Prof. Dylan Hadfield-Menell is interviewed by Wired’s Will Knight about CriticGPT, a new tool developed by OpenAI that will assist human trainers in developing AI. “It might lead to big jumps in individual capabilities, and it might be a stepping stone towards sort of more effective feedback in the long run,” Hadfield-Menell says.
Writing for Forbes, lecturer Guadalupe Hayes-Mota '08, SM '16, MBA '16 explores the role of artificial intelligence and biotechnology in transforming the healthcare industry specifically for venture capitalists (VCs). “The fusion of AI and biotechnology presents a wealth of opportunities for venture capitalists,” writes Hayes-Mota. “By staying attuned to emerging trends and adopting strategies for impactful investments, VCs can drive innovation and create transformative changes in healthcare.”
Research Scientist Neil Thompson speaks with New York Times reporter Hank Sanders about the economic and social impact of AI technology in the fast-food industry. Thompson explains that “voice A.I. is inaccurate often enough that it requires some level of human oversight, which decreases cost savings,” writes Hank.
MIT researchers have improved upon the diffusion models used in AI image generation, reports Alok Jha for The Economist. Working with electrically charged particles, the team created “Poisson flow generative models,” which “generate images of equal or better quality than state-of-the-art diffusion models, while being less error-prone and requiring between ten and 20 times fewer computational steps,” Jha explains.
Wall Street Journal reporter Justin Lahart spotlights the work of Prof. David Autor, an economist whose “thinking helped change our understanding of the American labor market.” Harvard Prof. Lawrence Katz says Autor has “probably been the most insightful and influential scholar of the labor market” in decades. “To me, the labor market is the central institution of any society,” says Autor. “The fastest way to improve people’s welfare is to improve the labor market.”
Prof. Daron Acemoglu speaks with Greg Rosalsky of NPR’s Planet Money about AI’s potential effect on jobs, specifically the translation business. “I think how good AI has become is often exaggerated,” says Acemoglu. “But there is pretty much nothing that humans do as meaningful occupation that generative AI can now do. So in almost everything it can at best helps humans, and at worst, not even do that.”
Ronald Davis III '18, SM '22, PhD '24 speaks with Jason Groves of Las Cruces Sun-News about how his research at both MIT and an Army Department of Defense lab inspired his interest in applying AI technologies to improve wireless communications, work he is now using as the foundation of his startup VectorWave. "When I think of a student earning multiple degrees from a school such as MIT along with a Ph.D., I'm blown away that it could come from a small place like Las Cruces [New Mexico]," says Brandon Sprague, Davis’ former high school mathematics teacher.
Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have “outlined the costs and benefits of artificial intelligence in health care, education and the workforce,” reports Ruth Reader, Daniel Payne, and Carmen Paul for Politico. The researchers say “policymakers should study the real-world implications of the technology and consider using AI to inform policy,” writes Politico.
Prof. Sherry Turkle warns against AI systems that simulate deceased partners, making it hard for the bereaved to “let go,” reports Dan Milmo for The Guardian. Breakthroughs in generative AI are enabling realistic conversations, but experts harbor concerns about the vulnerability of users and lack of regulation. “It’s something we are inflicting on ourselves because it’s such a seductive technology,” Turkle says.
Prof. Regina Barzilay spoke at The Futurist Summit: The Age of AI – an event hosted by The Washington Post – about the influence of AI in medicine. “When we're thinking today how many years it takes to bring new technologies [to market], sometimes it's decades if we’re thinking about drugs, and very, very slow,” Barzilay explains. “With AI technologies, you've seen how fast the technology that you're using today is changing.”
Researchers at MIT have found that prospective job applicants who utilized basic AI modules in their application process were, on average, more likely to get hired and receive higher wages, reports Maria Gracia Santillana Linares for Forbes. “[Applicants] with access to the technology are more likely to get hired without any negative implications [from] employers,” says graduate student Emma Wiles.
Cofounded by postdoctoral associate Wen Shuhao and postdoctoral fellows Ma Jian and Lai Lipeng, biotech startup Xtalpi "combines AI, quantum physics, cloud computing and robotic automation to find novel molecules that could be developed into new medicines,” reports Zinnia Lee for Forbes. “Xtalpi has also recently expanded into discovering new chemical compounds for applications such as agriculture, cosmetics, healthcare, as well as petrochemicals and new materials for electric vehicle batteries,” writes Lee.
Washington Post reporter Carolyn Johnson spotlights how Prof. Laura Schulz and her colleagues have been exploring why ChatGPT-4 performs well on conversation and cognitive tests, but flunks reasoning tests that are easy for young children. Schulz makes the case that to understand intelligence and create it, childhood learning processes should not be discounted. “That’s the kind of intelligence that really might give us a big picture,” Schulz explains. “The kind of intelligence that starts not as a blank slate, but with a lot of rich, structured knowledge — and goes on to not only understand everything we have ever understood, across the species, but everything we will ever understand.”
Prof. Devavrat Shah is interviewed by Forbes’ Gary Drenik on balancing AI innovation with ethical considerations, noting governance helps ensure the benefits of AI are fairly distributed across society. “Our responsibility is to harness [AI’s] potential while safeguarding against its risks,” Shah explains. “This approach to promoting responsible AI development hinges on governance rooted in collaboration, transparency and actionable guidance."
Prof. Hal Abelson speaks with Inside Higher Ed reporter Lauren Coffey about AI policies in academia. “We put tremendous emphasis on creating with AI but that’s the sort of place that MIT is,” says Abelson. “It’s about making things. Other places have a very different view of this.”