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November 25, 2025

Est-ce une bonne idée d’utiliser des IA comme confidentes ou comme soutien psychologique ?

Source: The Conversation – in French – By José Sánchez Santamaría, Profesor Titular de Equidad Educativa y Aprendizaje a lo Largo de la Vida. Coordinador de GRIOCE – UCLM. Vocal de FEAE-CLM, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha

De plus en plus de personnes, notamment des jeunes, ont recours à des chatbots entraînés avec des IA pour gérer leurs émotions. Mais ces outils numériques ne peuvent se substituer à une relation humaine ni, le cas échéant, à une prise en charge par un spécialiste. SeventyFour/Shutterstock

Ils offrent une écoute immédiate, sont toujours disponibles et répondent calmement sans porter de jugement. Les agents conversationnels entraînés par IA (chatbots) séduisent, notamment les adolescents. Mais le « réconfort numérique » ponctuel qu’ils peuvent apporter ne doit pas être confondu avec les relations que l’on peut entretenir avec un ami, ni avec le soutien psychologique proposé par un professionnel.

« Bonjour ! Je vois que tu cherches à être un peu au calme. Tu n’es pas seul(e). Je suis là pour t’aider à respirer, à comprendre ce que tu ressens et à trouver un peu de réconfort. Veux-tu me dire ce qui te préoccupe en ce moment ? »

Ceci est le « texte initial » d’un chatbot (agents conversationnels entraînés par IA, ndlr) de soutien émotionnel. Il y a peu, cela relevait encore de la science-fiction. Mais aujourd’hui, beaucoup de gens attendent de l’IA plus que des réponses rapides : ils veulent de la compréhension, de la compagnie et du réconfort.

Par exemple, Nora, 14 ans, utilise un chatbot lorsqu’elle se dispute avec ses amies, nous a-t-elle confié. Quel que soit notre âge, nous pouvons être tentés d’utiliser cette technologie pour améliorer nos relations professionnelles ou trouver quelqu’un qui est toujours « à l’écoute ».

Une machine peut-elle vraiment être à notre écoute ?

On a l’impression que l’IA peut nous écouter et nous comprendre. Mais l’IA est une machine : elle n’écoute pas au sens humain du terme, mais traite des données. Elle fonctionne comme un système de prédiction statistique qui génère des réponses mot à mot.

Cela soulève des questions importantes : une IA peut-elle être un véritable soutien émotionnel ? Peut-elle remplacer un ami ? Ou même un psychologue ? Et quel est l’impact de tout cela sur notre bien-être ?

C’est quoi un chatbot ?

Un chatbot est un programme informatique avec lequel nous interagissons par le biais de texte, de voix ou d’images. Son fonctionnement est le suivant : il reçoit, interprète, décide, consulte et répond. Imaginez que vous écriviez : « Je souhaite modifier mon vol de samedi ». Il effectue alors les opérations suivantes : « modifier vol » + « vendredi », vérifie votre réservation dans l’ API, vous propose des options et confirme la modification.

Il existe plusieurs catégories de chatbots :

Des chatbots avec des réglages fixes : ces chabots donnent des réponses prérédigées. Elles sont courantes dans les services à la citoyenneté ou à la clientèle : ISSA (qui est l’équivalent espagnol d’Amelibot de l’Assurance maladie en France, ndlr) ou Rufus d’Amazon.

Des chatbots généralistes alimentés par IA : ils répondent à presque toutes les questions à l’aide de texte, d’images ou de voix, et servent à de nombreuses finalités différentes : ChatGPT, Perplexity ou Deepseek.
Des chatbots spécialisés alimentés par IA : ils ressemblent aux précédents, mais sont entrainés sur des thématiques spécifiques comme la santé émotionnelle (Wysa), l’éducation (Tutor AI) ou pour vous tenir compagnie (Replika).
Des assistants virtuels alimentés par IA : ils aident dans les tâches quotidiennes. Ils sont capables de suivre des instructions et d’effectuer des actions très concrètes, et proposent des alternatives : Siri (Apple), Alexa (Amazon) ou l’Assistant Google.
Des assistants personnalisés alimentés par IA : il s’agit de chatbots personnels et individuels créés par soi-même. Vous pouvez adapter leur style de réponse, leur ton et leurs fonctions pour apprendre une langue, planifier des voyages ou même pour effectuer des recherches ou obtenir des conseils juridiques : Watsonx Assistant, le chat Watson, la fonction GPT de ChatGPT ou le Gem de Gemini.

Des chatbots spécialisés dans la gestion des émotions

Le premier chatbot dédié à la gestion des émotions est apparu en 1966 et s’appelait Eliza. Il simulait une thérapie psychologique « centrée sur la personne », une technique développée par le psychologue Carl Rogers. Il s’agissait d’un chatbot basé sur des règles : si l’utilisateur disait « Je suis triste », Eliza répondait « Pourquoi pensez-vous être triste ? »

Actuellement, une étude américaine indique que la moitié des adultes voient d’un bon œil l’utilisation des chatbots de soutien émotionnel, une tendance que l’on retrouve en Europe.

En Espagne, 24 % de la population interrogée (dans une enquête menée par Axa sur la santé mentale, ndlr) (reconnaît utiliser des chatbots pour obtenir un soutien émotionnel, dont 45 % ont entre 18 et 24 ans.

Une autre enquête montre la même chose et souligne le fait que les filles les utilisent davantage. De notre côté, nous avons pu observer que les adolescents utilisent les chatbots pour exprimer et gérer leurs émotions, aussi pour se sentir accompagnés et compris dans les moments de tristesse ou quand ils rencontrent des difficultés. Voici quelques extraits de ce qu’ils nous ont confié dans notre récente étude :

« Je parle beaucoup avec ChatGPT. Cela me donne l’impression d’être accompagnée, surtout quand je me sens triste et que je ne me comprends pas très bien. »

« Une fois, je me suis disputée avec mon petit ami, je me sentais très mal et j’ai fini par me confier à l’IA. »

Pourquoi sont-ils si attrayants ?

Les chatbots offrent quelque chose que certains jeunes peuvent avoir du mal à obtenir par ailleurs : une écoute immédiate et sans jugement. Ils sont toujours disponibles, répondent calmement et permettent de parler dans un anonymat apparent. Dans les moments de confusion ou de solitude, cela peut générer un sentiment de contrôle et de soulagement, en nous permettant de nous défouler. Leur ton amical et le langage empathique qu’ils utilisent renforcent cette dépendance émotionnelle.

