AI Flash News

New research detects hidden evidence of mistaken correlations — and provides a method to improve accuracy.

With support from the Siegel Family Endowment, the newly renamed MIT Siegel Family Quest for Intelligence investigates how brains produce intelligence and how it can be replicated to solve problems.

“MechStyle” allows users to personalize 3D models, while ensuring they’re physically viable after fabrication, producing unique personal items and assistive technology.

While the growing energy demands of AI are worrying, some techniques can also help make power grids cleaner and more efficient.

With the help of AI, MIT Research Scientist Judah Cohen is reshaping subseasonal forecasting, with the goal of extending the lead time for predicting impactful weather.

Quantum computers need extreme cold to work, but the very systems that keep them cold also create noise that can destroy fragile quantum information. Scientists in Sweden have now flipped that problem on its head by building a tiny quantum refrigerator that actually uses noise to drive cooling instead of fighting it. By carefully steering heat at unimaginably small scales, the device can act as a refrigerator, heat engine, or energy amplifier inside quantum circuits.

AI may learn better when it’s allowed to talk to itself. Researchers showed that internal “mumbling,” combined with short-term memory, helps AI adapt to new tasks, switch goals, and handle complex challenges more easily. This approach boosts learning efficiency while using far less training data. It could pave the way for more flexible, human-like AI systems.

A massive new study comparing more than 100,000 people with today’s most advanced AI systems delivers a surprising result: generative AI can now beat the average human on certain creativity tests. Models like GPT-4 showed strong performance on tasks designed to measure original thinking and idea generation, sometimes outperforming typical human responses. But there’s a clear ceiling. The most creative humans — especially the top 10% — still leave AI well behind, particularly on richer creative work like poetry and storytelling.

Quantum computers could revolutionize everything from drug discovery to business analytics—but their incredible power also makes them surprisingly vulnerable. New research from Penn State warns that today’s quantum machines are not just futuristic tools, but potential gold mines for hackers. The study reveals that weaknesses can exist not only in software, but deep within the physical hardware itself, where valuable algorithms and sensitive data may be exposed.