Tag Archives: basic

Study Suggests Birds Might Possess a Basic Form of Conscious Perception

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Among them is a new paper published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. Researchers Gianmarco Maldarelli and Onur Güntürkün from Ruhr University Bochum emphasize three key areas where birds exhibit significant parallels with mammalian conscious experience: sensory consciousness, the neurobiological foundation, and the nature of self-consciousness.

Maldarelli and Güntürkün demonstrate that there is increasing evidence that (i) birds possess sentience and self-awareness, and (ii) they also have the necessary neural structures for these traits. Image credit: Kutte.

First, research on sensory consciousness reveals that birds do not just automatically respond to stimuli; they also experience them subjectively.

Similar to humans, pigeons can alternate between different interpretations of ambiguous visual signals.

Moreover, crows exhibit neural responses that reflect their subjective perception rather than just the physical presence of a stimulus.

At times, crows consciously recognize a stimulus, while at other times, they do not; certain neurons activate specifically in correspondence to this internal experience.

Second, bird brains possess functional components that satisfy theoretical requirements for conscious processing, despite their differing structures.

“The caudolateral nidopallium (NCL), which is akin to the prefrontal cortex in birds, features extensive connectivity that allows for flexible integration and processing of information,” noted Güntürkün.

“The avian forebrain connectome, illustrating the complete flow of information among brain regions, shows numerous similarities to those of mammals.”

“As such, birds fulfill criteria outlined in many established theories of consciousness, including the global neuronal workspace theory.”

Third, more recent studies indicate that birds may exhibit various forms of self-awareness.

While certain corvid species have successfully passed the traditional mirror test, alternative ecologically relevant versions of the test have unveiled additional self-awareness types in other bird species.

“Research has demonstrated that pigeons and chickens can differentiate their reflections in mirrors from real-life counterparts and respond accordingly,” explained Güntürkün.

“This indicates a fundamental sense of situational self-awareness.”

The results imply that consciousness is an older and more prevalent evolutionary trait than previously believed.

Birds illustrate that conscious processing can occur without a cerebral cortex, achieving similar functional solutions through different brain architectures.

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Gianmarco Maldarelli and Onur Gunturkun. 2025. Conscious birds. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 380 (1939): 20240308; doi: 10.1098/rstb.2024.0308

Source: www.sci.news

Study: Bumblebees Can Be Trained to Understand Basic Morse Code

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Bufftail Bumblebee (Western bumblebee): A recent study reveals that humans can determine foraging locations by analyzing variations in the length of visual cues.

The ability to process temporal information is essential for animal behaviors like foraging, mating, and avoiding predators. Although circadian rhythms are well-studied, there’s limited knowledge on how insects perceive durations in the second to subsecond range. Davidson and colleagues sought to assess the buff-tailed bumblebee’s (Western bumblebee) ability to distinguish between light flash durations in free-foraging tasks. Image credit: Miriam.

In Morse code, a brief flash or “dot” signifies the letter “E,” while a prolonged flash or “dash” indicates the letter “T.”

Previously, the capability to differentiate between “dots” and “dashes” was recognized solely in humans and certain vertebrates like macaques and pigeons.

Alex Davidson, a PhD student at Queen Mary University of London, and his team examined this ability in the Western bumblebee.

They designed a specialized maze to train the bumblebees to identify a sugar reward among two flashing circles, marked by long and short flashing intervals.

For instance, if a short flash, or “dot,” was linked with sugar, a long flash, or “dash,” would be associated with a bitter substance that bumblebees typically avoid.

Within each section of the maze, the locations of the “dot” and “dash” stimuli were altered, preventing the bumblebees from relying on spatial cues for their choices.

After mastering the task of approaching the flashing circles paired with sugar, the bumblebees were tested with flashing lights devoid of sugar, to determine if their selections were driven by visual cues instead of olfactory ones associated with sugar.

The results indicated that the bumblebees effectively learned to distinguish between light durations, as the majority headed straight to the “correct” blinking light duration that had been previously linked to sugar, irrespective of its spatial location.

“We aimed to investigate if bumblebees could distinguish among these various durations, and it was thrilling to observe them succeed,” Davidson noted.

“It’s astonishing that they excelled in this task, given that bumblebees encounter no blinking stimuli in their natural habitats.”

“The ability to track the duration of visual stimuli might imply enhanced temporal processing capabilities that have evolved for various functions, including spatial movement tracking or communication.”

