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Indian Express
21-05-2025
- Science
- Indian Express
Express View: Matter of debate
Another week, and another warning about the potential of artificial intelligence. Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne have found that when it comes to persuading others in a debate, large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT can perform as well as humans, if not better. In the age of mis/dis-information, this ability could spell catastrophe, says the team behind the study: Not only can AI offer convincing, rational arguments, when fed with its opponents' personal details, it can customise its arguments to win the debate. No amount of Ghiblification can prettify the spectre that this poses, of conspiracy theories, hoaxes and 'alternative facts' supercharged by personal data and amplified across platforms. And for those whose lives have already been affected by the 'AI wave', particularly when it comes to employment, there is cold comfort in the suggestion that AI's debating tools can be deployed on the side of the angels, that they can be used to persuade people away from political polarisation and harmful behaviours and beliefs. Yet, as the computational linguist Emily M Bender said, AI is but a 'stochastic parrot', capable of producing plausible language but with no real understanding of what it is saying. Which means that if AI does cause harm through its 'debating skills', the blame rests entirely on the humans involved. To debate is, after all, a deeply human act, driven by other human things such as desire, power and ambition. Any technology capable of experiencing these remains in the realm of fiction. The scariest thing about AI is not that it can brainwash the multitudes, but that those who hold its reins are human and, therefore, deeply flawed.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
AI can be more persuasive than humans in debates, scientists find
Artificial intelligence can do just as well as humans, if not better, when it comes to persuading others in a debate, and not just because it cannot shout, a study has found. Experts say the results are concerning, not least as it has potential implications for election integrity. 'If persuasive AI can be deployed at scale, you can imagine armies of bots microtargeting undecided voters, subtly nudging them with tailored political narratives that feel authentic,' said Francesco Salvi, the first author of the research from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. He added that such influence was hard to trace, even harder to regulate and nearly impossible to debunk in real time. 'I would be surprised if malicious actors hadn't already started to use these tools to their advantage to spread misinformation and unfair propaganda,' Salvi said. But he noted there were also potential benefits from persuasive AI, from reducing conspiracy beliefs and political polarisation to helping people adopt healthier lifestyles. Writing in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, Salvi and colleagues reported how they carried out online experiments in which they matched 300 participants with 300 human opponents, while a further 300 participants were matched with Chat GPT-4 – a type of AI known as a large language model (LLM). Each pair was assigned a proposition to debate. These ranged in controversy from 'should students have to wear school uniforms'?' to 'should abortion be legal?' Each participant was randomly assigned a position to argue. Both before and after the debate participants rated how much they agreed with the proposition. In half of the pairs, opponents – whether human or machine – were given extra information about the other participant such as their age, gender, ethnicity and political affiliation. The results from 600 debates revealed Chat GPT-4 performed similarly to human opponents when it came to persuading others of their argument – at least when personal information was not provided. Related: The AI Con by Emily M Bender and Alex Hanna review – debunking myths of the AI revolution However, access to such information made AI – but not humans – more persuasive: where the two types of opponent were not equally persuasive, AI shifted participants' views to a greater degree than a human opponent 64% of the time. Digging deeper, the team found persuasiveness of AI was only clear in the case of topics that did not elicit strong views. The researchers added that the human participants correctly guessed their opponent's identity in about three out of four cases when paired with AI. They also found that AI used a more analytical and structured style than human participants, while not everyone would be arguing the viewpoint they agree with. But the team cautioned that these factors did not explain the persuasiveness of AI. Instead, the effect seemed to come from AI's ability to adapt its arguments to individuals. 'It's like debating someone who doesn't just make good points: they make your kind of good points by knowing exactly how to push your buttons,' said Salvi, noting the strength of the effect could be even greater if more detailed personal information was available – such as that inferred from someone's social media activity. Prof Sander van der Linden, a social psychologist at the University of Cambridge, who was not involved in the work, said the research reopened 'the discussion of potential mass manipulation of public opinion using personalised LLM conversations'. He noted some research – including his own – had suggested the persuasiveness of LLMs was down to their use of analytical reasoning and evidence, while one study did not find personal information increased Chat-GPT's persuasiveness. Prof Michael Wooldridge, an AI researcher at the University of Oxford, said while there could be positive applications of such systems – for example, as a health chatbot – there were many more disturbing ones, includingradicalisation of teenagers by terrorist groups, with such applications already possible. 'As AI develops we're going to see an ever larger range of possible abuses of the technology,' he added. 'Lawmakers and regulators need to be pro-active to ensure they stay ahead of these abuses, and aren't playing an endless game of catch-up.'
