Science
Does It Actually Work? AI Snake Oil and How to Spot AI That Can't Deliver
Software is quietly deciding who gets hired, insured or released on bail, and much of it barely beats chance. Narayanan and Kapoor's AI Snake Oil separates real AI progress from hype, and gives you the questions to ask.
Why You Did That: Robert Sapolsky's Behave, Rewinding One Act From a Second to a Million Years
Why did you do that? Robert Sapolsky's Behave rewinds a single act through your brain, hormones, childhood, genes and culture. His case that biology amplifies rather than dictates, which studies aged badly, and the free-will fight.
More Information, Not More Truth: Yuval Noah Harari's Nexus on Why AI Is an Agent, Not a Tool
Yuval Noah Harari's Nexus argues information connects people more than it reveals truth, and that AI is the first technology that can decide for itself. His case, what it means for democracy, and the pushback.
Always Smelling You: Neuroscientist Noam Sobel on the Hidden Chemistry of Handshakes, Friendship and Tears
Noam Sobel shows humans constantly smell each other: we sniff our hands after handshakes, click friends smell alike, tears lower testosterone and a baby molecule calms men but rouses women.
The Wave and the Narrow Path: DeepMind's Co-Founder on Why AI Can't Be Stopped, Only Contained
Mustafa Suleyman's The Coming Wave argues AI and synthetic biology can't be stopped, only contained, along a narrow path between catastrophe and dystopia. His four features, ten steps, and whether the plan holds.
The Proof Came First: AI Is Cracking Famous Math Problems, and No One Understands the Answers Yet
AI has been credited with Navier–Stokes blow-up, a step towards the Riemann hypothesis and a 13-million-line proof of Fermat. Three mathematicians ask who will understand them. We check what was really proved.
Two Hours of School, Then the Real Lessons: Inside Alpha's AI School Day, and Its Shakiest Claim
At Alpha School, AI teaches core subjects in two hours a day; afternoons go to teamwork, speaking and startups. Founder Joe Liemandt explains the model, and we check his "2x learning" claim.
Orcas Kill Blue Whales and Great Whites. So Why Has No Wild Orca Ever Killed a Human?
They ram blue whales to death and cut the livers out of great white sharks. Yet the wild record of orcas killing people stands at zero. The best explanation isn't gentleness. It's culture.