“Alternatively, this impressive skill for encoding and processing time could be a fundamental feature of the nervous system, reflective of neuronal properties. Only further research can clarify this.”

The neural mechanisms that facilitate the tracking of these durations are still largely unclear. Current mechanisms known to align with solar cycles and seasonal changes are too slow to account for the distinction between dashes and dots of varying durations.

Numerous theories suggest the existence of either a singular or multiple biological clocks.

The revelation of insects’ capacity to differentiate between light flash durations will enable researchers to test various models using these “miniature brains” that measure less than a cubic millimeter.

“Numerous complex animal behaviors, including navigation and communication, rely on temporal processing capabilities,” comments researcher Elisabetta Versace from Queen Mary University of London.

“To explore the evolution of such abilities, adopting a comprehensive comparative approach across a range of species, including insects, is crucial.”

“Insect processing times highlight their utilization of minimal neural resources to accomplish complex tasks.”

“This insight holds implications for characteristics such as complex cognition in artificial neural networks, which should take cues from biological intelligence while striving for efficiency and scalability.”

This result was published in the Journal on November 12, 2025 in Biology Letters.

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Alexander Davidson et al. 2025. Bumblebee duration identification in the Western bumblebee. Biol. Let 21(11):20250440; doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2025.0440

Source: www.sci.news

A Complicated Knot May Be Simpler Than a Basic One

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The knot problem for mathematicians finally has a solution

Pinky Bird/Getty Images

Why is it trickier to untie two small knots compared to one large knot? Surprisingly, researchers have found that larger, seemingly complex knots formed by combining simpler ones are, in fact, easier to untangle. This discovery contradicts notions held for nearly 90 years.

“We were searching for counterexamples without anticipating we’d actually find one, as this speculation has persisted for so long,” Mark Brittenham from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, shared. “In the back of our minds, we thought the speculation was likely right. It was an unforeseen and astonishing outcome.”

Mathematicians like Brittenham study knots by considering them as intertwined loops with connected ends. A fundamental principle in knot theory is that each knot has a “knot number,” representing the instances a string is cut, with another segment inserted and rejoined at a junction known as a “note.”

Calculating knot numbers can be computationally demanding, with certain knots containing 10 intersections remaining unsolved. Thus, analyzing knots by breaking them down into two or more simpler knots is often advantageous. This concept is akin to prime numbers in number theory.

However, a longstanding enigma is whether the unnote-note numbers of two knots combined results in a larger knot value. Intuitively, one might assume that the difficulty of untangling the connected knots equals or surpasses that of their individual counterparts. In 1937, it was speculated that disentangling a combined knot would always be more challenging.

Now, alongside Susan Hermiller at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Brittenham demonstrates that this may not be the case. “This speculation has lingered for 88 years; as people failed to disprove it, the desire for it to be true persisted,” Hermiller noted. “Initially, we uncovered one example, soon revealing an infinite number of knot pairs where the number of knots was strictly less than the total for the two knots combined.”

“We discovered that our understanding was not as clear as previously thought,” Brittenham remarked. “Even knots that lack connections may untie more efficiently than we expected.”

Examples of knots that are easier to undo than components

Mark Brittenham, Susan Hermiller

Finding and verifying counterexamples involves a mix of existing knowledge, intuition, and computational strength. Remarkably, the final proof verification was achieved through a straightforward, practical approach: tying knots with a rope and physically demonstrating their resolvability.

Andras Juhasz from Oxford University, who previously collaborated with AI firm DeepMind to validate various knot theory speculations, attempted to solve this latest challenge similarly but faced no success.

“We spent a year or two seeking counterexamples without luck, so we eventually abandoned the effort,” Juhasz mentioned. “AI might not be the best tool for finding counterexamples, akin to searching for needles in haystacks – a profoundly elusive pursuit.”

Applications of knot theory vary widely, spanning from encryption to molecular biology. Nicholas Jackson at the University of Warwick in the UK cautiously suggests that this new development could have practical implications. “We seem to have gained a deeper understanding of how circular entities operate in three-dimensional spaces than we did previously,” he remarked. “Concepts that were unclear a few months ago are now coming into clearer view.”

Source: www.newscientist.com

Why We Should Assume That Even the Most Basic Animals Are Conscious

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Do dogs possess their own thoughts and emotions? What about pigeons, honeybees, earthworms, or jellyfish? Your answer likely reveals a human tendency to attribute consciousness to familiar creatures, while skeptically viewing “simpler” beings like invertebrates.

