Have you ever worried that some technological advancement – say, some type of artificial intelligence program – could put you out of work? In 2021, image generator DALL-E was released, followed by the AI-powered text generator ChatGPT last year. Both tools put the spotlight squarely on artists and knowledge workers. 2023 is expected to bring GPT-4, the next leap in AI that can produce convincing text.

We asked five artificial intelligence researchers what these new AI tools mean for people who create visual art and those who absorb information and write about it. The answers cover a good deal of nuance between “a machine is going to replace you” and “you’re about to become super productive.”

Last year several nonprofits advised consumers not to eat lobster. The reason: critically endangered North Atlantic right whales are dying when they become entangled in fishing gear, and lobster fishing puts tons of rope in waters where right whales swim.

Blake Earle sees parallels in past campaigns that led tuna fishermen and shrimpers to adopt safer gear, reducing harm to dolphins and sea turtles. But it’s not clear whether North Atlantic right whales can hold on till the lobster industry agrees to a similar fix.

Eric Smalley

Science + Technology Editor

AI and the future of work: 5 experts on what ChatGPT, DALL-E and other AI tools mean for artists and knowledge workers

Lynne Parker, University of Tennessee; Casey Greene, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; Daniel Acuña, University of Colorado Boulder; Kentaro Toyama, University of Michigan; Mark Finlayson, Florida International University

Now that AI systems can generate realistic images and convincing prose, are creative and knowledge workers endangered or poised for productivity gains? A panel of experts says it’s not so clear-cut.

Lobsters versus right whales: The latest chapter in a long quest to make fishing more sustainable

Blake Earle, Texas A&M University

To fish the oceans sustainably, nations must reduce bycatch, or accidental catches. But fishermen often resist changing gear or techniques that kill nontargeted species.

Chinese imports could undermine Ethiopian manufacturing - leaving women workers worst off

Sylvanus Kwaku Afesorgbor, University of Guelph; Ruby Acquah, University of Sussex; Yohannes Ayele, University of Sussex

Manufacturing firms exposed to increased Chinese competition employed fewer female production workers than men.

Atmospheric rivers over California’s wildfire burn scars raise fears of deadly mudslides – this is what cascading climate disasters look like

Amir AghaKouchak, University of California, Irvine

Mudslides start with destabilized land, often from wildfires, and then rain drives the cascading disaster.

6 reasons 2023 could be a very good year for climate action

Wesley Morgan, Griffith University

Has climate action bogged down? Hardly. Nations are redoubling their efforts in visible and less visible ways.