A few months ago, a friend posted something that caught my eye on social media. She struggled listening to what she termed “(literally) breathless AI voices for audiobooks”. When I asked her what part she found the most off-putting, she said she had to stop listening because there was no natural breathing or variation – […] … learn more→
Author Archives: Kevin
What happens to language when machines start talking back?
Not everything that is possible is desirable: what philosophy contributes to engineering
Imagine the following problem: we are trying to send trash into space to prevent it from accumulating on Earth, but we are not yet able to do so efficiently. How could we solve this? When I posed this question to my undergraduate engineering students during the Ecodesign course , one of the proposed solutions was […] … learn more→
Why Students Should Use a Grade Calculator
Studying is hard enough, but for many subjects or courses keeping track of grades can be a challenge on its own. A course may include grades on quizzes, projects, homework assignments, midterm exams, presentations, final exams, etc. Each of these is typically weighted differently so just looking at your scores would not easily tell you […] … learn more→
What if, for Silicon Valley, the extinction of ‘Homo sapiens’ was an acceptable ‘collateral damage’?
Transhumanism is a philosophical and cultural movement that argues that technology should allow us to overcome the biological limitations of human beings. Its proponents propose using advances in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, genetic engineering, neurotechnology, and other technologies to radically expand our physical and cognitive capabilities. They also envision delaying or eliminating aging and profoundly transforming […] … learn more→
Is artificial intelligence the ultimate resource for learning languages?
People’s interaction with generative artificial intelligence platforms, and specifically with large language models (LLMs ) , occurs, as is well known, through natural language, that is, using our language. On the human side, prompts are given , which include questions and commands to be executed. For example, data can be requested on a topic, or […] … learn more→
Scientists predicted ‘Friday 13 November 2026’ will be ‘doomsday.’ Should you be worried?
In 1960, Science, one of the world’s leading science journals, published an article with an unambiguous title: Doomsday: Friday, 13 November, A.D. 2026. It predicted that on this future date — just over a month from today — the human population would approach infinity and effectively annihilate itself. The outlandishness of the claim landed the […] … learn more→
You have an idea for a paper… now what?
You have an idea for a paper. Maybe it arrived in the shower, or listening to a speaker at a conference, or halfway through reading somebody else’s article. Maybe you woke up with it. Yay!!! It feels good. Maybe it is A Something. You want to play with your idea for a bit to see […] … learn more→
Are we playing God? What AI means for biology
Much has been said about the sociological revolution that generative AI will bring to humanity. However, its repercussions in biology have barely been discussed, even though this reality is truly staggering. Because we’re not talking about future possibilities or what AI could do. We’re talking about what AI is doing today . The great methodological […] … learn more→
Reading, socialising and doing puzzles can help preserve cognitive health – large study shows
Puzzles, brain-training games and hobbies have long been said to stave off cognitive decline. But while some research has shown that intensive brain-training programmes done over several weeks can reduce cognitive impairment, such interventions aren’t very practical in daily life. So my team and I decided to explore whether doing brief brain-stimulating activities could improve […] … learn more→
When University Is in Your Second Language: How Subtitles Can Become a Study Tool
It was hard enough to get into a university in the first place, and now you have to study in a language that’s your second, third, or sometimes, if you’ve grown up in a multicultural-background family, even fourth. In any case, admissions scores and live speech comprehension (spiced with technical terms) are not the same […] … learn more→
