News
It’s the governance of AI that matters, not its ‘personhood’ | Letters
5+ hour, 24+ min ago (329+ words) Prof Virginia Dignum is right (Letters, 6 January): consciousness is neither necessary nor relevant for legal status. Corporations have rights without minds. The 2016 EU parliament resolution on "electronic personhood" for autonomous robots made exactly this point " liability, not sentience, was the…...
Did you solve it? Are you as smart as Spock?
1+ week, 1+ day ago (469+ words) The solution to today's puzzle Earlier today I set the following puzzle, a pre-commemoration of World Logic Day on January 14. Here it is again with the solution. Andy, Bea, and Celine have a jar of ten cookies. They will take…...
Anna Tims’ dishonours list: the not-so good, the bad and the ugly customer service awards 2025
2+ week, 3+ day ago (363+ words) It is time to roll out the red carpet in recognition of those that worked hard to keep customers at arm's length When the year began, I was a listening ear to Your Problems, my column for the Observer. Now…...
Did you solve it? Are you ready for twenty twenty-six…seven?
3+ week, 1+ day ago (170+ words) The answers to today's problems Earlier today I set you the following set of numerical challenges to celebrate the arrival of 2026. Here is an expression equal to 26 that uses six 1s: Find expressions equal to 26 using: a partridge in a pair…...
‘The biggest decision yet’: Jared Kaplan on allowing AI to train itself
1+ mon, 1+ week ago (1557+ words) Anthropic's chief scientist says AI autonomy could spark a beneficial "intelligence explosion' " or be the moment humans lose control Humanity will have to decide by 2030 whether to take the "ultimate risk" of letting artificial intelligence systems train themselves to become…...
AI’s safety features can be circumvented with poetry, research finds
1+ mon, 1+ week ago (846+ words) Poems containing prompts for harmful content prove effective at duping large language models Poetry can be linguistically and structurally unpredictable " and that's part of its joy. But one man's joy, it turns out, can be a nightmare for AI models....
Did you solve it? Are you smarter than a soap bubble?
1+ mon, 2+ week ago (321+ words) The answer to today's puzzle Earlier today I set a puzzle which is extremely hard to answer if you are not a soap bubble. Four towns are situated at the corners of a square, as below: What is the road…...
Can’t tech a joke: AI does not understand puns, study finds
1+ mon, 2+ week ago (422+ words) Researchers say results underline large language models" poor grasp of humour, empathy and cultural nuance Comedians who rely on clever wordplay and writers of witty headlines can rest a little easier, for the moment at least, research on AI suggests....
Can you solve it? Are you smarter than a soap bubble?
1+ mon, 2+ week ago (496+ words) The minimum you can do Today's puzzle is about transport links and soapy water. Four towns are situated at the corners of a square, as below: What is the road system that connects all four towns using the smallest total…...
Christie’s withdraws rare ‘first calculator’ from auction after French court halts export
1+ mon, 3+ week ago (602+ words) Move comes after French scientists issued urgent appeal to prevent La Pascaline from leaving the country A rare example of the first functioning calculating machine in history looks likely to stay in France after Christie's withdrew it from auction pending…...