 |
by Niall Firth on (#6NRPY)
This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first,sign up here. It feels weird, talking to yourself online. Especially when you're pretty much the most unpleasant character you've ever met. The me" I've been chatting to this week, called King Fiall of Nirth,...
|
MIT Technology Review
| Link | https://www.technologyreview.com/ |
| Feed | https://www.technologyreview.com/stories.rss |
| Updated | 2025-07-27 06:17 |
 |
by MIT Technology Review on (#6NR4S)
Recorded on June 24, 2024 The Future of AI Games Speakers: Niall Firth, executive editor, and Allison Arieff, editorial director Generative AI is coming for games and redefining what it means to play. AI-powered NPCs that don't need a script could make games-and other worlds-deeply immersive. This technology could bring an unprecedented expansiveness to video...
|
 |
by Charlotte Jee on (#6NQZW)
This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. Synthesia's hyperrealistic deepfakes will soon have full bodies Startup Synthesia's AI-generated avatars are getting an update to make them even more realistic: They will soon have bodies that can move, and hands that...
|
 |
by John Wiegand on (#6NQV5)
Humanity has long sought to tame wood into something more predictable. Sawmills manufacture lumber from trees selected for consistency. Wood is then sawed into standard sizes and dried in kilns to prevent twisting, cupping, or cracking. Generations of craftsmen have employed sophisticated techniques like dovetail joinery, breadboard ends, and pocket flooring to keep wood from...
|
|
by Melissa Heikkilä on (#6NQQZ)
Startup Synthesia's AI-generated avatars are getting an update to make them even more realistic: They will soon have bodies that can move, and hands that gesticulate. The new full-body avatars will be able to do things like sing and brandish a microphone while dancing, or move from behind a desk and walk across a room....
|
 |
by Rhiannon Williams on (#6NP83)
This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. Is this the end of animal testing? Animal studies are notoriously bad at identifying human treatments. Around 95% of the drugs developed through animal research fail in people, but until recently there was...
|
 |
by Jessica Hamzelou on (#6NP47)
This article first appeared in The Checkup,MIT Technology Review'sweekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first,sign up here. Earlier this week, the US surgeon general, also known as the nation's doctor," authored an article making the case that health warnings should accompany social media. The goal:...
|
|
by Harriet Brown on (#6NP48)
In a clean room in his lab, Sean Moore peers through a microscope at a bit of intestine, its dark squiggles and rounded structures standing out against a light gray background. This sample is not part of an actual intestine; rather, it's human intestinal cells on a tiny plastic rectangle, one of 24 so-called organs...
|
 |
by James O'Donnell on (#6NNR3)
A potential future conflict between Taiwan and China would be shaped by novel methods of drone warfare involving advanced underwater drones and increased levels of autonomy, according to a new war-gaming experiment by the think tank Center for a New American Security (CNAS). The report comes as concerns about Beijing's aggression toward Taiwan have been...
|
 |
by Rhiannon Williams on (#6NNCQ)
This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. How generative AI could reinvent what it means to play To make them feel alive, open-world games like Red Dead Redemption 2 are inhabited by vast crowds of computer-controlled characters. These animated people-called...
|
|
by Niall Firth on (#6NN8E)
First, a confession. I only got into playing video games a little over a year ago (I know, I know). A Christmas gift of an Xbox Series S for the kids" dragged me-pretty easily, it turns out-into the world of late-night gaming sessions. I was immediately attracted to open-world games, in which you're free to...
|
 |
by Rhiannon Williams on (#6NMN5)
This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. I tested out a buzzy new text-to-video AI model from China You may not be familiar with Kuaishou, but this Chinese company just hit a major milestone: It's released the first ever text-to-video...
|
 |
by Vanessa Armstrong on (#6NMGF)
Pneumatic tubes were touted as something that would revolutionize the world. In science fiction, they were envisioned as a fundamental part of the future-even in dystopias like George Orwell's 1984, where the main character, Winston Smith, sits in a room peppered with pneumatic tubes that spit out orders for him to alter previously published news...
|
|
by Zeyi Yang on (#6NMGE)
This story first appeared in China Report, MIT Technology Review's newsletter about technology in China. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Tuesday. You may not be familiar with Kuaishou, but this Chinese company just hit a major milestone: It's released the first text-to-video generative AI model that's freely available for the public...
|
 |
by Melissa Heikkilä on (#6NKYZ)
Meta has created a system that can embed hidden signals, known as watermarks, in AI-generated audio clips, which could help in detecting AI-generated content online. The tool, called AudioSeal, is the first that can pinpoint which bits of audio in, for example, a full hourlong podcast might have been generated by AI. It could help...
|
by MIT Technology Review Insights on (#6NKVV)
Unlike conventional energy sources, green hydrogen offers a way to store and transfer energy without emitting harmful pollutants, positioning it as essential to a sustainable and net-zero future. By converting electrical power from renewable sources into green hydrogen, these low-carbon-intensity energy storage systems can release clean, efficient power on demand through combustion engines or fuel...
