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How do we reach decisions? Researchers pioneer AI method to uncover cognitive strategies

Researchers have long been interested in how humans and animals make decisions by focusing on trial-and-error behavior informed by recent information. However, the conventional frameworks for understanding these behaviors may overlook certain realities of decision-making because they assume we make the best decisions after taking into account our past experiences.

A newly released study by a team of scientists deploys AI in innovative ways to better understand this process. By using tiny artificial neural networks, the researchers’ work illuminates in detail what drives an individual’s actual choices—regardless of whether those choices are optimal or not.

The work appears in Nature.

Pilot program integrates AI-generated notes with human community notes on X platform

X (formerly Twitter) launched its “Community Notes” program in 2021 to combat misinformation by allowing users to add contextual notes on posts that might be deceptive or lead to misinterpretation. An example would be users labeling an AI-generated video as such, so that other users would not be tricked into believing the event in the video actually occurred. Community notes are rated by the decentralized social media community to determine their usefulness. Only the notes determined useful by raters are shown on the post. X’s Community Notes later inspired other platforms to launch similar programs.

Machine learning outpaces supercomputers for simulating galaxy evolution coupled with supernova explosion

Researchers have used machine learning to dramatically speed up the processing time when simulating galaxy evolution coupled with supernova explosion. This approach could help us understand the origins of our own galaxy, particularly the elements essential for life in the Milky Way.

The findings are published in The Astrophysical Journal.

The team was led by Keiya Hirashima at the RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS) in Japan, along with colleagues from the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) and the Flatiron Institute.

Could AI help us better understand the universe?

For almost as long as humans have existed, we have been trying to make sense of the cosmos. What started as philosophical musing has, following the advent of the telescope and the ability to look ever farther into space (and ever earlier in time), become a thriving field of research.

Today, scientists seek to understand the properties governing how our universe behaves. These properties are characterized mathematically as so-called cosmological parameters, which fit into our models of the cosmos. The more precisely these parameters can be measured, the better we are able to differentiate between models, as well as validate — or rule out — long-held theories, including Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Because different models can hold vastly different predictions for both our universe’s earliest moments and eventual fate, that differentiation is vital.

To date, some of the biggest challenges include more tightly constraining parameters such as those that determine the precise amount and nature of dark matter, the source of dark energy and the repulsive force that it exerts, and exactly how neutrinos behave.

How AGI Will Create a Universal Language to Transform Human Thinking

The rise of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) has the potential to change many aspects of human life. One of the most interesting possibilities is that AGI could create a universal language. This change could deeply transform how we think. Unlike today’s AI, which is made for specific tasks, AGI refers to machines that can perform any intellectual task a human can. These machines can learn, reason, and innovate in many different areas.

This ability makes AGI a powerful tool in technology and in changing how we communicate and understand the world. By studying patterns from all human languages, AGI could design a universal language with the potential to connect different cultures and languages. More than just making communication easier, such a language could also improve human thinking. In fact, this could change the way we think, perceive, and interact with our environment.

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