With just a few words, AI can tell what kind of person you are

A new study finds that widely available generative AI models (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, LLaMa) can predict personality, key behaviors, and daily emotions as or even more accurately than those closest to you.

“What this study shows is AI can also help us understand ourselves better, providing insights into what makes us most human, our personalities,” says the study’s first author Aidan Wright, University of Michigan professor of psychology and psychiatry.

“Lots of people may find this of interest and useful. People have long been interested in understanding themselves better. Online personality questionnaires, some valid and many of dubious quality, are enormously popular.”

Researchers looked into whether AI programs like ChatGPT and Claude can act like general “judges” of personality. To test this, they had the AI read people’s own words—either short daily video diaries or longer recordings of what happened to be on their mind—and asked it to answer personality questions the way each person would. The study included stories and thoughts from more than 160 people collected in real-life and lab settings.

The results showed that the AI’s personality scores were very similar to how people rated themselves, and often matched them better than ratings from friends or family. Older text-analysis methods did not perform nearly as well as these newer AI systems.

“We were taken aback by just how strong these associations were, given how different these two data sources are,” Wright says.

AI’s personality ratings could also predict real parts of people’s lives, like their emotions, stress levels, social behavior, and even whether they had been diagnosed with mental health conditions or sought treatment, according to the findings.

This research indicates that personality naturally shows up in our everyday thoughts, words, and stories—even when we’re not trying to describe ourselves.

Chandra Sripada, a professor of philosophy and psychiatry at the University of Michigan, says the findings support the long-held idea that language carries deep clues about how people differ in psychological traits such as personality and mood.

He adds that open-ended writing and speech can be a powerful tool for understanding personality. Thanks to generative AI, researchers can now analyze this kind of data quickly and accurately in ways that weren’t possible before.

At the same time, important questions remain. The study relied on people rating their own personalities and did not test how well AI compares with judgments from friends or family, or how results might differ across age, gender, or race.

The researchers also don’t yet know whether AI and humans rely on the same signals—or whether AI could one day outperform self-reports when predicting major life outcomes like relationships, education, health, or career success.

“The study shows that AI can reliably uncover personality traits from everyday language, pointing to a new frontier in understanding human psychology,” says Colin Vize, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh.

Whitney Ringwald, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota, says the results “really highlight how our personality is infused in everything we do, even down to our mundane, everyday experiences and passing thoughts.”

The findings appear in the journal Nature Human Behavior.

Source: University of Michigan

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Team pinpoints brain network responsible for Parkinson’s

Researchers have identified the brain network responsible for Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder affecting more than 1 million people in the US and more than 10 million globally. It is characterized by debilitating symptoms such as tremors, movement difficulties, sleep disturbances, and cognitive impairments.

While current treatments, including long-term medication and invasive deep brain stimulation (DBS), can alleviate symptoms, they cannot halt progression or cure the disease.

The new study led by China’s Changping Laboratory, in collaboration with Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and others, identifies the region of the brain responsible for the core problems of Parkinson’s disease.

Targeting this brain network—the somato-cognitive action network (SCAN)—with a noninvasive, experimental therapy called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) more than doubled the improvement in symptoms in a small group of patients, compared to TMS acting upon surrounding brain areas.

The study in Nature redefines the neurological basis of Parkinson’s and lays the groundwork for more effective, precision treatment of the disease.

“This work demonstrates that Parkinson’s is a SCAN disorder, and the data strongly suggest that if you target the SCAN in a personalized, precise manner you can treat Parkinson’s more successfully than was previously possible,” says coauthor Nico U. Dosenbach, a professor of neurology at WashU Medicine.

“Changing the activity within SCAN could slow or reverse the progression of the disease, not just treat the symptoms.”

Dosenbach first described SCAN in Nature in 2023. The network lies within the motor cortex—the part of the brain that controls body movements—and is responsible for turning action plans into movements and receiving feedback on how executing those plans went.

Given that Parkinson’s disease causes a broad range of symptoms, affecting bodily functions such as movement, digestion, and sleep as well as cognition and motivation, Hesheng Liu, the study’s senior author, teamed up with Dosenbach to explore whether dysfunction of SCAN, which links cognition with movement, could explain Parkinson’s disease symptoms and serve as a target for treatment.

