AI meets game theory: How language models perform in human-like social scenarios
Peer-Reviewed Publication
This month, we’re focusing on artificial intelligence (AI), a topic that continues to capture attention everywhere. Here, you’ll find the latest research news, insights, and discoveries shaping how AI is being developed and used across the world.
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 6-Nov-2025 14:11 ET (6-Nov-2025 19:11 GMT/UTC)
Large language models (LLMs) – the advanced AI behind tools like ChatGPT – are increasingly integrated into daily life, assisting with tasks such as writing emails, answering questions, and even supporting healthcare decisions. But can these models collaborate with others in the same way humans do? Can they understand social situations, make compromises, or establish trust? A new study from researchers at Helmholtz Munich, the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, and the University of Tübingen, reveals that while today’s AI is smart, it still has much to learn about social intelligence.
A research team led by Prof. ZHANG Haijiang from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), in collaboration with Dr. Robert Myhill from the University of Bristol, utilized tele-seismic double-difference tomography technology to uncover the morphological changes of the Pacific subducting slab in the mantle transition zone beneath Northeast China. In addition, they also reported its controlling effects on Changbaishan volcanic field (CVF) volcanism and deep earthquakes. This study was published in Nature Communications.
While remote or electronic visits (eVisits) can increase access to health care for certain groups of patients, their use can increase staff workload and patient demand. Artificial intelligence (AI) may mitigate these outcomes. This study explored the views of staff and patients in primary care to inform the development of artificial intelligence (AI) features for eVisits.
Professor Barbara Franke, among the world's top 1% most cited scientists, shares her journey from molecular biology to psychiatric genetics in a new Genomic Press interview. Her pioneering research illuminates biological pathways from genetic variations to altered behavior in ADHD, combining bioinformatics, brain imaging, and experimental models to revolutionize psychiatric diagnosis and treatment approaches.
The Waterloo team analyzed a range of YouTube videos that focused on learning music by ear and identified four simple ways music learning technology can better aid prospective musicians – helping people improve recall while listening, limiting playback to small chunks, identifying musical subsequences to memorize, and replaying notes indefinitely.
Inspiration can hit anytime, anywhere—and come from just about anything. “I was walking my dog and watching a squirrel jump from tree branch to tree branch,” says David Saldaña, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at Lehigh University. “I started thinking about how quickly the animal has to adapt to the different properties of each branch and to the forces generated by their movement. And that’s when the idea hit me—how could we get robots, especially aerial robots, to adapt like that?” Saldaña, who leads the SwarmsLab, recently received nearly $600,000 in funding through the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program to answer that question. His research will explore how to expand the capabilities of aerial robots so they can manipulate and transport flexible objects such as cables, rods, hoses, and plastic sheets. Potential applications could range from construction and disaster response to industrial automation.