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Time of India
2 days ago
- Science
- Time of India
454 hints that a chatbot wrote part of a biomedical researcher's paper
The AI tools tend to use words, like delves, crucial, potential, significant and important, far more often than human authors do Scientists know it is happening, even if they don't do it themselves. Some of their peers are using chatbots, like ChatGPT, to write all or part of their papers. In a paper published this month in journal Science Advances, Dmitry Kobak of University of Tubingen and his colleagues report that they found a way to track how often researchers are using AI chatbots to write the abstracts of their papers. The AI tools, they say, tend to use certain words - like "delves," "crucial," "potential," "significant" and "important" - far more often than human authors do. The group analysed word use in the abstracts of more than 15 million biomedical abstracts published between 2010 and 2024, enabling them to spot the rising frequency of certain words in abstracts. The findings tap into a debate in the sciences over when it is and is not appropriate to use AI helpers for writing papers. When ChatGPT was introduced in Nov 2022, a collection of words started showing up with unusual frequency. Those words, the investigators report, were not used so often before the release of ChatGPT. They infer the change in word usage is a telltale sign of AI. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like An engineer reveals: One simple trick to get internet without a subscription Techno Mag Learn More Undo In 2024, there were a total of 454 words used excessively by chatbots, the researchers report. Based on the frequency of the AI-favoured words, Kobak and his team calculate that at least 13.5% of all biomedical abstracts appeared to have been written with the help of chatbots. And as many as 40% of abstracts by authors from some countries writing in a few less selective journals were AI-generated. Those numbers, said Adam Rodman, director of AI programmes at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston, "are almost certainly a lower bound", because they don't account for human editing of what the chatbot wrote or the chatbot editing of what humans wrote. Rodman was not involved in the study. Kobak said he was "somewhat surprised" to see so much use of AI in abstracts, summaries of papers' results and conclusions that often are the only things people read. (Kobak and colleagues said no AIs were used in the writing of their paper.) In academic sciences, some researchers have grown wary of even a whiff of AI assistance in their publications. Computer scientists are aware AI favours certain words, although it's not clear why, said Subbarao Kambhampati, a professor of computer science at Arizona State University and past president of Association for Advancement of AI. Some scientists, he said, have been deliberately refraining from using words like "delve" for fear of being suspected of using AI as a writing tool. Other scientists seem blase about the risk of being caught using chatbots. The journal Nature recently surveyed more than 5,000 researchers and asked when, if ever, is it OK to use AI to write a paper. There was no consensus. Opinions varied, depending on whether AI was used to write an abstract, or entire paper, and whether it was used to edit or summarise. For the situation analysed in the new paper - writing an abstract - 23% respondents said it was OK to use AI without acknowledging assistance, 45% said it was acceptable only if researcher reported using AI, and 33% said it was never acceptable.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Weird space weather seems to have influenced human behavior on Earth 41,000 years ago – our unusual scientific collaboration explores how
Our first meeting was a bit awkward. One of us is an archaeologist who studies how past peoples interacted with their environments. Two of us are geophysicists who investigate interactions between solar activity and Earth's magnetic field. When we first got together, we wondered whether our unconventional project, linking space weather and human behavior, could actually bridge such a vast disciplinary divide. Now, two years on, we believe the payoffs – personal, professional and scientific – were well worth the initial discomfort. Our collaboration, which culminated in a recent paper in the journal Science Advances, began with a single question: What happened to life on Earth when the planet's magnetic field nearly collapsed roughly 41,000 years ago? This near-collapse is known as the Laschamps Excursion, a brief but extreme geomagnetic event named for the volcanic fields in France where it was first identified. At the time of the Laschamps Excursion, near the end of the Pleistocene epoch, Earth's magnetic poles didn't reverse as they do every few hundred thousand years. Instead, they wandered, erratically and rapidly, over thousands of miles. At the same time, the strength of the magnetic field dropped to less than 10% of its modern day intensity. So, instead of behaving like a stable bar magnet – a dipole – as it usually does, the Earth's magnetic field fractured into multiple weak poles across the planet. As a result, the protective force field scientists call the magnetosphere became distorted and leaky. The magnetosphere normally deflects much of the solar wind and harmful ultraviolet radiation that would otherwise reach Earth's surface. So, during the Laschamps Excursion when the magnetosphere broke down, our models suggest a number of near-Earth effects. While there is still work to be done to precisely characterize these effects, we do know they included auroras – normally seen only in skies near the poles as the Northern Lights or Southern