Liu’s team collected various brain imaging data from more than 800 participants across multiple institutions in the US and China. The group included patients with Parkinson’s disease receiving DBS, which uses surgically implanted electrodes to send electrical impulses to specific brain areas, or noninvasive treatments such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, focused ultrasound stimulation and medications. There were also healthy individuals and patients with other movement disorders included as controls.

The authors’ analysis revealed that Parkinson’s disease is characterized by hyperconnectivity between the SCAN and the subcortex, the part of the brain responsible for emotion, memory and motor control. All four therapies included in the study were most effective when they reduced hyperconnectivity between the SCAN and the subcortex, ultimately normalizing activity in the circuit responsible for planning and coordinating action.

“For decades, Parkinson’s has been primarily associated with motor deficits and the basal ganglia,” the part of the brain that controls muscle movements, Liu says. “Our work shows that the disease is rooted in a much broader network dysfunction.

“The SCAN is hyperconnected to key regions associated with Parkinson’s disease, and this abnormal wiring disrupts not only movement but also related cognitive and bodily functions.”

Leveraging this insight, the researchers developed a new precision treatment system capable of targeting the SCAN noninvasively with millimeter accuracy. They applied transcranial magnetic stimulation, which sends magnetic pulses to the brain from a device on the head.

In a clinical trial, 18 patients receiving SCAN-targeted transcranial magnetic stimulation showed a 56% response rate after two weeks, compared to 22% in a group of 18 patients receiving stimulation at adjacent brain areas—a 2.5-fold increase in efficacy.

“With noninvasive treatments, we could start treating with neuromodulation much earlier than is currently done with DBS” because they don’t require brain surgery, says Dosenbach.

Dosenbach adds that there’s more basic research to be done to understand if and how different components of the SCAN affect different Parkinson’s symptoms.

Dosenbach is planning clinical trials with Turing Medical, a WashU Medicine startup he cofounded, to test a noninvasive treatment using surface electrode strips placed over SCAN regions to treat gait dysfunction in Parkinson’s patients. He also plans to investigate modulating the SCAN with low-intensity focused ultrasound, a noninvasive way to change brain activity using acoustic energy.

Support for this work came from the Changping Laboratory, the US National Institutes of Health, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Key R&D Program of China, the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center; the Kiwanis Foundation; the Washington University Hope Center for Neurological Disorders; and the Collaborative Innovation Center of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Mental Health of Anhui Province.

The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

Source: Washington University in St. Louis

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How data and tech are changing the Olympics

An expert has answers for you about how data science, computer vision, and wearable tech are changing how athletes train and fans watch the Olympics.

Behind the scenes of every skating routine, ski jump, and slalom race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, sophisticated analytics are at work, turning super athletes into record-breakers—and helping fans understand what makes these games extraordinary.

Hassan Rafique, assistant professor of sport analytics in the David B. Falk College of Sport at Syracuse University, studies how data transforms both athletic performance and sports storytelling.

Here, he shares how analytics are changing the Olympic experience for fans and athletes:

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Road salt is worse for freshwater life than expected

Freshwater streams, ponds, and lakes across the United States are becoming saltier, and new research shows the damage may be greater than scientists once thought.

Scientists at the University of Missouri’s College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources found that road salt becomes much more deadly to freshwater snails when combined with the fear of natural predators in the water.

Road salt mainly enters fresh water through road runoff from winter deicing. While scientists know that salt alone is harmful to freshwater animals, most research looks at salt exposure by itself. But in the real world, animals face challenges from many additional stressors at the same time, including predators.

To better reflect a snail’s natural environment, Rick Relyea and colleagues conducted semi-outdoor experiments using different salt levels and the presence or absence of different predator species.

“Freshwater organisms have evolved in low-salt environments,” says Relyea, director of Mizzou’s Johnny Morris Institute of Fisheries, Wetlands, and Aquatic Systems and coauthor of the study.

“Adding road salt makes their survival much harder, especially when these animals experience the fear of being eaten by predators. At the highest salt levels, we found that predator stress dramatically increased snail deaths, causing nearly 60% higher mortality compared to salt alone.”

The researchers saw that when snails sense nearby predators, they slow their eating and move less to avoid being noticed. At the same time, an increase in salty water forces them to use more energy just to stay alive. Together, these forces drain their energy. The researchers believe this combination of factors may increase a snail’s risk of death.

