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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…
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. …
The Download: protecting farmworkers from heat, and AI’s Nobel Prize image 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…
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.…
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…
Data strategies for AI leaders image 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…
The Download: growing Africa’s food, and deleting your 23andMe data image 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,…
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…
Africa fights rising hunger by looking to foods of the past image 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…
The Download: direct-air-capture plants, and measuring body fat image 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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
The Download: herbicide-resistant weeds, and an octopus-inspired adhesive image 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…
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…
The weeds are winning image 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…
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…
Preventing Climate Change: A Team Sport image 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…
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…