An essay concerning human understanding

Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents arrested another armed human smuggler near the Arizona-Mexico border. Incidents involving armed smugglers are on the rise, Border Patrol officials report. Tucson Sector Chief Patrol Agent John R. Modlin tweeted photos of an alleged human smuggler arrested during a vehicle stop south of Three Points, Arizona on Tuesday. During a search of the vehicle, agents found a Smith and Wesson pistol under the driver’s seat. Tucson Station agents conducted a #VehicleStop south of Three Points, AZ, Tuesday. They arrested the driver, a permanent resident from Mexico, and two smuggled Mexican citizens. A firearm under the driver seat was seized. The smuggler faces criminal charges. #BorderSecurity pic.twitter.com/nDmSIRRccq — John R. Modlin (@USBPChiefTCA) January 14, 2023 The driver, a legal permanent resident from Mexico had two other Mexican nationals in his vehicle, Modlin stated. The driver now faces criminal charges relating to the … [Read more...] about Armed Human Smuggler Busted near Border in Arizona

Progress in AI systems often feels cyclical. Every few years, computers can suddenly do something they’ve never been able to do before. “Behold!” the AI true believers proclaim, “the age of artificial general intelligence is at hand!” “Nonsense!” the skeptics say. “Remember self-driving cars?” The truth usually lies somewhere in between. We’re in another cycle, this time with generative AI. Media headlines are dominated by news about AI art, but there’s also unprecedented progress in many widely disparate fields. Everything from videos to biology, programming, writing, translation, and more is seeing AI progress at the same incredible pace. Why is all this happening now? You may be familiar with the latest happenings in the world of AI. You’ve seen the prize-winning artwork, heard the interviews between dead people, and read about the protein-folding breakthroughs. But these new AI systems aren’t just producing cool demos in research labs. They’re quickly being turned into … [Read more...] about The generative AI revolution has begun—how did we get here?

Cutting corners: People are reacting to ChatGPT's potential for abuse, developing new tools to catch cheaters and plagiarized material. A student has developed a tool that can potentially (and quickly) discover when a text has been created by the AI rather than by a human writer. ChatGPT can write code or school essays and any sort of content in response to a human (textual) prompt. OpenAI's chatbot is also easy to abuse, creating new content to cheat during exams or filling entire websites with worthless – yet superficially convincing – textual garbage. As a response to this, 22-year-old computer science senior at Princeton University, Edward Tian has created a tool named GPTZero. Tian spent his winter break developing a platform that could detect whether a human or the ChatGPT algorithm created a given essay. GPTZero , which is still in beta, uses two different indicators, "perplexity" and "burstiness," to identify human-made or AI-based text excerpts. Tian says we … [Read more...] about Tool claims to sniff out cheaters abusing ChatGPT AI for plagiarism

For insights into the future of generative AI, check out the latest episode of the NVIDIA AI Podcast . Host Noah Kravitz is joined by Pat Grady and Sonya Huang, partners at Sequoia Capital, to discuss their recent essay, “Generative AI: A Creative New World.” The authors delve into the potential of generative AI to enable new forms of creativity and expression, as well as the challenges and ethical considerations of this technology. Grady and Huang emphasize the potential of generative AI to revolutionize industries such as art, design and media by allowing for the creation of unique, personalized content on a scale that would be impossible for humans to achieve alone. They also address the importance of considering the ethical implications of the technology, including the potential for biased or harmful outputs and the need for responsible use and regulation. Listen to the full episode to hear more about the possibilities of generative AI and the considerations to be … [Read more...] about Sequoia Capital’s Pat Grady and Sonya Huang on Generative AI

Wayne Pacelle is the president and chief executive officer of The Humane Society of the United States ( HSUS ). This Op-Ed first appeared on the blog A Humane Nation, where it ran before appearing in LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights . A decade ago, I was on-site as an observer for the first American "Running of the Bulls" in a small town outside of Las Vegas. Despite the hype from the promoter — who said he'd be recreating the drama and danger of the Pamplona, Spain, event where bulls run down the cobblestone streets and head into a fighting arena — the American spectacle was an incredible snooze. The promoters of the Nevada event released cattle from a pen. The animals trotted or walked down a dirt track as attention- and thrill-starved runners tried to dash in front of them to incite them. It was an embarrassment to all, the bulls comporting themselves with more dignity and smarts than the people. South Park got it just right when it broadcast … [Read more...] about American Running of the Bulls Not Much of a Thrill (Op-Ed)