“These effects don’t show up in typical lab studies,” says Scott Goeppner, a Mizzou postdoctoral fellow and coauthor. “That means we may be underestimating how dangerous common pollutants, such as road salt, really are.”

Although they are small, freshwater snails are abundant and important to aquatic ecosystems because they help control algae, recycle nutrients, and provide food for fish and birds.

“When organisms like snails disappear, algae can grow unchecked,” Goeppner says. “That lowers our water quality, impacting the waterways communities rely on every day.”

Relyea says practical solutions to reducing salt pollution in waterways already exist.

“Communities can cut road salt use by up to 50% while still maintaining safe roads,” he says. “Simple steps such as pretreating roads, calibrating salt trucks, and applying salt more strategically can protect freshwater ecosystems while saving money for local governments and taxpayers.”

The team suggests that current water-quality standards may not fully reflect these real-world conditions.

“When we don’t fully understand how pollutants interact with natural stressors, it’s safer to be cautious,” Goeppner says. “Protecting freshwater means looking at salt impacts under more natural conditions, not just in the lab.”

The study appears in the journal OIKOS. Mitchell Le Sage at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is a coauthor on the study.

Source: University of Missouri

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New tuberculosis treatment is inhalable

Researchers have developed a new inhalable form of tuberculosis treatment that could significantly reduce the burden of current therapy.

The study’s findings appear in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

Jessica L. Reynolds, associate professor of medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, is senior author on the paper.

The paper details the development of an inhalable, immunomodulating, biocompatible nanoparticle system encapsulating rifampin, one of the most important tuberculosis (TB) drugs.

“TB is still one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, even though it can be cured. Treatment takes many months and involves multiple drugs that can cause serious side effects,” Reynolds says. “Because of this, many patients struggle to finish treatment, which leads to treatment failure and drug-resistant TB.”

Rifampin works well but has two major drawbacks when taken orally: It can damage the liver and not enough of the drug reaches the lungs, where TB bacteria live, Reynolds notes.

To address this, the researchers developed a new way to deliver rifampin directly to the lungs by inhalation instead of pills by packaging the drug into nanoparticles designed to be breathed in.

The nanoparticles have a biodegradable core that holds rifampin, an outer coating that helps them stick to macrophages and a natural molecule on the surface that both improves uptake by immune cells and boosts immune activity, says Hilliard L. Kutscher, research assistant professor of medicine, and first author on the study.

“These particles are specially built to go straight to the lungs and be taken up by lung immune cells called macrophages, which are where TB bacteria hide,” he adds.

“They are designed to slowly release rifampin over time, to stimulate the immune system to better fight TB and to reduce drug exposure to the rest of the body, lowering side effects.”

Because the drug stays in the lungs longer using this form of delivery, treatment might only be needed once a week instead of every day, Kutscher suggests.

In the study, the researchers used two different mouse models of TB (one that reflects general TB lung infection, and a second, more severe model that closely mimics human TB lung damage and is harder to treat) to test whether once-weekly inhaled nanoparticles work as well as—or better than—daily oral rifampin in reducing mycobacterium tuberculosis.

“Using both models makes the results more reliable and relevant to human disease,” Reynolds says.

The study found that inhaled nanoparticle treatment delivered rifampin much more effectively to the lungs.

“Compared to taking rifampin by mouth every day, the inhaled nanoparticles kept higher levels of the drug in the lungs for much longer—up to a week after a single dose,” Reynolds notes.

All studies involving Mycobacterium tuberculosis were conducted in a certified Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) facility, the standard laboratory environment required for TB research nationwide. These facilities operate under established federal, state and institutional regulations and include controlled access, specialized ventilation, sterilization and other validated safety procedures.

“The work highlights the potential of long-acting inhaled medicines to simplify TB therapy,” Reynolds says.

“Reducing treatment frequency could improve adherence, lower side effects and make TB care more accessible worldwide,” she says.

“These findings support continued development of inhalable, long-acting TB therapies as a promising strategy to improve treatment outcomes and reduce the global impact of tuberculosis.”

She adds that the next phase of this research will focus on how the nanoparticle can be integrated with other standard TB antibiotics to support combination therapy, the cornerstone of TB treatment.

