New research by Prof. David Rand and his colleagues has utilized generative AI to address conspiracy theory beliefs, reports Marie Boran for Newsweek. “The researchers had more than 2,000 Americans interact with ChatGPT about a conspiracy theory they believe in, explains Boran. “Within three rounds of conversation with the chatbot, participants’ belief in their chosen conspiracy theory was reduced by 20 percent on average.”
Research Scientist Josh Bendavid PhD '13 and his colleagues have “produced a new value for the W boson mass,” a "fundamental particle that is crucial for processes like nuclear decay and setting the mass of the Higgs boson,” reports Alex Wilkins for New Scientist. The result is in line with predictions made in the standard model of particle physics. “The standard model survives for the moment,” said Bendavid of the findings.
A new study by researchers from MIT and elsewhere has found that “most drivers are likely to multitask and get distracted if their vehicles are equipped with partial automation software,” reports William Gavin for Quartz. The researchers “studied how drivers with cars that have the technology behaved after it was enabled,” explains Gavin.
Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have found that LLM-based AI chatbots are more effective at implanting false memories than “other methods of trying to implant memories, such as old-fashioned surveys with leading questions or conversations with a pre-scripted chatbot,” reports Jeremy Kahn for Fortune. “It seems the ability of the generative AI chatbot to shape each question based on the previous answers of the test subjects gave it particular power,” explains Kahn.
A study by researchers at MIT and elsewhere has found that both lawyers and non-lawyers use legalese when asked to write about laws, reports June Casagrande for The Los Angeles Times. The "researchers tested the hypothesis by asking 200 participants to write laws prohibiting crimes like drunk driving and burglary,” explains Casagrande. “Then they asked them to write stories about those crimes. The laws they wrote contained unnecessarily long, labyrinthine sentences with lots of parenthetical explanations crammed in. The stories, however, were written simply, without the parenthetical information stuffing.”
MIT physicists have found that “the presence of a tiny black hole speeding through the solar system could be identified by the gentle gravitational nudge it exerted on the Earth and other planets, which would alter their orbital paths by no more than a few feet,” reports Noah Haggerty for The Los Angeles Times. “It’s just fantastic that the most conceptually conservative response is to say, ‘It’s just super tiny black holes that were made a split second after the Big Bang,’” says Prof. David Kaiser. “It’s not inventing new forms of matter that have not yet been detected. It’s not changing the laws of gravity.”
A new study by MIT researchers suggests that miniscule black holes could briefly wobble the orbit of Mars and that these tiny black holes may pass through our solar system once every decade or so, reports Jess Thomson for Newsweek. “The researchers modeled the orbits of every large body in the solar system,” writes Thomson, “and found that tiny wobbles in the orbit of Mars could indicate one of the asteroid-mass black holes passing through.”
Science News reporter Emily Conover spotlights a new study by MIT researchers that proposes a new method to search for microscopic primordial black holes, which, if they exist, “could explain some or all of the universe’s dark matter.” The researchers suggest that when a primordial black hole passes close to a planet, it could “produce noticeable effects despite its tiny size.”
Researchers from MIT and Stanford University have found “staff at one Fortune 500 software firm became 14% more productive on average when using generative AI tools,” reports Olivia Solon and Seth Fiegerman for Bloomberg.
MIT scientists have “observed and captured images of a rare ‘edge state’ in ultracold atoms,” reports Rupendra Brahambhatt for Interesting Engineering. “Using these findings, they can learn to achieve and harness the edge states of electrons in different materials,” notes Brahambhatt. “This breakthrough in the field of quantum physics could lead to the discovery of practically infinite energy sources.”
Scientists and science lovers gathered to celebrate the “quirky aspects of science” at the 2024 Ig Nobel award ceremony held at MIT, reports Ari Daniel for NPR. “We honor some remarkable individuals and groups,” says Marc Abrahams, founder and organizer of the Ig Nobel event and editor of the Annals of Improbable Research. “Every Ig Nobel prize winner has done something that first makes people laugh, and then makes them think.”
A new study by researchers from MIT and elsewhere tested a generative AI chatbot’s ability to debunk conspiracy theories , reports Mack Degeurin for Popular Science. “In the end, conversations with the chatbot reduced the participant’s overall confidence in their professed conspiracy theory by an average of 20%,” writes Degeurin.
A new study by researchers from MIT and elsewhere has found that an AI chatbot is capable of combating conspiracy theories, reports Karen Kaplan for The Los Angeles Times. The researchers found that conversations with the chatbot made people “less generally conspiratorial,” says Prof. David Rand. “It also increased their intentions to do things like ignore or block social media accounts sharing conspiracies, or, you know, argue with people who are espousing those conspiracy theories.”
A new chatbot developed by MIT researchers aimed at persuading individuals to stop believing unfounded conspiracy theories has made “significant and long-lasting progress at changing people’s convictions,” reports Teddy Rosenbluth for The New York Times. The chatbot, dubbed DebunkBot, challenges the “widely held belief that facts and logic cannot combat conspiracy theories.” Professor David Rand explains: “It is the facts and evidence themselves that are really doing the work here.”
A new study by Prof. David Rand and his colleagues has found that chatbots, powered by generative AI, can help people abandon conspiracy theories, reports Rebecca Ruiz for Mashable. “Rand and his co-authors imagine a future in which a chatbot might be connected to social media accounts as a way to counter conspiracy theories circulating on a platform,” explains Ruiz. “Or people might find a chatbot when they search online for information about viral rumors or hoaxes thanks to keyword ads tied to certain conspiracy search terms.”