In truth, we can never be fully sure that other beings possess awareness. “The subjective nature of experience means absolute certainty is unattainable. You can’t even be 100% certain about other humans,” says Jonathan Burch, an author at the London School of Economics, in his work The edge of the senses.

This article is part of our concept special, exploring how experts perceive some of the most surprising ideas in science. Click here for more details.

Despite this uncertainty, evidence can be gathered. We must first clarify what consciousness entails. Philosopher Herbert Feigle’s framework divides consciousness into three layers.

The most basic layer involves raw sensations of the present, including external perceptions and internal emotions such as pain, joy, excitement, and boredom. The second layer, “sapiens,” allows for reflection on our experiences, such as “This is the worst pain I’ve ever felt.” The final layer encompasses our sense of self, recognizing our existence through past and future.

Research into animal consciousness primarily centers on sensation. “Much of this research focuses on pain, but there is a trend toward exploring positive emotions like joy,” says Christine Andrews from York University, Toronto. For instance, fish in pain may swim toward an area of a tank infused with painkillers.

Social behavior provides evidence for the second type of sensation. “Animals acquire much of their knowledge and skills socially,” Andrews states. Even insects exhibit this behavior. For example, fruit flies learn about mating by observing other fruit flies.

Some remarkable findings have revealed that certain animals recognize cultural contexts, such as recent studies showing mice providing “first aid” to unconscious companions. Researchers are also investigating episodic memory—the capacity to reflect on past experiences—and have found it in various mammals, including rats and chimpanzees, as well as birds like scrub jays.

Although we are gathering substantial evidence about sensation, the neurobiological foundations of consciousness remain unclear. “However, these findings may not universally apply to other species with distinct neural structures,” Andrews notes, referencing various studies on mammals that discuss involved brain regions. For example, while insects do not possess a human-like brain, there is strong evidence that they can experience pain, confirming a sensory component.

Last year, Andrews, Burch, and colleagues issued the New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness, acknowledging the “realistic possibility of conscious experiences” in numerous invertebrates. Andrews goes further, asserting that we should begin by assuming all animals are conscious.

This challenges the prevailing assumptions of many biologists, but may not be a significant leap for the general public. The notion of animals as intricate automata represents “an anomaly in Western science,” explains Burch. “Non-Western cultures, and indeed many individuals in the West outside academia, have consistently regarded animals as sentient beings.”

Explore other stories in this series through the links below:

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Even basic bacteria can forecast seasonal shifts

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Scanning electron microscope image Synechococcus Cyanobacteria

Eyes of Science/Science Photo Library

Despite being one of the simplest life forms on Earth, cyanobacteria are able to predict and prepare for seasonal changes based on the amount of light they receive.

It has been known for over a century that complex organisms can use day length as a cue to future environmental conditions – for example, days shortening before cold weather sets in. Phenomena such as plant and animal migration, flowering, hibernation and seasonal reproduction are all guided by such responses, known as photoperiodism, but this has not previously been seen in simpler life forms such as bacteria.

Luisa Jabbour Later, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, colleagues artificially Synechococcus elongatus By exposing the cyanobacteria to different day lengths, they found that those that experienced simulated short days were two to three times better able to survive icy temperatures, preparing them for winter-like conditions.

By testing shorter and longer durations, the researchers found that it took four to six days for a response to appear.

Because these organisms can produce new generations within a matter of hours, their cells must pass on information about the length of daylight to their offspring, but researchers don’t yet understand how this information is transmitted.

Cyanobacteria, which capture energy from sunlight through photosynthesis, have been around for more than two billion years and are found almost everywhere on Earth.

“The fact that organisms as ancient and simple as cyanobacteria have a photoperiodic response suggests that this is a phenomenon that has evolved much longer than we had imagined,” says Jabbour, who is now at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK.

The team also looked at how gene expression patterns change in response to changes in day length, suggesting that photoperiodism likely evolved by exploiting existing mechanisms to cope with acute stresses such as bright light and extreme temperatures.

These findings also have implications for the evolution of circadian rhythms, the internal clocks that regulate day-night cycles, team members say. Karl Johnson At Vanderbilt University.