Dans une autre étude que nous avons menée, certains adolescents ont déclaré qu’ils confiaient à l’IA « des choses qu’ils ne diraient à personne » et que cela les aidait « à se calmer lorsqu’ils ont des problèmes », car cela ne les fait pas se sentir « remis en question » ni mal à l’aise par rapport à ce qu’ils partagent.

Peuvent-ils se comporter comme des amis ou des psychologues ?

Mais un chatbot ne remplace pas une amitié ni une thérapie. Il peut servir de « soutien ponctuel » ou d’espace d’expression – avec quelques nuances. Mais il ne substituera jamais à une relation humaine ni au jugement clinique d’un professionnel. Il y a au moins 10 raisons à cela :

Il n’a aucune responsabilité éthique ou légale.
Il ignore notre histoire et notre contexte.
Il offre des réponses logiques, mais il peut se tromper et il est limité.
Il cherche à satisfaire, non à défier. Il peut toujours donner raison, créant ainsi un effet bulle.
Il n’est pas neutre.
Il manque d’empathie.
Il ne sait pas réagir en cas d’urgence.
Il peut créer une dépendance émotionnelle.
Il ne garantit ni la confidentialité ni une transparence totale.
Il ne prévoit aucun suivi thérapeutique. Il ne sait pas interpréter les changements émotionnels.

Comment tirer bénéfice des chatbots pour la santé

Les chatbots spécialisés ne sont ni des psychologues ni des amis. La clé réside dans une utilisation réfléchie et éthique de ces outils :

S’interroger sur les raisons qui nous amènent à les utiliser. Pour se défouler, mieux se comprendre, se distraire, ou alors se sentir accompagné ou soutenu ? Ils ne devraient pas servir à remplacer ou à fournir une solution rapide et facile à des situations émotionnelles complexes.
Se demander pourquoi nous en avons besoin. Ce que dit un chatbot nous aide-t-il à comprendre comment nous nous sentons ou à prendre des décisions ? Que la réponse soit oui ou non, nous devons la remettre en question et ne pas lui accorder une crédibilité absolue. Même si ce que dit le chatbot était correct, cela pourrait avoir des effets psychologiques négatifs à moyen et long terme, que nous ne connaissons pas encore.
S’informer. Il est essentiel de savoir comment fonctionne le chatbot, ce qu’il peut et ne peut pas faire, et quelles sont ses erreurs les plus courantes.

Apprendre à utiliser les chatbots

L’utilisation d’une technologie numérique n’est pas négative. Les chatbots peuvent « accompagner », mais ils ne remplacent pas l’affection, l’amitié ou l’attention psychologique d’ordre professionnel. Même en psychologie, on utilise de plus en plus d’outils entrainés par l’IA, bien que leurs limites fassent encore l’objet d’un débat.

Il convient d’être prudent, car nous ne connaissons pas encore leur impact et les risques associés. Notre bien-être émotionnel dépend également de la sécurité face à l’IA. Il ne faut pas confondre le réconfort numérique et le soutien prodigué par des professionnels ou les relations humaines. C’est l’un des défis que pose la vie numérique actuelle.

Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.

– ref. Est-ce une bonne idée d’utiliser des IA comme confidentes ou comme soutien psychologique ? – https://theconversation.com/est-ce-une-bonne-idee-dutiliser-des-ia-comme-confidentes-ou-comme-soutien-psychologique-270342

November 25, 2025

Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff’s connection with Te Tiriti and Aotearoa

Source: Radio New Zealand

A Kiwi friend of the late reggae legend Jimmy Cliff describes him as a gentle and considered soul who was hugely curious about New Zealand and the role of Te Tiriti.

Cliff, who is regarded as one of the founders of reggae music, died in Kingston, Jamaica, on Sunday. He was 81.

Music promoter Jackie Sanders, of Kerikeri, describes herself as “a friend and huge fan” who brought Jimmy Cliff to Aotearoa in 2011, 2015 and 2018.

Jimmy Cliff with friend and music promoter Jackie Sanders in 2018.

Supplied

She counted him alongside Bob Marley, Toots (of Toots and the Maytals) and Peter Tosh as one of the four pioneers of the reggae genre.

While it was Marley who went on to find worldwide fame, Cliff entered modern consciousness in his later years through soundtracks for movies such as Cool Runnings and The Harder They Come.

Sanders said she got to know Cliff because she insisted, given his mana and status as a musical legend, on personally driving him between shows.

“So I spent quite a lot of time with him. He was a very gentle, quiet and considered man. He was also very curious. He had a lot of questions about New Zealand. He was hugely interested in Māori and TeTiriti and how that all worked.”

His 2011 visit was for the Raggamuffin Festival in Rotorua; in 2015 he played Tauranga and Auckland’s Powerstation.

The reggae star died on Sunday.

RNZ

The Auckland show,with a packed venue and Herbs Unplugged as support, was Sanders’ “favourite gig ever”.

She said Cliff’s interest in TeTiriti sowed the seeds for his 2018 show at Waitangi, where he was the headline act for the inaugural Bay of Islands Music Festival, held in the grounds of the Copthorne Hotel.

That night was to be the most stressful of her entire career.

Cliff had two sets at the Byron Bay Bluesfest, on Easter Friday and Monday, and the idea was that he would fly out of the Gold Coast on Saturday morning, play Saturday night at Waitangi, then head back across the Tasman on Sunday morning.

However, thanks to delays in Australia, by the time Cliff and his 10-piece band landed in Auckland, the last flight to Kerikeri had been and gone.

“We were absolutely panicking. We had a full house in Waitangi, we had an amazing lineup. What were we going to do?” and

Air New Zealand was able to rustle up another plane but not a pilot, so the musicians were instead whisked through Customs and onto a minibus.

In the meantime Hamilton reggae band Katchafire stretched out their set and rumour rippled through the crowd.

Jimmy Cliff and band at Bay of Islands Airport in Kerikeri, about to head back to Byron Bay Bluesfest after a hectic headline slot at the Bay of Islands Music Festival.

Supplied

After a high-speed drive north the band virtually rolled out of the minibus straight onto the stage, 45 minutes late.

That left only 30 minutes before the festival was due to finish, with the venue anxious not to go over time.

“We were getting a bit of heat that the curfew was coming up … I remember them saying to me, ‘You’ve got to go on stage and tell them this is the last song’. And I was just thinking of the hits the band hadn’t yet played …SoI went on stage and said, ‘Whatever happens, don’t come off that stage before the encore, just stay on and keep going’. I got into a bit of trouble over it. But I don’t regret it, it was great.”

