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News analysis
Science & technology

A new AI language model generates poetry and prose

GPT-3 can be eerily human-like—for better and for worse

Related

An understanding of AI’s limitations is starting to sink in

Europe

American ideas about racism are influencing Europe

But it is hard to measure bias in countries that don’t collect ethnic data

Highlights
1843

Homeless at the Holiday Inn

When coronavirus hit Britain, thousands of rough sleepers were moved to hotels. What happened next?

United States

Residents of Washington, DC could once vote for Congress

Might they soon be able to again?

From our columnists
Books & arts

Johnson: Donald Trump’s language offers insight into how he won the presidency

His linguistic quirks reveal the salesmanship that has made his career

Daily chart

Week in Charts: The case for splurging on covid-19 vaccines

Australia’s internal borders • Universities and the pandemic • America’s weird earnings season • Coming out in the internet age

Moreover
Obituary

Olivia de Havilland died on July 26th

The last grande dame of Hollywood’s Golden Age was 104

The Economist’s coverage of the coronavirus

Read now

Weekly edition

The absent student: How covid-19 will change college

August 8th 2020
The Economist cover image for the August 8th 2020 edition
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Readers’ favourites

Graphic detail

Microsoft’s proposed purchase of TikTok would be its biggest yet

Asia

India’s ruling party replaces a mosque with a Hindu temple

Finance & economics

Official economic forecasts for poor countries are too rosy

Graphic detail

Covid-19 seems to have changed lifestyles for good

Google search traffic for cooking, exercise and crafts remains above normal levels

Podcasts

Sound reasoning on current affairs, business and finance, science and technology, and global issues.

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In context: The airline industry

Leaders

Airlines have a chance to emerge from the crisis leaner and greener

But that will require governments to reduce the power of incumbents

Business

Air travel’s sudden collapse will reshape a trillion-dollar industry

The pandemic has knocked the airline-industrial complex harder than it has most sectors

Business

Airlines blame covid-19 for rowing back climate commitments

Business

Virgin looks for help

Special report: The Midwest

A region with outsized punch

America’s Midwest matters out of proportion to its size, says Adam Roberts

The urban prairie

For the region to prosper, its bigger cities must flourish

Separate, downtrodden

The region has particular problems with segregation and policing

America’s Mittelstand

Advanced manufacturing can thrive, as Grand Rapids shows

From rustbelt to brainbelt

How higher education can drive prosperity

Read full report

Economist Films

Authoritative insight on news, politics, business, finance, science, technology and the connections between them.

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