Nostr notes by MIT Technology Review

Investing in AI to build next-generation infrastructure ...

2024-10-21T16:45:12Z

Investing in AI to build next-generation infrastructure

The demand for new and improved infrastructure across the world is not being met. The Asian Development Bank has estimated that in Asia alone, roughly $1.7 trillion needs to be invested annually through to 2030 just to sustain economic growth and offset the effects of climate change. Globally, that figure has been put at $15…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/21/1105545/investing-in-ai-to-build-next-generation-infrastructure/

These companies are creating food out of thin air ...

2024-10-21T13:15:12Z

These companies are creating food out of thin air

Dried cells—it’s what’s for dinner. At least that’s what a new crop of biotech startups, armed with carbon-guzzling bacteria and plenty of capital, are hoping to convince us. Their claims sound too good to be true: They say they can make food out of thin air. But that’s exactly how certain soil-dwelling bacteria work. In…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/21/1105171/air-protein-biotech-solar-foods-novonutrients-alternative-protein/

The Download: food from thin air, and finding new materials ...

2024-10-21T12:45:09Z

The Download: food from thin air, and finding new materials

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. These companies are creating food out of thin air A new crop of biotech startups, armed with carbon-guzzling bacteria and plenty of capital, are promising something that seems too good to be true.…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/21/1105959/the-download-food-from-thin-air-and-finding-new-materials/

Azalea: a science-fiction story ...

2024-10-20T02:00:16Z

Azalea: a science-fiction story

“This is simply a question of right and wrong.” “You can’t deny the costs, though. You keep saying that just one more year of taxes will solve— “We’re not solving—we’re mitigating!” “Then what’s the point?” The shrill back-and-forth fills the kitchen, where Xia is busy making breakfast, some kind of awful cricket-protein smoothie with kale.…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/19/1105142/azalea-science-fiction-paolo-bacigalupi-climate-change/

Azalea: a science-fiction story ...

2024-10-19T09:15:09Z

The race to find new materials with AI needs more data. Meta is ...

2024-10-18T16:45:09Z

The race to find new materials with AI needs more data. Meta is giving massive amounts away for free.

Meta is releasing a massive data set and models, called Open Materials 2024, that could help scientists use AI to discover new materials much faster. OMat24 tackles one of the biggest bottlenecks in the discovery process: data. To find new materials, scientists calculate the properties of elements across the periodic table and simulate different combinations…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/18/1105880/the-race-to-find-new-materials-with-ai-needs-more-data-meta-is-giving-massive-amounts-away-for-free/

The Download: AI for debates, and what to know about the ...

2024-10-18T12:30:12Z

The Download: AI for debates, and what to know about the Oropouche virus

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. AI could help people find common ground during deliberations Reaching a consensus in a democracy is difficult because people hold such different ideological, political, and social views. Perhaps an AI tool could help.…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/18/1105865/the-download-ai-for-debates-and-what-to-know-about-the-oropouche-virus/

Oropouche virus is spreading. Here’s what we know. This article ...

2024-10-18T09:30:12Z

Oropouche virus is spreading. Here’s what we know.

This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here. There have been plenty of reports of potentially concerning viruses this last year. Covid is still causing thousands of deaths, and bird flu appears set to make the…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/18/1105829/oropouche-virus-spreading-heres-what-we-know/

AI could help people find common ground during deliberations ...

2024-10-17T18:30:12Z

AI could help people find common ground during deliberations

Reaching a consensus in a democracy is difficult because people hold such different ideological, political, and social views. Perhaps an AI tool could help. Researchers from Google DeepMind trained a system of large language models (LLMs) to operate as a “caucus mediator,” generating summaries that outline a group’s areas of agreement on complex but important…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/17/1105810/ai-could-help-people-find-common-ground-during-deliberations/

Transforming software with generative AI ...

2024-10-17T17:30:12Z

Transforming software with generative AI

Generative AI’s promises for the software development lifecycle (SDLC)—code that writes itself, fully automated test generation, and developers who spend more time innovating than debugging—are as alluring as they are ambitious. Some bullish industry forecasts project a 30% productivity boost from AI developer tools, which, if realized, could inject more than $1.5 trillion into the…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/17/1105295/transforming-software-with-generative-ai/

[TEST] KVG ...

2024-10-17T17:00:16Z

[TEST] KVG

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/17/1105632/test-kvg/

Transforming software with generative AI ...

2024-10-17T15:45:10Z

Transforming software with generative AI ...

2024-10-17T13:30:15Z

The Download: farming on Mars, and lab robots ...

2024-10-17T12:30:13Z

The Download: farming on Mars, and lab robots

https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeptb7DzeTzJzeN3DHn4_4dZ4Eo8GZ5mJbc_JcdW_xN82MyEokqb7qdujmjVy8Y614X8Je3h_gjM5HLqpZYFvy4kerZsbgBGXCGlkc7jwkcpdhhil_GcF3fw6QjvqTgRsJXYDh7txWUhOIXdPFv2fWfWav1?key=eUns3G237x5L1QYPzZhOkA

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. The quest to figure out farming on Mars Once upon a time, water flowed across the surface of Mars. Waves lapped against shorelines, strong winds gusted and howled, and driving rain fell from…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/17/1105771/the-download-farming-on-mars-and-lab-robots/

This lab robot mixes chemicals Lab scientists spend much of their ...

2024-10-17T09:30:13Z

This lab robot mixes chemicals

Lab scientists spend much of their time doing laborious and repetitive tasks, be it pipetting liquid samples or running the same analyses over and over again. But what if they could simply tell a robot to do the experiments, analyze the data, and generate a report? Enter Organa, a benchtop robotic system devised by researchers…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/17/1105122/this-lab-robot-mixes-chemicals/

The quest to figure out farming on Mars ...

