Large language models (LLMs) are noted for their fluent and confident answers. They increasingly perform well in a range of tests and benchmarks. For example, LLMs score highly on benchmarks like MMLU-Pro, which was specifically designed to challenge LLMs in a range of around 12,000 general knowledge tests. LLMs these days also score well on…
The technology media tends to focus on the latest foundation models for AI, products like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, DeepSeek etc. These are general-purpose models that can be adapted to specialist uses. What gets less attention in the press is that a whole industry of such specialist tools has sprung up to take advantage of the…
The Black Mirror TV series explored dystopian futures, and one of its recurring themes was the idea of a digital life after death. This was the theme of no less than three episodes: Be Right Back (2013), San Junipero (2016) and Eulogy (2025). As often with science fiction, life is not far behind, and there…
The idea of a “digital twin”, a virtual replica of a physical object, is not a new one. In the 1960s NASA built computer simulations of spacecraft for the Apollo missions. The idea was that the telemetry from real-world sensors on the Apollo craft would be fed into the simulator, in order to see what…
What if a cardboard sign could cause a self-driving car to crash—or force a drone to land immediately? Recent research shows that misleading text placed in a robot’s visual field can have potentially dangerous real-world consequences. One of the more established use cases for AI has been in robotics, with the first AI-driven robot, called…
For the last three years or so, generative AI, powered by large language models (LLMs) have been pushed by vendors and consultants as the ultimate automation tool. Previous waves of AI have struggled to make a lasting impact outside of niche applications, as IBM found out with its Watson AI tool. A much-publicised flagship Watson…