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Why human empathy still matters in the age of AI

A new international study finds that people place greater emotional value on empathy they believe comes from humans—even when the exact same response is generated by artificial intelligence.

Published in Nature Human Behaviour, the study involved over 6,000 participants across nine experiments.

The researchers, led by Prof. Anat Perry from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and her Ph.D. student Matan Rubin, in collaboration with Prof. Amit Goldenberg, with researchers from Harvard University and Prof. Desmond C. Ong, from the University of Texas, tested whether people perceived empathy differently depending on whether it was labeled as coming from a human or from an AI chatbot.

Preliminary Clinical Trial Results Show ‘Dramatic and Rapid’ Regression of Glioblastoma after Next Generation CAR-T Therapy

A collaborative project by Mass General Cancer Center researchers to bring the promise of cell therapy to patients with a deadly form of brain cancer has shown dramatic results among the first patients to receive the novel treatment.

Discovery in quantum materials could make electronics 1,000 times faster

Researchers at Northeastern University have discovered how to change the electronic state of matter on demand, a breakthrough that could make electronics 1,000 times faster and more efficient.

By switching from insulating to conducting and vice versa, the discovery creates the potential to replace silicon components in electronics with exponentially smaller and faster quantum materials.

“Processors work in gigahertz right now,” said Alberto de la Torre, assistant professor of physics and lead author of the research. “The speed of change that this would enable would allow you to go to terahertz.”

AI matches doctors in mapping lung tumors for radiation therapy

In radiation therapy, precision can save lives. Oncologists must carefully map the size and location of a tumor before delivering high-dose radiation to destroy cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. But this process, called tumor segmentation, is still done manually, takes time, varies between doctors—and can lead to critical tumor areas being overlooked.

Now, a team of Northwestern Medicine scientists has developed an AI tool called iSeg that not only matches doctors in accurately outlining on CT scans but can also identify areas that some doctors may miss, reports a large new study.

Unlike earlier AI tools that focused on static images, iSeg is the first 3D deep learning tool shown to segment tumors as they move with each breath—a critical factor in planning , which half of all cancer patients in the U.S. receive during their illness.

You’re Not Imagining It. People Actually Are Starting To Talk Like ChatGPT

Basically put, the researchers found that the more people use AIs, the more they tend to use the AIs’ favorite words in their own speech.

TechRadar’s Eric Hal Schwartz made a good point, though, that other examples of widely popular, technology-driven platforms have worked their way into commonly spoken English, such as saying “hashtag” before a word or phrase to hint at… well, almost anything.

Thank Twitter for that. When somebody would do so, it was almost always tongue-in-cheek and self aware. There was a nod to its own cringiness that meant the one saying it was in on the joke.