Artificial intelligence

To make headway on the mystery of consciousness, some researchers are trying a rigorous new way to test competing theories.

Neural networks can be as unpredictable as they are powerful. Now mathematicians are beginning to reveal how a neural network’s form will influence its function.

Neural networks are famously incomprehensible, so Been Kim is developing a “translator for humans.”

A visual prank exposes an Achilles’ heel of computer vision systems: Unlike humans, they can’t do a double take.

Machine learning techniques are commonly based on how the visual system processes information. To beat their limitations, scientists are drawing inspiration from the sense of smell.

A unique neurological “functional fingerprint” allows scientists to explore the influence of genetics, environment and aging on brain connectivity.

A controversial theory suggests that perception, motor control, memory and other brain functions all depend on comparisons between ongoing actual experiences and the brain’s modeled expectations.

Judea Pearl, a pioneering figure in artificial intelligence, argues that AI has been stuck in a decades-long rut. His prescription for progress? Teach machines to understand the question why.

In new computer experiments, artificial-intelligence algorithms can tell the future of chaotic systems.