In studying animal communication, it’s hard to know whether animals react instinctively to the vocalizations of others or actually understand the meaning. In a recent UC Berkeley study, researchers tested zebra finches to assess whether they categorize calls the same as humans — they do — and whether they sometimes confuse calls. Surprisingly, they occasionally get confused by calls with similar meanings but very different acoustics, suggesting that they have a mental representation of what calls mean.

The Ubicquia Innovation Center for Intelligent Infrastructure will accelerate the development and deployment of advanced industrial sensors, large language models, AI, and real-time analytics to digitize and monitor critical infrastructure across utility, municipal, commercial, and industrial sectors. The center will drive research that strengthens power grids, boosts energy efficiency, and enhances public safety through smarter, data-driven solutions.

The Australian Digital Inclusion Index has found almost half of Australians recently used generative AI tools, raising new opportunities and challenges for digital inclusion.