Lights – wandering toward the equator, and significantly higher-than-present-day doses of harmful solar radiation. The skies 41,000 years ago may have been both spectacular and threatening. When we realized this, we two geophysicists wanted to know whether this could have affected people living at the time. The archaeologist's answer was absolutely. For people on the ground at that time, auroras may have been the most immediate and striking effect, perhaps inspiring awe, fear, ritual behavior or something else entirely. But the archaeological record is notoriously limited in its ability to capture these kinds of cognitive or emotional responses. Researchers are on firmer ground when it comes to the physiological impacts of increased UV radiation. With the weakened magnetic field, more harmful radiation would have reached Earth's surface, elevating risk of sunburn, eye damage, birth defects, and other health issues. In response, people may have adopted practical measures: spending more time in caves, producing tailored clothing for better coverage, or applying mineral pigment 'sunscreen' made of ochre to their skin. As we describe in our recent paper, the frequency of these behaviors indeed appears to have increased across parts of Europe, where effects of the Laschamps Excursion were pronounced and prolonged. At this time, both Neanderthals and members of our species, Homo sapiens, were living in Europe, though their geographic distributions likely overlapped only in certain regions. The archaeological record suggests that different populations exhibited distinct approaches to environmental challenges, with some groups perhaps more reliant on shelter or material culture for protection. Importantly, we're not suggesting that space weather alone caused an increase in these behaviors or, certainly, that the Laschamps caused Neanderthals to go extinct, which is one misinterpretation of our research. But it could have been a contributing factor – an invisible but powerful force that influenced innovation and adaptability. Collaborating across such a disciplinary gap was, at first, daunting. But it turned out to be deeply rewarding. Archaeologists are used to reconstructing now-invisible phenomena like climate. We can't measure past temperatures or precipitation directly, but they've left traces for us to interpret if we know where and how to look. But even archaeologists who've spent years studying the effects of climate on past behaviors and technologies may not have considered the effects of the geomagnetic field and space weather. These effects, too, are invisible, powerful and best understood through indirect evidence and modeling. Archaeologists can treat space weather as a vital component of Earth's environmental history and future forecasting. Likewise, geophysicists, who typically work with large datasets, models and simulations, may not always engage with some of the stakes of space weather. Archaeology adds a human dimension to the science. It reminds us that the effects of space weather don't stop at the ionosphere. They can ripple down into the lived experiences of people on the ground, influencing how they adapt, create and survive. The Laschamps Excursion wasn't a fluke or a one-off. Similar disruptions of Earth's magnetic field have happened before and will happen again. Understanding how ancient humans responded can provide insight into how future events might affect our world – and perhaps even help us prepare. Our unconventional collaboration has shown us how much we can learn, how our perspective changes, when we cross disciplinary boundaries. Space may be vast, but it connects us all. And sometimes, building a bridge between Earth and space starts with the smallest things, such as ochre, or a coat, or even sunscreen. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Raven Garvey, University of Michigan; Agnit Mukhopadhyay, University of Michigan, and Sanja Panovska, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences Read more: Earth's magnetic field protects life on Earth from radiation, but it can move, and the magnetic poles can even flip 2 solar probes are helping researchers understand what phenomenon powers the solar wind 'Man, the hunter'? Archaeologists' assumptions about gender roles in past humans ignore an icky but potentially crucial part of original 'paleo diet' Agnit Mukhopadhyay has received funding from NASA Science Mission Directorate and the University of Michigan Rackham Graduate School. Raven Garvey and Sanja Panovska do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Fox News
3 days ago
- Science
- Fox News
Archaeologists uncover 3,500-year-old rice remains in oldest part of remote region
The remains of 3,500-year-old rice were recently found in Guam — making it the earliest known evidence of rice in Remote Oceania. Archaeologists discovered the rice at the Ritidian Site Complex, located at the northernmost point of Guam. Michael T. Carson, an archaeology professor at the University of Guam in Mangilao, recently published his findings on the discovery in the journal Science Advances. The archaeologist told Fox News Digital in an interview that the rice remnants were found in the form of phytoliths. "Phytoliths are like fossils of ancient plant parts," Carson said. "The original plant materials were filled primarily with silica materials, lasting for thousands of years and preserving the detailed anatomy that can be observed and authenticated through microscope analysis." The phytoliths included multiple instances of the rice husks and leaves, Carson said. The rice was exclusively found on ancient pottery made from earthenware. "This direct association is extra confident because the phytoliths were 100% absent on other artifacts such as stone and shell tools, as well as 