The brain often blurs the senses – a fact that marketers often use in the design of food packaging. And AIs appear to do the same.

What is the flavour of a pink sphere? And what is the sound of a Sauvignon Blanc?
Such questions may sound ridiculous, but a huge body of literature shows us that the human brain naturally merges sensory experiences. We may not be conscious of the phenomenon, but we associate different colours, shapes and sounds with different flavours in ways that can subtly shape our perceptual experience, for example.
The colour of our glass, or music playing in the background of a bar, can determine how sweet or musky a wine tastes, for instance. “This cross talk between the senses is happening almost on an ongoing basis all the time,” explains Carlos Velasco at the BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo, Norway. In extreme cases it can manifest in a blurred sensory experience for some people where words might trigger specific tastes or music produces a riot of colour – something known as synaesthesia.
And while the idea that you can “taste” a colour or sound may seem absurd enough, Velasco’s latest research suggests that generative artificial intelligence systems may also do this too. As with all AI algorithms, this is largely a reflection of biases in the data they were trained on, so they are perhaps just highlighting how common these associations may actually be. But Velasco and his colleagues hope to use this fact to find many other ways to hack human senses.

The UK motor industry is being consulted over how the phasing-out of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 will work, the government has announced.
The ban on sales of these vehicles had been extended to 2035 under the previous Conservative government but Labour said it would restore the 2030 deadline in its election manifesto.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is now seeking views from automotive and charging experts to “restore clarity” on how to deliver the ban.
Car industry leaders have warned drivers were not switching to electric vehicles at the rate needed to meet the deadline due to the cost of buying the cars privately and charging point infrastructure.

Chocolate maker Cadbury has been dropped from the list of royal warrants for the first time in 170 years.
The Birmingham-based chocolatier was awarded its first royal warrant as chocolate and cocoa manufacturers by Queen Victoria in 1854, but it has lost its royal endorsement under King Charles.
Cadbury’s US owners, Mondelez International, said it was disappointed to have been stripped of its warrant.
The King has granted royal warrants to 386 companies that previously held warrants from Queen Elizabeth II, including John Lewis, Heinz and Nestle.