Sanders said even in 2015 Cliff seemed frail, and in 2018 he had to be literally carried up the stairs onto the stage.

“But once on the stage, he was chucking his legs in the air and he was an absolute ball of energy. He said to me the next day, ‘The music takes control and it takes over my spirit, and it happens. I won’t stop until I die’. He really was an incredible man.”

An emotional Sanders said she had been playing his music almost non-stop since Sunday.

“It’s incredibly sad to lose another legend. They don’t come along that often, and Jimmy Cliff was definitely one of those utter legends,” she said.

“He shaped a whole genre of music that has entertained people for generations. So rest in power, Jimmy, and thank you for bringing us so much joy.”

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

November 25, 2025

Hotel from Crocodile Dundee sells after three years on the market

Source: Radio New Zealand

If the Walkabout Creek Hotel’s walls could talk, they would have more than 120 years of tales to tell.

For many, the outback pub is famous for its featured role in the 1986 film Crocodile Dundee.

But for locals in the tiny town of McKinlay, just over 200kms from Mount Isa, it is the pub, the bottle-o, the caravan park and the post office.

Supplied/Angus Brodie

And now, after being on the market since 2022, it has changed hands.

McKinlay-born Angus Brodie and wife Jo Cranney bought the Walkabout Creek Hotel for an undisclosed figure, settling the deal yesterday.

Prior owners Deb and Frank Wurst put the pub on the market so they could retire, after being at the helm for 11 years.

From childhood memories to pouring his first beer

Grazier Angus Brodie, 33, grew up in McKinlay, where the hotel is the central hub for the town’s 160 residents.

“I have memories running around with all the other kids, sneaking a packet of chips and a soft drink,” Brodie said.

“Sometimes we’d take our sleeping bags and have a sleepover until it was time to go home.”

The new owner had never poured a beer before last week but is ready for the challenge.

“The first beer I poured, I think there was half a glass of frothy head, and the second beer had absolutely no head at all,” he laughed.

“I wasn’t off to a real good start, but I promise I’ve turned things around now.”

Cranney, 34, grew up in Goondiwindi but moved to Mount Isa to be a nurse, where the two met.

They now run a cattle property 30 minutes away from the pub with their two children and a baby due in April.

The couple bought the pub to diversify their business and have an alternative income stream when the weather and cattle markets aren’t favourable.

“In a drought, people probably drink more beer,” Brodie said.

The couple hopes to take a farm-to-table approach, selling their beef at the pub.

“That’s one thing we’re pretty keen to do, showcase our beef and have that on the menu,” Brodie said.

The Walkabout was originally built as The Federal Hotel in 1900.

Supplied

Pub ‘in fantastic condition’

Decorated with memorabilia, the Walkabout Creek Hotel is beloved by locals and tourists alike.

The new owners are not planning to change much and are grateful to the prior owners for keeping it in “fantastic condition”.

“It’s a credit to Frank and Debbie. They’ve really looked after it over the 11 years they’ve been there,” Brodie said.

Wurst said he and Debbie would miss the pub when they announced their retirement plans in 2022.

“I’m really going to miss the people out here — there are so many great characters,” he said.

Frank and Debbie Wurst ran the pub in McKinlay for 11 years.

Supplied

40 years of Dundee

In 1986, Crocodile Dundee was the highest-grossing film of all time in Australia.

Built in 1900 and licensed in 1901, the real-world Walkabout Creek Hotel is three times as old as the movie that made it famous, and was originally called the Federation Hotel.

The bar used on the film set was donated to the pub after filming, and is now located out the back in the beer garden.

Tourists come from far and wide to snap photos with the movie memorabilia.

Next year, it will be 40 years since the release of Crocodile Dundee, and the new owners plan to mark the occasion.

“We will have to do something, that’s for sure,” Brodie said.

“It’s a crucial part of the identity of the pub, and we love it.”

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

November 25, 2025

‘We will lose them’: World Vision calls for action to end ‘catastrophic’ Sudan war

Source: Radio New Zealand

Displaced Sudanese who fled El-Fasher after the city fell to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), arrive in the town of Tawila in war-torn Sudan’s western Darfur region on 28 October, 2025. Photo: AFP

Nearly 100,000 people have now fled Sudan’s El Fasher, after the city in the Darfur region was taken over by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the country’s ongoing civil war, which has been raging for two-and-a-half years.

Sudan is facing one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises, with 14 million people displaced.

World Vision’s Sudan operations director Inos Mugabe describes the situation, particularly in El Fasher, as catastrophic.

“We have witnessed intensified fighting that’s forced a large number of families to flee, and for many of them it’s not the first time.”

He said as they fled, they also faced extreme challenges.

“Most of the people who are leaving leave with very little, particularly only the clothes that they are wearing, and many children are also separated from their families in the chaos.”

He said most people fleeing go to the neighbouring town of Tawila, but the situation there was also bad.

“There’s no water, there’s no food assistance. there’s no sanitation. Basically, services are non-existent.”

World Vision’s Sudan operations director Inos Mugabe. Photo: Supplied

He said their needs were huge, but there was not adequate funding available.

“Unfortunately, we are going to be seeing more lives lost.”

Mugabe said most girls and boys were not attending school.

“For girls… they don’t continue school and obviously end up getting married early in their life. Then if its boys, they end up in military conscription and are accommodated into the various militia groups that are spouting up around the country.”

He said children and their families escaping the siege at El Fasher were in need of immediate support.

“They look weary and severely malnourished. Their bodies are failing, and without urgent, large-scale intervention, we will lose them.

“We are receiving the most vulnerable people imaginable, but the resources we have are completely inadequate to sustain them. The world must understand the gravity of this situation and act before it is too late.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

November 24, 2025

‘Slender Man’ stabber’s disappearance and the internet boogeyman who inspired her

Source: Radio New Zealand

By Amanda Musa, Chris Boyette, CNN

File photo. Morgan Geyser appears in a Waukesha County courtroom, Wisconsin, in January. Photo: Morry Gash / AP / File via CNN Newsource

Morgan Geyser, who was living under supervised release at a group home in Wisconsin for her role in the high-profile 2014 stabbing of her 12-year-old classmate, was found about 150 miles (240km) away in Illinois.

She had disappeared on Saturday night (US time) after cutting off her monitoring bracelet, according to police in Madison, Wisconsin.