“I think we’ve always thought that circadian clocks evolved before organisms were able to measure the length of days and nights and predict the changing of seasons,” he says, “but the fact that photoperiodism evolved in such ancient, simple organisms, and that our gene expression results are linked to stress response pathways that seem to have evolved very early in life on Earth, suggests that photoperiodism may have evolved before the circadian clock,” Johnson says.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

The complete guide to purchasing a mobile phone for kids: From basic models to refurbished options

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aWith school starting back up, the pressure is on for parents to get their kids their first mobile phone, and when you decide the time has come, there are plenty of options: a smartphone, a basic phone, or upgrading to something new.


From the phone to the mobile services that come with it, key parental controls, to how well the phone fits with the devices you already use, here are some things you need to know before you buy, including which model is best for you.

Your best option might be the phone you already have, especially if you plan on replacing it in the near future. As long as it’s given a thorough cleaning, a new battery, a new case, and the software support is still there, a hand-me-down might be the best way to give your child a phone, while also being kind to the planet and your wallet.

A battery replacement will usually cost between £50 and £150 depending on the model and the shop. If you know how to use your mobile phone well, it will be easier to wipe the battery and set it up for your child.




The Nokia 3210 is one of HMD’s latest retro revival phones. Photo: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

Mobile operator EE recently advised parents not to give smartphones to primary school-aged children. So if your only purpose is to make and receive calls and texts, or to arrange a pick-up or make an emergency call, a basic “dumb” phone would be the solution. However, be aware that these phones only support SMS, not messaging apps like WhatsApp, iMessage, etc.

The downside is that many lower spec phones still have limited access to the internet, and only a handful have basic parental controls that lock the camera, browser and picture messaging (MMS). The lack of restrictions on things like calls and text contacts may also be a turn off, so check the manufacturer’s help documentation to see what’s possible before you buy.

Nokia makes a range of feature phones for around £30 to £60, such as the 110 4G and 225. For more fun there are nostalgic models such as the remake of the Nokia 3210, or film tie-in models such as the recently released HMD Barbie phone. Whatever model you choose, make sure it’s 4G compatible with most 3G services in the UK. Shutdown by the end of 2024.

Nokia 110 4G, £39.99
Argos

Nokia 225, £59.99
Argos
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Nokia 3210, £59.99
Argos
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The Moto G34 comes with 5G, Android 14, and will support security updates until January 2027. Photo: Motorola

Affordable Android phones are a good starting point; there are a variety of models available in the £80 to £180 price range. They usually have large screens and good battery life, although the cameras aren’t the best and apps can be slow to open and use.

Avoid models with Android Go or without access to the Play Store or Google services. Check the remaining time for software support; phones at this level usually only get updates for 2-3 years from the initial release, not at the time of purchase. Kids drop their phones more than adults, so a sturdy case with some water resistance is a good idea.

HMD sells a range of Android devices, either under its own brand or the Nokia brand, and offers longer software support than many others: the HMD Pulse costs under £100, runs Android 14 with security updates until May 2027, and if anything breaks you can fix it at home.

Motorola offers some great value products. Moto G34 Equipped with 5G, large battery, large screen, Android 14, and security updates Until January 2027.

If you’re in the Samsung family, the Galaxy A15 might be a better choice: it costs around £170, runs Android 14 with security updates until January 2029, and has a range of first- and third-party case options to ensure protection.

HMD Pulse, £99.99
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Moto G34, £149.99
Motorola

Galaxy A15, £199
Samsung

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Source: www.theguardian.com

Basic memory allows a blob of jelly to play Pong

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Pong is a simple video game

Interphoto/Alamy

Inanimate blobs of ion-laden jelly can play computer games Pong And it will continue to improve over time: The researchers are planning further experiments to see if it can handle more complex calculations, and hope that it could eventually be used to control robots.

Inspired by past research into playing with brain cells in a dish Pong, Vincent Strong So he and his colleagues at the University of Reading in the UK decided to try a tennis-like game with simpler materials. They mixed ions into a water-filled polymer material so that it responded to electrical stimuli. When an electric current was passed through the material, those ions migrated to the current source, dragging water with them and causing the gel to swell.

In their experiments, the researchers used a standard computer to Pong They then used a 3 x 3 electrode grid to send electric currents to different points in the hydrogel to simulate ball movement, while a second electrode grid measured the concentration of ions in the hydrogel, which a computer interpreted as instructions for where to move the paddle.