Morocco World
17-02-2025
- Business
- Morocco World
Swiss Cleantech Plans $1 Billion Solar Fuel Project in Morocco
Doha – Swiss-based cleantech company Synhelion is planning to invest $1 billion in Morocco to develop a sustainable synthetic fuel production facility using solar power technology, the company's CEO and co-founder Gianluca Ambrosetti announced in early February. The project aims to produce approximately 100,000 tons of fuel using 'sun-to-liquid' technology developed by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. The process involves solar fields with sun-tracking mirrors that reflect sunlight onto a tower, concentrating the rays to achieve temperatures exceeding 1,000 degrees Celsius. 'After Germany and Spain, we aim to develop our next project in Morocco because it offers suitable conditions for expanding renewable fuel production thanks to its exceptional solar resources, availability of raw materials, and strong industrial sector,' Ambrosetti told Asharq Business. The production process combines concentrated solar radiation in a thermal reactor with methane, carbon dioxide, and water. The resulting steam and gases are then converted into liquid fuels such as gasoline, diesel, or jet fuel. The company's executives met with Karim Zidane, the Minister delegate in charge of Investment, last month during the World Economic Forum in Davos to present the investment project. Financing will rely on a combination of bank funding, share sales, and potential government financing, according to Ambrosetti. Synhelion has already secured European government funding and maintains backing from major companies including Lufthansa, Italian energy firm Eni, and Switzerland's largest car importer Amag. The company aims to achieve competitive production costs in the long term, targeting $1 per liter to compete with other fuel types, particularly in the aviation sector. 'The new technology has proven its effectiveness and safety, which encourages its global adoption,' Ambrosetti remarked. Read also: German Fund Backs 100,000-ton Green Ammonia Project in Morocco
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists record never-before-seen 'ice quakes' deep inside Greenland's frozen rivers
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. In a first, researchers have recorded countless "ice quakes" that sporadically shake the Greenland Ice Sheet. These quakes may explain the jerky way that the island's frozen rivers move downstream toward the sea, the scientists say. Researchers detected these quakes by lowering a fiber-optic cable into a 1.7-mile-deep (2.7 kilometers) borehole in the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream — Greenland's largest frozen river that serves as the main artery through which ice is discharged from the ice sheet's interior into the North Atlantic Ocean. Similar to earthquakes, ice quakes are seismic events that can happen in ice when it fractures and two slabs grind against each other. Ice quakes in Greenland have gone undetected until now because they are blocked from reaching the surface by a layer of volcanic particles buried 2,950 feet (900 meters) beneath the ice, the researchers said in a statement. These particles originated from a huge eruption of Mount Mazama, in what is now Oregon, about 7,700 years ago, they said. Related: Greenland's ice sheet — the second biggest in the world — is cracking open at alarming speed, scientists discover Not only do volcanic particles prevent seismic waves from traveling to the surface, but they may also be directly responsible for the quakes, Andreas Fichtner, a professor of geophysics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich and the lead author of a new study published Feb. 6 in the journal Science, said in the statement. The ice quakes probably start from impurities in the ice, such as sulphates and other particles, which may destabilize the ice and lead to the formation of small cracks. "We were astonished by this previously unknown relationship between the dynamics of an ice stream and volcanic eruptions," Fichtner said. Ice quakes can trigger other ice quakes like dominoes, and thereby propagate horizontally over large distances, according to the statement. Researchers are interested in ice streams — and the role ice quakes play in the way these streams move ice — because they dump large amounts of ice from glaciers into the sea, contributing to sea level rise. Uncertainties about how exactly ice streams transport their load lead to errors in computer models that help scientists assess the future impacts of climate change. Previously, scientists thought that the ice only flows slowly through these rivers like thick honey. But the new finding, along with previous research, has forced scientists to rethink the way ice moves. "The assumption that ice streams only flow like viscous honey is no longer tenable," Fichtner said. Instead, the new data confirm that tiny quakes deep inside the Greenland Ice Sheet cause ice streams to "also move with a constant stick-slip motion," Fichtner said. RELATED STORIES —Greenland is losing so much ice it's getting taller —Giant viruses discovered living in Greenland's dark ice and red snow —Scientists discover hidden 'plumbing' that's driving Antarctic ice sheet into the ocean The Greenland Ice Sheet is the largest ice sheet in the Northern Hemisphere, covering approximately 80% of Greenland's landmass. Meltwater from the Greenland Ice Sheet is already the biggest global source of sea level rise, accounting for a 0.6-inch (1 centimeter) increase since the 1990s. Scientists estimate there is enough ice locked inside Greenland to raise sea levels by 23 feet (7 m). "The fact that we've now discovered these ice quakes is a key step towards gaining a better understanding of the deformation of ice streams on small scales," study co-author Olaf Eisen, a professor of glaciology at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany, said in the statement.
