Planning a successful trip can be challenging, especially when your destination is in outer space. 

A new Review discusses how concepts and methods borrowed from psychology can inform research to evaluate whether and how large language models (LLMs) can employ reasoning. “The ever-growing capabilities of these systems make them challenging but also increasingly important to understand and explain, especially since these expanding capabilities also bring greater potential for unforeseen harm,” Thilo Hagendorff and colleagues write. Their proposed approach – called “machine psychology” – advocates for seeking inspiration from the behavioral sciences. Since psychology’s protocols already assess emotional, cognitive, and social development, they could be modified to examine LLMs’ intelligence, biases, decision-making, social skills, and language. Hagendorff et al. urge caution, though: “Many psychological concepts are normatively laden and can foster mismatches in expectations between AI experts and the public regarding machine capability.”

Mayo Clinic researchers have detected measurable changes in the brain within 18 minutes of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in people with drug-resistant epilepsy, a finding that could eventually help clinicians personalize treatment without waiting months to determine whether stimulation settings are effective. 

Data center energy consumption is expected to more than double by 2030 from roughly 420 terawatt-hours in 2024, with much of the anticipated growth driven by AI. But more efficient software design could cut AI energy use by up to half, according to University of Michigan Engineering researchers teaming up with colleagues at the University of Illinois and defense contractor BAE Systems.

Exoskeletons, advanced prostheses and wearables have entered the workplace and are here to stay, but their adoption presents significant challenges