New Special Edition: AI

Decoding ancient writings, talking to aliens, digital agents, and more! ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­

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New Special Edition Issue: AI Read the Issue Dear Friend of Scientific American, In January, the Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek released an open-source and free AI chatbot. No more gatekeeping by tech behemoths; now, anyone with an idea and an Internet connection can summon machine intelligence to solve problems, write computer code, or dream up something entirely new. The result? AI's integration into everything will likely accelerate—untangling traffic snarls, dictating drug prescriptions, rewriting the rules of scientific discovery. For better or worse, AI is our future.    In a new collector's edition from Scientific American, immerse yourself in a world of artificial intelligence: trained on the entirety of the Internet and our data—millions of Web sites, social media posts, reviews, recipes, forums—Large Language Models like OpenAI's ChatGPT 4o and Anthropic's Claude run on powerful statistical algorithms and can sound uncannily human. But they are in no way capable of higher reasoning, memory, spatial perception or myriad other skills. They sometimes even invent things out of thin air, or give downright bad advice.   At the same time, intelligent machines promise to revolutionize everyday life and scientific exploration. New smart algorithms could ease gnarly traffic, and help users navigate a complicated world of choices, acting as digital "agents." AI tools are already helping researchers decode ancient writings, and in the future could help us talk to alien civilizations.   Without market regulation, unfettered technological innovation does not necessarily lead to societal well-being. So it will be up to us to determine whether AI transforms human civilization for good or ill. I hope you enjoy this special issue and it transforms your understanding of the power of AI.  This special edition is an Unlimited subscription exclusive. Check out all our subscription offerings here!  Scientifically yours, Andrea Gawrylewski Special Issues Editor

Issue Highlights The AI Future Is Here AI's integration into everything—untangling traffic snarls, dictating drug prescriptions, rewriting the rules of scientific discovery—is accelerating quickly. Read More Your Personal Information Is Probably Being Used to Train Generative AI Models Companies are training their generative AI models on vast swathes of the Internet—and there's no real way to stop them. Read More Can Google Make Stoplights Smarter? A Google experiment to improve stoplights shows early positive results. But AI-assisted software won't replace human traffic engineers just yet. Read More AI Agents with More Autonomy Than Chatbots Are Coming. Some Safety Experts Are Worried Systems that operate on behalf of people or corporations are the latest product from the AI boom, but these "agents" may present new and unpredictable risks. Read More Inside the AI Competition That Decoded an Ancient Herculaneum Scroll The Herculaneum scrolls, charred and preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, were unreadable—until now. Read More Unregulated AI Will Worsen Inequality, Warns Nobel-Winning Economist Joseph Stiglitz A Nobel laureate in economics explains how artificial intelligence will affect inequality—and how solutions such as a shorter work week might mitigate its negative effects. Read More Read the Issue Support our work, support science journalism

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