Science

Diplomacy, many a statesperson has argued, is an art: one that requires not just strategy, but also intuition, persuasion, and even subterfuge—human skills that have long been off-limits to even the most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) approaches. Now, an AI algorithm from the company Meta has shown it can beat many humans in the board game Diplomacy, which requires both strategic planning and verbal negotiations with other players. The work, researchers say, could point the way toward virtual exercise coaches and dispute mediators. International chatbot diplomacy may not be far behind. “These are spectacular new results,” says Yoram Bachrach, a computer scientist at DeepMind who has worked on the game Diplomacy but was not ...

CLIMATE POLICY Carbon emissions increase—as do ways to track them Carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels are on track to rise 1% this year from the 2021 level, making it harder for many nations to reach their goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, scientists from the Global Carbon Project said last week. They cited an easing of pandemic precautions, including increased air travel, as one reason for the rise. Most researchers say the world is unlikely to meet the net-zero goals and limit global warming to 1.5°C by 2050. But two new tools announced last week will aid efforts by improving the ability to track, verify, and regulate greenhouse gases. One tool, developed by the Climate TRACE coalition, uses satellite ...