2024-10-17T08:45:10Z

The quest to figure out farming on Mars

Once upon a time, water flowed across the surface of Mars. Waves lapped against shorelines, strong winds gusted and howled, and driving rain fell from thick, cloudy skies. It wasn’t really so different from our own planet 4 billion years ago, except for one crucial detail—its size. Mars is about half the diameter of Earth,…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/17/1105135/mars-farming-soil-food-humans-farming-agriculture/

Cloud transformation clears businesses for digital takeoff In an ...

2024-10-16T13:15:10Z

Cloud transformation clears businesses for digital takeoff

In an age where customer experience can make or break a business, Cathay Pacific is embracing cloud transformation to enhance service delivery and revolutionize operations from the inside out. It’s not just technology companies that are facing pressure to deliver better customer service, do more with data, and improve agility. An almost 80-year-old airline, Cathay…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/16/1105361/cloud-transformation-clears-businesses-for-digital-takeoff/

The Download: an intro to AI, and ChatGPT’s bias ...

2024-10-16T12:45:09Z

The Download: an intro to AI, and ChatGPT’s bias

https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdOLIosjlQr8kGyJitMvE7tK-ooVaHGn9vvG4mDn-PkN-oHNypcsOr15gZVGepZqA4IRKa68CXtTZSimkz4-dCyIbb9_yNLFnjJDactPam_LQW2OhL9oOBvyTCnIW26o7E5gO6QxE3t4CsNYVUkake_ySfK?key=yJY9A-ospuYeLt9km9-afQ

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Intro to AI: a beginner’s guide to artificial intelligence from MIT Technology Review It feels as though AI is moving a million miles a minute. Every week, it seems, there are product launches,…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/16/1105635/the-download-an-intro-to-ai-and-chatgpts-bias/

Super-light materials that help suppress EV battery fires just ...

2024-10-16T11:45:09Z

Super-light materials that help suppress EV battery fires just got a big boost

A company making fire-suppressing battery materials just got a $670.6 million loan commitment from the US Department of Energy. Aspen Aerogels makes insulating materials that can be layered inside an EV’s battery to prevent or slow heat and fires from spreading within the pack. The company is building a new factory in Georgia to produce…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/16/1105504/aerogel-ev-battery-fire/

OpenAI says ChatGPT treats us all the same (most of the time) ...

2024-10-15T17:30:11Z

OpenAI says ChatGPT treats us all the same (most of the time)

Does ChatGPT treat you the same whether you’re a Laurie, Luke, or Lashonda? Almost, but not quite. OpenAI has analyzed millions of conversations with its hit chatbot and found that ChatGPT will produce a harmful gender or racial stereotype based on a user’s name in around one in 1000 responses on average, and as many…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/15/1105558/openai-says-chatgpt-treats-us-all-the-same-most-of-the-time/

Intro to AI: a beginner’s guide to artificial intelligence from ...

2024-10-15T14:30:13Z

Intro to AI: a beginner’s guide to artificial intelligence from MIT Technology Review

It feels as though AI is moving a million miles a minute. Every week, it seems, there are product launches, fresh features and other innovations, and new concerns over ethics and privacy. It’s a lot to keep up with. Maybe you wish someone would just take a step back and explain some of the basics. …

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/15/1105441/intro-ai-beginners-guide-artificial-intelligence-course/

The Download: protecting farmworkers from heat, and AI’s Nobel ...

2024-10-15T12:30:12Z

The Download: protecting farmworkers from heat, and AI’s Nobel Prize

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. The quest to protect farmworkers from extreme heat On July 21, 2024, temperatures soared in many parts of the world, breaking the record for the hottest day ever recorded on the planet. The…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/15/1105535/the-download-protecting-farmworkers-from-heat-and-ais-nobel-prize/

A data bottleneck is holding AI science back, says new Nobel ...

2024-10-15T11:00:14Z

A data bottleneck is holding AI science back, says new Nobel winner

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here. David Baker is sleep-deprived but happy. He’s just won the Nobel prize, after all. The call from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences woke him in the middle of the night.…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/15/1105533/a-data-bottleneck-is-holding-ai-science-back-says-new-nobel-winner/

The quest to protect farmworkers from extreme heat On July 21, ...

2024-10-15T10:30:11Z

The quest to protect farmworkers from extreme heat

On July 21, 2024, temperatures soared in many parts of the world, breaking the record for the hottest day ever recorded on the planet. The following day—July 22—the record was broken again. But even as the heat index rises each summer, the people working outdoors to pick fruits, vegetables, and flowers for American tables keep…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/15/1105113/extreme-heat-farmworkers-agriculture-sensor/

Data strategies for AI leaders ...

2024-10-14T13:15:09Z

Data strategies for AI leaders

Organizations are starting the heavy lifting to get real business value from generative AI. As Arnab Chakraborty, chief responsible AI officer at Accenture, puts it, “2023 was the year when clients were amazed with generative AI and the possibilities. In 2024, we are starting to see scaled implementations of responsible generative AI programs.” Some generative…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/14/1105249/data-strategies-for-ai-leaders/

The Download: growing Africa’s food, and deleting your 23andMe ...

2024-10-14T12:45:09Z

The Download: growing Africa’s food, and deleting your 23andMe data

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Africa fights rising hunger by looking to foods of the past After falling steadily for decades, the prevalence of global hunger is now on the rise—nowhere more so than in sub-Saharan Africa. Conflicts,…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/14/1105521/the-download-growing-africas-food-and-deleting-your-23andme-data/

How to… delete your 23andMe data MIT Technology Review’s How ...