On Sunday, officers in Posen, Illinois, responded to a report of people loitering behind a truck stop building and discovered a man and a woman sleeping on the sidewalk, police said.

Geyser, 23, initially gave officers a false name when they confronted her, according to Posen Police.

“After continued attempts to identify her, she finally stated that she didn’t want to tell officers who she was because she had ‘done something really bad,’ and suggested that officers could ‘just Google’ her name,” police said.

Years earlier, Geyser had pleaded guilty to attempted murder in the stabbing of her classmate, Payton Leutner. At the time, they were both 12 years old.

The grisly attack gripped the public’s attention and became the subject of heavy news coverage at the time, raising questions about how parents can keep tabs on everything kids consume online, and how they can be sure their children can truly separate reality from fantasy.

The crime was said to be inspired by the fictitious character Slender Man.

Here’s what we know about the search for Geyser and the internet-created boogeyman that prompted an attack that shocked the nation more than a decade ago.

Who is Slender Man?

Slender Man, a menacing, faceless man in a dark suit – sometimes portrayed with octopus-like tentacles – was a crowdsourced internet-created boogeyman that first appeared in an online forum in 2009, according to Shira Chess, an associate professor of entertainment and media studies at the University of Georgia and co-author of the book Folklore, Horror Stories, and the Slender Man.

“He falls broadly into a category of fiction that is colloquially referred to as ‘creepypasta,’ or internet legends that have meme-like qualities, typically lack known authorship, and are easily spreadable,” Chess told CNN in an email on Sunday.

In June 2009, a Photoshop contest for images that appeared to be paranormal was launched in a forum on the website Something Awful. According to Know Your Meme, a blog that chronicles web culture, the goal of the contest was to create the images and then use them to fool, or “troll,” other web users by submitting them to paranormal websites.

A recent image provided from the Madison Police Department of Morgan Geyser, captured on security video from this past month. Photo: Madison Police Department via CNN Newsource

Site member Eric Knudsen (under the screen name “Victor Surge”) submitted two images to the contest, both black-and-white images of children, one of which appeared to show a largely undefined figure lurking in the background.

Many imaginative fans saw Slender Man’s facelessness as a blank canvas in which to reimagine him in any number of ways, Chess added.

Following the stabbing, Geyser and her friend Anissa Weier told police they knew the character from the Creepypasta Wiki, a site that compiles such fiction. The site has issued a statement condemning the attack.

Slender Man’s popularity has gone down in recent years, according to Chess, who noted the fandom peaked in the early to mid-2010s.

“I can anecdotally say that he still performs the role of boogeyman on playgrounds,” Chess told CNN.

How did the stabbing unfold?

In May 2014, the trio had gone to Geyser’s home for a slumber party to celebrate her birthday, Leutner previously told ABC. During those times, Geyser constantly talked about Slender Man, she added.

“I thought it was odd. It kind of frightened me a little bit,” Leutner said of her friends’ fascination with the character. “But I went along with it. I was supportive because I thought that’s what she liked.”

As the friendship between Geyser and Weier grew, so did the pair’s fixation with Slender Man, Leutner said. While Leutner didn’t know her friends planned to harm her, something felt off that night in retrospect, she said.

“At all of our past sleepovers, (Geyser) always wanted to stay up all night because she could never do that at home,” Leutner said. “But on (the night of) the birthday party, she wanted to go to bed.”

Her friends later told investigators they had planned to kill Leutner in her sleep that night but then decided to do it the next morning at a nearby park.

When she woke up, Geyser and Weier were downstairs at a computer, so she joined them for doughnuts before heading to the park. They told her the plan was to play hide-and-seek and asked her to lie down under the leaves and sticks as part of the game, she said.

There in the woods, Geyser repeatedly stabbed her with a kitchen knife and she and Weier left her alone in the woods, bleeding and struggling to get help. After she crawled out of the woods, a passing bicyclist found her and called 911.

Leutner was stabbed near her heart, and she was “one millimeter away from certain death,” court documents said.

When the bicyclist found her, the girl pleaded, “Please help me. I’ve been stabbed,” audio from the 911 call revealed.

At age 15, Geyser pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted first-degree murder in a deal with prosecutors to be placed in a mental institution instead of serving jail time.

Weier pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree homicide due to mental illness or defect as part of a plea agreement. She was committed to 25 years in a mental hospital, The Associated Press reported, but was released in 2021 on condition she live with her father and wear a GPS monitor.

At her sentencing in 2018, Geyser apologized to Leutner and her family.

“I never meant this to happen,” a tearful Geyser said. “I hope that she is doing well.”

Where was Morgan Geyser?

Authorities said Sunday they were searching for Geyser, who was last seen in a residential neighborhood on the west side of Madison, Wisconsin, around 8pm on Saturday with an adult acquaintance, police said in a statement.

Police later said in an update they received confirmation around 10.34 pm that Geyser had been taken into custody in Illinois.

The pair traveled from Wisconsin by bus, Posen police said.

Authorities have not identified the acquaintance – who they say was taken into custody – but Posen police told The Associated Press he is 42 years old, was charged with criminal trespassing and obstructing identification and has since been released.

Geyser’s attorney, Tony Cotton, had earlier urged the 23-year-old to turn herself in immediately, saying in a statement: “We worked too hard to secure her freedom for her to continue on this path.”

It is unclear how Geyser broke out of the group home or who helped her, Cotton said in a video posted to social media.

CNN has reached out to Cotton for comment on her capture.

In January, a judge ordered Geyser could be released from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute, where she spent nearly seven years, The Associated Press reported.

Prosecutors attempted to block her release, alleging she has been quietly reading gory novels and communicating with a man who collects memorabilia from murderers, but a Waukesha County Circuit judge ordered her release after state and county health officials completed a community supervision and housing plan.

CNN has been unable to determine who runs the group home where Geyser was staying, but Madison police confirmed to CNN affiliate WMTV she has been living at a group home in Madison, on the same street where she had last been seen before fleeing Wisconsin.

Geyser faces no additional charges in Illinois, Posen police said, but will be held at Cook County jail to await extradition back to Wisconsin.

–CNN

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

November 24, 2025

Jimmy Cliff, reggae music pioneer, dies at 81

Source: Radio New Zealand

The cause was a seizure followed by pneumonia, she said.

Born James Chambers on 30 July, 1944 during a hurricane in St James Parish, northwestern Jamaica, he moved in the 1950s from the family farm to the country’s capital Kingston with his father, determined to succeed in the music industry.

At just 14, he became nationally famous for the song ‘Hurricane Hattie’, which he wrote.

