AI Advances Understanding of Brain and Boosts Human Decision-Making, While Consciousness Remains Complex
• Researchers combined AI and fMRI brain scans to decode stories people were listening to or making up, showing a new way AI can enhance understanding of the brain.
• The defeat of a champion Go player by an AI system in 2016 spurred players to study the AI's novel moves and incorporate them into their own gameplay, improving human decision-making.
• A 25-year bet on whether neuroscience could find a "clear" neural signature of consciousness was settled, with both sides agreeing more work is needed to understand consciousness.
• Simple techniques like suppressing negative thoughts and imagery can genuinely help people feel better, not worse as previously thought, according to a new study.
• Public fascination with AI like ChatGPT raised questions about whether machines could surpass human intelligence, while other researchers continued working to decode the brain's complexity.