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Writing for The Boston Globe, President Emeritus L. Rafael Reif describes the need to develop a universal “moral floor,” like the Ten Commandments, which provide clear guidelines for the use of AI. “Today, people are creating and developing intelligence that is much more capable, in narrow ways, than our own,” Reif explains. “We owe humanity the same discipline to civilize AI before it is too late: Write down what lines must never be crossed, make the list short enough to remember, and hold every actor building it, and using it, accountable for its actions.”

MassLive’s “Most Influential Innovators” list, which celebrates inventors from across the Commonwealth, spotlights numerous MIT community members including President Sally Kornbluth; Prof. Russ Tedrake; Visiting Scientist Brandon Sorbom PhD ‘17, co-founder of Commonwealth Fusion Systems; Visiting Scholar Ariel Ekblaw PhD ‘20, CEO of Aurelia Institute; Maxim Lobovsky MS ‘11, CEO of Formlabs; Noubar Afeyan PhD ‘87, CEO of Flagship Pioneering; and Andy Ory, CEO of MIT spinout QuEra Computing. “Kornbluth has been working hard to defend the university, which has long been a major economic engine not just for Massachusetts, but for the country,” writes reporter Scott Kirsner. 

Postdoctoral Associate Rohan Naidu joins John Batchelor and David Livingston, hosts of the “Hotel Mars” podcast, to discuss his research discovering black hole stars from little red dots using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. “When we first discovered the little red dots, we assumed that red means dust, and so the idea was that the little red dots are the kind of black holes that we see in our backyard,” says Naidu. “But now we have this paradigm shift where we are realizing that red does not mean dust. Red could mean that you have this black hole star kind of object where all the blue light is being soaked up in this dense star-like cocoon.” 

Prof. David Autor speaks to Financial Times reporter Christian Davies about the increased use of physical AI systems at U.S. manufacturing companies. “[Autor says] that while individual companies might increase headcount as they grow more productive, it is a fallacy to assume this will be replicated across the manufacturing sector as a whole, noting that previous waves of automation in the US have all driven large-scale declines in blue-collar employment,” writes Davies.  

MassLive’s Juliet Schulman-Hall covers a new report from the MIT Ad Hoc Committee on AI Use in Teaching, Learning and Research Training about AI and education at MIT. “It’s rare that a successful institution has to take a fresh look at many aspects of its mission,” said President Sally Kornbluth in a letter to the community. “But I’m convinced that the opportunities and risks generative AI poses for our model of education and research now constitute such a watershed for MIT — and for all of higher education.” 

Prof. Paul Osterman speaks to Fortune’s Nick Lichtenberg about how his new book “Disposable Workers: The Transformation of Employment” explores how a perceived lack of ambition among Gen Z reflects the decreased amount of job security and opportunity available to young workers. “No one has job security anymore, but these folks [disposable workers] are hired with that expectation and are not going to be around for long,” says Osterman.

MassLive’s Joshua Macht explains how the MIT Museum is a “fitting” setting to host the honorees of MassLive’s “Most Influential Innovators” list, which includes President Sally Kornbluth and a number of other MIT faculty and alumni. “The museum welcomes all to participate in MIT’s unique culture of problem solving and playful creativity,” writes Macht. “It is also producing the inaugural MIT Future Fest, a new, annual festival exploring the future of science, technology, art and design.”  

WBUR’s Lloyd Schwartz highlights the forthcoming Radius Ensemble performance at MIT’s Thomas Tull Concert Hall on Oct. 17. “Oboist Jennifer Montbach is the founding impresario and leader of this superb group that specializes in contemporary music but always has the surprise of an older and only sometimes more familiar piece,” writes Schwartz.  

MIT researchers found that purchased AI tools succeed roughly twice as often as comparable in-house builds, Forbes’ Dennis Vorobyov highlights. “[S]o spend the engineering effort where you are genuinely differentiated,” writes Vorobyov. “Budget wise, none of this requires a moonshot, just clarity and sequencing.” 

Prof. Daniela Rus, Director of MIT CSAIL, and Prof. David Autor, department head of Economics, are featured on Time’s “TIME100 AI 2026” list of 100 innovators, leaders, and thinkers reshaping the world through their advances in AI. “Over three decades, [Rus] has conducted pioneering work in robotics, extending the understanding of what form robots can take,” writes Tharin Pillay, while Steven Freiss describes Autor as “one of the nation’s most vocal and prominent economists aiming to ascertain AI’s potential impacts on labor.”