Traditional Fourth of July fireworks displays are being replaced by large swarms of small drones with colored lights. It reduces wildfire risk, pollution and loud noises.

NPR's Shannon Bond speaks with UC Berkeley professor Hany Farid about the prevalence of fake images and information generated by artificial intelligence and other technologies.

Technoblade was one of YouTube's most popular Minecraft video creators. Technoblade was one of YouTube's most popular Minecraft video creators. Technoblade, one of the most popular Minecraft video creators on YouTube, has died following a stage 4 cancer diagnosis, according to his family. "If I had another hundred lives, I think I would choose to be Technoblade again every single time, as those were the happiest years of my life," he wrote in a message to his community about 8 hours before he died. His father read aloud the message in a YouTube video Thursday titled "so long nerds" that has reached millions of people and hit #1 on the trending page.

Do you miss the sound of a dead relative's voice? Well fear not: Amazon unveiled a new feature in the works for its virtual assistant Alexa that can read aloud in a deceased loved one's voice based on a short recording of the person. "While AI can't eliminate that pain of loss, it can definitely make their memories last," said Rohit Prasad, senior vice president and head scientist for Alexa, on Wednesday at Amazon's re:MARS conference in Las Vegas. In a video played at the event, an Amazon Echo Dot is asked: "Alexa, can Grandma finish reading me'The Wizard of Oz'?" "Instead of Alexa's voice reading the book, it's the kid's grandma's voice," Prasad said. "We had to learn to produce a high quality voice with less than a minute of recording."

If an AI program became sentient, would the law apply to AI just as it does to humans? NPR's A Martinez asks law professor Ifeoma Ajunwa to imagine the legal implications for sentient AI.

Blake Lemoine poses for a portrait in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Blake Lemoine poses for a portrait in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Can artificial intelligence come alive? That question is at the center of a debate raging in Silicon Valley after a Google computer scientist claimed over the weekend that the company's AI appears to have consciousness. Inside Google, engineer Blake Lemoine was tasked with a tricky job: Figure out if the company's artificial intelligence showed prejudice in how it interacted with humans.

A Tesla owner charges his vehicle in April 2021 at a charging station in Topeka, Kan.. Tesla reported 273 crashes involving partially automated driving systems, according to statistics released by U.S. safety regulators on Wednesday. A Tesla owner charges his vehicle in April 2021 at a charging station in Topeka, Kan.. Tesla reported 273 crashes involving partially automated driving systems, according to statistics released by U.S. safety regulators on Wednesday. Automakers reported nearly 400 crashes of vehicles with partially automated driver-assist systems, including 273 involving Teslas, according to statistics released Wednesday by U.S. safety regulators. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration cautioned against using the numbers to compare automakers, saying it didn't weight them by the number of vehicles from each manufacturer that use the systems, or how many miles those vehicles traveled. Automakers reported crashes from July of last year through May 15 under an order from the agency, which is examining such crashes broadly for the first time.

Researcher Lee Fisher (left) is working to merge prosthetic limbs with the nervous system. Pat Bayne (right) says a prototype has partially restored her sense of touch: "I know there's no hand there, but I can feel it." Researcher Lee Fisher (left) is working to merge prosthetic limbs with the nervous system. Pat Bayne (right) says a prototype has partially restored her sense of touch: "I know there's no hand there, but I can feel it." A team at the University of Pittsburgh is trying to make prosthetic limbs that work like the one in a Star Wars movie. After Luke Skywalker loses a hand in a lightsaber fight, "They give him this new hand, and you can't tell that it's not his own," says Lee Fisher, a biomedical engineer.

This photo provided by Axon Enterprise depicts a conceptual design through a computer-generated rendering of a taser drone. Axon Enterprise, Inc. via AP hide caption This photo provided by Axon Enterprise depicts a conceptual design through a computer-generated rendering of a taser drone. WASHINGTON -- Axon, the company best known for developing the Taser, said Monday it was halting plans to develop a Taser-equipped drone after a majority of its ethics board resigned over the controversial project. Axon's founder and CEO Rick Smith said the company's announcement last week -- which drew a rebuke from its artificial intelligence ethics board -- was intended to "initiate a conversation on this as a potential solution." Smith said the ensuing discussion "provided us with a deeper appreciation of the complex and important considerations" around the issue.

The robot ship designed by IBM was meant to dock in Massachusetts, but mechanical trouble forced it to dock in Halifax, Canada. The ship didn't have a crew.