Scarlett Johansson’s complaint to OpenAI is a new benchmark in the development of machine intelligence

Over 2,000 years ago, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle came up with a way to build arguments. He called this “rhetoric” and described how logic in the text of an argument or speech, the needs and understanding of the audience, and the authority of the speaker could be used as strategies to persuade others.

Rather than just relying on logic in the argument or trust in the speaker, politicians and actors have long recognised that there is nothing as effective as using emotion to win the hearts and...