MIT Technology Review

The best (and least annoying) chatbots will be those that recognize their limitations and occasionally turn to humans for help.

A hero of the Egyptian revolution laments the limits of social media and hopes to improve online dialogue.

The latest data-driven campaign pitches target you based on your personality, not just your demographics. But does such profiling work?

The latest data-driven political pitches target you based on your ­personality, not just your demographics. But does such profiling work?

DARPA funded the development of a new computer chip that’s hardwired to make simple mistakes but can help computers understand the world.

A genetic technology that can kill off mosquito species could eradicate malaria. But is it too risky to ever use?

A portable assembly line for medicines offers a better way to respond to outbreaks and shortages.

A portable assembly line for medicines offers a better way to respond to outbreaks and shortages.

Images from inside an artificial neural network help explain why a technique called deep learning is enabling software to see.

How one nonprofit’s mailroom is making tinkering with genomes as easy as shopping at Amazon.

Phones that lock away everything they hold could inhibit law enforcement more than we really want.

Despite the allure of apps and social media, today’s digital technologies are doing little to generate the kind of prosperity that previous generations enjoyed, a prominent economist argues. But that doesn’t mean we should give up on innovation.

A simple gaming demo makes it clear that augmented reality is a lot more fun with others.

Beth Stevens thinks she has solved a mystery behind brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia.

Mastering Go is just the beginning for Google DeepMind, which hopes to create human-like AI.

Mastering Go is just the beginning for Google DeepMind, which hopes to create human-like artificial intelligence.

Despite legislative momentum behind projects like those being developed by Google, Amazon, and others, big technology challenges stand in the way of delivery drones.

Despite many advances, AI still works best when paired with humans.

China’s biggest Internet company, Baidu, is pushing an ambitious effort to add artificial intelligence to its products.

More industries are looking for ways to use artificial intelligence. What will that mean for the technology’s future?

Plans to use drones and balloons to provide wireless Internet will need considerable help from regulators overseeing airspace and communications satellites.

A new iPhone app uses machine learning to identify objects for people with poor eyesight, and it doesn’t need an Internet connection.

Canceled solar thermal projects are likely to mean the technology’s future is dim in the U.S., so companies are looking overseas.

Two radically different engine designs aim to make flying cleaner and quieter. Which one will win?

A flexible tattoo senses glucose levels in sweat and delivers a drug as needed.

But some researchers think it’s irresponsible to market them to consumers.

The world’s largest industrial robot maker, Fanuc, is developing robots that use reinforcement learning to figure out how to do things.

Throughout history, communications have mainly been ephemeral. We need to be sure we can preserve that freedom.

The first games for Oculus Rift are pretty sweet, though some can cause motion sickness.

Quanttus spent several years trying to track blood pressure at the wrist, but doing so appears to be even more difficult than the company thought.

Quanttus spent several years trying to track blood pressure at the wrist, but doing so appears to be even more difficult than the company thought.

8i is trying to bring real people into virtual reality for more immersive experiences, from films to yoga classes.

The FBI’s demands on Apple have got security experts thinking about how to make it harder for the government to secretly coerce software companies.

A company is developing apartment buildings with sensors, automated appliances, and the ability to learn an owner’s habits.

The Bank of England asked researchers to invent a digital currency with a more centralized design.

U.K.-based startup Babylon will launch an app later this year that will listen to your symptoms and provide medical advice. Will it help or hinder the health-care system?

New homework assignments at 7 p.m., corrections due by midnight: how teachers, parents, and students in some schools in China are using WeChat to perpetuate round-the-clock pressure.

Startup Skydio has developed a more sophisticated autopilot for drones. Beyond obstacle avoidance, it lets an aircraft orient itself and navigate through busy areas.

Either you let law enforcement get into encrypted devices and run the risk of letting others find a similar way in, or you don’t.

A law professor who backs Apple in its case against the FBI says it would be dangerous for the company to win on First Amendment grounds.

Schott can make a sheet of glass thinner than your hair and half a kilometer long that bends, but doesn’t yet fold.

Some Latin American cities could soon begin releasing millions of mosquitoes developed with funding from Bill Gates.

CRISPR offers an easy, exact way to alter genes to create traits such as disease resistance and drought tolerance.

A new book reopens a notorious case of bungled science in the Soviet Union.

Genetically engineered immune cells are saving the lives of cancer patients. That may be just the start.

An online store for information about your genes will make it cheap and easy to learn more about your health risks and predispositions.

Powerful speech technology from China’s leading Internet company makes it much easier to use a smartphone.

An online store for information about your genes will make it cheap and easy to learn more about your health risks and predispositions.

Politicians are trying to recruit technology companies to help fight ISIS. Does it make sense?

Politicians are trying to recruit technology companies to help fight ISIS. Does it make sense?