Prof. Nick Montfort speaks with Vice reporter Daniel Oberhaus about Synchrony, a demoparty he founded that allows computer programmers to showcase their artistic inventions. “One of the things I really like about the demoscene is that we don't really have a tradition of it in North America,” says Montfort. “That means we have the opportunity to make something up, something that's inviting, diverse, and different.”
Inside Higher Ed reporter Lindsay McKenzie writes that a new AI system developed by MIT researchers to summarize the findings of technical scientific papers could “be used in the near future to tackle a long-standing problem for scientists -- how to keep up with the latest research.”
New Yorker reporter Adam Gopnick visits the MIT AgeLab to explore how researchers are developing new technologies aimed at improving the quality of life for people as they age. “Now that we’re living longer, how do we plan for what we’re going to do?” says AgeLab Director Joseph Coughlin of the lab’s mission.
Research assistant Blakeley Payne speaks with Wall Street Journal reporter Michelle Ma about her work developing a curriculum that teaches kids about the ethics of AI. “You have to integrate the ethics piece at every point, because you never want to fall into the trap of presenting an AI system as like a mathematical equation,” explains Payne, “with the authority of a mathematical equation.”
Writing for The Wall Street Journal, Edward Glaeser spotlights a new book from Profs. Johnathan Gruber and Simon Johnson titled, “Jump-Starting America.” Glaeser writes that Gruber and Johnson have “produced a superbly argued case for public and private investment in education and research.”
Researchers from MIT and the European Space Agency are developing a process to evaluate how operators deploy satellites to help reduce the amount of debris in space, reports Loren Grush for The Verge. “It’s actually encouraging companies to try to beat each other in how good they behave, so they can build their brand,” explains Prof. Danielle Wood.
In an article for Forbes, Prof. David Mindell examines the feasibility of using ultra-wideband (UWB) radio technology to help improve the New York City subway system’s signaling troubles. “UWB is not a signaling system on its own,” writes Mindell. “For a large, complex system like New York, it will take many years to develop raw UWB into a full railway signaling system.”
Axios reporter Steve Levine highlights Media Lab Director Joi Ito’s recent comments about how the internet may be heading toward a dark period due to rising violence and political tensions around the world. Ito notes that both democratic and authoritarian nations are creating “a balkanized and not-so-open internet everywhere.”
Wired reporter Daniel Oberhaus spotlights how a programmer has solved the cryptographic puzzle that was used to ceremonially seal a time capsule of early computer history at the Ray and Maria Stata Center. The puzzle, which was designed by Institute Professor Ron Rivest, “involved finding the number that results from running a squaring operation nearly 80 trillion times.”
Writing for Bloomberg, Profs. Jonathan Gruber and Simon Johnson argue that federal investment in scientific research can help address income inequality. “America desperately needs more hubs of growth,” they write. “It’s a problem that the government can and should address, by identifying and investing in the technologies of the future – and ensuring that the American people as a whole share in the gains.”
Writing for Wired, Prof. Joi Ito, director of the Media Lab, argues against the notion of singularity, the concept that AI will supersede humans. “Instead of thinking about machine intelligence in terms of humans vs machines, we should consider the system that integrates humans and machines – not artificial intelligence but extended intelligence,” writes Ito.
WBUR reporter Pamela Reynolds highlights graduate student Joy Buolamwini’s piece, “The Coded Gaze,” which is currently on display as part of the “Avatars//Futures” exhibit at the Nave Gallery. Reynolds writes that Buolamwini’s piece “questions the inherent bias of coding in artificial intelligence, which has resulted in facial recognition technology unable to recognize black faces.”
Research scientist Philipp Schmidt speaks with Inside Higher Ed reporter Lindsay McKenzie about the Digital Credentials Collaboration, which is creating a worldwide standard and shared infrastructure for digital academic credentials. “Universities are interested in providing their graduates with credentials that are useful and digital, but also secure,” Schmidt explains.
Quartz reporter Anne Quito spotlights how graduate student Arnav Kapur has developed a wearable device that allows users to access the internet without speech or text and could help people who have lost the ability to speak vocalize their thoughts. Kapur explains that the device is aimed at augmenting ability.
Prof. Erik Brynjolfsson speaks with Wired reporter Matt Simon about the potential impact of technology and automation on everything from jobs and the labor market to climate change. “Technology is an incredibly powerful tool,” says Brynjolfsson, “and if we make the effort, we can use this tool to live lighter on the planet.”