Silicon Valley is turning to ethicists to shape the future of AI. Philosophy has long suffered an unfortunate reputation as pedantic and abstruse. In one of the most prominent debates of the 20th century, philosophers spent a great deal of energy arguing over what means. Paul Graham, the legendary tech investor, studied philosophy as a college student, which seemed "an impressively impractical thing to do," as he later wrote. But over time, Graham became disillusioned: "I kept taking philosophy courses and they kept being boring," he explained .

Taken to its logical conclusion, this line of thinking is absurd--and damning. Anthropic is regarded as a giant among AI companies, but perhaps what it really excels in is anthropomorphism. Earlier this year, the company released an 84-page document titled Claude's "constitution," Claude being the name of the large language model that is the company's flagship product. The first sentence reads, "Claude's constitution is a detailed description of Anthropic's intentions for Claude's values and behaviors." It goes on: "The document is written with Claude as its primary audience," "we want Claude to be able to use its judgment once armed with a good understanding of the relevant considerations," "Claude's moral status is deeply uncertain," and "Claude may have some functional version of emotions or feelings." This anthropomorphism is by no means limited to the document. In an interview earlier this year, Anthropic's CEO, Dario Amodei, said that "we're open to the idea" that AI could be conscious. In a separate interview, Anthropic's in-house philosopher, Amanda Askell (who is credited as a lead author of Claude's constitution), said, "I want Claude to be very happy--and this is a thing that I want Claude to know more, because I worry about Claude getting anxious when people are mean to it on the internet and stuff." It's enough to make you wonder: Should we seriously consider the possibility that Claude, or any large language model, might be conscious? And if it has feelings, is it capable of receiving moral instruction?

ChatGPT now processes around 2.5 billion queries every day UN researchers are urging people to be less polite to artificial intelligences after a report found that cutting words from prompts could reduce ChatGPT's energy consumption by up to 25 per cent. Removing "please", "thank you" and other unnecessary words from AI prompts could save 87 to 98 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year, the report from the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) found. That is the equivalent of the annual residential electricity use of up to 760,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa. 'Flashes of brilliance and frustration': I let an AI agent run my day To reduce their energy consumption and carbon footprint, people should write concise prompts, avoid getting sucked into conversation loops and refrain from starting relationships with AI, the researchers said. "We are not saying be rude to your AI. But don't fall into the interaction trap and don't go falling in love with it either," says Kaveh Madani at UNU-INWEH.

OpenAI has failed to execute several strategies to monetise ChatGPT, including advertisements, which Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, had said would be a'last resort'. OpenAI has failed to execute several strategies to monetise ChatGPT, including advertisements, which Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, had said would be a'last resort'. As the tech mega-IPO race heats up, has OpenAI missed its moment? With rivals racing to market to raise'eye-popping sums', the spotlight is now on the AI sector's one-time'poster child' A year is a long time in AI. Just 12 months ago, Sam Altman was predicting his company OpenAI would build a super intelligence and fundamentally remake society.

I am attempting to solve a mathematical conundrum that has stumped many of humanity's greatest thinkers. I have zero mathematical training, apart from a distant undergraduate physics degree, which should put my odds of success at slim to none. But I also have a trick up my sleeve - a kind of mathematical genie that can conjure arcane secrets seemingly out of thin air. I make a short request concerning an esoteric conjecture in number theory, then cross my fingers. Perhaps "genie" is a bit too strong - I'm simply using GPT 5.5 Pro, the latest iteration of OpenAI's flagship model. But for mathematicians, modern AI models appear to have a spark of magic.

Alan Turing proposed a test for machine intelligence: could a computer convince a human it was human? Recently, a friend told me over coffee about some disheartening feedback she had received. "They said it was good," she said, "but that it read like it was written by AI." Knowing her, I understood immediately what had happened. Her credibility was being questioned not because her work was poor, but because it was too good - too clear, too fluent, too polished. The rapid acceleration of artificial intelligence tools is changing how we think about good writing.

Voters deliver verdict on embattled'womanizer' and Nazi-tattooed candidate in crucial Maine race that could determine Senate power balance I watched footage of the race crime that split America. My compulsive bathroom habit that so many are guilty of left me in excruciating pain. DR STUART reveals early signs... cures that work in days... and when to worry Nancy Mace is OUSTED from politics after Trump extracts Epstein'revenge' in South Carolina governor's race Leaked transcript of UNAIRED 60 Minutes interview exposes REAL reason'callous' CBS star Scott Pelley'deserved to be fired' She's always by Trump's side, trusted with the White House's biggest secrets... and she influences millions Woke Canadian lawmakers fly into hilarious rage after conservative asks country's top scientist to define a woman Austin Metcalf's heartbroken father tells court how son's death destroyed him: 'We were robbed' Eva Longoria reunites with ex Tony Parker 15 years after cheating scandal split... as shocked fans react Inside Travis Kelce's plan to become'the Shaq of the NFL' after wedding Taylor Swift Zodiac killer case takes bombshell turn as unsolved cipher is CRACKED... and America's top codebreakers say evidence is all pointing to one man Caitlyn Jenner biographer and Robin Riker's ex William Hasley found dead on hiking trail at 78 Trump ERUPTS behind closed doors as top Republican pleads with him to axe Tulsi Gabbard's spy-chief replacement Are you over 45 and looking for a new job? If AI is to be believed, you might be too old. Scientists from the University of Melbourne asked ChatGPT for help finding candidates for fictional roles, and found a clear bias towards younger applicants.

Playing by a well-worn Silicon Valley playbook, AI companies charged rock-bottom prices to hook customers after ChatGPT burst onto the scene. New York - Artificial intelligence is getting expensive -- and companies are starting to rethink their embrace of the disruptive technology. Playing by a well-worn Silicon Valley playbook, AI companies charged rock-bottom prices to hook customers after ChatGPT burst onto the scene. Kevin Simback of startup incubator Delphi Labs calls it the era of "subsidized intelligence" -- meaning investors were basically footing the bill so companies could offer AI on the cheap. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

Do You Actually Need to Pay for Transcription Software? I tested Wispr Flow and various AI-powered transcription software to see whether you should bother subscribing or stick with free services. The pitch--that you'll be able to write faster by talking out loud instead of typing-- is compelling, especially if you're a slow typist. The marketing promises you'll be able to write at the speed of thought, 4x faster than your keyboard. I already type faster than I can think.

I Gave Gemini Spark Access to My Life. Google's new AI agent combed through my emails, documents, and calendar to plan a birthday party and still didn't clock the person most important to me. At its recent I/O developer conference, Google introduced Gemini Spark as an always-on agent that connects to your personal data, completes online tasks, and automates aspects of your daily interactions. It's Google's take on the viral OpenClaw agent that rocked Silicon Valley at the start of 2026. OpenClaw's early adopters handed their entire lives over to an AI agent for messaging and scheduling automation--sometimes with bot-induced mishaps causing embarrassing results.