Chatbots are more persuasive in online debates than people ' especially when they are able to personalise their arguments using information about their opponent. The finding, published in Nature Human Behaviour on 19 May1, highlights how large language models (LLMs) could be used to influence people's opinions, for example in political campaigns or targeted advertising. 'Obviously as soon as people see that you can persuade people more with LLMs, they're going to start using them,' says study co-author Francesco Salvi, a computational scientist at the Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne (EPFL). 'I find it both fascinating and terrifying.' Research has already shown that artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots can make people change their minds, even about conspiracy theories, but it hasn't been clear how persuasive they are in comparison to humans. So, Salvi and his colleagues pitted 900 people in the United States against either another person or OpenAI's GPT-4 LLM for 10-minute online debates....

When the annual U.N. climate conference descends on the small Brazilian rainforest city of Belem in November 2025, it will be tempting to focus on the drama and disunity among major nations. Only 21 countries had even submitted their updated plans for managing climate change by the 2025 deadline required under the Paris Agreement. The U.S. is pulling out of the agreement altogether. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Chinese President Xi Jinping and the likely absence of ' or potential stonewalling by ' a U.S. delegation will take up much of the oxygen in the negotiating hall. Trust me, I've been there. As chair of the California Air Resources Board for nearly 20 years, I attended the annual conferences from Bali in 2007 to Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, in 2023. That included the exhilarating success in 2015, when nearly 200 nations committed to keep global warming in check by signing the Paris Agreement. In recent years, however, the real progress has been outside the rooms where the official U.N. negotiations are held, not inside. In these meetings, the leaders of states and provinces talk about what they are doing to reduce greenhouse gases and prepare for worsening climate disasters. Many bilateral and multilateral agreements have sprung up like mushrooms from these side conversations....

The hardest part of today's innovation work isn't finding the AI tools that can increase productivity or respond to customer desires ' it's the people challenges. In this collection of articles from MIT Sloan Management Review, executives and academic experts from MIT Sloan and other world-class institutions share pragmatic advice on how to usher innovation into the core of an organization. They also show how companies known for innovation continue to break new ground. Artificial intelligence is making CEOs who have always thirsted for innovation even thirstier. Using AI tools, teams can rewrite some old rules about speed and cost to increase their productivity and shorten time to market. Just as enticingly, teams can innovate quickly to respond to customer desires, improving customer satisfaction and retention. Thinking even bigger, teams can open up entirely new lines of revenue. It's a good time to be a leader who thrives on change, because the drive to innovate at all these levels is strong....

The vehicle ' Blue Owl Digital Infrastructure Fund III (ODI III) ' will focus on building and acquiring mission-critical data centres and related assets for hyperscale clients, including global technology companies scaling artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure. The project is being delivered in partnership with Inhabeo, KKR Real Estate's European living platform, alongside PBSA developer Gilltown and general contractor Winvic. Located on the site of a former office building, the six-storey scheme will provide modern residential facilities for students, complemented by a 4,000 sq ft ground floor commercial unit serving both residents and the wider community. Read more here.Evercore has made a major hire to accelerate its European growth strategy, appointing Luigi de Vecchi, one of Citigroup's most senior dealmakers, as Chair of its continental European business. The move marks a significant step in Evercore's continued effort to expand its international advisory franchise, following last year's high-profile recruitment of three senior Lazard bankers in France. De Vecchi's appointment signals the firm's intent to challenge more established players across key European financial hubs....