New study highlights AI's role in stimulating thought

Proceeding from an article, Bloomberg unveils that AI is rapidly transforming various fields of science, and social scientists are using it in innovative ways to gain new insights into human behavior and cognition. 

It was a challenging year for good news, largely due to the chaos and drama surrounding the 2024 US election and ongoing conflicts, which overshadowed some remarkable discoveries made in observatories, field studies, and laboratories worldwide. These breakthroughs could potentially improve our health and broaden our understanding of the universe.

The far side of the moon, always hidden from view, holds a sense of mystery. Flyby missions have revealed a starkly different, lighter surface, with fewer craters and a thicker crust than the side we see. In 2019, China made history by landing the first craft on the moon's far side, and in 2024, the Chang’e-6 mission successfully drilled beneath the surface, returning two kilograms of rock and soil samples.

These moon samples could help scientists piece together the formation of our planet. Meanwhile, China's ambitious space program is sparking a new space race with the United States. NASA’s long-awaited crewed landing has been delayed to 2027, while China aims to send a crewed mission to the moon by 2030.

After nearly four decades of failed attempts to create an HIV/AIDS vaccine, scientists have discovered a drug that can prevent infection with just two injections a year. A clinical trial conducted in South Africa and Uganda, which concluded in 2024, showed 100 per cent efficacy among 2,134 women and girls. The control group received existing daily prevention drugs known as PrEP, which have nearly eradicated new HIV cases in San Francisco but face stigma and barriers to regular use in Africa. The new twice-yearly drug, lenacapavir, was named the 2024 Breakthrough of the Year.

Developed by Gilead, the drug doesn’t function like a vaccine, but researchers continue to pursue a vaccine, which could be cheaper and offer permanent protection. Lenacapavir is expected to be approved by mid-2025, though its affordability and accessibility for those who need it remain uncertain.

AI is revolutionizing every area of science, but social scientists have harnessed it to gain particularly unique insights. They’re using large language models to study human cognition and explore ways to enhance our thinking abilities.

In a study published in September, psychologists were surprised when they trained an AI chatbot to persuade conspiracy theorists to reconsider their beliefs. The experiment was successful. People were swayed to abandon their convictions about hidden plots, such as cover-ups of alien landings or the use of biological weapons to control population growth.

Conspiracy theorists often amass large amounts of questionable evidence to support their beliefs, which can exhaust human interlocutors who lack the time or resources to keep up. However, chatbots can easily provide vast amounts of evidence to counter these claims.

Another study published this year found that doctors often stuck with incorrect diagnoses even after AI suggested the right answer. In a diagnostic competition with ChatGPT-4, the AI correctly diagnosed 90 per cent of conditions from case reports, while doctors got only 74 per cent correct. Even when doctors consulted the AI, their accuracy only improved to 76 per cent, as they remained overly confident in their initial instincts.

This failure to fully leverage AI highlights the need for better training for doctors on how to use AI effectively, as well as improvements in AI’s ability to assist them.

Another study found that AI wasn't particularly effective at helping people fact-check news. ChatGPT-4 sometimes strengthened individuals' belief in false headlines when they were uncertain, and it caused them to doubt real headlines when it made mistakes. AI appears to be most helpful when it encourages us to think differently, rather than when we depend on it to think on our behalf.

By Naila Huseynova