100% absent within the surrounding sedimentary matrix," he said. Experts believe that rice played a role in rituals that were performed in the cave, which also included fine pottery, shell pendants and ornaments. "Additionally, the cave included rare rock art and formal burial pits," Carson added. "The discarded shell remains here included different kinds of shellfish than otherwise comprised the majority of the daily shellfish diet." "People probably cooked the rice elsewhere, away from the cave, as grain processing and cooking undoubtedly would have left behind other traces." No other cave has the same evidence of rice — adding to the idea that the cave served a "highly specialized" cultural role, according to Carson. The rice must have been transported by the first settlers of Guam over 3,500 years ago, he noted. "These people traveled across 2,300 km of open ocean, setting a world record [for] long-distance ocean migration at the time," he said. "Among their accomplishments, they managed to transport and maintain the rice until they planted and produced successful crops in their new remote-distance island home." So how did ancient people cook this rice? Researcher Hsiao-chun Hung told Australian National University (ANU) they probably prepared the rice far away from the cave. The latest discovery isn't the first time ancient food has offered a window into the past. "People probably cooked the rice elsewhere, away from the cave, as grain processing and cooking undoubtedly would have left behind other traces," the archaeologist said. A damp environment like the cave would have been "unsuitable for storing unprocessed rice in pots," she added. "The ancient rice remains were found only on the surfaces of the pottery, ruling out ordinary food storage," Hung added. The latest discovery isn't the first time ancient food has offered a window into the past, though such finds remain rare. Earlier this year, archaeologists uncovered a well-preserved loaf of ancient bread, dating back 5,000 years. In the American Southwest, University of Utah researchers recently uncovered proof of historical food practices by analyzing bedrock "kitchens."
The Star
5 days ago
- Science
- The Star
People are starting to sound like AI, research shows
Machine learning - or machine teaching? Our everyday speech is increasingly being influenced by AI chatbots, which have a preference for certain words and phrases that are now rubbing off on us, researchers say. — Photo: Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert/dpa BERLIN: Artificial intelligence chatbots have largely been 'trained' by being fed reams of information from the internet, some of it the outcome of years of hard work by some of the world's leading doers and thinkers. But now it seems that it is people – including university lecturers and others described as intellectuals – who are being trained by AI, even if unwittingly. A team of researchers based at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Human Development have analysed over a million recent academic talks and podcast episodes, finding what they described as a "measurable" and "abrupt" increase in the use of words that are "preferentially generated" by ChatGPT. The team claimed their work provides "the first large-scale empirical evidence that AI-driven language shifts are propagating beyond written text into spontaneous spoken communication." After sifting through 360,000 YouTube broadcasts and twice as many podcasts, the researchers found that since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, speakers have become increasingly inclined to pepper their broadcasts with words that the chatbot uses regularly, such as delve, comprehend, boast, swift and meticulous. The team's research suggests that AI's "linguistic influence" is spreading beyond academia, science and technology, where early use of large language models was more common, to education and business. Not only is the shift detectable in the "scripted or formal speech" heard in lectures posted on YouTube, but it can also be found in more "conversational" or off-the-cuff podcasting, according to the team, which warned that the machines' growing influence could erode "linguistic and cultural diversity." In similar findings released in Science Advances, an "extensive word analysis" of medical research papers published between 2010 and 2024 showed "an abrupt increase in the frequency of certain style words" after AI tools were made widely available. Last year, according to the research led by Germany's University of Tübingen, "at least 13.5%" of biomedical papers bore the hallmarks of being "processed by LLMs." – dpa
The Star
6 days ago
- Science
- The Star
Polar vortex shifts trigger U.S. extreme cold snaps despite warming: study
JERUSALEM, July 11 (Xinhua) -- An international research group has found that extreme cold snaps in the United States are driven by disruptions in a high-altitude Arctic air mass called the polar vortex, Hebrew University of Jerusalem said Friday in a statement. The study, published in Science Advances, reveals that when the vortex stretches over 16 km above Earth, it pushes freezing air into North America. Two distinct patterns were identified: one targets the U.S. Northwest and western Canada, while the other brings icy conditions to central and eastern states, according to the statement. These events link to atmospheric wave shifts that bend the jet stream, dragging Arctic air southward. Since 2015, U.S. Northwest cold extremes increased due to a westward-shifting vortex pattern amplified by Pacific climate cycles. The study underscores that climate change causes not just warming but also unpredictable severe weather, said the statement, adding that the study helps explain recent deadly freezes in Texas and the Central Plains.