 |
by Rhiannon Williams on (#6NKRN)
This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. Why does AI hallucinate? The World Health Organization's new chatbot launched on April 2 with the best of intentions. The virtual avatar named SARAH, was designed to dispense health tips about how to...
|
 |
by Melissa Heikkilä on (#6NKP6)
This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here. Knock, knock. Who's there? An AI with generic jokes. Researchers from Google DeepMind asked 20 professional comedians to use popular AI language models to write jokes and comedy performances. Their results...
|
|
by Will Douglas Heaven on (#6NKJ7)
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. The World Health Organization's new chatbot launched on April 2 with the best of intentions. A fresh-faced virtual avatar backed by GPT-3.5, SARAH (Smart AI Resource Assistant...
|
 |
by Rhiannon Williams on (#6NJXQ)
This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. The cost of building the perfect wave For nearly as long as surfing has existed, surfers have been obsessed with the search for the perfect wave. While this hunt has taken surfers from...
|
|
by Eileen Guo on (#6NJSN)
For nearly as long as surfing has existed, surfers have been obsessed with the search for the perfect wave. It's not just aquestion of size, but also of shape, surface conditions, and duration-ideally in a beautiful natural environment. While this hunt has taken surfers from tropical coastlines reachable only by boat to swells breaking off...
|
 |
by Rhiannon Williams on (#6NJSP)
AI is good at lots of things: spotting patterns in data, creating fantastical images, and condensing thousands of words into just a few paragraphs. But can it be a useful tool for writing comedy? New research suggests that it can, but only to a very limited extent. It's an intriguing finding that hints at the...
|
 |
by Rhiannon Williams on (#6NH8H)
This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. Biotech companies are trying to make milk without cows The outbreak of avian influenza on US dairy farms has started to make milk seem a lot less wholesome. Milk that's raw, or unpasteurized,...
|
 |
by Casey Crownhart on (#6NH4X)
It's game night, and I'm crossing my fingers, hoping for a hurricane. I roll the die and it clatters across the board, tumbling to a stop to reveal a tiny icon of a tree stump. Bad news: I just triggered deforestation in the Amazon. That seals it. I failed to stop climate change-at least this...
|
|
by Antonio Regalado on (#6NH4W)
This article first appeared in The Checkup,MIT Technology Review'sweekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first,sign up here. The outbreak of avian influenza on US dairy farms has started to make milk seem a lot less wholesome. Milk that's raw, or unpasteurized, can actually infect mice...
|
 |
by James Temple on (#6NH4V)
A London-based nonprofit is poised to become one of the world's largest financial backers of solar geoengineering research. And it's just one of a growing number of foundations eager to support scientists exploring whether the world could ease climate change by reflecting away more sunlight. Quadrature Climate Foundation, established in 2019 and funded through the...
|
 |
by Melissa Heikkilä on (#6NH4Y)
MIT Technology Review's How To series helps you get things done. If you post or interact with chatbots on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, or WhatsApp, Meta can use your data to train its generative AI models beginning June 26, according to its recently updated privacy policy. Even if you don't use any of Meta's platforms, it...
|
 |
by Rhiannon Williams on (#6NGDS)
This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. How gamification took over the world It's a thought that occurs to every video-game player at some point: What if the weird, hyper-focused state I enter when playing in virtual worlds could somehow...
|
 |
by Casey Crownhart on (#6NG96)
This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review's weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. There's often one overlooked member in a duo. Peanut butter outshines jelly in a PB&J every time (at least in my eyes). For carbon capture and storage technology, the storage part tends...
|
|
by Bryan Gardiner on (#6NG97)
It's a thought that occurs to every video-game player at some point: What if the weird, hyper-focused state I enter when playing in virtual worlds could somehow be applied to the real one? Often pondered during especially challenging or tedious tasks in meatspace (writing essays, say, or doing your taxes), it's an eminently reasonable question...
|
 |
by Rhiannon Williams on (#6NFHT)
This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. Apple is promising personalized AI in a private cloud. Here's how that will work. At its Worldwide Developer Conference on Monday, Apple for the first time unveiled its vision for supercharging its product...
|
 |
by Zeyi Yang on (#6NFF4)
This story first appeared in China Report,MIT Technology Review's newsletter about technology in China.Sign upto receive it in your inbox every Tuesday. If you've ever been to Taiwan, you've likely run into Gogoro's green-and-white battery-swap stations in one city or another. With 12,500 stations around the island, Gogoro has built a sweeping network that allows...
|
 |
by James Temple on (#6NFD3)
Pump jacks and pipelines clutter the Elk Hills oil field of California, a scrubby stretch of land in the southern Central Valley that rests above one of the nation's richest deposits of fossil fuels. Oil production has been steadily declining in the state for decades, as tech jobs have boomed and legislators have enacted rigorous...
