Existing generative tools can automate a striking range of creative tasks and offer near-instant gratification--but at what cost? Some artists and researchers fear that such technology could turn us into passive consumers of yet more AI slop. And so they are looking for ways to inject human creativity back into the process: working on what's known as co-creativity or more-than-human creativity. The idea is that AI can be used to inspire or critique creative projects, helping people make things that they would not have made by themselves. The aim is to develop AI tools that augment our creativity rather than strip it from us--pushing us to be better at composing music, developing games, designing toys, and much more--and lay the groundwork for a future in which humans and machines create things together.

US president Donald Trump's massive, sweeping tariffs sent global stock markets tumbling yesterday, setting the stage for a worldwide trade war and ratcheting up the dangers of a punishing recession. Experts fear that the US cleantech sector is especially vulnerable to a deep downturn, which would undermine progress on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Agents are the talk of the AI industry--they're capable of planning, reasoning, and executing complex tasks like scheduling meetings, ordering groceries, or even taking over your computer to change settings on your behalf. But the same sophisticated abilities that make agents helpful assistants could also make them powerful tools for conducting cyberattacks. They could readily be used to identify vulnerable targets, hijack their systems, and steal valuable data from unsuspecting victims.