Biological and artificial intelligence (AI) are often defined by their capacity to achieve a hierarchy of short-term and long-term goals that require incorporating information over time and space at both local and global scales. More advanced forms of this capacity involve the adaptive modulation of integration across scales, which resolve computational inefficiency and explore-exploit dilemmas at the same time. Research in neuroscience and AI have both made progress towards understanding architectures that achieve this. The use and development of multiscale innovations in robotic agents, game AI, and natural language processing (NLP) are pushing the boundaries of AI achievements. By juxtaposing biological and artificial intelligence, the present work underscores the critical importance of multiscale processing to general intelligence, as well as highlighting innovations and differences between the future of biological and artificial intelligence.

In this paper Professor Daniel Read and Professor Thomas Hills, analyse a negotiation drawn from George Eliot’s great novel Middlemarch: A story of provincial life. Using a case within the novel, we discuss a wide range of negotiation principles. This case provides insights into the importance of the prenegotiation, the role of preparation, empathy and the fostering of relationships (even when you would prefer not to), and the problems of focusing on one’s own BATNA rather than your counterparts’. The paper concludes with six key negotiation lessons for the fictional negotiator (and for us), with a brief account of how both fictional and “non-fictional” negotiations can contribute to our understanding of how to learn about and improve negotiation practice.

Watch Dr Olga Castro (School of Modern Languages) discuss her work in feminist translation studies.

Congratulations to Dr James Poskett, Associate Professor in the History of Science and Technology, who has been awarded funding from The British Academy / Wolfson Fellowships for his researchLink opens in a new window.

Speak for Yourself! Attitudes to contact tracing applications in the context of Covid-19

Professor Carsten Maple, University of Warwick and Dr Rebecca McDonald, University of Birmingham have undertaken a nationally-representative survey of the UK public to help understand public opinion on aspects of contact tracing apps.

Speak for Yourself! Attitudes to contact tracing applications in the context of COVID-19: results from a nationally representative survey of the UK population.

· TeenTech is a national charity working with school children to help them consider a future in digital, science technology and engineering.

· Their TeenTech City of Tomorrow initiative is working with nine Coventry schools with the help of WMG, University of Warwick

· Experts from WMG will deliver advice to children on sustainable materials, and inspire them as they design and build their city of the future out of recyclable household items

· A few Cities will then be exhibited at The Coventry Transport Museum

As it’s ‘Cities, Regions and Built Environment’ day at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, researchers from WMG at the University of Warwick are helping children understand sustainability and its importance, by delivering an online session about sustainable materials and why it’s important we use them more for a greener future, thanks to funding from the University’s Innovative Manufacturing and Future Materials GRP.

The University of Warwick has announced its delegation of 17 attending the global climate conference, COP26, in Glasgow in November. The university is one of a limited number of institutions to have been granted official observer status by the UN-led conference, which is being hosted by the UK.

To find out more about what the University of Warwick is doing around sustainability, please visit www.warwick.ac.uk/sustainability

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the G20 India presidency announced a new Global Initiative on Digital Health (GIDH) today at the Health Minister’s Meeting of the G20 Summit hosted by the Government of India.