The researchers found that not only was the hydrogel playable, but that with practice, accuracy improved by up to 10 percent and rallies also lasted longer.

The hydrogel expands faster than it contracts, and expands more slowly even when a constant electric current is applied.These properties allow the gel to record signals of expansion, creating a sort of rudimentary memory, the researchers say.

“Instead of just knowing what happened moment by moment, it's remembering the movement of the ball throughout the entire game,” Strong said, “so it's not just experiencing where the ball is right now, but the entire movement of the ball. It's like a black-box neural network that remembers how the ball behaves, how it moves, what it's doing.”

A polymer gel sandwiched between electrodes that deliver electrical current and measure ion levels

Vincent Strong et al. 2024

Strong said that while the hydrogel is much simpler than neurons in the brain, experiments have shown it can perform similar tasks. He believes the hydrogel could be used to develop new algorithms that would allow regular computers to perform tasks with minimal resources, making problem solving more efficient. But the hydrogel could also become an analog computer itself.

“I wouldn't rule out putting something like a hydrogel inside a robot brain,” Strong says. “That sounds interesting, and I'd like to see it. But the practicality of that is… I don't know yet.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Experiencing Both Relief and Frustration: A Week with Nokia’s Basic Phone | Mobile Phones

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Struggling with my ancient Nokia 3210, I tried to finish my text after 10 minutes of furious tapping. This “detox” phone, part of a new trend for those seeking relief from tech stress, was really testing my patience.

Sending a message while on a school trip to the Museum of London Docklands, I tried to avoid looking at my phone. The kids with me were puzzled by my texting struggles and the outdated phone.

Despite feeling embarrassed, I pressed on with a semi-urgent message to a friend, as more people opt for simpler phones due to concerns about mental health and technology overload.

As I prepare to start boarding school without my smartphone, I reflect on the ban on new students bringing them. This shift towards low-tech devices raises questions about our dependence on technology.

Cut off from my work email and limited internet access, I grapple with significant news events offline, highlighting the challenges of disconnecting in a hyper-connected world.

Unable to use predictive text and facing the drawbacks of a basic phone, I grapple with the loss of convenience brought on by smartphones. Stepping away from technology reveals both freedom and discomfort.

The reintroduction of Nokia 3210 and similar devices underscores the nostalgia for a simpler time when conversations mattered more than social media likes. These “detox” phones offer a reprieve from the digital noise of modern smartphones.

Zoe Wood with a Nokia 3210: “Perfect for people who don’t want to be in touch or who are on holiday.” Photo: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

Disconnecting from my smartphone lifestyle forces me to rely on traditional methods for daily tasks. This shift highlights the convenience of smartphones but also the unique benefits of simpler technology.

While low-end phones offer relief from the constant demands of smartphones, their limitations and price point present challenges for those accustomed to the conveniences of modern devices.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Experiments in Basic Physics Could Uncover Hidden Dark Matter in Additional Dimensions

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We don’t tend to dwell on the fact that we exist in three dimensions. Front to back, left to right, up to down – these are the axes along which we move through the world. When we try to imagine something else, we usually conjure up the most outlandish science fiction images of portals in the fabric of space-time and parallel universes.

But serious physicists have long been fascinated by the possibility of extra dimensions. Despite their intangibility, extra dimensions hold the promise of solving some big questions about the deepest workings of the universe. And just because they’re hard to imagine and even harder to observe doesn’t mean we can rule them out. “There’s no reason they have to be three-dimensional,” says David Schneider, a physics professor at the University of California, San Diego. Georges Obie At Oxford University. “It could have been two, it could have been four, it could have been ten.”

Still, there comes a time when any self-respecting physicist wants hard evidence. That’s why it’s so exciting that over the past few years, researchers have developed several techniques that may finally provide evidence of extra dimensions. For example, we might be able to detect gravity leaking into extra dimensions. We might see subtle signatures of it in black holes, or we might find its signature in particle accelerators.

But now, in an unexpected twist, Ovid and his colleagues claim that there is an extra dimension that is fundamentally different from any previously conceived. This “dark dimension” hides ancient particles whose gravity could solve the mystery of dark matter, the force that is thought to have shaped the universe. Crucially, this dimension is relatively…

Source: www.newscientist.com

EU’s AI rule negotiations enter second day with agreement on basic model still under consideration

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European Union legislators take action Over 20 hours of negotiation time Amid the marathon attempt to reach a consensus on how to regulate artificial intelligence, one thorny element remains unsolved: rules for foundational models/general purpose AI (GPAI), according to a leaked proposal reviewed by TechCrunch. A tentative agreement has been reached on how to handle the issue.

