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Chatbots sometimes make things up. Is AI’s hallucination problem fixable?

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:10:07 GMT

By MATT O’BRIEN (AP Technology Writer)Spend enough time with ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence chatbots and it doesn’t take long for them to spout falsehoods.Described as hallucination, confabulation or just plain making things up, it’s now a problem for every business, organization and high school student trying to get a generative AI system to compose documents and get work done. Some are using it on tasks with the potential for high-stakes consequences, from psychotherapy to researching and writing legal briefs.“I don’t think that there’s any model today that doesn’t suffer from some hallucination,” said Daniela Amodei, co-founder and president of Anthropic, maker of the chatbot Claude 2.“They’re really just sort of designed to predict the next word,” Amodei said. “And so there will be some rate at which the model does that inaccurately.”Anthropic, ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and other major developers...

Floods around Chinese capital kill at least 20, leave 27 missing as thousands evacuated

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:10:07 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Torrential rain in areas around China’s capital, Beijing, killed at least 20 people and left 27 missing, the government reported Tuesday, as flooding destroyed roads, uprooted trees and knocked out power.Thousands of people were evacuated to shelters in schools and other public buildings in suburban Beijing and in the nearby cities of Tianjin and Zhuozhou. The severity of the flooding took the Chinese capital by surprise. Beijing usually has dry summers but had a stretch of record-breaking heat this year. Other areas, especially China’s south, have suffered unusually severe summer flooding that caused scores of deaths. Other parts of the country are struggling with drought.Muddy water surging down streets washed away cars in the Mentougou district on Beijing’s western edge.“The cars parked on the street floated and got washed away,” said a resident, Liu Shuanbao. “A couple of cars parked behind my apartment building disappeared in just on...

Niger crisis deepens as European nations evacuate and coup leaders get support from other juntas

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:10:07 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — France, Italy and Spain announced evacuations from Niger for their citizens and other European nationals Tuesday, concerned that they risked becoming trapped by a military coup that won backing from three other West African nations also ruled by mutinous soldiers.France’s Foreign Ministry cited recent violence that targeted its embassy in Niamey, the capital, as one of the reasons for its decision to offer evacuation flights to several hundred of its citizens and other Europeans. It said the closure of Niger’s airspace “leaves our compatriots unable to leave the country by their own means.”Spain’s Defense Ministry announced preparations to evacuate more than 70 nationals and Italy also said it was arranging a flight. The foreign office in Germany recommended that its citizens accept France’s offer to fly them out. The evacuations come during a deepening crisis sparked by the coup last week against Niger’s democratically elected president,...

Truckers told not to report for work after Yellow Corp. bankruptcy: Unifor

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:10:07 GMT

TORONTO — Unifor says nearly 130 Canadian truck drivers were told not to report for work after the Teamsters Union said U.S. trucking giant Yellow Corp. was shutting down operations and filing for bankruptcy.The head of Unifor’s local chapter representing the truckers says 70 employees and 58 owner-operators for subsidiary YRC Freight Canada have been devastated by the news but left with little information.Yesterday, the Teamsters said the union received legal notice confirming Yellow was ceasing operations and filing for bankruptcy protection after years of financial struggles.The apparent shutdown has renewed attention around Yellow’s ongoing negotiations with unionized workers, a $700-million pandemic-era loan from the government and other bills the Tennessee-based outfit has racked up over time.Formerly known as YRC Worldwide Inc., Yellow is one of America’s largest less-than-truckload carriers and its closure would put 30,000 jobs at risk.Unifor president Lana Payne...

Harold Brine was the last of 19 miners rescued after 1958 Nova Scotia mine disaster

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:10:07 GMT

HALIFAX — The last surviving miner rescued in October 1958 after one of Nova Scotia’s worst coal mine disasters has died.Harold Brine, who lived in Geary, N.B., was 91 years old.There were 174 men working in the No. 2 mine in Springhill, N.S., when the mine was jolted by a seismic shock wave that killed 75 miners.Brine, then 26 years old, was among 12 men who were rescued after spending six days trapped near the bottom of North America’s deepest coal mine.Another seven miners were rescued two days later, making headlines around the world.In a recent interview, Brine said the thought of being reunited with his wife and two-year-old daughter gave him strength as fellow miners worked around the clock to reach their trapped comrades.  This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 1, 2023.The Canadian Press

