The Age of AI
The Turing Award, considered the computer science equivalent of the Nobel Prize, was recently won by machine-learning pioneers Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton, whose research provided a building block for applications such as DeepSeek and ChatGPT (which, researchers claim, can pass the Turing test). Although artificial intelligence is less than a century old, its impact has been profound in recent years, sparking discoveries and much debate.
Who Was Alan Turing and Why Is He Called a Founding Father of AI?
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Interactive: The Tech of Our Times
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The History of AI So Far
© MIT, Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Spring Ahead
This weekend marks Daylight Saving Time (DST) in many countries, when clocks will jump ahead one hour. Here’s a quick look at why it began and how it has changed.
The practice was first suggested in an essay by Benjamin Franklin in 1784. In 1907 an Englishman, William Willett, campaigned for setting the clock ahead by 80 minutes in four moves of 20 minutes each during April and the reverse in September.
WartimeSeveral countries—including Australia, Great Britain, Germany, and the United States—adopted summer DST during World War I to conserve fuel by reducing the need for artificial light. During World War II clocks were kept continuously advanced by an hour in some countries.
When?In the U.S., DST once began on the last Sunday in April and ended in October. In 1986 the start of DST was moved to the first Sunday in April. In 2007 DST changed again, as the start date was moved to the second Sunday in March and the end date to the first Sunday in November. In most countries in western Europe, DST starts on the last Sunday in March and ends on the last Sunday in October.
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