Feedback is New Scientist's popular sideways look at the latest science and technology news. You can submit items you believe may amuse readers to Feedback by emailing feedback@newscientist.com Feedback has reached an age where even a small amount of alcohol makes us sleepy, so the notion of going to a wine tasting holds no appeal. It seems a terribly time-consuming and expensive way to have a nap. However, purveyors of fermented grapes could soon have a new demographic to cater to: rats.

On the supercomputers at the National Supercomputer Center at Linköping University, researchers simulate how atoms in different materials behave. Data from such simulations is made available worldwide via the OPTIMADE standard to train future AI models for materials research. From left: Oskar Andersson, doctoral student, and Rickard Armiento, associate professor. Artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating the development of new materials. A prerequisite for AI in materials research is large-scale use and exchange of data on materials, which is facilitated by a broad international standard.

Cold, calculating, and robotic: lawyers of the future might really live up to their exaggerated reputations as AI takes over the legal profession. For the first time, two AIs, created by lawtech firm Luminance, have successfully negotiated a contract without any human involvement. The AIs went back and forth over the details of a real Non-Disclosure Agreement between the company and proSapient, one of Luminance's clients. The contract was finalised within minutes and the only time a human was required was to add their signature. This stunning demonstration comes just one week after Elon Musk predicted that AI would eventually create a jobless utopia where no one has to work. In a conversation with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the Bletchley Park AI Summit, Mr Musk said that AI would be the most disruptive force in the history of work and would ultimately remove the need for humans to have jobs.

Inês Hipólito is a highly accomplished researcher, recognized for her work in esteemed journals and contributions as a co-editor. She has received research awards including the prestigious Talent Grant from the University of Amsterdam in 2021. After her PhD, she held positions at the Berlin School of Mind and Brain and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Currently, she is a permanent lecturer of the philosophy of AI at Macquarie University, focusing on cognitive development and the interplay between augmented cognition (AI) and the sociocultural environment. Neurourbanism as a Novel Approach in Global Health,' funded by the Berlin University Alliance.

"The first ultraintelligent machine is the last invention that man need ever make, provided that the machine is docile enough to tell us how to keep it under control," mathematician and science fiction writer I.J. Good wrote over 60 years ago. These prophetic words are now more relevant than ever, with artificial intelligence (AI) gaining capabilities at breakneck speed. In the last weeks, many jaws dropped as they witnessed transformation of AI from a handy but decidedly unscary recommender algorithm, to something that at times seemed to act worryingly humanlike. Some reporters were so shocked that they reported their conversation histories with large language model Bing Chat verbatim.

Many boundaries are, and will continue to, shape the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI). We push on these boundaries in order to make progress, but they are both pliable and resilient--always creating new boundaries of what AI can (or should) achieve. Among these are technical boundaries (such as processing capacity), psychological boundaries (such as human trust in AI systems), ethical boundaries (such as with AI weapons), and conceptual boundaries (such as the AI people can imagine). It is within this final category while it can play a fundamental role in all other boundaries} that we find the construct of needs and the limitations that our current concept of need places on the future AI.

While AI and machine learning software aren't created to be biased, data algorithms and social biases of the engineers who create these systems can …

If you are an avid follower of the latest trends in the world of technology, you would have probably heard a lot about artificial intelligence. The hype is alive since 2018. Some consider it as a promise for great future, despite the fact, not too many years ago, people were skeptical about the use of AI for anything other than repetitive tasks (through machine learning). According to Gartner, by 2020, AI will generate 2.3 million jobs, exceeding the 1.8 million that it will remove--generating $2.9 trillion in business value by 2021. Google's CEO says that "AI is one of the most important things humanity is working on. It is more profound than […] electricity or fire."

Bad Connection When scientists finally crack the code of superhuman artificial intelligence, verbal communication between us humans and the machines may be a total wash, according to SpaceX and Tesla leader Elon Musk. The problem, Musk believes, comes from the different speeds at which a human and a computer can process information, according to Business Insider. Computer engineers have built processors that work at blazing-fast speeds, but our mortal brains work far slower a disparity Musk thinks could break down future human-AI relations. Whale Song Musk described how computers could process information much more rapidly than humans during a presentation on AI this week, BI reports. To a computer a millisecond is an eternity, but to us its nothing, Musk said.

When scientists finally crack the code of superhuman artificial intelligence, verbal communication between us humans and the machines may be a total wash, according to SpaceX and Tesla leader Elon Musk. The problem, Musk believes, comes from the different speeds at which a human and a computer can process information, according to Business Insider. Computer engineers have built processors that work at blazing-fast speeds, but our mortal brains work far slower -- a disparity Musk thinks could break down future human-AI relations. Musk described how computers could process information much more rapidly than humans during a presentation on AI this week, BI reports. "To a computer… a millisecond is an eternity, but to us it's nothing," Musk said.