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…
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…
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 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,…
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
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 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…
The Download: Congress’s AI bills, and Snap’s new AR spectacles
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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…
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
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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 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…
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 spot wildfires faster
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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…
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…
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
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…