2024-10-14T09:15:12Z

How to… delete your 23andMe data

MIT Technology Review’s How To series helps you get things done. Things aren’t looking good for 23andMe. The consumer DNA testing company recently parted ways with all its board members but CEO Anne Wojcicki over her plans to take the company private. It’s also still dealing with the fallout of a major security breach last October, which…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/14/1105488/how-to-delete-your-23andme-data/

Africa fights rising hunger by looking to foods of the past ...

2024-10-14T08:45:09Z

Africa fights rising hunger by looking to foods of the past

The first time the rains failed, the farmers of Kanaani were prepared for it. It was April of 2021, and as climate change had made the weather increasingly erratic, families in the eastern Kenyan village had grown used to saving food from previous harvests. But as another wet season passed with barely any rain, and…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/14/1105070/africa-crops-maize-kenya-climate-change-agriculture/

The Download: direct-air-capture plants, and measuring body fat ...

2024-10-11T12:30:12Z

The Download: direct-air-capture plants, and measuring body fat

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. These are the best ways to measure your body fat —Jessica Hamzelou We all know that being overweight is not great for your health—it’s linked to metabolic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular problems.…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/11/1105455/the-download-direct-air-capture-plants-and-measuring-body-fat/

Job title of the future: Digital forest ranger When Martin Roth ...

2024-10-11T10:30:11Z

Job title of the future: Digital forest ranger

When Martin Roth began his career as a forest ranger in the 1980s, his job was to care for the forest in a way that would ensure continuity for decades, even centuries. Now, with climate change, it’s more about planning for an uncertain future. “It’s turned into disaster management,” says Roth, for whom the 3,000…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/11/1105063/digital-forest-ranger-martin-roth-job-future/

These are the best ways to measure your body fat This article ...

2024-10-11T09:30:11Z

These are the best ways to measure your body fat

This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here. This week, an office conversation turned to body weight. We all know that being overweight is not great for your health—it’s linked to metabolic diseases like diabetes and…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/11/1105421/these-are-the-best-ways-to-measure-your-body-fat/

Roundtables: Producing Climate-Friendly Food Recorded on October ...

2024-10-10T18:45:09Z

Roundtables: Producing Climate-Friendly Food

Recorded on October 10, 2024 Producing Climate-Friendly Food with special guests from Pivot Bio and Rumin8 Speakers: James Temple, Sr Editor for Energy, Casey Crownhart, Sr Reporter for Climate, Karsten Temme, Chief Innovation Officer & Co-founder of Pivot Bio, and Matt Callahan, Co-founder and Counsel of Rumin8. Planet-warming emissions aren’t only spewed from power plants…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/10/1105428/roundtables-producing-climate-friendly-food/

Experts warn the US must do more to boost demand for carbon ...

2024-10-10T13:15:09Z

Experts warn the US must do more to boost demand for carbon removal

In 2022, the US made a massive bet on the carbon removal industry, committing $3.5 billion to build four major regional hubs in an effort to scale up the nascent sector. But industry observers fear that market demand isn’t building fast enough to support it, even with these substantial federal grants and other subsidies. Some…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/10/1105392/experts-warn-the-us-must-do-more-to-boost-demand-for-carbon-removal/

The Download: herbicide-resistant weeds, and an octopus-inspired ...

2024-10-10T12:45:09Z

The Download: herbicide-resistant weeds, and an octopus-inspired adhesive

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. The weeds are winning Since the 1980s, more and more plants have evolved to become immune to the biochemical mechanisms that herbicides leverage to kill them. This herbicidal resistance threatens to decrease yields—out-of-control…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/10/1105415/the-download-herbicide-resistant-weeds-and-an-octopus-inspired-adhesive/

Everything comes back to climate tech. Here’s what to watch for ...

2024-10-10T10:15:09Z

Everything comes back to climate tech. Here’s what to watch for next.

This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. We get to celebrate a very special birthday today—The Spark just turned two! Over the past couple of years, I’ve been bringing you all the news you need to know in climate…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/10/1105382/climate-tech-watch/

The weeds are winning ...

2024-10-10T09:45:09Z

The weeds are winning

On a languid, damp July morning, I meet weed scientist Aaron Hager outside the old Agronomy Seed House at the University of Illinois’ South Farm. In the distance are round barns built in the early 1900s, designed to withstand Midwestern windstorms. The sky is a formless white. It’s the day after a storm system hundreds…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/10/1105034/weeds-climate-change-genetic-engineering-superweeds-food/

This octopus-inspired adhesive can stick to just about anything A ...

2024-10-10T09:15:09Z

This octopus-inspired adhesive can stick to just about anything

A new adhesive technology pays homage to one of nature’s strongest sources of suction: an octopus tentacle. Researchers replicated an octopus’s strong grip and controlled release to create a tool that manipulates a wide array of objects. It could help improve underwater construction methods or find application in everyday devices like an assistive glove. Each…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/10/1105396/this-octopus-inspired-adhesive-can-stick-to-just-about-anything/

Preventing Climate Change: A Team Sport ...

2024-10-09T14:00:15Z

Preventing Climate Change: A Team Sport

This sponsored session was presented by MEDC at MIT Technology Review’s 2024 EmTech MIT event. Michigan is at the forefront of the clean energy transition, setting an example in mobility and automotive innovation. Other states and organizations can learn from Michigan’s approach to public-private partnerships, actionable climate plans, and business-government alignment. Progressive climate policies are…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/09/1105349/preventing-climate-change-a-team-sport/

The Download: another Nobel Prize for AI, and Adobe’s ...

