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New York Times reporter Steve Lohr writes about the MIT AI Policy Conference, which examined how society, industry and governments should manage the policy questions surrounding the evolution of AI technologies. “If you want people to trust this stuff, government has to play a role,” says CSAIL principal research scientist Daniel Weitzner.
TechCrunch reporter John Biggs writes that MIT researchers have developed a new system that allows users to reverse-engineer complex items by deconstructing objects and turning them into 3-D models. Biggs writes that the system is a “surprisingly cool way to begin hacking hardware in order to understand it’s shape, volume and stability.”
In a piece about the growing field of origami, The Economist highlights Prof. Erik Demaine’s work proving that “any straight-sided figure—an octagon, a cityscape silhouette or a blocky Bart Simpson—can be extracted with exactly one straight cut if you fold the paper up the right way first.”
Boston Globe reporter Jessie Scanlon spotlights Prof. Regina Barzilay’s work developing machine learning systems that can identify patients at risk of developing breast cancer. Barzilay is creating “software that aims to teach a computer to analyze mammogram images more effectively than the human eye can and to catch signs of cancer in its earliest phases.”
Graduate student Irene Chen speaks with WGBH’s Living Lab Radio about her work trying to reduce bias in health care algorithms. “The results that we’ve shown from healthcare algorithms are so powerful that we really do need to see how we could implement those carefully, safely, robustly and fairly,” she explains.
Prof. Aleksander Madry and graduate student Anish Athalye speak with BBC News reporter Linda Geddes about how AI systems can be tricked into seeing or hearing things that aren’t actually there. “People are looking at it as a potential security issue as these systems are increasingly being deployed in the real world,” Athalye explains.
CSAIL researchers have developed a new technique to recreate paintings from a single photograph, reports John Biggs for TechCrunch. “The project uses machine learning to recreate the exact colors of each painting and then prints it using a high-end 3D printer that can output thousands of colors using half-toning,” Biggs explains.
Forbes contributed Jennifer Kite-Powell writes about a system, called RePaint, developed by MIT researchers that uses AI and 3-D printing to replicate paintings. "We can picture RePaint being applied to restoration practice and education in museums so that greater numbers of people could be exposed to famous pieces of art beyond just the specific museums that house them," explains CSAIL mechanical engineer Mike Foshey.
Fast Company reporter Jesus Diaz writes that CSAIL researchers have developed a new technique to replicate works of art. Diaz explains that the system “uses a combination of 10 different transparent inks, placed by a 3D printer and governed by a complex AI system that decides how to layer and mix those inks to match a painting’s original colors.”
Speaking with Mark Jannot of The New York Times Magazine, Prof. Regina Barzilay explores how A.I. could be used to predict risk of certain diseases. “Imagine how it can change the game if these diseases, which are now diagnosed late, when they are largely uncurable, could be detected early — how many lives can be saved,” says Barzilay.
This Quartz video highlights how MIT researchers are developing a self-driving boat system that can navigate waterways and can transform into different structures to move cargo, trash or build a temporary bridge. “The boats find the best path between preprogrammed locations, while using GPS, laser sensors, and cameras to avoid hitting anything,” explains Michael Tabb.
MIT researchers examined why a third of Wikipedia deliberations go unresolved and developed a new tool that could be used to help resolve more discussions, reports Samantha Cole for Motherboard. Cole explains that “the tool uses the data they found and analyzed in this research, to summarize threads and predict when they’re at risk of going stale.”
Smithsonian reporter Randy Rieland writes that MIT researchers have developed a machine learning model that can detect speech and language patterns associated with depression. The researchers note that the system is intended to assist, not replace clinicians. “We’re hopeful we can provide a complementary form of analysis,” explains Senior Research Scientist James Glass.
The life and legacy of Prof. Michael Dertouzos, who was “renowned for making complicated technology accessible to the general public,” is celebrated in a new Google doodle, reports Helen Rogers for CNN. Rogers notes that Dertouzos “predicted how the internet and the rise of personal computers would impact people's lives.”
Boston Herald reporter Jordan Graham writes that MIT researchers have developed an autonomous system that allows fleets of drones to navigate without GPS and could be used to help find missing hikers. “What we’re trying to do is automate the search part of the search-and-rescue problem with a fleet of drones,” explains graduate student Yulun Tian.