AI could trick us into thinking we've found aliens, scientists warn

Artificial intelligence could trick us into thinking we have found potential aliens, researchers have warned. Even computers could be prone to identifying shapes as evidence of extraterrestrial civilisations, a new study has found – and humans could then be deceived into believing they are real. Artificial intelligence is one of the breakthrough technologies in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, being used to sort through huge amounts of image in the hopes of spotting "technosignatures", or indications of alien life. But the new discovery suggests that people could be get excited about potential discoveries spotted by AI, only to find that they are actually meaningless, accidental formations on alien planets. The study used a particular formation on the dwarf planet Ceres, which excited alien-hunters when it was first discovered.