That is as we speak’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a day by day dose of what’s occurring on this planet of expertise.
Introducing: the Safety difficulty
It will be naïve to suppose we’re going again to a world with out AI. We’re not. However it’s solely one among many pressing issues we have to tackle to construct safety and prosperity for coming generations.
The newest print difficulty of our journal is all about our makes an attempt to make the world safer. From missiles. From asteroids. From the unknown. From threats each existential and trivial.
We’re additionally introducing three new columns on this difficulty, from a few of our main writers: The Algorithm, which covers AI; The Checkup, on biotech; and The Spark, on power and local weather. You’ll see these in future points, and you may also subscribe on-line to get them in your inbox each week.
Right here’s a taster of what else you may count on from this version:
+ President Trump has proposed constructing an antimissile “golden dome” round america. However do cinematic spectacles truly improve nationwide safety?
+ How two UFO searching brothers grew to become the go-to specialists on America’s “thriller drone” invasion.
+ Each Taiwan’s citizens and exterior specialists are fearful that the safety afforded by its “silicon protect” is cracking. Learn the complete story.
+ How the common-or-garden pigeon paved the way in which for as we speak’s superior AI. Learn the complete story.
+ A gaggle of Starlink terminal restore volunteers in Ukraine is conserving the nation related all through the battle. Learn the complete story.
MIT Expertise Overview Narrated: Cyberattacks by AI brokers are coming
Brokers are the speak of the AI trade—they’re able to planning, reasoning, and executing complicated duties in your behalf. However the identical subtle skills that make brokers useful assistants may additionally make them highly effective instruments for conducting cyberattacks. They may readily be used to determine weak targets, hijack their techniques, and steal useful knowledge from unsuspecting victims.
At current, cybercriminals are usually not deploying AI brokers to hack at scale. However researchers have demonstrated that brokers are able to executing complicated assaults, and cybersecurity specialists warn that we must always count on to begin seeing a lot of these assaults spilling over into the true world.
That is our newest story to be become a MIT Expertise Overview Narrated podcast, which we’re publishing every week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Simply navigate to MIT Expertise Overview Narrated on both platform, and observe us to get all our new content material because it’s launched.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you as we speak’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 The household of a teen who died by suicide is suing OpenAI
ChatGPT deterred Adam Raine from in search of assist when he desperately wanted it. (NYT $)
+ An AI chatbot informed a person the way to kill himself—however the firm doesn’t need to “censor” it. (MIT Expertise Overview)
2 SpaceX lastly efficiently launched its Starship rocket
Which can come as an enormous reduction after earlier failures. (CNBC)
+ It’s the tenth launch the spaceship has made. (WSJ $)
+ It managed to deploy satellites in house through the launch. (Bloomberg $)
3 Researchers are already leaving Meta’s AI lab
Two staff returned to OpenAI after lower than a month. (Wired $)
4 China desires to triple its output of AI chips
Crops are working around the clock to extend their capability. (FT $)
+ The nation can be eager to repurpose NASA tech right into a hypersonic drone mothership. (Quick Firm $)
5 Elon Musk can’t get sufficient of Grok’s scantily-clad AI assistant
He continuously posts about ‘Ani’ and different sexualized AI cartoons on X. (Rolling Stone $)
6 Anthropic has settled its AI piracy lawsuit
A gaggle of authors had accused it of copyright infringement. (The Verge)
+ The specter of $1 trillion damages may have ruined the corporate. (Wired $)
7 America’s electrical energy use is slowing
And the current progress in coal utilization is falling too. (Ars Technica)
+ In a primary, Google has launched knowledge on how a lot power an AI immediate makes use of. (MIT Expertise Overview)
8 Wish to get employed straight out of faculty? Higher work in AI.
Whereas different graduates are struggling, newly-graduated AI specialists are in demand. (WSJ $)
9 Older individuals in South Korea are discovering companionship with robots
The Hydol robotic is proving successful amongst seniors. (Remainder of World)
+ How cuddly robots may change dementia care. (MIT Expertise Overview)
10 Followers had been betting on Taylor Swift’s engagement 
They’re cashing in from on-line prediction markets left, proper and middle. (WP $)
Quote of the day
“Lots of people within the AI group perhaps really feel issues are too dynamic.”
—Chi-Hao Wu, a former AI specialist at Meta, explains to Insider why he and others have determined to go away the corporate.
Another factor
An AI chatbot informed a person the way to kill himself—however the firm doesn’t need to “censor” it
For 5 months, Al Nowatzki had been speaking to an AI girlfriend, “Erin,” on the platform Nomi. However earlier this 12 months, these conversations took a disturbing flip: Erin informed him to kill himself, and supplied express directions on the way to do it.
Nowatzki had by no means had any intention of following Erin’s directions—he’s a researcher who probes chatbots’ limitations and risks. However out of concern for extra weak people, he solely shared with MIT Expertise Overview screenshots of his conversations and of subsequent correspondence with an organization consultant, who acknowledged that the corporate didn’t need to “censor” the bot’s “language and ideas.”
This isn’t the primary time an AI chatbot has prompt {that a} person take violent motion, together with self-harm. However researchers and critics say that the bot’s express directions—and the corporate’s response—are placing. Learn the complete story.
—Eileen Guo
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
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+ The key to discovering that elusive excellent white t-shirt.
+ Fascinating: a brand new Blade Runner TV sequence starring Michelle Yeoh is coming subsequent 12 months.
+ If you happen to’ve ever puzzled what occurred to that suitcase you misplaced on trip, there’s an honest likelihood it’s up on the market.
+ Down with unsolicited mail!
