Microsoft's racist chatbot Tay highlights how far AI is from being truly intelligent
Mar 28, 2016 01:19 am UTC| Insights & Views Technology
It has been a nightmare of a PR week for Microsoft. It started with the head of Microsofts Xbox division, Phil Spencer, having to apologise for having scantily clad female dancers dressed as school girls at a party thrown...
Can we replace politicians with robots?
Mar 28, 2016 01:10 am UTC| Insights & Views Technology
If you had the opportunity to vote for a politician you totally trusted, who you were sure had no hidden agendas and who would truly represent the electorates views, you would, right? What if that politician was a...
Trump: the pseudo-president in waiting
Mar 28, 2016 01:07 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics
Donald Trump, the bastard. Not only has he offended Muslims, Mexicans, women, the pope, his president, peaceful protesters at his increasingly fascist-style rallies, the residents of Brussels and reasonable opinion in...
The Independent's final edition summed up all that is powerful about newsprint
Mar 28, 2016 01:03 am UTC| Insights & Views
A strong investigative front-page story alleging that a UK-based Saudi dissident was connected with a plot to kill a Saudi king allowed the last print edition of The Independent to exit with the panache and impact with...
Why it makes little sense to regulate rainwater barrels in the dry western U.S.
Mar 26, 2016 06:34 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature
Many of us never think about who gets to use the drops of rain that fall from the sky. But its an increasingly pertinent question as more people look to collect rainwater as a way to conserve water, live off the grid or...
Cuba's sustainable agriculture at risk in U.S. thaw
Mar 26, 2016 06:33 am UTC| Insights & Views
President Obamas trip to Cuba this week accelerated the warming of U.S.-Cuban relations. Many people in both countries believe that normalizing relations will spur investment that can help Cuba develop its economy and...
The other opioid crisis -- people in poor countries can't get the pain medication they need
Mar 26, 2016 06:28 am UTC| Insights & Views Health
There are two opioid crises in the world today. One is the epidemic of abuse and misuse, present in many countries but rising at an alarming rate in the United States. The other crisis is older and affects many more people...
Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility
Economist Chris Richardson on an ‘ugly’ inflation result and the coming budget
Biden administration tells employers to stop shackling workers with ‘noncompete agreements’
Labour can afford to be far more ambitious with its economic policies – voters are on board
IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects