To make AI more fair, tame complexity

Biases in AI models can be reduced by better reflecting the complexities of the real world

University of Texas at Austin

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In April 2025, OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT hit a milestone of a billion active weekly users, as artificial intelligence continued its explosion in popularity.

But with that popularity has come a dark side. Biases in AI’s models and algorithms can actively harm some of its users and promote social injustice. Documented biases have led to different medical treatments due to patients’ demographics and corporate hiring tools that discriminate against female and Black candidates.

New research from Texas McCombs suggests both a previously unexplored source of AI biases and some ways to correct for them: complexity.

“There’s a complex set of issues that the algorithm has to deal with, and it’s infeasible to deal with those issues well,” says Hüseyin Tanriverdi, associate professor of information, risk, and operations management. “Bias could be an artifact of that complexity rather than other explanations that people have offered.”

With John-Patrick Akinyemi, a McCombs Ph.D. candidate in IROM, Tanriverdi studied a set of 363 algorithms that researchers and journalists had identified as biased. The algorithms came from a repository called AI Algorithmic and Automation Incidents and Controversies.

The researchers compared each problematic algorithm with one that was similar in nature but had not been called out for bias. They examined not only the algorithms but also the organizations that created and used them.

Prior research has assumed that bias can be reduced by making algorithms more accurate. But that assumption, Tanriverdi found, did not tell the whole story. He found three additional factors, all related to a similar problem: not properly modeling for complexity.

Ground truth. Some algorithms are asked to make decisions when there’s no established ground truth: the reference against which the algorithm’s outcomes are evaluated. An algorithm might be asked to guess the age of a bone from an X-ray image, even though in medical practice, there’s no established way for doctors to do so.

In other cases, AI may mistakenly treat opinions as objective truths — for example, when social media users are evenly split on whether a post constitutes hate speech or protected free speech.

AI should only automate decisions for which ground truth is clear, Tanriverdi says. “If there is not a well-established ground truth, then the likelihood that bias will emerge significantly increases.”

Real-world complexity. AI models inevitably simplify the situations they describe. Problems can arise when they miss important components of reality.

Tanriverdi points to a case in which Arkansas replaced home visits by nurses with automated rulings on Medicaid benefits. It had the effect of cutting off disabled people from assistance with eating and showering.

“If a nurse goes and walks around to the house, they will be able to understand more about what kind of support this person needs,” he says. “But algorithms were using only a subset of those variables, because data was not available on everything.

“Because of omission of the relevant variables in the model, that model was no longer a good enough representation of reality.”

Stakeholder involvement.  When a model serving a diverse population is designed mostly by members of a single demographic, it becomes more susceptible to bias. One way to counter this risk is to ensure that all stakeholder groups have a voice in the development process.

By involving stakeholders who may have conflicting goals and expectations, an organization can determine whether it’s possible to meet them all. If it’s not, Tanriverdi says, “It may be feasible to reach compromise solutions that everyone is OK with.”

The research concludes that taming AI bias involves much more than making algorithms more accurate. Developers need to open up their black boxes to account for real-world complexities, input from diverse groups, and ground truths.

“The factors we focus on have a direct effect on the fairness outcome,” Tanriverdi says. “These are the missing pieces that data scientists seem to be ignoring.”

“Algorithmic Social Injustice: Antecedents and Mitigations”  is published in MIS Quarterly.

 

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Journal

MIS Quarterly

DOI

10.25300/MISQ/2025/18314 

Article Title

Algorithmic Social Injustices: Antecedents and Mitigations

 

A Genetic tug-of-war shapes the biosynthesis of bioactive saponins

Nanjing Agricultural University The Academy of Science

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image: 

Mechanism of EsOSC regulation of E. senticosus saponin synthesis.

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Credit: Horticulture Research

Triterpenoid saponins are key bioactive compounds responsible for the medicinal value of many plants, yet how plants regulate the balance between saponin production and sterol biosynthesis has remained unclear. This study identifies two closely related enzymes that compete for the same metabolic precursor but drive it toward distinct biochemical outcomes. By uncovering how these enzymes function, interact, and are differentially regulated, the research reveals a molecular mechanism that determines whether metabolic flux is directed toward pharmacologically valuable saponins or essential sterols. The findings provide a mechanistic framework for understanding saponin biosynthesis and offer new molecular targets for improving the quality and yield of medicinal plant products.