Cliff would go on to record more than 30 albums and perform all over the world, including in Paris, in Brazil and at the World’s Fair, an international exhibition held in New York in 1964. The following year, Island Records’ Chris Blackwell, the producer who launched Bob Marley and the Wailers, invited Cliff to work in the UK with him.

Cliff later went into acting, starring in the 1972 classic film The Harder They Come, directed by Perry Henzell, which introduced an international audience to reggae music. The movie portrayed the grittier aspects of Jamaican life, redefining the island as more than a tourist playground of cocktails, beaches and waterfalls.

“When I’ve achieved all my ambitions, then I guess that I will have done it and I can just say ‘great’,” he said in a 2019 interview, as he was losing his sight.

“But I’m still hungry. I want it. I’ve still got the burning fire that burns brightly inside of me – like I just said to you. I still have many rivers to cross!”

Known in part for singles ‘You Can Get It If You Really Want It’ and ‘Many Rivers To Cross’, as well as for his covers of Johnny Nash’s ‘I Can See Clearly Now’, which appeared on the soundtrack of the 1993 movie Cool Runnings, and Cat Stevens’ ‘Wild World’, Cliff was a prolific writer who weaved his humanitarian views into his songs.

Bob Dylan said Cliff’s ‘Vietnam’ was the best protest song ever written.

The anti-establishment bent of Cliff’s music gave a voice not only to the hardships faced by Jamaicans, but to the spirit and joy that persevered in spite of poverty and oppression. Over the years, Cliff worked with the Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello, Annie Lennox and Paul Simon.

In 2012, he won a Grammy Award for best reggae album for Rebirth, which was produced by punk band Rancid’s Tim Armstrong, and another Grammy in 1984 for Cliff Hanger.

Cliff received the Order of Merit, the highest honour in the arts and sciences, from the Jamaican government. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

November 24, 2025

‘Iconic’ Bollywood actor dies at 89

Source: Radio New Zealand

Dharmendra Deol, who became one of India’s most prominent actors and a Bollywood action hero, died in Mumbai on Monday, local media said. He was 89.

Dharmendra, who is survived by two wives and six children, had been ill for the past month and died at home, media reported.

There was no official statement from the actor’s family, but several of his contemporaries, including actor Amitabh Bachchan, gathered at a crematorium in the Mumbai suburb of Juhu for his funeral.

Bollywood actor Dharmendra (C) along with his sons Sunny Deol (R) and Bobby Deol at his 89th birthday celebration at his residence in Mumbai on 8 December, 2024.

AFP / Sujit Jaiswal

“A massive mega star, the embodiment of a hero in mainstream cinema,” producer and director Karan Johar, who cast Dharmendra in his 2023 film Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (Rocky and Rani’s Love Story), wrote in an Instagram post.

Known to his legion of fans by his first name, Dharmendra acted in more than 300 films in a career spanning more than six decades.

Born in Punjab province in 1935, Dharmendra won a talent show organised by a film magazine, moving to Mumbai and acting in his first film in 1960.

In the years that followed, he appeared in everything from arthouse films to soft romances, action films and goofy comedies, making him the top actor of his generation.

Notable films included Bollywood cult classic Sholay (Embers), in which he played one half of a team of small-time thugs tasked with catching a bandit. The film, which was released in 1975, has become part of Indian popular culture and Dharmendra’s dialogue from the film has influenced movies ever since. In recent years, it has become a meme.

Dharmendra married his first wife, Prakash Kaur, before he found fame. After starring alongside Hema Malini in several films, he married her in 1980, without divorcing Prakash.

He was a lawmaker in the Indian parliament from 2004 to 2009.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Draupadi Murmu and several others also sent their condolences on the actor’s death.

“He was an iconic film personality, a phenomenal actor who brought charm and depth to every role he played,” Modi said in a post on X.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

November 24, 2025

Thousands of genomes reveal the wild wolf genes in most dogs’ DNA

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Audrey T. Lin, Research Associate in Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution

Modern wolves and dogs both descend from an ancient wolf population that lived alongside woolly mammoths and cave bears. Iza Lyson/500px Prime via Getty Images

Dogs were the first of any species that people domesticated, and they have been a constant part of human life for millennia. Domesticated species are the plants and animals that have evolved to live alongside humans, providing nearly all of our food and numerous other benefits. Dogs provide protection, hunting assistance, companionship, transportation and even wool for weaving blankets.

Dogs evolved from gray wolves, but scientists debate exactly where, when and how many times dogs were domesticated. Ancient DNA evidence suggests that domestication happened twice, in eastern and western Eurasia, before the groups eventually mixed. That blended population was the ancestor of all dogs living today.

Molecular clock analysis of the DNA from hundreds of modern and ancient dogs suggests they were domesticated between around 20,000 and 22,000 years ago, when large ice sheets covered much of Eurasia and North America. The first dog identified in the archaeological record is a 14,000-year-old pup found in Bonn-Oberkassel, Germany, but it can be difficult to tell based on bones whether an animal was an early domestic dog or a wild wolf.

Despite the shared history of dogs and wolves, scientists have long thought these two species rarely mated and gave birth to hybrid offspring. As an evolutionary biologist and a molecular anthropologist who study domestic plants and animals, we wanted to take a new look at whether dog-wolf hybridization has really been all that uncommon.

Little interbreeding in the wild

Dogs are not exactly descended from modern wolves. Rather, dogs and wolves living today both derive from a shared ancient wolf population that lived alongside woolly mammoths and cave bears.

In most domesticated species, there are often clear, documented patterns of gene flow between the animals that live alongside humans and their wild counterparts. Where wild and domesticated animals’ habitats overlap, they can breed with each other to produce hybrid offspring. In these cases, the genes from wild animals are folded into the genetic variation of the domesticated population.

For example, pigs were domesticated in the Near East over 10,000 years ago. But when early farmers brought them to Europe, they hybridized so frequently with local wild boar that almost all of their Near Eastern DNA was replaced. Similar patterns can be seen in the endangered wild Anatolian and Cypriot mouflon that researchers have found to have high proportions of domestic sheep DNA in their genomes. It’s more common than not to find evidence of wild and domesticated animals interbreeding through time and sharing genetic material.

That wolves and dogs wouldn’t show that typical pattern is surprising, since they live in overlapping ranges and can freely interbreed.

