artificial intelligence

Robots to play games with

Chess computers were one of the first step towards developing a form of AI. Here's a brief history.

What is a robot?

What is artificial intelligence and is it here yet?

Rise of the machines?

What is machine learning, what can it do, and is it ethical?

A conversation with Stephen Cook

The pioneering mathematician talks about his work, computer science and artificial intelligence.

A conversation with Stephen Cook

We talk to pioneering mathematician Stephen Cook, who came up with the concept of NP-complete problems, about his work, computer science, and artificial intelligence.

With intelligent machines taking over more and more of our jobs, what does the rise of AI mean for humanity?

Spaceships are doing it for themselves

It requires only a little processing power, but it's a giant leap for robotkind: engineers at the University of Southampton have developed a way of equipping spacecraft and satellites with human-like reasoning capabilities, which will enable them to make important decisions for themselves.

Wiring up brains

The human brain faces a difficult trade-off. On the one hand it needs to be complex to ensure high performance, and on the other it needs to minimise "wiring cost" — the sum of the length of all the connections — because communication over distance takes a lot of energy. It's a problem well-known to computer scientists. And it seems that market driven human invention and natural selection have come up with similar solutions.

Baby robots feel the love

Researchers have unveiled the first prototypes of robots that can develop emotions and express them too. If you treat these robots well, they'll form an attachment to you, looking for hugs when they feel sad and responding to reassuring strokes when they are distressed. But how do you get emotions into machines that only understand the language of maths?

Did a philosopher kill WALL-E?

Will we

Maths in a minute

Want facts and want them fast? Our Maths in a minute series explores key mathematical concepts in just a few words.

Universe Unravelled

We're proud to announce the launch of a documentary we have been working on together with the Discovery Channel and the Stephen Hawking Centre for Theoretical Cosmology in Cambridge.
The Plus advent calendar 2020

While away the days to Christmas exploring the history and mysteries of the Universe!
What's the price for relaxing the rules?

We are all longing to go into a lower tier, but this can come at a high price later on.
Some lovely proofs by picture

Don't like trigonometry? Don't worry, here are three beautiful proofs of a well-known result that make do without it.
Giving numbers meaning

Our favourite communicator of risk talks about the statistics of COVID-19, the quality of government briefings, and how to counter misinformation.

Tweets by plusmathsorg