2024-10-09T12:30:11Z

The Download: another Nobel Prize for AI, and Adobe’s anti-scraping tool

https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeTb03ZmSHUzKrIP3et3yjwaBA4QRwOtfVpN3Mct0oo7Z1cdBVAHBXxOrZu5SHNAPU6hJCkhgz3WH73AXSQaBiO0AVVL2eaSnOwE7-Bmi-DimlEYXzsLCnCeVMknnuIz7oFgB4i1pQ2SoILId38RexyGhvL?key=eoNg7mYEWPuq7poNWHgZBA

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Google DeepMind wins joint Nobel Prize in Chemistry for protein prediction AI Google DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis has won a joint Nobel Prize for Chemistry for using artificial intelligence to predict the structures…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/09/1105339/the-download-another-nobel-prize-for-ai-and-adobes-anti-scraping-tool/

Google DeepMind wins joint Nobel Prize in Chemistry for protein ...

2024-10-09T12:00:15Z

Google DeepMind wins joint Nobel Prize in Chemistry for protein prediction AI

In a second Nobel win for AI, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded half of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Demis Hassabis, the co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind and John M. Jumper, a director at Google DeepMind, for their work on using artificial intelligence to predict the structures of proteins,…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/09/1105335/google-deepmind-wins-joint-nobel-prize-in-chemistry-for-protein-prediction-ai/

Adobe wants to make it easier for artists to blacklist their work ...

2024-10-08T13:15:08Z

Adobe wants to make it easier for artists to blacklist their work from AI scraping

Adobe has announced a new tool to help creators watermark their artwork and opt out of having it used to train generative AI models. The web app, called Adobe Content Authenticity, allows artists to signal that they do not consent for their work to be used by AI models, which are generally trained on vast…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/08/1105234/adobe-wants-to-make-it-easier-for-artists-to-blacklist-their-work-from-ai-scraping/

The Download: Geoffrey Hinton’s Nobel Prize, and multimodal AI ...

2024-10-08T12:45:08Z

The Download: Geoffrey Hinton’s Nobel Prize, and multimodal AI

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Geoffrey Hinton, AI pioneer and figurehead of doomerism, wins Nobel Prize Geoffrey Hinton, a computer scientist whose pioneering work on deep learning in the 1980s and 90s underpins all of the most powerful…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/08/1105220/the-download-geoffrey-hintons-nobel-prize-and-multimodal-ai/

Why artificial intelligence and clean energy need each other We ...

2024-10-08T10:45:09Z

Why artificial intelligence and clean energy need each other

We are in the early stages of a geopolitical competition for the future of artificial intelligence. The winners will dominate the global economy in the 21st century. But what’s been too often left out of the conversation is that AI’s huge demand for concentrated and consistent amounts of power represents a chance to scale the…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/08/1105165/why-artificial-intelligence-and-clean-energy-need-each-other/

Forget chat. AI that can hear, see and click is already here This ...

2024-10-08T09:45:09Z

Forget chat. AI that can hear, see and click is already here

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here. Chatting with an AI chatbot is so 2022. The latest hot AI toys take advantage of multimodal models, which can handle several things at the same time, such as images, audio, and…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/08/1105214/forget-chat-ai-that-can-hear-see-and-click-is-already-here/

The Download: how to find new music online, and climate friendly ...

2024-10-07T12:30:10Z

The Download: how to find new music online, and climate friendly food

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. How to break free of Spotify’s algorithm Since the heyday of radio, records, cassette tapes, and MP3 players, the branding of sound has evolved from broad genres like rock and hip-hop to “paranormal…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/07/1105160/the-download-how-to-find-new-music-online-and-climate-friendly-food/

The Download: Google’s AI podcasts, and protecting your brain ...

2024-10-04T12:30:12Z

The Download: Google’s AI podcasts, and protecting your brain data

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. People are using Google study software to make AI podcasts—and they’re weird and amazing Google’s new AI podcasting tool, called Audio Overview, has become a surprise viral hit. The podcasting feature was launched…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/04/1104991/the-download-googles-ai-podcasts-and-protecting-your-brain-data/

A new law in California protects consumers’ brain data. Some ...

2024-10-04T09:30:10Z

A new law in California protects consumers’ brain data. Some think it doesn’t go far enough.

This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here. On September 28, California became the second US state to officially recognize the importance of mental privacy in state law. That pink, jelly-like, throbbing mass under your skull—a.k.a.…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/04/1104972/law-california-protects-brain-data-doesnt-go-far-enough/

People are using Google study software to make AI podcasts—and ...

2024-10-03T21:30:11Z

People are using Google study software to make AI podcasts—and they’re weird and amazing

“All right, so today we are going to dive deep into some cutting-edge tech,” a chatty American male voice says. But this voice does not belong to a human. It belongs to Google’s new AI podcasting tool, called Audio Overview, which has become a surprise viral hit. The podcasting feature was launched in mid-September as…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/03/1104978/people-are-using-google-study-software-to-make-ai-podcasts-and-theyre-weird-and-amazing/

The Download: training robots with gen AI, and the state of ...

2024-10-03T12:30:12Z

The Download: training robots with gen AI, and the state of climate tech

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. AI-generated images can teach robots how to act Generative AI models can produce images in response to prompts within seconds, and they’ve recently been used for everything from highlighting their own inherent bias…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/03/1104966/the-download-training-robots-with-gen-ai-and-the-state-of-climate-tech/

These 15 companies are innovating in climate tech ...

2024-10-03T10:15:08Z

These 15 companies are innovating in climate tech

This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. It’s finally here! We’ve just unveiled our 2024 list of 15 Climate Tech Companies to Watch. This annual project is one the climate team at MIT Technology Review pours a lot of…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/03/1104910/15-climate-tech-companies/

AI-generated images can teach robots how to act Generative AI ...

2024-10-03T09:15:08Z

AI-generated images can teach robots how to act

Generative AI models can produce images in response to prompts within seconds, and they’ve recently been used for everything from highlighting their own inherent bias to preserving precious memories. Now, researchers from Stephen James’s Robot Learning Lab in London are using image-generating AI models for a new purpose: creating training data for robots. They’ve developed…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/03/1104958/ai-generated-images-can-teach-robots-how-to-act/

The Download: 15 Climate Tech Companies to Watch ...