Dog and wolf behavior are completely different, though, with wolves generally organized around a family pack structure and dogs reliant on humans. When hybridization does occur, it tends to be when human activities – such as habitat encroachment and hunting – disrupt pack dynamics, leading female wolves to strike out on their own and breed with male dogs. People intentionally bred a few “wolf dog” hybrid types in the 20th century, but these are considered the exception.

Luna Belle, a resident of the Wolf Sanctuary of Pennsylvania, which is home to both wolves and wolf dogs.
Audrey Lin

Tiny but detectable wolf ancestry

To investigate how much gene flow there really has been between dogs and wolves after domestication, we analyzed 2,693 previously published genomes, making use of massive publicly available datasets.

These included 146 ancient dogs and wolves covering about 100,000 years. We also looked at 1,872 modern dogs, including golden retrievers, chihuahuas, malamutes, basenjis and other well-known breeds, plus more unusual breeds from around the world such as the Caucasian ovcharka and Swedish vallhund.

Finally, we included genomes from about 300 “village dogs.” These are not pets but are free-living animals that are dependent on their close association with human environments.

We traced the evolutionary histories of all of these canids by looking at maternal lineages via their mitochondrial genomes and paternal lineages via their Y chromosomes. We used highly sensitive computational methods to dive into the dogs’ and wolves’ nuclear genomes – that is, the genetic material contained in their cells’ nuclei.

We found the presence of wild wolf genes in most dog genomes and the presence of dog genes in about half of wild wolf genomes. The sign of the wolf was small but it was there, in the form of tiny, almost imperceptible chunks of continuous wolf DNA in dogs’ chromosomes. About two-thirds of breed dogs in our sample had wolf genes from crossbreeding that took place roughly 800 generations ago, on average.

While our results showed that larger, working dogs – such as sled dogs and large guardian dogs that protect livestock – generally have more wolf ancestry, the patterns aren’t universal. Some massive breeds such as the St. Bernard completely lack wolf DNA, but the tiny Chihuahua retains detectable wolf ancestry at 0.2% of its genome. Terriers and scent hounds typically fall at the low end of the spectrum for wolf genes.

A street – or free-ranging – dog in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Alexkom000/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

We were surprised that every single village dog we tested had pieces of wolf DNA in their genomes. Why would this be the case? Village dogs are free-living animals that make up about half the world’s dogs. Their lives can be tough, with short life expectancy and high infant mortality. Village dogs are also associated with pathogenic diseases, including rabies and canine distemper, making them a public health concern.

More often than predicted by chance, the stretches of wolf DNA we found in village dog genomes contained genes related to olfactory receptors. We imagine that olfactory abilities influenced by wolf genes may have helped these free-living dogs survive in harsh, volatile environments.

The intertwining of dogs and wolves

Because dogs evolved from wolves, all of dogs’ DNA is originally wolf DNA. So when we’re talking about the small pieces of wolf DNA in dog genomes, we’re not referring to that original wolf gene pool that’s been kicking around over the past 20,000 years, but rather evidence for dogs and wolves continuing to interbreed much later in time.

A wolf-dog hybrid with one of each kind of parent would carry 50% dog and 50% wolf DNA. If that hybrid then lived and mated with dogs, its offspring would be 25% wolf, and so on, until we see only small snippets of wolf DNA present.

The situation is similar to one in human genomes: Neanderthals and humans share a common ancestor around half a million years ago. However, Neanderthals and our species, Homo sapiens, also overlapped and interbred in Eurasia as recently as a few thousand generations ago, shortly before Neanderthals disappeared. Scientists can spot the small pieces of Neanderthal DNA in most living humans in the same way we can see wolf genes within most dogs.

Even tiny chihuahuas contain a little wolf within their doggy DNA.
Westend61 via Getty Images

Our study updates the previously held belief that hybridization between dogs and wolves is rare; interactions between these two species do have visible genetic traces. Hybridization with free-roaming dogs is considered a threat to conservation efforts of endangered wolves, including Iberian, Italian and Himalayan wolves. However, there also is evidence that dog-wolf mixing might confer genetic advantages to wolves as they adapt to environments that are increasingly shaped by humans.

Though dogs evolved as human companions, wolves have served as their genetic lifeline. When dogs encountered evolutionary challenges such as how to survive harsh climates, scavenge for food in the streets or guard livestock, it appears they’ve been able to tap into wolf ancestry as part of their evolutionary survival kit.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Thousands of genomes reveal the wild wolf genes in most dogs’ DNA – https://theconversation.com/thousands-of-genomes-reveal-the-wild-wolf-genes-in-most-dogs-dna-261897

November 24, 2025

Comment Téhéran a transformé une défaite militaire en victoire symbolique

Source: The Conversation – in French – By Hanieh ZIaei, Politologue spécialiste du monde iranien et chercheuse en résidence au CÉRIUM, Université de Montréal

La guerre des douze jours, qui a opposé Israël à la République islamique d’Iran en juin dernier, n’était pas seulement un conflit militaire limité ou une opération dite « ciblée ». Elle a surtout servi de levier de propagande pour Téhéran.

Le conflit a éclaté dans la nuit du 12 au 13 juin, lorsque des frappes israéliennes coordonnées ont surpris Téhéran en visant plusieurs sites militaires, nucléaires et scientifiques. La rapidité et la précision de l’opération ont marqué les observateurs internationaux, avant que la République islamique d’Iran ne réplique par des missiles et des drones, et qu’un cessez-le-feu fragile soit instauré le 24 juin.

Sous l’ancien régime iranien, Israël était considéré comme un allié stratégique. Depuis la révolution islamique de 1979, l’État hébreu n’a jamais été reconnu et a été qualifié de « petit Satan » par l’ayatollah Khomeini. L’Iran considère la création d’Israël comme un acte de colonialisme sur une terre musulmane ; depuis lors, le discours officiel nie la légitimité de cet État en terre d’islam.

En tant que politologue chercheure en résidence au CÉRIUM de l’Université de Montréal, de même que chercheure associée à l’Observatoire sur le Moyen-Orient et l’Afrique du Nord à la chaire Raoul-Dandurand (UQAM), je m’intéresse à l’histoire, la politique et la société de l’Iran contemporain.

La guerre comme levier de propagande

Ce conflit a offert au régime iranien une occasion de réactiver et de remodeler sa propagande idéologico-politique, en alliant posture victimaire et exaltation d’une fierté nationale puisée dans la mémoire historique et préislamique du pays. Dès le déclenchement des hostilités, les autorités ont adopté un double récit : celui de la victime agressée par Israël et les États-Unis, ses deux ennemis historiques, et celui du gardien de l’intégrité nationale.