Oxford school shooter was ‘feral child’ abandoned by parents, defense psychologist says

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:10:07 GMT

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A teenager who killed four students at his Michigan high school in 2021 was like a “feral child,” deeply neglected by his parents during crucial years and mentally ill, a psychologist testified Tuesday at a hearing to determine if the mass shooter will get a life prison sentence.Ethan Crumbley’s lawyers also played disturbing videos from jail showing the 17-year-old in deep distress as deputies restrained him while he wailed. In one incident, his head is completely covered with a hood. No dates were disclosed. “Why didn’t you stop it? I’m sorry. … Stop it, God, why?” he said.A psychologist, Colin King, said the shooter was experiencing psychosis, a break from reality. He later predicted that the boy “absolutely” can be rehabilitated.“A number of my clients have had issues with the law,” said King, who has testified in many homicide cases. “Through psychotherapy and support, they’ve been able to make progress. … Ethan’s brain is sti...

As climate change leads to more and wetter storms, cholera cases are on the rise

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:10:07 GMT

In early 2022, nearly 200,000 Malawians were displaced after two tropical storms struck the southeastern part of Africa barely a month apart. Fifty-three people died. Amid an already-heavy rainy season, the storms Ana and Gombe caused devastation across southern Malawi to homes, crops, and infrastructure. “That March, we started to see cholera, which is usually endemic in Malawi, becoming an outbreak,” said Gerrit Maritz, a deputy representative for health programs in Malawi for the United Nations Children’s Fund. Cholera typically affects the country during the rainy season, from December to March, during which time it remains contained around Lake Malawi in the south and results in about 100 deaths each year. The 2022 outbreak showed a different pattern — cholera spread throughout the dry season and by August had moved into Malawi’s northern and central regions. By early February of this year, cases had peaked at 700 per day with a fatality rate of 3.3 %, three times higher than t...

S&P/TSX composite falling, U.S. stocks also in decline

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:10:07 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index fell in late-morning trading as U.S. markets were also in decline.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 107.90 points at 20,518.74.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 12.60 points at 35,546.89. The S&P 500 index was down 13.25 points at 4,575.71, while the Nasdaq composite was down 68.57 points at 14,277.45.The Canadian dollar traded for 75.22 cents US compared with 75.81 cents US on Monday.The September crude oil contract was down 91 cents at US$80.88 per barrel and the September natural gas contract was down seven cents at US$2.55 per mmBTU.The December gold contract was down US$28.40 at US$1980.80 an ounce and the September copper contract was down nine cents at US$3.91 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 1, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)The Canadian Press

Tiger Woods joins PGA Tour board and throws support behind Commissioner Jay Monahan

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:10:07 GMT

Tiger Woods has joined the PGA Tour policy board for the first time in his 27 years, giving Commissioner Jay Monahan key support and the players a greater voice as the tour tries to complete its business partnership with the Saudi backers of LIV Golf.Monahan said Woods is joining as a sixth player director on the board, marking the first time players have outnumbered independent directors on the board.The decision Tuesday comes at a crucial time for the tour and for Monahan, who held private meetings with Saudi leaders and two board members in orchestrating an about-face deal to work with the Saudi Arabia national wealth fund on the rival golf league.Woods had been one of the strongest opponents of LIV Golf and helped run a meeting of select players last year in Delaware to restructure the PGA Tour model.In a statement, Woods said the players will do their best to assure any changes in tour operations are in the best interests of everyone. He thanked Monahan for listening to player ...

GTA new condo sales see slowest first half of year since 2013: Urbanation

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:10:07 GMT

TORONTO — Urbanation Inc. says Greater Toronto Area new condo sales experienced their slowest first half of the year since 2013.The real estate analysis company says the first six months of this year brought 6,727 in new condo sales, 59 per cent below the sales seen during the same period of 2022.This year’s first half is 42 per cent below the first half 10-year average of 11,516 units sold.Urbanation describes the market as tepid and says sales have been much lower because buyers were concerned because of the Bank of Canada’s interest rate hikes.Those concerns weighed on new GTA condo prices, which recorded their first annual decline in 10 years.Urbanation’s data shows the average price for available new condominiums decreased 1.3 per cent quarter-over-quarter and 2.2 per cent year-over-year to $1,411 per square foot.It saw the market respond by reducing prices and offering incentives, like cash back or credits on closing, mortgage rate guarantees, and free or red...