In the Media

For The Boston Globe, reporter Hope Reese spotlights Prof. Sherry Turkle’s latest book “Artificial Intimacy: Who We Become When We Talk to Machines,” which explores the impact of relationships between humans and AI chatbots. “Chatbots are programmed to keep us engaged; that’s why they soothe us and validate us and confirm our beliefs. But that’s not the sort of relationship we’re built for,” writes Reese. “We’re meant to encounter obstacles, friction, tension –– which leads us to learn more about ourselves and each other and to develop resilience.” 

In an opinion piece for The Boston Globe, Prof. Jonathan Gruber discusses Massachusetts’ Question 5, the proposed tax rebate rule that would mandate that taxes be returned to taxpayers each time the state’s revenues grow faster than wages and salaries. “Most economists believe a recession is coming but we can’t say when. The best way to plan is to have the savings to help us through, or to invest so that we are as strong as possible when it hits,” writes Gruber. “Question 5 chooses the third path — spending the money now, and letting the state suffer in the future.”  

Hamid Doosthosseini PhD ‘25, an MIT postdoc, speaks to Tech Brief’s Andrew Corselli about his team’s work engineering bacteria to act as transistors on “living circuit boards.” “Simply, each cell works somewhat like a traffic light at an intersection, it determines whether traffic (here a chemical signal) should continue or stop based on traffic in the intersecting road,” says Doosthosseini. “Printing a network of cells can therefore combine, compute, or direct signals.” 

MIT was listed as the No. 1 national university in U.S. News & World Report’s 2027 “Best Colleges Rankings,” “based upon the analysis of more than 1,700 colleges and universities nationwide across 17 key measures,” writes MassLive’s Claudia Dimuro. “These measures included ‘First-year retention rates,’ ‘Earnings by major,’ ‘Faculty salaries,’ and ‘Student-faculty ratio,’ notes Dimuro.  

MIT researchers have invented a digestible, bioresorbable battery that can deliver drugs directly to the GI tract, reports Smithsonian Magazine’s Sara Hashemi. Prof. Giovanni Traverso and his colleagues “made two versions of the battery of different sizes and voltages,” writes Hashemi. “Exposing them to an acidic liquid similar to gastric fluid revealed they would function normally in the stomach for about three days.” 

Prof. Asu Ozdaglar, head of MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and graduate student Julia Schneider ‘25 speak to Spectrum News about MIT’s new Artificial and Decision Making major. “Now is definitely the time to study more AI, not less,” says Schneider. “What we need is a bunch of people that are focused and excited and passionate about deeply understanding why these models do what they do.” She adds: “Ultimately I want to work on technology that ends up helping people.”  

MIT startup Fourth Power, founded by Prof. Asegun Henry, has developed a solar cell that generates its energy through built-in solar panels powered by hot graphite, writes Hiawatha Bray for The Boston Globe. “The Fourth Power system can be heated up using renewable energy, like wind or solar power, at times when these resources are cranking out surplus power,” writes Bray. “[T]he Fourth Power technology could become a preferred method of providing extra power to electrical grids during periods of peak demand.” 

In a video by The Wall Street Journal, alumnus Gabe Dalporto MS ‘95, CEO of Guitar Center, explains how the soft skills he developed from studying nuclear science at MIT helped him reframe Guitar Center “as a destination for higher-end equipment and more experienced players.” Dalporto shares: “I think it’s helpful, particularly in a passion category, to have someone who shares that passion, and understands empathetically what the customer is going through. When I see people playing, it gives me joy.” 

The original USS Enterprise from the opening credits of the “Star Trek” series is making its debut at the MIT Museum from Sept. 30 to March 28, reports Andrew Paul for Popular Science. In the restoration process, “we were very careful not to erase her [the USS enterprise] age or the signs of wear that are part of her story,” says Roddenberry, son of the show’s creator, Gene Roddenberry. “It was important that we preserve her authenticity, so that she can continue her journey and inspire people once again.”

In The Wall Street Journal’s “Economics Newsletter,” reporter Greg Ip highlights a study by Prof. David Autor that found that AI did not significantly improve the performance of the 133 patent lawyers who participated. “Among junior lawyers, the performance of some got better, others got worse, and on average they were the same. Among senior lawyers, the lowest performers improved, the best didn’t,” writes Ip. “The conclusion: Lawyers don’t acquire durable new skills with AI.” 

Jeffrey Riley, executive director of MIT RAISE’s “Day of AI” K-12 program, speaks to WBUR’s Suevon Lee about the importance of teaching school-aged children AI literacy skills. “Kids need to know about voice clones and deepfakes and plagiarism,” says Riley. “We need to teach kids so that they're healthy skeptics of this technology, that they mistrust and verify the information they're getting from it.”  

Prof. Eric Klopfer, co-chair of MIT’s Ad Hoc Committee on AI Use in Teaching, Learning, and Research Training, is spotlighted by The Washington Post’s Susan Svrluga. Klopfer “said in many cases students are turning in homework that is better. And their performance on exams is worse,” writes Svrluga. AI is “the illusion of learning,” says Klopfer.  

Prof. David Autor and his team of researchers found that junior patent attorneys who used AI for assistance showed no net improvement in their skills, reports Andy Mukherjee for Bloomberg. “When researchers subsequently tested everyone on an unassisted, offline task to gauge internalized judgment, the learning gains went entirely to senior lawyers,” writes Mukherjee. “Foundational expertise may be a prerequisite for extracting durable skill from AI-assisted practice,” the researchers noted.  

The Boston Globe’s Chloe Craft highlights MIT being ranked No. 1 in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2027 “Best Colleges Rankings.” “Take a look at the rankings of U.S. News & World Report’s 2027 lists of the nation’s best universities and liberal arts colleges, released Tuesday, and you’ll find lots of schools from New England near the top of the charts,” writes Craft. “MIT, ranked No. 1 for the first time ever.” 

MIT has been named the No. 1 national university in U.S. News & World Report’s 2027 “Best Colleges Rankings,” writes Chloe Craft for The Boston Globe. MIT is proud to be “part of a strong network of excellent colleges and universities across the nation, dedicated to educating students and pursuing curiosity-driven research. America’s economic strength, scientific leadership, and national security depend on world-class education and research institutions.”