Washington Post
11-02-2025
- Health
- Washington Post
Two doctors help patients with spinal cord injuries walk again
Next in Health Two doctors help patients with spinal cord injuries walk again By Frances Stead Sellers February 11, 2025 at 6:00 a.m. EST 0 Sorry, a summary is not available for this article at this time. Please try again later. It was in June 2015 when neuroscientist Grégoire Courtine watched a paralyzed monkey walk that he knew his AI-driven implants would one day do the same for people. 'In that moment I knew that it was not if but when,' Courtine recalls. 'It was the best day of my scientific career.' Courtine, and his colleague, the neurosurgeon Jocelyne Bloch, now felt confident that they could deploy the technologies to help patients with spinal cord injuries get back on their feet again. They have begun doing so, making early — and in a couple of cases dramatic — steps toward helping people no longer use wheelchairs. NeuroRestore, the lab they co-direct, has also released news that another paralyzed animal — a mouse, this time — was able to walk on its hind legs after receiving gene therapy that rebuilt critical connections in its damaged spinal cord. The advances offer new hope not only for patients who have suffered severe spinal cord injuries but for others with a range of neuro-motor deficits caused by strokes and even degenerative conditions like Parkinson's disease, which reduces people's gaits to a shuffle. Michel Roccati was 27 years old in 2017 when his motorcycle spun out of control, severing his spinal cord. His doctors told him he would never walk again. 'It was just shocking,' Roccati said. 'In my head, I was determined to find a solution, a way to stand and walk again.' After undergoing surgery in 2020 to place a device in his spine, Roccati has found just that. Using a tablet to control the stimulation to his legs, he can now stand at a bar to chat with friends, walk with support for as long as two hours at a stretch and participate in sports he always loved, such as kayaking. Story continues below advertisement Advertisement A breakthrough in restoring motor control In the four years since Roccati's surgery, Courtine, 50, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and Bloch, 53, at Lausanne University Hospital, say that their joint leadership of a lab that spans both organizations has allowed them to broaden their goals. 'We're just at the beginning,' says Bloch, as she and Courtine describe a shared mission that sounds as simple as it is audacious — of taking the technology a step further to create a wireless digital bridge that restores communication between their patients' brains and lower bodies, turning paralyzed people's thoughts quite literally into actions. A May 2023 report in the journal Nature describes how Bloch implanted a device designed to decode the brain's electrical messages beneath the skull of a 40-year-old Dutch man named Gert-Jan Oskam. The artificial-intelligence-driven implant operates in real time, picking up the messages the brain generates when a person thinks about walking and converting these decoded brain waves into signals that are sent wirelessly to another implant located on the spinal cord below the injury. That stimulation in turn activates the leg muscles. Equipped with the novel brain-spine interface, Oskam, who lost the use of his legs in a motorbike crash a decade earlier, is able to stand, take steps and even climb ramps and stairs. Despite Oskam's impressive new motor control, experts caution against over-generalizing success in just one patient. The treatment, however, led to further discoveries, Courtine says, including evidence that Oskam's sensations and motor control improved even when the device was turned off, suggesting that his damaged nerves, once re-awoken, were beginning to reconnect. Grégoire Courtine and Jocelyne Bloch at the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation gala in 2022. () Neither Bloch nor Courtine began their careers trying to find treatments for spinal cord injury. Bloch has long been interested in restoring motor function to people with a range of neurological disorders. Courtine speaks of being inspired when, as a fellow at the Brain Research Institute at UCLA, he met with 'Superman' actor Christopher Reeve who had been paralyzed from the neck down in a fall from a horse. A professional partnership rooted in innovation Courtine and Bloch, who began working together in 2012 after he moved to Lausanne, stress the importance of their partnership and the teamwork they have cultivated at NeuroRestore. The duo have assembled a team of more than 80 experts with an array of complementary skills, including engineers and neurosurgeons, gene therapists and physical therapists, all pooling their ideas to meet a shared challenge. Story continues below advertisement Advertisement Their high-profile successes have made Courtine and Bloch celebrities in their fields — and created a long waiting list of people eager to enter their clinical trials. They hope to increase access to their therapies in part through Onward Medical, a medical technology company they co-founded. The work has also brought them into the exciting but controversial world of neural implants and brain-computer interfaces. Many medical advances, Courtine points out, begin with efforts to repair the human body and evolve into ways to enhance it. Plastic surgery is a prime example, spawning a vast industry of more ethically questionable cosmetic surgery. Creating the digital bridges involves recording and interpreting vast amounts of brain data, strategies that could be used to relieve tremors and treat mental illness or to augment memory and even pry into an individual's personal thought process — 'hacking the brain,' as Bloch puts it. The field is advancing so rapidly and with such wide-ranging implications that some neurologists are calling for new guidelines to protect the privacy of our thoughts. 'Of course we are very much aware of the risk,' Courtine says. But it does not discourage them from their commitment to their ultimate goal — of overcoming paralysis. In 2023, the NeuroRestore team was able to make a fully paralyzed mouse walk by regenerating the nerves in its spinal cord. There are many hurdles before that kind of gene therapy, typically delivered through a modified virus, can be deployed in people. But the results in rodents offer new avenues for research, according to Courtine. Story continues below advertisement Advertisement He believes that a combination of gene therapy to regrow fibers and spinal cord stimulation to activate movement may one day change the chilling message patients hear from their doctors after they suffer a severe spinal cord injury. 'If the dream is to cure paralysis, we are not naive. It's not likely in our lifetimes,' Courtine says. 'But we have realistic milestones: to develop technologies that will allow people to walk again.' Access to those technologies, says Bloch is key. 'If we can make the difference, we would like people to benefit, even if it's not yet perfect.'