|
|
by James O'Donnell on (#6NF36)
At its Worldwide Developer Conference on Monday, Apple for the first time unveiled its vision for supercharging its product lineup with artificial intelligence. The key feature, which will run across virtually all of its product line, is Apple Intelligence, a suite of AI-based capabilities that promises to deliver personalized AI services while keeping sensitive data...
|
 |
by Rhiannon Williams on (#6NEN9)
This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. How battery-swap networks are preventing emergency blackouts On the morning of April 3, Taiwan was hit by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake. Seconds later, hundreds of battery-swap stations in Taiwan sensed something else: the...
|
 |
by Melissa Heikkilä on (#6NEGZ)
This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here. Every year, some 22,000 Americans a year are killed as a result of serious medical errors in hospitals, many of them on operating tables. There have been cases where surgeons have...
|
|
by Zeyi Yang on (#6NEH0)
On the morning of April 3, Taiwan was hit by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake. Seconds later, hundreds of battery-swap stations in Taiwan sensed something else: the power frequency of the electric grid took a sudden drop, a signal that some power plants had been disconnected in the disaster. The grid was now struggling to meet...
|
 |
by MIT Technology Review Insights on (#6NDV8)
The rise of generative AI, coupled with the rapid adoption and democratization of AI across industries this decade, has emphasized the singular importance of data. Managing data effectively has become critical to this era of business-making data practitioners, including data engineers, analytics engineers, and ML engineers, key figures in the data and AI revolution. Organizations...
|
 |
by Rhiannon Williams on (#6NDRH)
This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. Propagandists are using AI too-and companies need to be open about it -Josh A. Goldstein is a research fellow at Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), where he works on...
|
 |
by Sarah Scoles on (#6NDM9)
In January 2022, NASA's $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope was approaching the end of its one-million-mile trip from Earth. But reaching its orbital spot would be just one part of its treacherous journey. To ready itself for observations, the spacecraft had to unfold itself in a complicated choreography that, according to its engineers' calculations,...
|
|
by Josh A. Goldstein, Renée DiResta on (#6NCM1)
At the end of May, OpenAI marked a new first" in its corporate history. It wasn't an even more powerful language model or a new data partnership, but a report disclosing that bad actors had misused their products to run influence operations. The company had caught five networks of covert propagandists-including players from Russia, China,...
|
 |
by Rhiannon Williams on (#6NBZC)
This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. This AI-powered black box" could make surgery safer The operating room has long been defined by its hush-hush nature because surgeons are notoriously bad at acknowledging their own mistakes. These mistakes kill some...
|
|
by Simar Bajaj on (#6NBVN)
The first time Teodor Grantcharov sat down to watch himself perform surgery, he wanted to throw the VHS tape out the window. My perception was that my performance was spectacular," Grantcharov says, and then pauses-until the moment I saw the video." Reflecting on this operation from 25 years ago, he remembers the roughness of...
|
 |
by Cassandra Willyard on (#6NBCR)
On Tuesday, the FDA asked a panel of experts to weigh in on whether the evidence shows that MDMA, also known as ecstasy, is a safe and efficacious treatment for PTSD. The answer was a resounding no. Just two out of 11 panel members agreed that MDMA-assisted therapy is effective. And only one panel member...
|
 |
by Rhiannon Williams on (#6NB2V)
This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. This classic game is taking on climate change -Casey Crownhart There are two things I love to do at social gatherings: play board games and talk about climate change. Don't I sound like...
|
|
by Casey Crownhart on (#6NAYT)
This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review's weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. There are two things I love to do at social gatherings: play board games and talk about climate change. Don't I sound like someone you should invite to your next dinner party?...
|
 |
by Rhiannon Williams on (#6NA8C)
This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. How a simple circuit could offer an alternative to energy-intensive GPUs On a table in his lab at the University of Pennsylvania, physicist Sam Dillavou has connected an array of breadboards via a...
|
 |
by Zeyi Yang on (#6NA36)
This story first appeared in China Report, MIT Technology Review's newsletter about technology in China.Sign upto receive it in your inbox every Tuesday. Have you ever thought about the miraculous fact that despite the myriad differences between languages, virtually everyone uses the same QWERTY keyboards? Many languages have more or fewer than 26 letters in...
|
|
by Sophia Chen on (#6NA18)
On a table in his lab at the University of Pennsylvania, physicist Sam Dillavou has connected an array of breadboards via a web of brightly colored wires. The setup looks like a DIY home electronics project-and not a particularly elegant one. But this unassuming assembly, which contains 32 variable resistors, can learn to sort data...
|
 |
by Rhiannon Williams on (#6N993)
This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. What I learned from the UN's AI for Good" summit -Melissa Heikkila Last week, Geneva played host to the UN's AI for Good Summit. The summit's big focus was how AI can be...
|