Explained · Page 6
guides, explainers and opinion for the AI-curious
Two-thirds of people think ChatGPT is conscious. A philosopher says we've been fooling ourselves for decades.
A new survey finds most people attribute some form of feeling to AI chatbots. One scholar argues the confusion started long before the first chatbot appeared.
Every major AI model leans left on politics, even Grok, half the time
A small research lab ran 16 leading AI models through a well-known political quiz thousands of times. All but one landed consistently in the libertarian-left zone. The one exception was Elon Musk's Grok, which couldn't make up its mind.
Why AI Vision Systems Miss What's Right in Front of Them
Apple ML Research has a new tool that finds the hidden patterns behind AI mistakes in object detection, and its findings matter for anyone relying on AI to spot things in the real world.
Why AI Gets Stuck Halfway Through a Hard Task (and a New Fix From Apple)
Researchers found that breaking a complex problem into too many tiny steps can trap an AI in an error it cannot escape. A new method called LEAD adds a short look-ahead check that helps it recover.
Should you use AI for a task? A Harvard professor has a simple test
Bruce Schneier explains why letting AI write for you can be like hiring a personal trainer to do your push-ups.
What is open-source AI and how is it different?
Open-source AI puts the model's blueprints in your hands. Here's what that actually means and why it matters.
What is an AI chip and why do GPUs matter so much?
AI chips are the specialized processors that make machine learning possible, and GPUs became the default engine because their design happens to match exactly what training AI requires.
What is the difference between machine learning and deep learning? A plain-English guide
One is the broad field, the other is a powerful technique inside it. Here is exactly how they relate.
What are AI hallucinations and why do they happen?
AI hallucinations are confident-sounding wrong answers. Here is why they slip through and what you can do about them.
What is an AI agent? A plain-English guide
AI agents are programs that can set their own mini-goals and take actions in the world, not just answer a question and stop.
What is a prompt, and does prompt engineering still matter?
Prompts are the instructions you type to an AI. Getting them right still makes a real difference, even as AI gets smarter.
How do AI image generators actually work? A plain-English guide
From typed words to finished artwork in seconds: here is what is actually happening inside the machine.
What is AGI, and how close are we to it?
AGI means a machine that can learn and do almost any intellectual task a human can. Nobody has built one yet, but the debate about how close we are is very much alive.
What is a large language model and how does it work?
The plain-English guide to the technology behind ChatGPT, Claude, and every AI that seems to understand you.
Run AI Image Models on a Normal GPU: Hugging Face Brings 4-Bit Diffusion to the Masses
A new integration called Nunchaku Lite lets image-generating AI run on consumer graphics cards with half the memory and roughly 30% faster speeds, no specialist setup required.