Science & Health
The impact and implications of large language models
Large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and Google Bard have attracted a great deal of publicity in recent months ...
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We need to stop treating AI like humans
The artificial intelligence (AI) pioneer Geoffrey Hinton recently resigned from Google, warning of the dangers of the technology “becoming more intelligent ...
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Our female genital mutilation laws are broken
A nurse once told me many health professionals don’t report female genital mutilation (FGM) because it could result in children ...
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Rationalists and circumcision
On 14 April 2023, it will be 10 years since I sent out the very first edition of ‘RSA Daily’. ...
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Lessons from social science forecasting during the pandemic
Imagine being a policymaker at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. You have to decide which actions to recommend, how ...
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Multiverse: Betting on what’s beyond the horizon
It’s easy to envisage other universes, governed by slightly different laws of physics, in which no intelligent life, nor indeed ...
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How amateur scientists are making important discoveries
What images does science conjure up in your mind? You may well be visualising a laboratory, equations scrawled on a ...
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The future role of human judgement
There is an old Chinese curse, “May you live in an interesting age.” It continues: “They are times of danger ...
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Why I wrote a book on circumcision
I’ve spent the last 10 years researching and writing a book on circumcision. The first question most people ask me ...
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The gaping problem at the heart of scientific research
Researchers can’t progress their work without access to very expensive scientific journals. The rebellion against the publishers and their fees ...
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Success without substance
New Zealander Nigel Richards has won the French Scrabble championship twice. What’s more remarkable than double wins is that Nigel doesn’t ...
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In defence of nudging
Nudging – the idea that simple changes to how a choice is presented can lead people to make better decisions ...
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