Social scientists are testing whether the AI systems that power ChatGPT and other text and image generating tools can be used to better understand the behaviors, beliefs and values of humans themselves.
Why it matters: Chatbots are being used to mimic the output of people — from cover letters to marketing copy to computer code. Some social scientists are now exploring whether they can offer new inroads to key questions about human behavior and help them reduce the time and cost of experiments.
The heat wave scorching much of Mexico, Texas and parts of New Mexico is forecast to worsen and last into the week of July 4, weather forecast models and National Weather Service (NWS) guidance show.
Why it matters: Extreme heat is the top weather-related killer in the U.S., and long-duration heat with little overnight relief makes this event particularly hazardous.
Tropical Storm Cindy formed over the central tropical Atlantic on Thursday night, becoming the third named storm of the season.
Why it matters: It's the first time on record that two Atlantic tropical cyclones have formed in June in the area known as the Main Development Region (MDR), as Tropical Storm Bret remains active in the Caribbean, meteorologist Eric Fisher noted.
Multnomah County, Oregon — which contains most of Portland —filed a lawsuit Thursday against over a dozen fossil fuel companies and industry associations, seeking $50 million in actual damages from the June 2021 heat wave that blanketed the Pacific Northwest, sending temperatures up to 116° in the county.
Of note: The suit also seeks $1.5 billion in future damages and $50 billion to "weatherproof" the county against extreme heat.