Triterpenoid saponins are widely valued for their diverse pharmacological activities and also play important defensive roles in plants. These compounds are synthesized through the cyclization of a common precursor, 2,3-oxidosqualene, a reaction catalyzed by the 2,3-oxidosqualene cyclase (OSC) enzyme family. Different OSCs can channel this precursor into either saponin or sterol biosynthetic pathways, but the regulatory logic governing this metabolic branching has remained poorly understood. Previous studies mainly focused on enzyme structure or downstream modifications, while gene-level regulation received less attention. Based on these challenges, it is necessary to conduct in-depth research on how specific OSC genes and their regulators coordinate saponin biosynthesis.

Researchers from North China University of Science and Technology reported (DOI: 10.1093/hr/uhaf133) on May 21, 2025, in Horticulture Research a comprehensive molecular analysis of saponin biosynthesis in Eleutherococcus senticosus. The study identified two key OSC genes that determine whether metabolic flux is directed toward triterpenoid saponins or sterols. By combining genome-wide screening, biochemical assays, promoter analysis, and transcription factor studies, the research clarifies how enzyme competition and gene regulation together shape the accumulation of medicinally important saponins.

The researchers first identified ten OSC genes in the E. senticosus genome and narrowed them down to two functionally dominant candidates through expression profiling and metabolite correlation analysis. Functional assays confirmed that one enzyme acts exclusively as a β-amyrin synthase, directing metabolism toward oleanane-type saponins, while the other functions as a cycloartenol synthase that feeds sterol biosynthesis. Both enzymes localize primarily to the cytoplasm and compete for the same substrate, creating a metabolic trade-off.

Detailed structural analyses revealed distinct conserved amino acid triplets that define the catalytic specificity of each enzyme. Site-directed mutagenesis demonstrated that even single amino acid changes could dramatically alter product profiles or abolish enzyme activity. Beyond enzyme function, the study showed that gene expression is finely regulated by light quality, DNA methylation, and multiple transcription factors. Importantly, several transcription factors were found to exert opposite regulatory effects on the two competing genes, simultaneously promoting saponin synthesis while repressing sterol formation, or vice versa. This coordinated regulation provides a molecular explanation for how plants optimize secondary metabolite production.

According to the researchers, the most significant insight of this work is the discovery of a coordinated regulatory system that controls metabolic direction at both enzymatic and transcriptional levels. They note that identifying transcription factors capable of oppositely regulating two competing biosynthetic genes is particularly striking, as such dual control has rarely been documented in plants. This mechanism allows the plant to fine-tune resource allocation between growth-related sterols and defense- or health-related saponins, offering a powerful strategy for metabolic optimization.

The findings have important implications for medicinal plant improvement and metabolic engineering. By targeting specific OSC genes or their regulatory transcription factors, it may be possible to enhance the accumulation of valuable saponins without compromising plant viability. This strategy could support the development of higher-quality herbal medicines and functional plant products. More broadly, the study provides a conceptual model for controlling metabolic branch points in plant secondary metabolism. Such insights may be applied to other medicinal or industrial crops, enabling more precise manipulation of bioactive compound synthesis through genetic and environmental regulation.

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References

DOI

10.1093/hr/uhaf133

Original Source URL

https://doi.org/10.1093/hr/uhaf133

Funding information

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32470398), the Central Guidance for Local Science and Technology Development Fund Projects (236Z2501G), and Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province (H2020209033).

About Horticulture Research

Horticulture Research is an open access journal of Nanjing Agricultural University and ranked number one in the Horticulture category of the Journal Citation Reports ™ from Clarivate, 2023. The journal is committed to publishing original research articles, reviews, perspectives, comments, correspondence articles and letters to the editor related to all major horticultural plants and disciplines, including biotechnology, breeding, cellular and molecular biology, evolution, genetics, inter-species interactions, physiology, and the origination and domestication of crops.

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Journal

Horticulture Research

DOI

10.1093/hr/uhaf133 

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Identification of 2,3-oxidosqualene cyclase gene in Eleutherococcus senticosus and its regulatory mechanism in saponin synthesis

Body-focused teens more likely to experience anxiety and depression at 20

A cluster analysis of health behaviors and their relationship to weight stigma, neuroticism and psychological wellbeing

University of Warwick

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Teenage girls who maintain a ‘normal’ body weight through constant dieting and exercise may look ‘healthy’ but should be seen as a vulnerable group according to new research from the University of Warwick.

The study, led by Dr Dimitra Hartas, finds that 17-year-old women of normal weight who closely manage their bodies through strict regimes of diet and exercise – focused on “clean eating”, fitness, and constant self-monitoring rather than food deprivation – face heightened risks to their psychological health. Many reported experiences of weight stigma, high levels of anxiety-related traits, and thoughts of self-harm and suicide.