2024-10-02T12:30:12Z

The Download: 15 Climate Tech Companies to Watch

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Introducing: 15 Climate Tech Companies to Watch The urgency of addressing climate change has never been clearer. Emissions of planet-warming gases are at record highs, as are global temperatures. All that extra heat…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/02/1104844/the-download-15-climate-tech-companies-to-watch/

Europa Clipper set to look for life-friendly conditions around ...

2024-10-02T09:30:12Z

Europa Clipper set to look for life-friendly conditions around Jupiter

NASA is poised to launch Europa Clipper, a $5.2 billion mission to Jupiter’s fourth-largest moon, as early as October 10. The spacecraft will blast off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. It will study Europa, a possible home for extraterrestrial life, through a series of flybys after reaching Jupiter…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/02/1104818/europa-clipper-set-to-look-for-life-friendly-conditions-around-jupiter/

2024 Climate Tech Companies to Watch: First Solar and its ...

2024-10-01T17:30:11Z

2024 Climate Tech Companies to Watch: First Solar and its advanced solar panels

First Solar is expanding production of its thin-film solar cells and opening new factories to meet a surge of demand. Meanwhile, it’s investing in perovskites—tiny crystalline materials that many view as a key solar technology of the future. The world needs more electricity than ever, as the AI boom puts intense demand on data centers…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/01/1104255/2024-climate-tech-companies-first-solar-advanced-solar-panels/

The Download: smart glasses, and tiny AI models ...

2024-10-01T12:45:09Z

The Download: smart glasses, and tiny AI models

https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdk8ajADGKI6VJkS74N_rsSSv7G138GzEpYuOt0hYc9Go4AD8ri6xZpCngcxfARvP5JdL_d9LHO751yei_pWc92OUOakHSG9LhvXPlcTUJeqIphuUqjWdE8Yiq09LdJuPZZb8Of1oUPFEpvZ9nrDtFYmn4?key=mEv5uiJX4bIYFxgf6yEGfA

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. The coolest thing about smart glasses is not the AR. It’s the AI. In case you missed the memo, we are barreling toward the next big consumer device category: smart glasses. At its…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/01/1104750/the-download-smart-glasses-and-tiny-ai-models/

Why bigger is not always better in AI This story originally ...

2024-10-01T09:15:09Z

Why bigger is not always better in AI

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here. In AI research, everyone seems to think that bigger is better. The idea is that more data, more computing power, and more parameters will lead to models that are more powerful.…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/01/1104744/why-bigger-is-not-always-better-in-ai/

The coolest thing about smart glasses is not the AR. It’s the ...

2024-10-01T08:45:08Z

The coolest thing about smart glasses is not the AR. It’s the AI.

This article is from The Debrief with Mat Honan, MIT Technology Review’s weekly newsletter from its editor in chief. To receive it every Friday, sign up here. In case you missed the memo, we are barreling toward the next big consumer device category: smart glasses. At its developer conference this week, Meta (née Facebook) introduced a positively mind-blowing…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/01/1104581/the-coolest-thing-about-smart-glasses-is-not-the-ar-its-the-ai/

The Download: how to break up with coal, and AI’s false climate ...

2024-09-30T12:30:11Z

The Download: how to break up with coal, and AI’s false climate promises

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. The UK is done with coal. How’s the rest of the world doing? The UK is shutting down its final coal-fired power plant today, marking the end of an era for the country’s…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/30/1104657/the-download-how-to-break-up-with-coal-and-ais-false-climate-promises/

The UK is done with coal. How’s the rest of the world doing? ...

2024-09-30T10:30:11Z

The UK is done with coal. How’s the rest of the world doing?

The UK is shutting down its final coal-fired power plant today, marking the end of an era for the country’s energy system. Once the backbone of the grid, coal has been steadily replaced with other, less polluting energy sources. Coal is the most emissions-intensive fuel powering the grid today, and moving away from it, even…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/30/1104591/uk-coal-global-shutdown/

Sorry, AI won’t “fix” climate change In an essay last week, ...

2024-09-28T16:45:08Z

Sorry, AI won’t “fix” climate change

In an essay last week, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, argued that the accelerating capabilities of AI will usher in an idyllic “Intelligence Age,” unleashing “unimaginable” prosperity and “astounding triumphs” like “fixing the climate.” It’s a promise that no one is in a position to make—and one that, when it comes to the topic…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/28/1104588/sorry-ai-wont-fix-climate-change/

The Download: safer space travel, and generative AI in video ...

2024-09-27T12:30:11Z

The Download: safer space travel, and generative AI in video games

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Space travel is dangerous. Could genetic testing and gene editing make it safer? Long-distance space travel can wreak havoc on human health. There’s radiation and microgravity to contend with, as well as the…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/27/1104574/the-download-safer-space-travel-and-generative-ai-in-video-games/

Space travel is dangerous. Could genetic testing and gene editing ...

2024-09-27T09:15:09Z

Space travel is dangerous. Could genetic testing and gene editing make it safer?

This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here. Recently, global news has been pretty bleak. So this week, I’ve decided to focus my thoughts beyond Earth’s stratosphere and well into space. A couple of weeks ago,…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/27/1104534/space-travel-dangerous-genetic-testing-gene-editing-safer/

The Download: a CRISPR patent battle, and the promise of tiny AI ...

