AI might make us mistakenly think we've found aliens, says study

While some researchers search for biological signs of life beyond Earth, others are scouring the cosmos for technosignatures -- evidence of the kind of technological activity we might expect from an advanced alien civilization. This evidence could take a range of forms. It might be a series of radio signals, signs of pollution in an exoplanet's atmosphere, or even an engineered structure. A new study suggests, however, that we might want to think twice about using artificial intelligence to help in our hunt for technosignatures -- because it could trick us into thinking we see signs of aliens where none exist. Here's an example of how it could go down.