By the age of 20, these young women were more likely to experience symptoms associated with anxiety and depression, alongside psychological distress and poorer overall wellbeing.

The research challenges the widespread assumption that dieting and regular exercise are always markers of good health. Instead, it highlights how body management has become closely tied to identity, self-worth, and social acceptance – particularly for young women.

“In an image-saturated culture, young women are praised for being fit and slim,” said Dr Dimitra Hartas, Reader at the University of Warwick. “But beneath this veneer of health lies a troubling reality. For many, managing body weight is not about wellbeing – it is about meeting cultural expectations and earning a sense of worth.”

The study points to a broader societal shift in which personhood has become a project of constant self-optimisation, where the ‘ideal body’ is narrowly defined and weight is treated as a measure of personal worth.

In social media culture, body satisfaction has become a form of currency, with ‘slim’ increasingly seen as synonymous with ‘worthy’. As a result, young women often work hard to look like the best version of themselves, rather than to feel or be well.

“This pressure for the female body to shrink is a form of social control,” Dr Hartas said. “It restricts women’s physical and symbolic space, shaping how they see themselves and how society permits them to exist. The mental health cost of this pressure is significant and too often overlooked.”

The findings sit within a wider and worrying context. Recent studies show that one in three women aged 16–24 report experiencing mental ill health, with rates of self-harm among young women having quadrupled since 2000.

Dr Hartas argues that recognising young women of normal weight who engage in constant dieting and exercise as a vulnerable group is essential for improving mental health prevention, education, and support.

“Health messaging needs to move beyond weight and appearance,” she said. “We need to ask not just how young women look, but how they are actually doing – psychologically, emotionally, and socially.”

“These findings show that schools and colleges need to do much more to support young people’s health,” said Dr Michael C Watson from the Institute of Health Promotion and Education (IHPE). “We need to move beyond BMI and weight management towards promoting exercise, sleep and healthy eating, while also tackling body image and fat shaming. This is a complex challenge that won’t be solved by one-off or isolated interventions.”

ENDS

About the University of Warwick 

Founded in 1965, the University of Warwick is a world-leading institution known for its commitment to era-defining innovation across research and education. A connected ecosystem of staff, students and alumni, the University fosters transformative learning, interdisciplinary collaboration and bold industry partnerships across state-of-the-art facilities in the UK and global satellite hubs. Here, spirited thinkers push boundaries, experiment and challenge convention to create a better world.

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Journal

Current Psychology

DOI

10.1007/s12144-025-08652-8 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

A cluster analysis of health behaviours and their relationship to weight stigma, neuroticism and psychological wellbeing in adolescents and young adults: a population-based study

Article Publication Date

16-Jan-2026

 

A new method to unlock vast lithium stores

Researchers at Columbia Engineering have developed a faster, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly way to extract this critical mineral

Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science

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Demand for lithium is skyrocketing as factories across the world churn out electric vehicles and the massive batteries that make wind turbines and solar panels reliable sources of energy. Unfortunately, current methods for producing lithium are slow and require high-quality feedstocks that are found in relatively few locations on the planet. Ironically, the environmental costs are also significant: refining the mineral behind clean energy requires large amounts of land and pollutes water supplies that local communities depend on.

In a new paper, researchers from Columbia Engineering describe a new method for extracting lithium that could dramatically shorten processing time, unlock reserves that existing methods can’t tap, and reduce environmental impact. Their technique uses a temperature-sensitive solvent to extract lithium directly from the brines found in deposits across the world. Unlike the current technologies, this approach can efficiently extract lithium even when the mineral is found in very low concentrations and contaminated with similar materials.

The results, detailed in a paper published today in Joule, show that the innovation, called switchable solvent selective extraction, S3E (pronounced S three E), can extract lithium with strong selectivity: up to 10 times higher than for sodium, and 12 times higher than for potassium. The process also excludes magnesium, a common contaminant in lithium brines, by triggering a chemical precipitation step that separates it out.

Improving on Solar Evaporation

Roughly 40% of lithium production begins with a salty brine that’s found in large reservoirs that form under deserts. Nearly all of that lithium is extracted using a technique called solar evaporation, where the brine is pumped into sprawling ponds that bake under the desert sun — for up to two years — until enough water evaporates. This is only feasible in dry, flat regions with vast amounts of land, such as Chile’s Atacama Desert or parts of Nevada. It also consumes large volumes of water in places that can scarcely afford it.

