Ted Chiang was recently awarded the PEN/Faulkner Foundation’s prize for short story excellence. He sat down with NPR to talk about AI, making art and grappling with big ideas.
artificial intelligence
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A phone company developed an AI ‘granny’ to beat scammers at their own game
The company behind the scam-baiting granny said the AI technology can keep scammers on the phone for 40 minutes at a time, keeping them away from real people.
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Lawsuit: A Character.AI chatbot hinted a kid should murder his parents over screen time limits
The parents of two Texas minors are suing a chatbot developer saying the company’s services endangered their kids. One chatbot allegedly encouraged a child to self-harm and to kill their parents; another allegedly exposed them to sexualized content.
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U.S. officials say Russia is embracing AI for its election influence efforts
The cutting-edge technology makes it easier for Russia as well as Iran to quickly and more convincingly tailor polarizing content aimed at swaying American voters, intelligence officials said.
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Three Mile Island nuclear plant will reopen to power Microsoft data centers
Three Mile Island, the Pennsylvania power plant that was the scene of the worst commercial nuclear accident in American history, will reopen and sell power to Microsoft.
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AI met fruit fly, and a better brain model emerged
A virtual version of a fruit fly’s visual system could help scientists understand how brain networks process information. The model could also lead to more efficient AI systems.
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How Memphis became a battleground over Elon Musk’s xAI supercomputer
A massive project headed by Elon Musk in Memphis, Tenn., to power AI has moved at breakneck speed. But it’s stirring controversy around pollution emissions. The EPA says it’s looking into it.
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How AI-generated memes are changing the 2024 election
Donald Trump has repeatedly shared AI-generated content on social media in the latest example of how artificial intelligence is showing up in the 2024 election.
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Ukrainian startups are creating a low-cost robot army to fight Russia
An ecosystem of labs in hundreds of secret workshops is leveraging innovation to create a robot army that Ukraine hopes will kill Russian troops and save its own wounded soldiers and civilians.
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Research shows AI can boost creativity for some, but at a cost
Amateur writers using AI tools produced stories that were deemed more creative, but the research suggests the creativity of the group overall went down.