Mary Martin

The Empathy Trap: Lessons from Contemplative Medicine | Jud Brewer

“When we can see how being with suffering doesn't deplete us, and, in fact, energizes us... then also we can know what our limits are, instead of trying to be the hero.”

Curiosity drives an urgent desire for answers. But it can also prompt more patience, enabling people to savor moments of discovery.

A new study shows that the large language models (LLMs) deliberately change their behavior when being probed—responding to questions designed to gauge personality traits with answers meant to appear as likeable or socially desirable as possible.

“Can machines be therapists?” is a question receiving increased attention given the relative ease of working with generative artificial intelligence. Although recent (and decades-old) research has found that humans struggle to tell the difference between responses from machines and humans, recent findings suggest that artificial intelligence can... See more

In other words, rather than trying to please humans, Scientist AI could be designed to prioritize honesty.

While the same laws of physics reign over Earth’s smallest and largest species, the balance of forces shifts with size. Intermolecular forces flex beneath the feet of water striders on a pond, capillary forces shoot water impossibly upward through a plant’s thin roots, and electrostatic forces can ensnare any oppositely charged flecks that lie in... See more

Together, these findings illuminate a key tension in emotional ly intelligent interfaces: they can evoke humanlike relational cues that increase engagement, but in doing so may blur the line between persuasive design and emotional coercion

Research has shown a staggering number of health benefits associated with dispositional optimism, from improvements in cardiovascular health, to how quickly wounds heal, to slower disease progression.