2024-09-26T12:45:09Z

The Download: a CRISPR patent battle, and the promise of tiny AI

https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdWkgyTaHSGnt0AiaoWIJoilupKbkZsbp64xeVbzOLOdqdSxDI6H3TyxP-1Logb9JeN4YlXMcAJtWIoc6HIaa4td1wIO_pk4VOuGuJs2jOYvFdQDIWpq_0VX0m_vhfNI8yR0wLi9DSIOpRlbsEhD6t-Zb7Q?key=gCNhILsdNB1wAjQR_ojbJw

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Two Nobel Prize winners want to cancel their own CRISPR patents in Europe In the decade-long fight to control CRISPR, the super-tool for modifying DNA, it’s been common for lawyers to try to…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/26/1104538/the-download-a-crispr-patent-battle-and-the-promise-of-tiny-ai/

The Download: a CRISPR patent battle, and the promise of tiny AI ...

2024-09-26T12:30:12Z

Why Microsoft made a deal to help restart Three Mile Island This ...

2024-09-26T10:30:10Z

Why Microsoft made a deal to help restart Three Mile Island

This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. Nuclear power is coming back to Three Mile Island. That nuclear power plant is typically associated with a very specific event. One of its reactors, Unit 2, suffered a partial meltdown in…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/26/1104516/three-mile-island-microsoft/

Want AI that flags hateful content? Build it. Humane ...

2024-09-25T23:30:10Z

Want AI that flags hateful content? Build it.

Humane Intelligence, an organization focused on evaluating AI systems, is launching a competition that challenges developers to create a computer vision model that can track hateful image-based propaganda online. In partnership with Nordic counterterrorism group Revontulet, the bounty program opens September 26, is open to anyone who wants to compete, and promises $10,000 in prizes…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/25/1104519/ai-models-hate-imagery-humane-intelligence-bounty-competition/

Roundtables: Putting AI’s Climate Impact Into Perspective ...

2024-09-25T19:00:15Z

Roundtables: Putting AI’s Climate Impact Into Perspective

Recorded on September 25, 2024 Putting AI’s Climate Impact Into Perspective Speakers: David Rotman, Editor-at-large, Melissa Heikkilä, Senior AI Reporter, and James Temple, Sr Editor for Energy The rise of AI comes with a growing carbon footprint and an increased demand for electricity. Analysts project that AI could drive up data centers’ energy consumption by 160% this…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/25/1104491/roundtables-putting-ais-climate-impact-into-perspective/

Two Nobel Prize winners want to cancel their own CRISPR patents ...

2024-09-25T16:00:15Z

Two Nobel Prize winners want to cancel their own CRISPR patents in Europe

In the decade-long fight to control CRISPR, the super-tool for modifying DNA, it’s been common for lawyers to try to overturn patents held by competitors by pointing out errors or inconsistencies. But now, in a surprise twist, the team that earned the Nobel Prize for developing CRISPR is asking to cancel two of their own…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/25/1104475/nobel-prize-winners-cancel-crispr-patents-europe/

A tiny new open-source AI model performs as well as powerful big ...

2024-09-25T13:30:11Z

A tiny new open-source AI model performs as well as powerful big ones

The Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (Ai2), a research nonprofit, is releasing a family of open-source multimodal language models, called Molmo, that it says perform as well as top proprietary models from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. The organization claims that its biggest Molmo model, which has 72 billion parameters, outperforms OpenAI’s GPT-4o, which is estimated…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/25/1104465/a-tiny-new-open-source-ai-model-performs-as-well-as-powerful-big-ones/

The Download: how to connect the US’s grids, and OpenAI’s new ...

2024-09-25T12:30:11Z

The Download: how to connect the US’s grids, and OpenAI’s new voice mode

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Why one developer won’t quit fighting to connect the US’s grids Michael Skelly hasn’t learned to take no for an answer. For much of the last 15 years, the energy entrepreneur has worked…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/25/1104462/the-download-how-to-connect-the-uss-grids-and-openais-new-voice-mode/

Why one developer won’t quit fighting to connect the US’s ...

2024-09-25T09:15:09Z

Why one developer won’t quit fighting to connect the US’s grids

Michael Skelly hasn’t learned to take no for an answer. For much of the last 15 years, the Houston-based energy entrepreneur has worked to develop long-haul transmission lines to carry wind power across the Great Plains, Midwest, and Southwest, delivering clean electricity to cities like Albuquerque, Chicago, and Memphis. But so far, he has little…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/25/1104413/why-one-developer-wont-quit-fighting-to-connect-the-uss-grids/

OpenAI released its advanced voice mode to more people. Here’s ...

2024-09-24T19:45:09Z

OpenAI released its advanced voice mode to more people. Here’s how to get it.

OpenAI is broadening access to Advanced Voice Mode, a feature of ChatGPT that allows you to speak more naturally with the AI model. It allows you to interrupt its responses mid-sentence, and can also sense and interpret your emotions based on your tone of voice and adjust its responses accordingly. These features were teased back…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/24/1104422/openai-released-its-advanced-voice-mode-to-more-people-heres-how-to-get-it/

An AI script editor could help decide what films get made in ...

2024-09-24T16:30:11Z

An AI script editor could help decide what films get made in Hollywood

Every day across Hollywood, scores of film school graduates and production assistants work as script readers. Their job is to find the diamonds in the rough from the 50,000 or so screenplays pitched each year and flag any worth pursuing further. Each script runs anywhere from 100 to 150 pages, and it can take half…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/24/1104356/an-ai-script-editor-could-help-decide-what-films-get-made-in-hollywood/

An AI script editor could help decide what films get made in ...

2024-09-24T16:15:09Z

The Download: AI lessons for the US election, and our climate ...

2024-09-24T12:45:08Z

The Download: AI lessons for the US election, and our climate tech list is coming

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. What the US can learn from the role of AI in other elections When the generative AI boom kicked off, one of the biggest concerns was that hyperrealistic deepfakes could be used to…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/24/1104351/the-download-ai-lessons-for-the-us-election-and-our-climate-tech-list-is-coming/

Coming soon: Our 2024 list of 15 Climate Tech Companies to Watch ...