Patrick O. Kenney, clinical assistant professor of pediatrics and coauthor on the study, says the potential public health benefits of the research go beyond tuberculosis.

“Rifampin is not just a TB drug; it is also a key medication for other serious lung infections caused by non-tuberculous mycobacteria, such as Mycobacterium kansasii and Mycobacterium xenopi, which are increasingly recognized in the US,” Kenney says.

“These infections often affect people with chronic lung disease and can be difficult to treat.”

Kenney says targeted lung delivery could also potentially solve a long-standing drug interaction problem.

“One major limitation of rifampin is that when taken orally, it strongly activates liver enzymes and this reduces the effectiveness of other important antibiotics, such as azithromycin and clarithromycin, which are cornerstones of therapy for Mycobacterium avium/intracellulare complex (MAC) lung disease,” he says. “Because of this interaction, rifampin is often avoided, even when it could otherwise help.”

However, by delivering rifampin directly to the lungs instead of the whole body, this approach could achieve high drug levels at the site of the infection, minimize drug levels in the bloodstream and potentially reduce harmful drug-drug interactions, Kenney notes.

“That opens the door to using rifampin more effectively in a broader range of pulmonary mycobacterial diseases—not just TB,” he says.

The research was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.

Source: University at Buffalo

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Watch: How is AI changing love?

An expert has answers for you about how artificial intelligence is changing the way we love.

Harry Reis, a professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, is an expert on close relationships and what it truly means to feel loved.

After decades studying social connection, Reis has noticed a simple but powerful difference between happy and unhappy people: “Happy people feel loved.”

But in a world of constant notifications, divided attention, and Zoom multitasking, connection is thinning. And, as AI becomes more conversational and empathetic, some are turning to chatbots for connection. But as Reis puts it: “The problem is that chatbots can’t really love.”

AI may offer short-term comfort but real relationships require reciprocity, friction, and the messy human moments that help love grow.

So what happens when technology can mimic intimacy? Can AI enhance connection—or does it risk replacing it? And what does it truly take to make someone feel loved? Reis digs in in the video below:

Source: University of Rochester

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How movies can set you up for unrealistic expectations of love

It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and love stories are in the spotlight.

While binge watching romance films can be a fun way to celebrate the season, Virginia Tech experts Sarah Ovink and Rose Wesche say formulaic depictions of love may set unrealistic expectations for real-life relationships.

Ovink, associate professor of sociology, says media’s role in shaping expectations of love starts early.

“From a young age, children are exposed to media that reinforces the importance of romance, marriage, and a ‘happily ever after ending,'” she says, noting that classic Disney films like Snow White and Cinderella, and even contemporary hits such as Frozen and Tangled, focus heavily on romantic relationships, often featuring coupling as a major plot point.

“Adults may continue to be drawn toward fantasies of happily-ever-after, having been primed to celebrate these stories since childhood,” Ovink says.

“In the real world, love and relationships are seldom neat and tidy, but these movies make a happy ending feel both inevitable and magical.”

Wesche says romance films, especially Hallmark-style movies, rarely show the complexities that characterize real-life relationships, such as conflict, financial stressors, and other challenges, but instead end when characters commit to their “one true love.”

“If people internalize these idealized relationships as achievable, then they may perceive their own relationships as being unsatisfying because they don’t live up to the unrealistic standard set by movie romance,” says Wesche, associate professor of human development and family science.

Following its annual holiday movie marathon, the Hallmark Channel carries its romantic storytelling into February with its annual “Loveuary” releases.

“Hallmark-style holiday movies feature idealized tropes of finding ‘the one’ and love conquering all,” Wesche says. “The idealized relationships in these movies connect with people’s desire to have a ‘perfect’ relationship, full of infatuation and free of conflict. Or, if we’re lucky, we get an epilogue of the couple still in googly-eyed infatuation years later.”

Wesche also notes Hallmark-style films have been criticized for a lack of inclusivity across race, culture, and sexuality.

“In media, representation matters,” she says. “The limited range of identities in the movies sends a message that these are the only kinds of stories whose stories are worth telling.”

Despite the criticisms, Wesche says the films may be appealing to younger individuals because they counter the negative experiences of “navigating the stressful dating world.”

In contrast, she says they may help older adults in established partnerships “momentarily escape the less exciting, or even unhappy, aspects of their relationship.”

Source: Virginia Tech

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