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Fortune

Researchers at MIT have developed “Future You,” a generative AI chatbot that enables users to speak with potential older versions of themselves, reports Sharon Goldman for Fortune. The tool “uses a large language model and information provided by the user to help young people ‘improve their sense of future self-continuity, a psychological concept that describes how connected a person feels with their future self,’” writes Goldman. “The researchers explained that the tool cautions users that its results are only one potential version of their future self, and they can still change their lives,” writes Goldman. 

ABC News

David Zipper, a senior fellow at the MIT Mobility Initiative, speaks with ABC News reporter Michael Dobuski about the rising popularity of small “micromobility” vehicles. “In the last fifteen years or so, you’ve seen a lot of cities in the US, and frankly in other parts of the world too, invest a lot of money and resources in creating safe spaces for people who want to use a scooter, or a bicycle, or any of these other versions of micromobility that we’re talking about,” explains Zipper. 

Nature

Prof. Jacopo Buongiorno speaks with Nature reporter Michael Greshko about the reopening of Three Mile Island, a former Pennsylvania nuclear power plant that will now be used to generate power for artificial intelligence. “It’s further confirmation of the value of nuclear, and, if the deal is right — if the price is right — then it makes business sense, as well,” says Buongiorno. 

Fast Company

Researchers at MIT have found that “60% of workers who work with robotics and AI think they’ll see positive career impacts as a result in terms of productivity, satisfaction, and job safety,” reports Sam Becker for Fast Company.

Nature

Writing for Nature, Prof. Ritu Raman explores how she drew upon her childhood experiences attending different schools across three continents to inform her teaching practices. “Although my pedagogy is still very much a work in progress, my current philosophy involves three main factors: pipettes (knowing when to put on some gloves and teach hands-on); practice (learning when to step aside and enable independent exploration); and patience (centering optimism in my view of students and science),” writes Raman. “With pipettes, practice and patience, I hope to embrace and enjoy the nonlinear nature of teaching and learning.”

WHDH 7

Prof. Regina Barzilay has received the WebMD Health Heros award for her work developing a new system that uses AI to detect breast cancer up to 5 years earlier, reports WHDH. “We do have a right to know our risk and then we, together with our healthcare providers, need to manage them,” says Barzilay. 

New Scientist

Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have found that “human memories can be distorted by photos and videos edited by artificial intelligence,” reports Matthew Sparkes for New Scientist. “I think the worst part here, that we need to be aware or concerned about, is when the user isn’t aware of it,” says postdoctoral fellow Samantha Chan. “We definitely have to be aware and work together with these companies, or have a way to mitigate these effects. Maybe have sort of a structure where users can still control and say ‘I want to remember this as it was’, or at least have a tag that says ‘this was a doctored photo, this was a changed photo, this was not a real one’.”

Forbes

Writing for Forbes, Senior Lecturer Guadalupe Hayes-Mota '08 MS '16, MBA '16 explores the challenges, opportunities and future of AI-driven drug development. “I see the opportunities for AI in drug development as vast and transformative,”  writes Hayes-Mota. “AI can help potentially uncover new drug candidates that would have been impossible to find through traditional methods.”

CNN

Yamilée Toussaint '08 has founded STEM From Dance – a dance program that combines STEM education and the performing arts as part of an effort to make STEM fields more accessible and engaging. The program currently works with girls of color in cities around the country. “I believe that the solution to some of the world’s most pressing problems relies on these girls being in the room because they have a different set of life experiences,” says Toussaint. “They’re creative, they’re intellectual, they’re curious, they’re artistic, and they’re going to bring a different set of ideas to the table, so we must make sure that they are included.”

Fast Company

Researchers at MIT have developed “AstroAnts,” autonomous, magnetic, robotic rovers roughly the size of a Hot Wheels toy car designed to monitor space vehicles and other hard-to-reach machinery, reports Jesus Diaz for Fast Company. “The idea is that, by constantly watching over the temperature and structural integrity of their cosmic rides, spaceships will be more resilient to the extreme conditions of space and astronauts will be safer,” explains Diaz.

Community Updates

Featured Multimedia

A team of researchers has created a system that enables users to have an online, text-based conversation with an AI-generated simulation of their potential future self. Dubbed Future You, the system is aimed at helping young people improve their sense of future self-continuity, a psychological concept that describes how connected a person feels with their future self.

"Face pareidolia" describes the perception of face-like structure among otherwise random stimuli. A team of CSAIL researchers study this from a computer vision perspective and examine the extent to which a state-of-the-art human face detector exhibits pareidolia, finding a significant behavioral gap between humans and machines.

In this episode of the podcast Curiosity Unbounded, MIT President Sally Kornbluth speaks with Associate Professor Benedetto Marelli about the advantages of using silk-based coatings in agriculture and water filtration, and why being bold and creative can lead to powerful discoveries.

MIT professor Peter Shor is mathematician known for his work on quantum computation and quantum information theory, in particular for devising Shor's algorithm, a quantum algorithm for factoring exponentially faster than the best currently-known algorithm running on a classical computer.

A team of MIT engineers are developing a new kind of reconfigurable masonry made from 3D-printed, recycled glass. Using a custom 3D glass printing technology the team has made strong, multilayered glass bricks, each in the shape of a figure eight, that are designed to interlock, much like LEGO bricks.

MIT alum, Gihan Amarasiriwardena co-founded the clothing brand Ministry of Supply which blends engineering principles with fashion to create high-performance clothing. His work highlights the intersection of design, technology, and sustainability in the field of performance apparel.

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