Ah...summer. Sunny season doesn't technically start until the 21st, but it feels appropriate to kick things off a few days early this year given what the world's been through.

Poet William Carlos Williams once wrote: "In summer, the song sings itself.” Then again, the guy's most famous poem is about a wheelbarrow so it's hard to take him seriously.

Anywho...that's not the point. The point is summer's awesome. Enjoy this week's edition on your patio with a nice cold IQMIX.

As always, please forward IQNEWS to a friend if you're a fan!

Artificial intelligence has evolved so much in recent years that it now resembles...wait for it...un-artificial intelligence (a.k.a. human intelligence).

At least that's Blake Lemoine, an ex-Google engineer, thinks.

On June 11th, the Washington Post reported Google suspended Lemoine after he made the eyebrow-raising claim that the search giant's unreleased AI system, Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA), had “come to life.” Notably, Google took issue with him breaching confidentiality - not with his assertion.

Lemoine published a transcript of his conversations with the chatbot, which provides a peek into an algorithm so advanced it convinced an expert it was an real person with feelings and emotions. The story's revitalized a debate over whether or not AI-powered language models will eventually catapult us into a dystopian "I, Robot" reality.

Most experts are confident that’s not a possibility (though Elon Musk famously thinks it is). In any case, the story demonstrates just how far AI-powered language models have come, blurring the lines between humans and machines.

In a world where smartphones are a close second behind oxygen on the "human survival requirements" list, losing your device is just plain soul-crushing.

If you’re lucky, a good Samaritan will find your misplaced phone. But what if he or she can't contact you because of your lock screen?! There's a nifty solution here...

Add your contact info (either your email or the phone number of someone close to you) to your lock screen background. This way, the person who finds your precious phablet can contact you without unlocking your phone.

Here's a guide that explains how to do this!

1. The syllables in "on your mark, get set, go" are a perfect 3-2-1 countdown.
2. With access to a good therapist, there’s a chance money can buy you happiness.
3. Light bulbs were such a good idea that they became the symbol for a good idea.
4. The asteroid that ended the dinosaurs was the highest ratio of killing birds to one stone in Earth’s history.
5. Our jaws can only move upwards. So you can’t actually "bite down" on something.

Charlie Chaplin: “Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.”

Today I learned that dogs “play sneeze” when they’re feeling excited. (more here)

mellifluous [ muh-lif-loo-uhs ] - adjective
sweet or musical; pleasant to hear
Her voice was mellifluous and smooth.

Q: What is the smallest country in the world?
A: (see below next section)