2024-09-24T11:45:08Z

Coming soon: Our 2024 list of 15 Climate Tech Companies to Watch

MIT Technology Review set out last year to recognize 15 companies from around the world that demonstrated they have a real shot at meaningfully driving down greenhouse-gas emissions and safeguarding society from the worst impacts of climate change. We’re excited to announce that we took up the task again this year and will publish our…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/24/1104265/coming-soon-2024-15-climate-tech-companies-watch/

What the US can learn from the role of AI in other elections This ...

2024-09-24T09:45:09Z

What the US can learn from the role of AI in other elections

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. That’s the approach bad state actors seem to have taken when it comes to how they mess with elections around the world. When the…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/24/1104347/what-the-us-can-learn-from-the-role-of-ai-in-other-elections/

Addressing climate change impacts ...

2024-09-23T14:00:18Z

Addressing climate change impacts

The reality of climate change has spurred enormous public and private investment worldwide, funding initiatives to mitigate its effects and to adapt to its impacts. That investment has spawned entire industries and countless new businesses, resulting in the creation of new green jobs and contributions to economic growth. In the United States, this includes the…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/23/1103998/addressing-climate-change-impacts/

The Download: EV subsidies risks, and introducing The Debrief ...

2024-09-23T12:30:14Z

The Download: EV subsidies risks, and introducing The Debrief

https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdJxFM0wpwVmaQL66IEuAxHvnV1_OICDYQQV-mwTXbkDDt46ITyteQ_l9W316TQay05nxcdZJCh063etqEtOwzlXzEC6tMIiyRc4oT8znszY1_7QGTfXZw1K0xzVs2zbA7eoNd9wRbNsPi6LcZlfgl_MvNM?key=aoBVh-zLz_n_vL4khBzwnw

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Some countries are ending support for EVs. Is it too soon? Sales of new electric vehicles in Germany have plummeted, dropping nearly 37% in July 2024 from the same month one year ago.…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/23/1104262/the-download-ev-subsidies-risks-and-introducing-the-debrief/

Some countries are ending support for EVs. Is it too soon? Sales ...

2024-09-23T09:15:12Z

Some countries are ending support for EVs. Is it too soon?

Sales of new electric vehicles in Germany have plummeted, dropping nearly 37% in July 2024 from the same month one year ago. One of the main reasons traces back to mid-December 2023, when the German government gave less than one week’s notice before ending its subsidy program for electric vehicles. The program had given drivers…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/23/1104247/ending-ev-subsidies/

The Download: training robots for unfamiliar environments, and ...

2024-09-20T12:45:11Z

The Download: training robots for unfamiliar environments, and all-new bird flu

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. AI models let robots carry out tasks in unfamiliar environments What’s new: It’s tricky to get robots to do things in environments they’ve never seen before. Typically, researchers need to train them on…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/20/1104236/the-download-training-robots-for-unfamiliar-environments-and-all-new-bird-flu/

AI models let robots carry out tasks in unfamiliar environments ...

2024-09-20T10:45:11Z

AI models let robots carry out tasks in unfamiliar environments

It’s tricky to get robots to do things in environments they’ve never seen before. Typically, researchers need to train them on new data for every new place they encounter, which can become very time-consuming and expensive. Now, researchers have developed a series of AI models that teach robots to complete basic tasks in new surroundings…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/20/1104233/ai-models-let-robots-carry-out-tasks-in-unfamiliar-environments/

Flu season is coming—and so is the risk of an all-new bird flu ...

2024-09-20T09:15:11Z

Flu season is coming—and so is the risk of an all-new bird flu

This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here. September will soon be drawing to a close. The kids are back to school, and those of us in the Northern Hemisphere are experiencing the joys the end…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/20/1104194/flu-season-risk-of-all-new-bird-flu/

The Download: bird flu concerns, and tracking AI’s impact on ...

2024-09-19T12:45:12Z

The Download: bird flu concerns, and tracking AI’s impact on elections

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Why virologists are getting increasingly nervous about bird flu Bird flu has been spreading in dairy cows in the US—and the scale is likely to be far worse than it looks. In addition,…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/19/1104187/the-download-bird-flu-concerns-and-tracking-ais-impact-on-elections/

How AI can help spot wildfires This article is from The Spark, ...

2024-09-19T10:45:11Z

How AI can help spot wildfires

This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. In February 2024, a broken utility pole brought down power lines near the small town of Stinnett, Texas. In the following weeks, the fire reportedly sparked by that equipment grew to burn…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/19/1104174/how-ai-can-help-spot-wildfires/

Why virologists are getting increasingly nervous about bird flu ...

2024-09-19T09:00:17Z

Why virologists are getting increasingly nervous about bird flu

Bird flu has been spreading in dairy cows in the US—and the scale of the spread is likely to be far worse than it looks. In addition, 14 human cases have been reported in the US since March. Both are worrying developments, say virologists, who fear that the country’s meager response to the virus is…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/19/1104183/virologists-increasingly-nervous-bird-flu/

AI-generated content doesn’t seem to have swayed recent ...

2024-09-18T23:30:14Z

AI-generated content doesn’t seem to have swayed recent European elections

AI-generated falsehoods and deepfakes seem to have had no effect on election results in the UK, France, and the European Parliament this year, according to new research. Since the beginning of the generative-AI boom, there has been widespread fear that AI tools could boost bad actors’ ability to spread fake content with the potential to…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/18/1104178/ai-generated-content-doesnt-seem-to-have-swayed-recent-european-elections/

The Download: Congress’s AI bills, and Snap’s new AR ...

