Media Lab

Writing for Financial Times, visiting scientist Ariel Ekblaw SM '17, PhD '20 makes the case that “we need to see space as an emerging market — one that requires strategic attention.” “As a factory floor, space offers a set of unique properties. Microgravity assists new assembling habitats that may enable breakthroughs. Pharmaceutical companies have studied protein crystallization on the International Space Station,” Ekblaw writes. “The infrastructure that we build in orbit can directly benefit Earth.” 

Interesting Engineering reporter Saoirse Kerrigan spotlights a number of MIT research projects from the past decade. MIT has “long been a hub of innovation and ingenuity across multiple industries and disciplines,” writes Kerrigan. “Every year, the school’s best and brightest debut projects that push the boundaries of science and technology. From vehicles and furniture to exciting new breakthroughs in electricity generation, the school’s projects have tackled an impressive variety of subjects.” 

MIT researchers have developed a bionic knee that “allows amputees to walk faster, climb stairs more easily, and adroitly avoid obstacles,” reports Dennis Thompson for HealthDay. “The new prothesis is directly integrated with the person’s muscle and bone tissue, enabling greater stability and providing more control over its movement,” Thompson explains. 

Researchers at MIT have developed a bionic knee that can “integrate with a patient’s bones and nervous system, allowing users to control the prosthesis with their mind,” reports Angela Mathew for The Boston Globe. “In conventional prosthesis, there’s an energy exchange, but there’s not much of an information exchange with the brain,” explains Prof. Hugh Herr. “Because the prosthesis is so intimately connected to the skeleton, if you just tap the toe in a really modest way, the person can feel it exquisitely.”  

Prof. Hugh Herr and his colleagues have developed a new prosthetic that could increase mobility for above-the-knee amputees. “We're witnessing the future of prosthetics unfold. The bionic knee developed by MIT doesn't just restore function, it redefines it,” writes Kurt Knutsson for Fox News. “By merging advanced robotics with the human nervous system, it offers amputees something priceless: the feeling that their body is whole again.” 

Forbes reporter Eric Wood spotlights various studies by MIT researchers exploring the impact of ChatGPT use on behavior and the brain. “As stated, the impact of AI assistants is likely dependent on the users, but since AI assistants are becoming normative, it’s time for counseling centers to assess for maladaptive uses of AI, while also promoting the possible benefits,” explains Wood.

In an Opinion piece for The New York Times, columnist David Brooks highlights a recent MIT study that explores the impact of ChatGPT use on brain function by asking subjects to write essays while using large language models, traditional search engines, or only their own brains. “The subjects who relied only on their own brains showed higher connectivity across a bunch of brain regions,” explains Brooks. “Search engine users experienced less brain connectivity and A.I. users least of all.”

A study by MIT researchers monitored and compared the brain activity of participants using large language models, traditional search engines, and only their brains to write an essay on a given topic, reports Hessie Jones for Forbes. The study “found that the brain-only group showed much more active brain waves compared to the search-only and LLM-only groups,” Jones explains. “In the latter two groups, participants relied on external sources for information. The search-only group still needed some topic understanding to look up information, and like using a calculator — you must understand its functions to get the right answer. In contrast, the LLM-only group simply had to remember the prompt used to generate the essay, with little to no actual cognitive processing involved.”  

Researchers at MIT have developed “a new imaging technique that could allow quality control robots in warehouses to peer into closed boxes,” reports Chris Young for Interesting Engineering. “Using this new technology, robots could peer into a cardboard shipping box and see that the handle of a mug is broken, for example,” explains Young. “This new method could revolutionize warehouse quality control and streamline the shipping and delivery process.”  

Researchers at MIT have found that ChatGPT users “showed minimal brain engagement and consistently fell short in neural linguistic, and behavioral aspects,” reports Kyle Wiggers for TechCrunch. “To conduct the test, the lab split 54 participants from the Boston area into three groups, each consisting of individuals ages 18 to 39,” explains Wiggers. “The participants were asked to write multiple SAT essays using tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the Google search engine, or without any tools.” 

The New Yorker reporter Kyle Chayka spotlights a study by MIT researchers examining the impact of AI chatbot use on the brain. “The results from the analysis showed a dramatic discrepancy: subjects who used ChatGPT demonstrated less brain activity than either of the other groups,” explains Chayka. 

Researchers from MIT have found that “extended use of LLMs for research and writing could have long-term behavioral effects, such as lower brain engagement and laziness,” reports Theo Burman for Newsweek. “The study found that the AI-assisted writers were engaging their deep memory processes far less than the control groups, and that their information recall skills were worse after producing work with ChatGPT,” explains Burman. 

MIT researchers have found that ChatGPT use can lead to a decline in cognitive engagement, reports Robert B. Tucker for Forbes. “Brain regions associated with attention, memory, and higher-ordered reasoning were noticeably less active” in study participants, Tucker explains.

Researchers at MIT have found that the use of ChatGPT can “reduce activity in brain regions associated with memory and learning,” reports Eve Upton-Clark for Fast Company. “ChatGPT users felt less ownership over their essays compared to the other groups,” writes Upton-Clark. “They also struggled to recall or quote from their own essays shortly after submitting them—showing how reliance on the LLM bypassed deep memory processes.” 

Researchers at MIT have found that “people who used ChatGPT to write a series of essays suffered a ‘cognitive cost’ compared to others who used only their brains or a traditional search engine,” reports Ross Cristantiello for Boston.com. “The researchers found that as users relied on ‘external support’ more and more, their brain connectivity gradually scaled down,” explains Cristantiello. “Subjects who began the tests using ChatGPT before being told to use only their brains showed ‘weaker neural connectivity’ and ‘under-engagement’ of certain networks in their brains.”