The ongoing bird flu outbreak in the US is now the longest and deadliest on record. More than 57 million birds have been killed by the virus or culled since a year ago, and the deadly disruption has helped propel skyrocketing egg prices and a spike in egg smuggling. Since highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) was first detected in US birds in January 2022, the price of a carton of a dozen eggs has shot up from an average of about $1.79 in December 2021 to $4.25 in December 2022, a 137 percent increase, according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics . Although inflation and supply chain issues partly explain the rise, eggs saw the largest percentage increase of any specific food, according to the consumer price index . And the steep pricing is leading some at the US-Mexico border to try to smuggle in illegal cartons, which is prohibited. A US Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told NPR this week that people in El Paso, Texas, are buying eggs in … [Read more...] about As egg prices soar, the deadliest bird flu outbreak in US history drags on

Welcome to Ars Cardboard, our weekend look at tabletop games! Check out our complete board gaming coverage at cardboard.arstechnica.com . Few moments linger in my brain like a particular scene in John Carpenter’s movie The Thing . In the cold of an Antarctic night, the group corners and confronts a mutated imitation of their pal Bennings, its eyes wide and mouth gaping. They give it the torch and burn it down. The moment is as unsettling as the film is iconic. Carpenter’s work was an imaginative take on the novella Who Goes There? by John Campbell. As good as the transition to film was, we now have another interpretation—one made of cardboard and plastic. The new board game from Certifiable Studios means you too can now snuff out an insidious alien life form. Game details Designer: Anthony Coffey, Jesse Labbe Publisher: Certifiable Studios Players: 3-4 Age: 14+ Playing time: 120 minutes Price : $74.99 ( Amazon ) First contact with Who Goes There? … [Read more...] about : The Thing returns to the tabletop

Audio player loading… Artificial intelligence is being used to cast its all-seeing eye over the written word with DeepL’s latest free writing app Write. Pitched as a rival to Grammarly , the AI writing tool is able to correct spelling and grammar mistakes, rephrase words and sentences, and generally make your writing clearer. Developer DeepL, who first made waves with its AI-driven translation software , said the tool uses “neural network technology that captures the context and nuances of the original text to provide rephrasing suggestions and alternative word choices.” Writing on the wall Originating as an idea to help its multilingual user-base to check the accuracy of their translations, the idea behind Write is to grant users control over their writing. Unlike ChatGPT’s essay-generating content, this AI is effectively a smart proof-reader, although the company claimed that by serving up recommended changes across phrasing, tone, … [Read more...] about This AI writing app now fixes your lousy spelling mistakes

ROME — Jesuit Father James Martin, an LGBT advocate, affirmed Saturday his belief that two men can enter into a real marriage that must be recognized as such. Responding to Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, who proposed that Pete Buttigieg’s same-sex marriage to his partner Chasten is not a true marriage but rather a “legal fiction,” Father Martin countered that “Pete Buttigieg is married.” Pete Buttigieg is married. https://t.co/3eiX0bt3Im — James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) January 21, 2023 The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines marriage as a covenant “by which a man and a woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love.” For their part, the United States Bishops note that a “growing movement today favors making those relationships commonly called same-sex unions the legal equivalent of marriage,” a proposal that the Catholic Church rejects. Marriage “is a faithful, exclusive, lifelong … [Read more...] about Jesuit Father James Martin Says Gay Marriage Is Marriage

Since 2016, social workers in a Pennsylvania county have relied on an algorithm to help them determine which child welfare calls warrant further investigation. Now, the Justice Department is reportedly scrutinizing the controversial family-screening tool over concerns that using the algorithm may be violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by allegedly discriminating against families with disabilities, the Associated Press reported , including families with mental health issues. Three anonymous sources broke their confidentiality agreements with the Justice Department, confirming to AP that civil rights attorneys have been fielding complaints since last fall and have grown increasingly concerned about alleged biases built into the Allegheny County Family Screening Tool . While the full scope of the Justice Department’s alleged scrutiny is currently unknown, the Civil Rights Division is seemingly interested in learning more about how using the data-driven tool could … [Read more...] about AI tool used to spot child abuse allegedly targets parents with disabilities