Hidenori Tanaka speaks at NTT Group’s Upgrade 2025 conference in San Francisco on April 9, 2025. Victor Dey for Observer For years, A.I. has been considered a “black box” technology, whose inner workings remain largely mysterious even to its creators because the system is supposed to “learn” itself. But a group of Harvard researchers are … Read more
Atlantic spotted dolphins pictured swimming off Bimini Island, Bahamas. Alexis Rosenfeld/Getty Images As the world’s longest-running underwater dolphin study, the Wild Dolphin Project since 1985 has analyzed generations of wild Atlantic spotted dolphins in the Bahamas. Now, aided by an A.I. model from Google (GOOGL), researchers at the nonprofit science organization are one step closer … Read more
The new creative process: sit back, press enter and wait for the machine to deliver the meaning. Unsplash+ Not long ago, creativity was the sacred domain of human imagination. Now, A.I. is drafts screenplays, remixes songs and even paints the next “masterpieces.” The rise of generative technology is reshaping the creative industry, challenging long-held notions … Read more
In 2025, business leaders must confront the scale, complexity and consequences of artificial intelligence—ethically, economically and socially. Unsplash+ A.I. is now at the heart of digital transformation, bringing organizations immense opportunities and new responsibilities. As we advance through 2025, artificial intelligence has moved from a niche tool to a core driver of business value. The … Read more
A.I.-powered “efficiency” at work: As DOGE slashes federal jobs, even loyal employees are one algorithmic flag away from being plucked from their posts. Unsplash+ Under the flimsy pretext of efficiency, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is gutting its workforce. An independent report suggests that DOGE slashed around 222,000 jobs in March alone. The cuts … Read more
Director Hayao Miyazaki arrives to the special screening of “Ponyo” held at the El Capitan Theatre on July 27, 2009 in Hollywood, Calif. FilmMagic Over the past week, the “Ghiblification” trend has swept the internet, with celebrities, tech leaders, and even the White House generating images in the style of Japan’s Studio Ghibli using OpenAI’s … Read more
Charles Sandison, Garden of Pythia (work in progress). Courtesy of the artist. PCAI artwork commission There is still a mysterious auratic energy in the sacred precinct of Delphi in Greece. In what is now an archaeological site, the ancient Greeks built a sanctuary famed for its oracle, the Pythia, who delivered prophecies from Apollo, the … Read more
Joelle Pineau joined Meta in 2017. Stephane de Sakutin/AFP via Getty Images As Meta (META) prepares to invest tens of billions of dollars in the race to develop artificial intelligence, the company is losing one of its most influential researchers. Joelle Pineau, head of A.I. research at Meta, announced yesterday (April 1) that she will … Read more
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang delivers a keynote address to a packed crowd at GTC 2025. Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images During the early days of Nvidia (NVDA)’s annual developer conference, the San Jose, Calif., event was more akin to a science fair. In 2024, the increasingly popular gathering was dubbed the “Woodstock of A.I.” This … Read more
Reed Hastings served as CEO of Netflix for 25 years. Photo: Cam McLeod While attending Bowdoin College in the 1980s as an undergraduate student, a conversation with the late mathematics professor Steve Fisk convinced Reed Hastings, co-founder and chairman of Netflix (NFLX), to study the then-nascent field of A.I. Now, four decades later, Hastings is … Read more