Prof. Daniela Rus, director of CSAIL, speaks with CBS News reporter Tony Dokoupil about her work developing AI-powered robots. “AI and robots are tools,” says Rus. “They are tools created by the people, for the people. And like any other tools they’re not inherently good or bad; they are what we choose to do with them. And I believe we can choose to do extraordinary things.”
Principal Research Scientist Andrew McAfee speaks with New York Times reporter Steve Lohr about why companies are not yet seeing the economic payoff of AI implementation in the workforce. “It’s not surprising that early A.I. efforts are falling short,” said McAfee. “Innovation is a process of failing fairly regularly.”
Prof. Philip Isola speaks with Fast Company reporter Victor Dey about the impact and use of agentic AI. “In some domains we truly have automatic verification that we can trust, like theorem proving in formal systems. In other domains, human judgment is still crucial,” says Isola. “If we use an AI as the critic for self-improvement, and if the AI is wrong, the system could go off the rails.”
Principal Research Scientist Andrew McAfee speaks with CNBC reporter Robert Frank about the artificial intelligence boom. “It’s astonishing how geographically concentrated this AI wave is,” says McAfee. “The people who know how to found and fund and grow tech companies are there.”
Bloomberg reporter F. D. Flam spotlights postdoctoral associate Pat Pataranutaporn and his research exploring how AI technologies and chatbots can impact human memories. “This latest research should spur more discussion of the effects of technology on our grasp of reality, which can go beyond merely spreading misinformation,” writes Flam. “Social media algorithms also encourage people to embrace fringe ideas and conspiracy theories by creating the false impression of popularity and influence.”
Prof. Regina Barzilay speaks with Newsweek reporter Alexis Kayser about how new AI tools are implemented in health care settings. “You need to know how to safely bring it into the [health care] system," says Barzilay. "There is a new science, which is the science of implementation."
Vijay Gadepally, senior staff member at MIT Lincoln Lab, speaks with New York Times reporter Claire Brown about the impact of AI data centers on the electrical grid. “There’s a lot of things we can do to be better stewards of the power we currently have,” says Gadepally.
A working paper by MIT researchers has found “that the most successful generative AI deployments consistently involve frontline workers from the earliest stages through rollout,” reports Sharon Wu for USA Today. The researchers “demonstrate that when employees help define the problem, co-design workflows, experiment with tools, and shape fair transition policies, not only does adoption improve, but worker productivity and job quality also rise.”
Researchers at MIT have developed a new tool, called Meschers, that allows users to create detailed computer representations of mathematically impossible objects, reports Gayoung Lee for Gizmodo. “In addition to creating aesthetically quirky objects,” Lee explains, “Meschers could eventually assist in research across geometry, thermodynamics, and even art and architecture."
Writing for Physics Today, Prof. Camilla Cattania and her colleagues highlight the impact of big data and AI advancements in improving the reliability of earthquake forecasting and prediction. “Advances in technology and data analysis, particularly the incorporation of AI techniques, are driving the development of more-sophisticated forecasting models,” they write. “Advances in sensor technology and the expansion of dense seismic networks are providing new insight into the dynamics of Earth’s crust. That wealth of data enables the creation of more detailed and nuanced forecasting models that better capture the complexities of earthquake processes.”
A study by researchers at MIT has found that “pedestrians are walking 15 percent faster and stopping to linger 14 percent less than they used to,” reports Rima Sabina Aouf for Dezeen. “Using computer vision and artificial intelligence to analyze videos of four public spaces across three American cities, the study found that walking speeds rose notably between 1980 and 2010, while instances of people lingering or interacting with others fell,” writes Aouf.
Researchers at MIT have found that “pedestrians in three major northeastern U.S. cities – Boston, New York and Philadelphia —are moving 15 percent faster than they did in 1980,” reports Lucy Notarantonio for Newsweek. Notarantonio explains that: “The researchers hope their work will inform how cities design and redesign public areas — especially at a time when digital polarization is reshaping how people connect in real life.”
Popular Science reporter Mack DeGeurin spotlights Foodres.Ai Printer, an AI-assisted 3D printer developed by MIT researchers that is “capable of converting food scraps into coasters, cups, and other everyday kitchen items.” The researchers hope their invention “can repurpose waste before it reaches trash cans or compost bins, helping to foster ‘hyper-local circular economies.’”
Prof. Andrew Lo speaks with NBC Boston reporter Daniela Gonzalez about how AI tools could be used as a starting point to help people manage their monthly expenses and improve their savings strategies. Lo notes that AI tools “can tell you, given the kind of things you're looking to purchase, where the various deals might be.” He added that “once you get the feedback, you have to make sure that what you're getting is legit, versus what they call hallucinations that large language models are likely to do on occasion.”
Prof. Andrew Lo speaks with Bloomberg reporter Lu Wang about how AI tools could be applied to the financial services industry, working alongside humans to help manage money, balance risk, tailor strategies and possibly even act in a client’s best interest. “I believe that within the next five years we’re going to see a revolution in how humans interact with AI,” says Lo. He adds that “the financial services industry has extra layers of protection that needs to be built before these tools can be useful.”