We finally have a definition for open-source AI
Open-source AI is everywhere right now. The problem is, no one agrees on what it actually is. Now, we may finally have an answer. The Open Source Initiative (OSI), the self-appointed arbiters of what it means to be open source, has released a new definition, which it hopes will help lawmakers develop regulations to protect…
https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/22/1097224/we-finally-have-a-definition-for-open-source-ai/
Beyond gene-edited babies: the possible paths for tinkering with human evolution
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In 2016, I attended a large meeting of journalists in Washington, DC. The keynote speaker was Jennifer Doudna, who just a few years before had co-invented CRISPR, a revolutionary method of changing genes that was sweeping across biology labs because it was so easy to use. With its discovery, Doudna explained, humanity had achieved the…
https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/22/1096458/crispr-gene-editing-babies-evolution/
A new system lets robots sense human touch without artificial skin
Even the most capable robots aren’t great at sensing human touch; you typically need a computer science degree or at least a tablet to interact with them effectively. That may change, thanks to robots that can now sense and interpret touch without being covered in high-tech artificial skin. It’s a significant step toward robots that…
How we could turn plastic waste into food
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In 2019, an agency within the U.S. Department of Defense released a call for research projects to help the military deal with the copious amount of plastic waste generated when troops are sent to work in remote locations or disaster zones. The agency wanted a system that could convert food wrappers and water bottles, among…
https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/21/1097129/how-plastic-waste-into-food/
The Download: future materials shortages, and Google on trial
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. This rare earth metal shows us the future of our planet’s resources For nearly as long as we’ve extracted materials from our planet, we’ve been trying to predict how long they will be…
The Download: future materials shortages, and Google on trial
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. This rare earth metal shows us the future of our planet’s resources For nearly as long as we’ve extracted materials from our planet, we’ve been trying to predict how long they will be…
This rare earth metal shows us the future of our planet’s resources
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Leaving aside meteorites that strike Earth’s surface and spacecraft that get flung out of its orbit, the quantity of materials available on this planet isn’t really changing all that much. That simple fact of our finite resources becomes clearer and more daunting as the pace of technological change advances and our society requires an ever…
https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/21/1096469/neodymium-rare-earth-materials-supply-chain/
The Download: boosting prosperity with AI, and fighting for a better future
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 fine-tune AI for prosperity Predictions abound on how the growing list of generative AI models will transform the way we work and organize our lives, providing instant advice on everything from…
Fighting for a future beyond the climate crisis
When it comes to climate breakdown and the extinction crisis, the question I get most often is: How can we have hope? People ask me this in a range of contexts—in Q&A sessions, in emails, and on podcasts and radio shows, whether I’m doing outreach for my novels, like A Children’s Bible or Dinosaurs, or…
https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/20/1096053/climate-change-future-for-future/
How to fine-tune AI for prosperity
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When Chad Syverson loads the US Bureau of Labor Statistics website these days looking for the latest data on productivity, he does so with a sense of optimism that he hasn’t felt in ages. The numbers for the last year or so have been generally strong for various financial and business reasons, rebounding from the…
https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/20/1096733/how-to-fine-tune-ai-for-prosperity/
The rise of the data platform for hybrid cloud
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Whether pursuing digital transformation, exploring the potential of AI, or simply looking to simplify and optimize existing IT infrastructure, today’s organizations must do this in the context of increasingly complex multi-cloud environments. These complicated architectures are here to stay—2023 research by Enterprise Strategy Group, for example, found that 87% of organizations expect their applications to…
https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/19/1096575/the-rise-of-the-data-platform-for-hybrid-cloud/
The Download: preserving our digital lives, and X exits Brazil
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 race to save our online lives from a digital dark age There is a photo of my daughter that I love. She is sitting, smiling, in our old back garden, chubby hands…
The race to save our online lives from a digital dark age
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There is a photo of my daughter that I love. She is sitting, smiling, in our old back garden, chubby hands grabbing at the cool grass. It was taken in 2013, when she was almost one, on an aging Samsung digital camera. I originally stored it on a laptop before transferring it to a chunky…
The Download: what tomorrow holds for today’s babies, and replacing the brain
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 future holds for those born today Happy birthday, baby. You have been born into an era of intelligent machines. They have watched over you almost since your conception. They let your…
Escaping Spotify’s algorithm
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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 dark cabaret afternoon” and “synth space,” and streaming has become the default. Radio DJs have been replaced by artificial intelligence, and the ritual of discovering something new is neatly…
https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/16/1096276/spotify-algorithms-music-discovery-ux/
What’s next for drones
MIT Technology Review’s What’s Next series looks across industries, trends, and technologies to give you a first look at the future. You can read the rest of them here. Drones have been a mainstay technology among militaries, hobbyists, and first responders alike for more than a decade, and in that time the range available has skyrocketed.…
https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/16/1096517/whats-next-for-drones/
This researcher wants to replace your brain, little by little
A US agency pursuing moonshot health breakthroughs has hired a researcher advocating an extremely radical plan for defeating death. His idea? Replace your body parts. All of them. Even your brain. Jean Hébert, a new hire with the US Advanced Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), is expected to lead a major new initiative around “functional…
https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/16/1096808/arpa-h-jean-hebert-wants-to-replace-your-brain/
Aging hits us in our 40s and 60s. But well-being doesn’t have to fall off a cliff.
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 I came across research that suggests aging hits us in waves. You might feel like you’re on a slow, gradual decline, but, at the molecular level,…
https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/15/1096799/aging-hits-us-in-our-40s-and-60s/
The Download: facial recognition for migrant children, and Japan’s megaquake
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. DHS plans to collect biometric data from migrant children “down to the infant” The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to collect and analyze photos of the faces of migrant children at…
What Japan’s “megaquake” warning really tells us
MIT Technology Review Explains: Let our writers untangle the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what’s coming next. You can read more from the series here. On August 8, at 16:42 local time, a magnitude-7.1 earthquake shook southern Japan. The temblor, originating off the shores of mainland island of Kyūshū, was felt…
https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/15/1096682/what-japans-megaquake-warning-really-tells-us/