+ opening AI's black box
| | | | In our (predominantly bilingual) editors' meeting this week, one question caused quite a stir: Are you a different person when you speak a different language? According to linguists Mari Mar Bolillos Pereira and Ana Blanco Canales, sort of. A bilingual's personality changes when they switch languages, but it's not a bad thing – your second language is less emotionally charged, so it can help you be more objective. AI is supposed to be dispassionate and efficient, but many of us just don't trust it. And why should we, when getting a doctor's appointment, a job offer or good Netflix recommendations depends on the inscrutable whims of an opaque algorithm? Much of the public's unease stems from the "black box" image of AI systems. We don't understand how they work, or how to appease them, but that might be changing thanks to researchers like David Martens and Sofie Goethals at the University of Antwerp. Their recent article is a great explainer on how AI works, and also explores the wider campaigns to make it more accessible and trustworthy. It's been a big political week for several EU members. Ireland's general election bucked the recent trend of electors ousting incumbent parties, but Romania is pulling in the other direction. Its electoral landscape has been shaken up by independent far-right candidate Călin Georgescu, whose aggressive – and possibly illegal – TikTok campaign raked in 22.9% in the first round of votes. France hasn't been spared from politics either. PM Michel Barnier's government has just been toppled after only three months in office. It's not all bad news for France though, as after lengthy renovations the bells of Notre Dame will soon ring again, but not before being blessed in a ritual that dates back to medieval times. While it's rumoured Trump will be at the cathedral's grand reopening, the only orange creature I'm interested in is my calico cat, Fancy, whose fabulously unique colourations have been genetically decoded at long last. |  | Alex Minshall Editor for The Conversation Europe, Valencia | |  Mari Mar Boillos Pereira, Universidad del País Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea; Ana Blanco Canales, Universidad de Alcalá Emotions are more vivid in your mother tongue, but you're more objective when speaking a second language. |  David Martens, University of Antwerp; Sofie Goethals, University of Antwerp AI systems can appear to be black boxes – often, even experts don't know how systems reach their conclusions. The nascent field of "explainable AI" aims to address this problem. | | |  Lisa Keenan, Trinity College Dublin; Gail McElroy, Trinity College Dublin Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been rewarded by voters who believe they have managed the economy well. | |  Anda Iulia Solea, University of Portsmouth Călin Georgescu tops the ballot after the first round of voting amid fears of vote interference. |  Madeleine Burgess, Bangor University Notre Dame's bells have been called the 'voice of the cathedral'. | |  Simon Toubeau, University of Nottingham Michel Barnier knew his actions would trigger a confidence vote. This is the latest battle in Emmanuel Macron's war with Marine Le Pen's far right. | | | | |  Lluís Montoliu, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB - CSIC) Two new studies have revealed why some cats are orange – an enduring enigma of genetics, until now. |  César Martín-Gómez, Universidad de Navarra; Mohd Zahirasri Bin Mohd Tohir, Universidad de Navarra; Victor Debeure, IMT Nord Europe – Institut Mines-Télécom As batteries get bigger, they pose a bigger fire risk, but some are more dangerous than others. | | | -
Chloe Preece, ESCP Business School Paris's Notre Dame cathedral is set to reopen more than five years after a devastating fire. The blaze and its aftermath have fueled debates about the funding of France's cultural heritage. -
Kenneth Nsah Mala, University of Cologne Some 500,000 insect species are facing extinction. Poetry, fiction and nonfiction prose can help raise awareness of the essential roles these creatures play in our ecosystems. -
Luis Alberto Marco-Contreras, Universidad San Jorge; Antonio Cartón Llorente, Universidad San Jorge More and more children and teenagers are hitting the gym, but there are many misconceptions surrounding young people and strength training. -
Lauren A. Keating, EM Lyon Business School; Peter A. Heslin, UNSW Sydney Some job seekers face the obstacle of restrictive beliefs about their abilities. Research shows that having a growth mindset is key – and that it's possible to shift toward one. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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