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OpenAI has felt like the AI firm to beat ever since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022. Yet the launch of its long awaited new model, GPT-5, has arguably not broken much ground. AI specialist Michael Rovatsos thinks it may mark the end of this era for leaps forward in the technology.
When it comes to wealth redistribution policies like progressive taxation, you’d likely imagine that the people at the bottom of the ladder support them, while the wealthiest would rather keep things as they are – after all, they’re doing alright. But, according to a surprising recent study, that’s not necessarily the case. What class you think of yourself as can be more important than your actual status.
When US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr pulled funding for mRNA vaccine research last week it was a shock for those who had watched the technology achieve so much in helping end the COVID pandemic restrictions. But his efforts to undermine vaccines more generally go much further – all around the world, in fact.
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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says GPT-5 is PhD-level general intelligence.
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Michael Rovatsos, University of Edinburgh
GPT-5’s focus on routing queries to the best model could be an admission that LLMs can’t get much smarter.
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Where do you see yourself on the ladder?
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Giacomo Melli, University of Oxford
In countries where income inequality is high, those who feel privileged are often more supportive of redistribution.
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NEW YORK CITY, USA - March 7, 2025: Stand up for Science rally against DOGE cuts to scientific research in Washington Square Park in Manhattan.
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Christina Pagel, UCL; Sheena Cruickshank, University of Manchester
Vaccines saved 154 million lives. But as fear of disease fades, so does protection – raising the chilling prospect of a return to the pre-vaccine era.
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World
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Brian Brivati, Kingston University
Armenia and Azerbaijan take step towards ending the longest conflict in the post-Soviet world.
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Nicolas Forsans, University of Essex
Protests against gentrification have occurred across several Latin American cities, most recently in Mexico’s capital.
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Arts + Culture
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Martin Graff, University of South Wales
In the security of the Love is Blind pods, people may begin to reveal more intimate information about themselves at a faster rate than normal.
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Harriet Fletcher, Anglia Ruskin University
The sequel successfully recaptures the unapologetic girlish silliness that made the first film so beloved.
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Environment
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Julianne Megaw, Queen's University Belfast
Scientists are discovering more microbes with the natural ability to break down plastic.
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John Murray, The Open University
Cool autumns and dry springs could help earwig populations recover.
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Health
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Dan Baumgardt, University of Bristol
Chlorophyll can’t ‘oxygenate your blood’ and collagen creams don’t magically erase wrinkles. But there is some science behind the hype.
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Joseph Janes, Swansea University
Kush, a synthetic drug ravaging Sierra Leone, highlights a crisis of sedation and structural neglect in marginalised communities all over the world.
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Alison Clare, University of Bristol
My research in mice has shown that immune differences may be a key reason behind why gene therapy can sometimes be less effective in women.
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