In recent weeks, there has been a concerted movement led by French AI startup Mistral to call for a complete regulatory separation of basic models/GPAI. But the proposal still has elements of the phased approach to regulating these advanced AIs that Parliament proposed earlier this year, so EU lawmakers are pushing for a full-throttle push to let the market make things right. seems to be resisting.

Having said that, some obligations of GPAI systems provided under free open source licenses are partially exempted (which is stipulated to mean: weights, information about the model architecture, and information about how to use the model) — with some exceptions, such as “high risk” models.

Reuters also reports on partial exceptions for open source advanced AI.

According to our sources, the open source exception is further limited by commercial deployment, so if such an open source model becomes available in the market or is otherwise provided as a service, the curve Out is no longer valid. “Therefore, depending on how ‘market availability’ and ‘commercialization’ are interpreted, this law could also apply to Mistral,” our source suggested.

The preliminary agreement we have seen maintains GPAI’s classification of so-called “systemic risk,” with models receiving this designation based on a measured cumulative amount of compute used for training. It means that it has “functions that have a large impact” such as. Greater than 10^25 for floating point operations (FLOPs).

at that level Few current models appear to meet systemic risk thresholds – Suggests that few state-of-the-art GPAIs need to fulfill their ex ante mandate to proactively assess and mitigate systemic risk. So Mistral’s lobbying efforts appear to have softened the blow of the regulation.

Under the preliminary agreement, other obligations for providers of systemic risk GPAIs include conducting assessments using standardized protocols and state-of-the-art tools. Document and report serious incidents “without undue delay.” Conduct and document adversarial testing. Ensure appropriate levels of cybersecurity. Report the actual or estimated energy consumption of your model.

Providers of GPAI have general obligations such as testing and evaluation of models and the creation and preservation of technical documentation, which must be made available to regulators and supervisory authorities upon request.

You should also provide downstream deployers of the model (aka AI app authors) with an overview of the model’s capabilities and limitations to support their ability to comply with AI laws.

The proposal also calls on basic model makers to put in place policies that respect EU copyright law, including restrictions placed on text and data mining by copyright holders. It also says it will provide a “sufficiently detailed” overview of the training data used to build and publish the model. Templates for disclosures are provided by the AI ​​Office, the AI ​​governance body that the regulations propose to establish.

We understand that this copyright disclosure summary continues to apply to open source models. This exists as one of the exceptions to the rule.

The documents we have seen include references to codes of practice, and the proposal states that GPAIs, and GPAIs with systemic risks, will demonstrate compliance until a ‘harmonized standard’ is published. It says that you can depend on this.

It is envisaged that the AI ​​Office will be involved in the creation of such norms. The European Commission envisages issuing a standardization request from six months after the entry into force of the regulation on GPAI, but will also ask for deliverables on reporting and documentation on how to improve the energy and resource use of AI systems. It is assumed that standardization requests such as these will be issued and regular reports on their progress will be made. It also includes the development of these standardized elements (2 years after the date of application and every 4 years thereafter).

Today’s tripartite consultations on the AI ​​Act actually began yesterday afternoon, but the European Commission is seeking opinions on this disputed file between the European Council, Parliament and Commission staff. It seems that they are determined to make this the final finishing touch. (If not, as we previously reported, there is a risk that the regulation will be put back on the shelf, with EU elections and new Commission appointments looming next year.)

At the time of this writing, negotiations are underway to resolve several other contentious elements of the file, with a number of highly sensitive issues still on the table (e.g., authentication monitoring, etc.). Therefore, it remains unclear whether the file will cross the line.

Without agreement on all elements, there will be no consensus to secure the law, leaving the fate of the AI ​​law in limbo. But for those looking to understand where their co-legislators have arrived at their position on responsibility for advanced AI models, such as the large-scale language model that underpins the viral AI chatbot ChatGPT, this tentative agreement will help lawmakers provide some degree of steering as to where we are going.

In recent minutes, EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton tweeted confirmation that negotiations had finally broken down, but only until tomorrow. The European Commission still intends to obtain the April 2021 proposed file beyond the deadline this week, as the epic trilogue is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. Brussels time.

Source: techcrunch.com