Cette stratégie s’inscrit dans une continuité : depuis 1979, la République islamique a toujours instrumentalisé les conflits extérieurs pour consolider sa légitimité interne et revitaliser un discours religieux en perte de souffle.

Dans les médias d’État, Israël est dépeint comme l’agresseur violant le droit international, alors que l’Iran s’est lui-même affranchi de ces normes à plusieurs reprises, notamment lors de la prise d’otages à l’ambassade américaine en 1979 et le non-respect de conventions internationales telles que la Convention de Genève.

Cette rhétorique d’inversion morale renforce l’image d’un Iran « assiégé mais résistant ». Les civils et les sites nucléaires frappés deviennent des symboles de courage et moins de martyre. Le régime reconnaît les dégâts matériels, mais transforme la survie nationale en victoire symbolique : Israël et les États-Unis ont frappé, mais l’Iran, « grande nation résistante », est resté debout.

Fait significatif, le Guide suprême ne parle plus seulement de la « République islamique », mais de l’Iran en tant que civilisation millénaire. Le vocabulaire change : les références à la grandeur perse, aux symboles préislamiques et à la continuité historique du pays remplacent progressivement les slogans religieux. Cette mutation révèle une stratégie claire : nourrir la fibre nationaliste face à l’épuisement idéologique du discours théologique après plus de quatre décennies.

La guerre a également permis au régime de justifier une intensification de la répression intérieure, sous couvert de sécurité nationale. L’arrestation de prétendus « espions » ou « agents sionistes » est présentée non comme une faiblesse sécuritaire, mais comme la preuve de la puissance de l’ennemi et du courage iranien face à lui. Cette rhétorique de l’espionnage, déjà utilisée depuis la révolution de 1979, est amplifiée : toute forme de dissidence devient trahison et peut être condamnée à mort, transformant la peur en outil de contrôle interne.

La cause palestinienne comme vitrine extérieure

La propagande de la République islamique ne se limite pas à un usage interne : elle vise également à mobiliser l’opinion publique arabe et internationale. Lors de l’Assemblée générale des Nations unies en septembre 2025, le président iranien, Masoud Pezeshkian, a affirmé que la République islamique d’Iran se positionne comme le défenseur du peuple palestinien et le soutien stratégique du Hamas.

Le régime cherche ainsi à présenter sa politique étrangère comme légitime, humanitaire et anticoloniale. Cette narration s’inscrit dans la consolidation de l’« axe de la résistance », une alliance politico-militaire regroupant le Hezbollah au Liban, les Houthis au Yémen et plusieurs groupes palestiniens, tous unis par l’opposition à Israël et à l’influence américaine au Moyen-Orient.

En s’érigeant en chef de file de cette coalition, la République islamique renforce son poids régional, séduit certains mouvements de gauche internationaux et justifie son soutien matériel et financier au Hamas, notamment depuis les attaques du 7 octobre 2023, présentées comme une prolongation des luttes anticoloniales.

Malgré les pertes subies, le conflit a offert au régime un levier idéologique majeur. Il permet de resserrer le contrôle interne, de réactiver le nationalisme, et de se présenter comme un rempart face aux menaces extérieures. La peur devient un ciment social ; la résistance, un impératif moral. Ce faisant, la guerre ravive une légitimité fragilisée et offre au pouvoir un récit héroïque : celui d’une nation assiégée mais indestructible.

Israël, les États-Unis et la logique de la survie hégémonique

Du côté israélien, la guerre est présentée comme un impératif de sécurité nationale : protéger les citoyens et neutraliser les menaces balistiques iraniennes légitime, selon Israël, les frappes contre Téhéran. Pourtant, cette logique de survie crée un paradoxe : elle nourrit un cycle de représailles sans fin, accélère la course à l’armement et accentue l’instabilité régionale. La démonstration de force se transforme alors en démonstration de vulnérabilité.

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Pour Washington, ce conflit constitue également une scène de démonstration, celle de sa puissance militaire et de sa capacité de dissuasion. En rappelant sa suprématie, les États-Unis cherchent à contenir les ambitions régionales et à préserver leur rôle d’arbitre hégémonique au Moyen-Orient. Mais cette stratégie a un coût : l’espace du dialogue diplomatique s’amenuise, le droit international s’effrite, et les populations civiles deviennent les premières victimes d’un affrontement d’influences où la logique de puissance l’emporte sur celle de la paix.

Propagande, nationalisme et légitimation

La guerre des douze jours met en lumière la centralité du nationalisme iranien comme instrument idéologique. À mesure que les symboles religieux perdent de leur pouvoir de mobilisation, le régime réactive les mythes de la grandeur perse et de la continuité civilisationnelle pour consolider l’adhésion populaire. La République islamique se redéfinit ainsi comme nation éternelle, substituant au vocabulaire religieux celui de la fierté nationale et de la résistance patriotique. Les martyrs, hier sanctifiés au nom de la foi, le sont désormais au nom de la patrie.

Cette guerre démontre que, dans la région, la force et la propagande demeurent des leviers essentiels de survie politique, mais au prix des populations civiles. Comme l’écrivait Leo Tolstoï dans Guerre et Paix, « l’histoire des peuples est écrasée par les ambitions des puissants ».

La paix véritable ne naîtra ni de la dissuasion militaire ni de la rhétorique victimaire, mais d’une diplomatie fondée sur la reconnaissance mutuelle, la justice et le respect du droit international. Tant que ces conditions ne seront pas réunies, le cycle de la violence continuera d’être instrumentalisé par des régimes qui transforment la guerre en outil de légitimation et de survie existentielle.

Hanieh ZIaei ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

– ref. Comment Téhéran a transformé une défaite militaire en victoire symbolique – https://theconversation.com/comment-teheran-a-transforme-une-defaite-militaire-en-victoire-symbolique-269994

November 24, 2025

Las matemáticas, desde el País de las Maravillas a la inteligencia artificial

Source: The Conversation – (in Spanish) – By Mª Pilar Vélez Melón, Profesora, Directora del departamento de Matemáticas y Física, IP del grupo Matemáticas y sus aplicaciones, Universidad Nebrija

Alicia con el gato de Cheshire, en un fragmento de la película de Disney (1951). Disney.

