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Chatbots Are Primed to Warp Reality
More and more people are learning about the world through chatbots and the software’s kin, whether they mean to or not. ... Pataranutaporn and his fellow researchers recently sought to understand how chatbots could manipulate our understanding of the world by, in effect, implanting false memories. To do so, the researchers adapted methods used by the UC Irvine psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, who established decades ago that memory is manipulable. ... Loftus, who collaborated on the study, told me that one of the most powerful techniques for memory manipulation—whether by a human or by an AI—is to slip falsehoods into a seemingly unrelated question. ...
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Supplementary Webinar: NSF GRFP Info Session for Applicants
This session offered an overview of NSF’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program, which includes applicant eligibility, application process and components, as well as the review criteria.
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Supplementary Webinar: Becoming a Reviewer for the NSF GRFP
This session offered an overview of NSF’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program, the requirements of becoming a reviewer, and the National Science Board’s Merit Review Criteria.
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What Makes a Friendship Last Forever?
There are many flavors of friendship. Most U.S. adults say they have pals who fit into specific niches in their lives, like gym friends or work friends. These relationships may come and go as life circumstances change, fading away when someone switches jobs or loses interest in a shared hobby. ...
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Do You Have a Case of the ‘September Scaries?’
If January is the Monday of the calendar year, then summer is clearly its weekend — June is its Friday, July its Saturday and August its lazy, delicious, fretful Sunday. Which is why so many of us currently find ourselves in the grips of the “September Scaries.” ... You could also try “microdosing” a few September tasks this week, said Christian Waugh, a professor of psychology at Wake Forest University who studies positive coping mechanisms. Slow transitions are always easier than rapid ones, he said. He also recommended ditching the “good-bad dichotomy” of summer fun versus September obligation.
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‘Button’ Dogs Do Understand Words — And Not Just From Their Humans
Videos of “button dogs” often go viral on social media as they tap soundboards with prerecorded words such as “walk,” “park” or “mom.” But are the pets really communicating or are they just well-trained? ... Clive D.L. Wynne, professor of psychology and director of the Canine Science Collaboratory at Arizona State University, said dog cognition differs from how humans perceive words. “From the dogs’ behavior, the researchers deduced that the dogs ‘understood’ what words related to going outside and playing meant, but not the words for food,” he said.
