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Researchers have discovered a promising tool in the fight against misinformation: an AI-powered chatbot known as DebunkBot. The innovative tool has demonstrated remarkable success in convincing people to reject baseless conspiracy theories, according to recent research highlighted in the journal Science. Despite previous assumptions that facts alone are not enough to change beliefs in conspiracy theories, DebunkBot leverages deep learning technology, similar to that which powers ChatGPT, to directly address these myths. This approach has proven surprisingly effective, challenging long-held perceptions about the persuasiveness of logical arguments against such theories. The study, led by Gordon Pennycook, a professor of psychology…

In a significant health shift, the 2016 change in the oral polio vaccine, aimed at eradicating the disease, inadvertently contributed to new outbreaks. This modified vaccine strategy, called “the switch,” removed a strain of the poliovirus that was causing outbreaks, in an effort to make it easier to control the disease. Tracing the origins of the virus that led to the recent paralysis of a child in Gaza, the first such case in the region in more than two decades, is a complex process. Genetic tracing suggests the virus likely originated in Nigeria, then appeared in Chad in 2019. From…