2024-09-18T12:30:15Z

The Download: Congress’s AI bills, and Snap’s new AR spectacles

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. There are more than 120 AI bills in Congress right now More than 120 bills related to regulating artificial intelligence are currently floating around the US Congress. This flood of bills is indicative…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/18/1104135/the-download-congresss-ai-bills-and-snaps-new-ar-spectacles/

There are more than 120 AI bills in Congress right now More than ...

2024-09-18T10:00:18Z

There are more than 120 AI bills in Congress right now

More than 120 bills related to regulating artificial intelligence are currently floating around the US Congress. They’re pretty varied. One aims to improve knowledge of AI in public schools, while another is pushing for model developers to disclose what copyrighted material they use in their training. Three deal with mitigating AI robocalls, while two address…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/18/1104015/here-are-all-the-ai-bills-in-congress-right-now/

Here’s what I made of Snap’s new augmented reality Spectacles ...

2024-09-17T18:15:12Z

Here’s what I made of Snap’s new augmented reality Spectacles

Before I get to Snap’s new Spectacles, a confession: I have a long history of putting goofy new things on my face and liking it. Back in 2011, I tried on Sony’s head-mounted 3-d glasses and, apparently, enjoyed them. Sort of. At the beginning of 2013, I was enamored with a Kickstarter project I saw…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/17/1104025/snap-spectacles-ar-glasses/

The Download: OpenAI’s latest model, and 4D printing’s ...

2024-09-17T12:45:12Z

The Download: OpenAI’s latest model, and 4D printing’s potential

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Why OpenAI’s new model is such a big deal Last week OpenAI released a new model called o1 (previously referred to under the code name “Strawberry” and, before that, Q*) that blows GPT-4o…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/17/1104008/the-download-openais-latest-model-and-4d-printings-potential/

Why OpenAI’s new model is such a big deal This story is from ...

2024-09-17T09:15:12Z

Why OpenAI’s new model is such a big deal

This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get it in your inbox first, sign up here. Welcome back to The Algorithm! This week we’re going to talk about OpenAI’s impressive new reasoning model, called o1. I want to illustrate why it’s such a big deal with an example from my wedding…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/17/1104004/why-openais-new-model-is-such-a-big-deal/

Google is funding an AI-powered satellite constellation that will ...

2024-09-16T13:30:15Z

Google is funding an AI-powered satellite constellation that will spot wildfires faster

Early next year, Google and its partners plan to launch the first in a series of satellites that together would provide close-up, frequently refreshed images of wildfires around the world, offering data that could help firefighters battle blazes more rapidly, effectively, and safely. The online search giant’s nonprofit and research arms have collaborated with the…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/16/1103962/google-is-funding-an-ai-powered-satellite-constellation-that-will-spot-wildfires-faster/

The Download: an AI safety hotline, and tech for farmers ...

2024-09-16T12:30:14Z

The Download: an AI safety hotline, and tech for farmers

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Why we need an AI safety hotline —Kevin Frazier is an assistant professor at St. Thomas University College of Law and senior research fellow in the Constitutional Studies Program at the University of…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/16/1103975/the-download-an-ai-safety-hotline-and-tech-for-farmers/

Why we need an AI safety hotline In the past couple of years, ...

2024-09-16T09:30:15Z

Why we need an AI safety hotline

In the past couple of years, regulators have been caught off guard again and again as tech companies compete to launch ever more advanced AI models. It’s only a matter of time before labs release another round of models that pose new regulatory challenges. We’re likely just weeks away, for example, from OpenAI’s release of…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/16/1103959/why-we-need-an-ai-safety-hotline/

The Download: conspiracy-debunking chatbots, and fact-checking AI ...

2024-09-13T12:45:08Z

The Download: conspiracy-debunking chatbots, and fact-checking AI

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Chatbots can persuade people to stop believing in conspiracy theories The internet has made it easier than ever before to encounter and spread conspiracy theories. And while some are harmless, others can be…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/13/1103952/the-download-conspiracy-debunking-chatbots-and-fact-checking-ai/

Neuroscientists and architects are using this enormous laboratory ...

2024-09-13T09:45:09Z

Neuroscientists and architects are using this enormous laboratory to make buildings better

Have you ever found yourself lost in a building that felt impossible to navigate? Thoughtful building design should center on the people who will be using those buildings. But that’s no mean feat. It’s not just about navigation, either. Just think of an office that left you feeling sleepy or unproductive, or perhaps a health…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/13/1103935/neuroscientists-architects-enormous-laboratory-make-buildings-better/

Chatbots can persuade people to stop believing in conspiracy ...

2024-09-12T18:30:11Z

Chatbots can persuade people to stop believing in conspiracy theories

The internet has made it easier than ever before to encounter and spread conspiracy theories. And while some are harmless, others can be deeply damaging, sowing discord and even leading to unnecessary deaths. Now, researchers believe they’ve uncovered a new tool for combating false conspiracy theories: AI chatbots. Researchers from MIT Sloan and Cornell University…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/12/1103930/chatbots-can-persuade-people-to-stop-believing-in-conspiracy-theories/

Google’s new tool lets large language models fact-check their ...

2024-09-12T13:30:12Z

Google’s new tool lets large language models fact-check their responses

As long as chatbots have been around, they have made things up. Such “hallucinations” are an inherent part of how AI models work. However, they’re a big problem for companies betting big on AI, like Google, because they make the responses it generates unreliable. Google is releasing a tool today to address the issue. Called…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/12/1103926/googles-new-tool-lets-large-language-models-fact-check-their-responses/

The Download: Ukraine’s drone defenses, and today’s climate ...

2024-09-12T12:30:11Z

The Download: Ukraine’s drone defenses, and today’s climate heroes

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Meet the radio-obsessed civilian shaping Ukraine’s drone defense Drones have come to define the brutal conflict in Ukraine that has now dragged on for more than two and a half years. And most…

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/12/1103921/the-download-ukraines-drone-defenses-and-todays-climate-heroes/