Alicia sigue al conejo blanco y cae en la penumbra de la madriguera, sin saber qué le espera al final de aquel abismo. Esta imagen se ha convertido en un símbolo universal: la curiosidad que empuja más allá del sentido común, el impulso de quien se atreve a mirar lo desconocido. En el siglo XIX, cuando Lewis Carroll escribió Alicia en el país de las maravillas, el mundo también caía por su propia madriguera. Los grandes avances científicos generaron la revolución industrial que transformaría la propia ciencia, y también la sociedad. La máquina empezaba a disputarle espacio al pensamiento humano.

Una de las páginas del manuscrito de Alice in Wonderland, que Lewis Carroll presentó a Alice Liddell en 1864. Se conserva en la Biblioteca Británica.
Lewis Carroll.

Entre la razón y el absurdo

Lewis Carroll –seudónimo de Charles Lutwidge Dodgson– fue, antes que escritor, profesor de Matemáticas en la Inglaterra victoriana. Su obra Alicia en el País de las Maravillas está llena de elementos matemáticos camuflados tras juegos de palabras y situaciones absurdas.

La caída interminable de Alicia por la madriguera evoca el concepto de límite clave del cálculo diferencial, mientras que los cambios abruptos de tamaño y forma que experimenta la protagonista evocan incongruencias de proporcionalidad y escala, no presentes en la geometría clásica. Alicia también recita tablas de multiplicar imposibles (“cuatro por seis son trece”) que solo tienen sentido en sistemas de numeración no decimal.

El siglo XIX fue un período de avances matemáticos fundamentales con la creación de la geometría no euclidiana de Nikolai Lobachevsky y Farkas Bolyai, el desarrollo del álgebra abstracta y la teoría de conjuntos infinitos de Cantor. Además, el cálculo diferencial se sistematizó gracias a matemáticos como Cauchy, Riemann y Weierstrass, y se introdujeron conceptos clave como el álgebra de Boole. Estos avances marcaron un antes y un después, separaron las matemáticas de la intuición física y sentaron las bases para la disciplina moderna.

En este contexto, la historia de Alicia es un ejercicio literario y matemático en el que las reglas pueden cambiar sin aviso, imitando el proceso de descubrimiento: avanzar por un camino incierto, donde cada nuevo paso obliga a replantearse los supuestos previos. Melanie Bayley, en su análisis para la revista New Scientist, sostiene que Carroll no solo jugaba con paradojas: lanzaba una crítica velada a la “modernidad matemática” que, para muchos, era tan inquietante como la Reina de Corazones gritando “¡Que le corten la cabeza!”.

Ilustración de John Tenniel del Rey y la Reina de Corazones en el juicio de la Sota de Corazones. (London: Macmillan and Co. 1890).
John Tenniel.

La crítica no era trivial. ¿Cómo aceptar que un concepto abstracto pudiera tener aplicaciones reales? ¿Cómo confiar en geometrías que negaban la intuición del espacio? Carroll convirtió de forma magistral esa tensión en literatura: el sinsentido del País de las Maravillas reflejaba el desconcierto ante una ciencia que parecía perder el suelo firme de la lógica clásica.

Números imaginarios y cuaterniones

Durante siglos, los matemáticos creyeron que un número negativo no podía tener raíz cuadrada. Durante el Renacimiento, matemáticos italianos como Rafael Bombelli proponen las raíces cuadradas de números negativos en la resolución de ecuaciones cúbicas, aunque por mucho tiempo la idea fue vista con escepticismo, pues parecía contradecir las reglas de la naturaleza.

A finales del siglo XVIII y principios del XIX, la unidad imaginaria, i, fue definida por Leonhard Euler y formalizada por Carl Friedrich Gauss como la raíz cuadrada de -1. Esto permitía extender el campo numérico y trabajar con los llamados números complejos o imaginarios. Si bien el propio Gauss expresó ciertas dudas en sus escritos de finales del siglo XVIII, su tratado posterior sobre números complejos estableció en gran medida la notación y la terminología modernas.

Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855).
Jensen.

En 1843, William Rowan Hamilton, buscando extender los números complejos a un número mayor de dimensiones, introdujo unos objetos matemáticos que describen las rotaciones en un espacio tridimensional: los cuaterniones. Volviendo a Alicia: en la fiesta del té del Sombrerero Loco, falta un invitado, el Tiempo, por lo que pasan el resto del día girando y girando. Este pasaje es una parodia sobre las propiedades de los cuaterniones.

Los números imaginarios y los cuaterniones abrieron las puertas a campos que serían fundamentales para el avance tecnológico de los siglos XX y XXI, como la física cuántica, la ingeniería eléctrica y el control de sistemas.

Se trata de un patrón que se repite en a lo largo de la historia: todo avance matemático que ha implicado un cambio de perspectiva genera resistencias, pero acaba revelando su utilidad en avances tecnológicos y sociales disruptivos. Carroll lo expresó en clave poética: “quien deja de preguntarse, deja de crecer”. La historia demuestra que la curiosidad –esa chispa que llevó a Alicia a seguir al conejo– es tanto la semilla del progreso como de la incertidumbre.

Al otro lado del espejo: la inteligencia artificial

A través del espejo, la segunda parte de las aventuras de Alicia, sitúa a la protagonista al otro lado de una superficie aparentemente sólida para ingresar a un mundo donde las reglas se invierten. Hoy, la tecnología nos enfrenta a una experiencia semejante.

Página de A través del espejo y lo que Alicia encontró allí (1871).
John Tenniel.

La inteligencia artificial es quizá el espejo más inquietante de todos. Nació del deseo de entender cómo piensa el ser humano, pero empieza a desarrollar lógicas propias. Modelos capaces de aprender, crear imágenes o redactar textos se multiplican con una rapidez que pocos imaginaban. El asombro inicial ha dado paso a la incertidumbre: ¿qué veremos cuando el espejo nos devuelva una imagen más persuasiva que la realidad misma?

En este juego especular, las preguntas filosóficas y éticas regresan con la fuerza de las paradojas de Carroll. Si una máquina puede escribir un poema convincente o resolver un teorema, ¿dónde comienza y termina la creatividad humana? ¿Seguimos al conejo blanco por curiosidad o porque el algoritmo nos empuja a hacerlo?

Porque, como diría el Gato de Cheshire: “Si no sabes a dónde vas, cualquier camino te llevará allí”. Y en ciencia, ese camino suele empezar con una caída libre… hacia el futuro.

Mª Pilar Vélez Melón no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoría, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado.

– ref. Las matemáticas, desde el País de las Maravillas a la inteligencia artificial – https://theconversation.com/las-matematicas-desde-el-pais-de-las-maravillas-a-la-inteligencia-artificial-268522