“There’s no way solar evaporation alone can match future demand,” said Ngai Yin Yip, La Von Duddleson Krumb Associate Professor of Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia University. “And there are promising lithium-rich brines, like those in California’s Salton Sea, where this method simply can’t be used at all.”

Unlike conventional lithium recovery methods, S3E doesn't rely on binding chemicals or extensive postprocessing. Instead, the process exploits the way lithium ions interact with water molecules in a solvent system that changes its behavior based on temperature. At room temperature, the solvent pulls lithium and water from the brine. When heated, it releases the lithium, along with water, into a purified stream and regenerates itself for reuse.

An Approach with Tremendous Potential

In lab tests using synthetic brines modeled on the Salton Sea, a geothermal region in Southern California estimated to hold enough lithium to supply more than 375 million EV batteries, the system recovered nearly 40% of the lithium over just four cycles with the same solvent batch. That suggests a viable path toward continuous operation.

“This is a new way to do direct lithium extraction,” said Yip. “It’s fast, selective, and easy to scale. And it can be powered by low-grade heat from waste sources or solar collectors.”

The team emphasized that this is a proof-of-concept study. The system hasn’t yet been optimized for yield or efficiency. But even in this early form, S3E appears promising enough to offer an alternative to evaporation ponds and hard-rock mining, the two approaches that dominate the lithium supply chain today and come with steep tradeoffs.

As the global clean energy transition picks up speed, technologies like S3E could play a crucial role in keeping it on track—by making it possible to extract lithium faster, more cleanly, and from more places than ever before.

“We talk about green energy all the time,” said Yip. “But we rarely talk about how dirty some of the supply chains are. If we want a truly sustainable transition, we need cleaner ways to get the materials it depends on. This is one step in that direction.”

Interested parties seeking collaboration, licensing, or application of the technology may express their interest here.

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Journal

Joule

Article Title

A New Method to Unlock Vast Lithium Stores

Article Publication Date

21-Jan-2026

 

Lithium study yields insights in the fight against HIV

Study in human cells finds low-cost drug keeps virus dormant through an unexpected pathway, pointing the way to new treatments

McGill University

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Lithium, a widely used treatment for bipolar disorder and other mood disorders, has shown early promise in suppressing HIV, McGill University researchers report.

A new study published in iScience found lithium can prevent infected cells from reactivating, and that it does so through an unexpected biological mechanism.

The findings point toward future treatments designed to mimic lithium’s beneficial effects while avoiding its broader impacts on the body.

“One major thrust in HIV cure research is asking whether existing drugs can be repurposed. Because lithium is inexpensive and already approved for other uses, it offers a faster starting point than developing a new drug from scratch,” said senior author Andrew Mouland, Professor in McGill’s Department of Medicine and Head of the HIV-1 RNA Trafficking Laboratory at the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research.

The results do not mean people with HIV should take lithium, he said. The psychoactive drug can cause significant side effects and has not yet been tested in humans as an HIV treatment.

A step toward a ‘functional cure’

An estimated 40.8 million people around the world were living with HIV in 2024. Even with effective antiretroviral therapy, the virus can remain hidden in immune cells and rebound if daily treatment stops.

A “functional cure” aims to overcome this challenge. Rather than eliminating the virus entirely, the goal is to keep HIV dormant, so it cannot restart infection, potentially reducing the need for continuous daily medication.

“In our experiments, lithium directly suppressed HIV reactivation in lab-grown human cells, something that had not been clearly demonstrated before,” said first author Ana-Luiza Abdalla, who conducted the work as a PhD student at McGill and is now a postdoctoral fellow at the Montreal Neurological Institute.

As well, the team gained new insights into the mechanism involved.

Earlier research suggested lithium might work by activating autophagy, the cell’s recycling system. Because many drugs studied in HIV cure research affect this pathway, scientists assumed autophagy was responsible for keeping the virus dormant.

This study challenges that assumption, made possible by a fluorescence-based test developed by University of Manitoba researcher Thomas Murooka that allows scientists to distinguish between dormant and active virus in cells.

“What surprised us was that the effect persisted even when we disrupted autophagy,” Abdalla said. “That suggests other pathways are involved, possibly ones HIV relies on to restart.”

About the study

“Lithium attenuates HIV-1 latency reversal in an autophagy-independent way” by Ana-Luiza Abdalla, Gabriel Guajardo-Contreras, Meijuan Niu, Thomas Murooka and Andrew J. Mouland was published in iScience. Funding was provided by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

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Journal

iScience

DOI

10.1016/j.isci.2025.114085 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Article Title

Lithium attenuates HIV-1 latency reversal in an autophagy-independent way