Anders Sandberg, University of Oxford
It is a cliche that not knowing history makes one repeat it. As many people have also pointed out, the only thing we learn from history is that we rarely learn anything from history. People engage in land wars in Asia over and over. They repeat the same dating mistakes, again and again. But why does this happen? And will technology put an end to it?
Hisham Mehanna, University of Birmingham
Over the past two decades, there has been a rapid increase in throat cancer in the west, to the extent that some have called it an epidemic. This has been due to a large rise in a specific type of throat cancer called oropharyngeal cancer (the area of the tonsils and back of the throat). The main cause of this cancer is the human papillomavirus (HPV), which are also the main cause of cancer of the cervix. Oropharyngeal cancer has now become more common than cervical cancer in the US and the UK.
Eun Young (EY) Oh, University of Portsmouth
From chatbots and virtual assistants to fraud detection and risk management, artificial intelligence (AI) is now being used in many areas of finance. But what could an AI system like ChatGPT do for your bank balance?
AI tools might seem overly complex or expensive to non-experts, but advances in natural language processing and machine learning could turn ChatGPT and similar products into virtual personal finance assistants. This would mean having an expert on hand to help you make sense of the latest financial news and data.
Will Harvey, University of Bristol
A reputation can be damaged by a single mistake, or after months or even years of bad behaviour. Organisations may turn a blind eye to such behaviour by employees or business leaders, and sometimes it is tacitly enabled by a toxic culture that prioritises an end game – profits or “winning” – over people or planet.
In either case, research can tell us about the drivers of reputational loss, as well as how to rebuild a reputation, and ways to avoid damaging it in the first place. But while reputations can be protected, my research shows this shouldn’t happen at all costs – there is a dark side to reputation management that can, and should, be avoided.
Paul Jackson, University of Birmingham
A three-day ceasefire to mark the Islamic festival of Eid-al-Fitr in Khartoum appears to be dead in the water as fighting continues in the Sudanese capital. According to the World Health Organization, more than 330 people have been killed over the past week. Now, with reports emerging that arms are being sent from Egypt and Libya, there are growing fears the situation could develop into a civil war that could draw in regional powers.
Oreste Pollicino, Bocconi University and Giovanni De Gregorio, Bocconi University
In March 2023, Italy became the first western country to block the advanced chatbot known as ChatGPT.
The Italian data protection authority, Garante, cited concerns over the protection of personal data when making this decision. It has given OpenAI, the California-based company that created ChatGPT, until the end of April to comply with its demands.
Stephen Dobson, CQUniversity Australia
Imagine the following scenario.
You are a student and enter a room or Zoom meeting. A panel of examiners who have read your essay or viewed your performance, are waiting inside.
You answer a series of questions as they probe your knowledge and skills. You leave. The examiners then consider the preliminary pre-oral exam grade and if an adjustment up or down is required.
You are called back to receive your final grade.
This type of oral assessment – or viva voce as it was known in Latin – is a tried and tested form of educational assessment.
Philippe Burger, University of the Free State
Public debt repayments in some African countries are at their highest levels since 1998. The Conversation Africa’s founding editor Caroline Southey talks to dean and economics professor Philippe Burger about the danger of debt problems some African countries face.
Angus Nurse, Nottingham Trent University
Louise Casey’s review of the standards of behaviour and internal culture at the Metropolitan police makes for uncomfortable reading. It was commissioned following the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by Wayne Couzens, who was a serving Met officer at the time.
Casey highlights the prevalence of sexism and homophobia. Crucially, in considering police culture she draws different conclusions on the existence of institutional racism than the position taken in 2021 by Boris Johnson’s government on race.
Sercan Ozcan, University of Portsmouth; Joe Sekhon, University of Portsmouth, and Oleksandra Ozcan, University of Portsmouth
The AI chatbot ChatGPT produces content that can appear to have been created by a human. There are many proposed uses for the technology, but its impressive capabilities raise important questions about ownership of the content.
UK legislation has a definition for computer-generated works. Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 they are “generated by computer in circumstances such that there is no human author of the work”. The law suggests content generated by an artificial intelligence (AI) can be protected by copyright. However, the original sources of answers generated by AI chatbots can be difficult to trace – and they might include copyrighted works.