—in some capacity. Whether using artificial intelligence to create grocery lists, turn oneself into a Muppets character or ...

Energy & Green Tech

Q&A: Could light-powered computers reduce AI's energy use?

A key problem facing artificial intelligence (AI) development is the vast amount of energy the technology requires, with some experts projecting AI datacenters to be responsible for over 13% of global electricity usage by ...