Elisabeth Reynolds, executive director of the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future, speaks with Soledad O’Brien about how to ensure workers aren’t left behind in the transition to a more digital workforce. “If we can find pathways to the middle where we do see growth and demand for workers - construction, healthcare, the trades, manufacturing, places where we are seeing opportunities - that move can really be a new lifeline for people,” says Reynolds.
In her new memoir, “The Empathy Diaries,” Prof. Sherry Turkle takes readers on her journey from “a working-class Brooklyn childhood to tenured professor at M.I.T.,” writes Casey Schwartz for The New York Times. “The title of her new book reflects one of Turkle’s preoccupations,” notes Schwartz. “As we disappear into our lives onscreen, spending less time in reflective solitude, and less time in real-life conversation with others, empathy, as Turkle sees it, is one of the casualties.”
Forbes contributor Arun Shastri spotlights alumnus Fred Davis’ work developing the Technology Acceptance Model as part of his MIT dissertation. “It’s one of the most widely cited papers in the field of technology acceptance (a.k.a. adoption),” writes Shastri. “Since 1989, it’s spawned an entire field of research that extends and adds to it.”
Prof. Jessika Trancik speaks with The Hill reporter Rachel Frazin about her research that demonstrates people can save more than 30% in emissions by switching to electric vehicles. “One can see an immediate reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, even with today’s power grid and today’s power supply. It’s a really important step to electrify as many vehicles as possible, and quickly,” says Trancik.
A new study by MIT researchers finds that political beliefs can help bring people together on social media networks, reports Brooke Crothers for Fox News. On both sides, users were roughly three times more likely to form social ties with strangers who identify with the same party, compared to "counter-partisans.”
Prof. Jessika Trancik speaks with Jesse Remedios of WBUR about her new study that identifies locations where electric vehicle charging stations would have the most impact and help increase the adoption of electric vehicles. “It's important to make sure that chargers are placed where people can charge without having to delay their activities,” Trancik says.
New York Times reporter Brad Plumer spotlights a new study by Prof. Jessika Trancik that finds “new chargers on residential streets, as well as high-speed charging stations along highways, would go a long way to supporting an electric-vehicle boom.”
TechCrunch reporter Darrell Etherington writes that MIT researchers have developed a new “liquid” machine learning system that can learn on the job. Etherington notes that the system has “the potential to greatly expand the flexibility of AI technology after the training phase, when they’re engaged in the actual practical inference work done in the field.”
Boston Globe reporter Hiawatha Bray spotlights Pison Technology, an MIT startup that has developed a new gesture control system that can be used to manipulate “digital devices by intercepting the electronic traffic between our hands and our brains, and translating them into commands the machines can understand.”
TechCrunch reporter Devin Coldewey writes that a new study co-authored by MIT researchers finds that debunking misinformation is the most effective method of addressing false news on social media platforms. “The team speculated as to the cause of this, suggesting that it fits with other indications that people are more likely to incorporate feedback into a preexisting judgment rather than alter that judgment as it’s being formed,” writes Coldewey.
Mashable reporter Sasha Lekach spotlights a new study by MIT researchers that finds installing more charging stations close to residences and in locations that match where people naturally stop, would help increase usage of electric vehicles. The researchers found that “this helps to make charging more accessible while drivers are going about everyday activities.”
Writing for Forbes, Joseph Coughlin, director of the MIT AgeLab, examines the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the development of new technologies that enable older adults to connect with their communities. “The pandemic has served as a propellant accelerating the adoption of devices and related services perhaps a decade faster than might have otherwise occurred.
TechCrunch reporter Darrell Etherington writes that MIT researchers have developed a new system that devises hardware architecture that can speed up a robot’s operations. Etherington notes that “this research could help unlock the sci-fi future of humans and robots living in integrated harmony.”
Prof. Eric Lander, president and founding director of the Broad Institute, and Maria Zuber, MIT’s vice president for research, have been nominated to leading roles on the Biden administration's science team, report Nidhi Subbaraman and Alexandra Witze for Nature. “These are excellent appointments, highly qualified and experienced, and well grounded in science,” says Rita Colwell, a professor at University of Maryland at College Park and former director of the National Science Foundation
The Economist spotlights research by Professors Daron Acemoglu and David Autor examining how companies are adopting AI technologies, and the impact on the workforce and productivity. The researchers found, “machines are not yet depressing labour demand across the economy as a whole. As machines become cleverer, however, that could change.”