The Download
What's up in emerging technology
Sprint and LG have announced their first 5G phone
Intel’s “Foreshadow” flaws are the latest sign of the chipocalypse
This summer’s extreme heat may just be the start of a super-hot stretch
AI can spot your eye disease with 94.5 percent accuracy
How to get Google to stop tracking your location for real
Sept. 11-14, 2018
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From Our Current Issue
Intelligent Machines
Why AI researchers shouldn’t turn their backs on the military
The author of a new book on autonomous weapons says scientists working on artificial intelligence need to do more to prevent the technology from being weaponized.
Business Impact
MIT Technology Review’s new design—and new mission
Tech journalism shouldn’t just explain technology, but seek to make it more of a force for good.
Intelligent Machines
A small team of student AI coders beats Google’s machine-learning code
The success shows that advances in artificial intelligence aren’t the sole domain of elite programmers.
Connectivity
Why security experts hate that “blockchain voting” will be used in the midterm elections
It’s too dangerous to conduct elections over the internet, they say, and West Virginia’s new plan to put votes on a blockchain doesn’t fix that.
Intelligent Machines
Cybersecurity’s insidious new threat: workforce stress
This week’s Black Hat event will highlight job-related stress and mental health issues in the cyber workforce.
Intelligent Machines
The Defense Department has produced the first tools for catching deepfakes
Fake video clips made with artificial intelligence can also be spotted using AI—but this may be the beginning of an arms race.
Watch Video
More videos
3-D printed potato chips 01:15
Next-Generation Robots Need Your Help 27:36
Access to broadband is as important as access to water and electricity 01:15
We shouldn't preserve "willy nilly" the cost of production 01:00
Coffee-fetching robots 02:08
Automating things on wheels 00:50
Humans versus machines: Chopin edition 02:06
Teaching systems to dance 01:44
Robots as nurses' assistants 00:36
Communicating with robots 01:35
Intelligent Machines
3-D printed potato chips 01:15
Who knew 3-D printing would be useful for snack company Frito-Lay? At Emtech Next 2018, John Hart discusses the different ways 3-D printing is affecting a product’s life cycle, which can involve 3-D printed potato chips.
Intelligent Machines
Artificial intelligence and robots are transforming how we work and live.
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Why AI researchers shouldn’t turn their backs on the military
The author of a new book on autonomous weapons says scientists working on artificial intelligence need to do more to prevent the technology from being weaponized.
by Will Knight
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Tim Hwang’s FiscalNote is revolutionizing Washington lobbying with big data
FiscalNote takes the intuition out of politics. Does it take the democracy out, too?
by Andrew Zaleski
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AI for cybersecurity is a hot new thing—and a dangerous gamble
Machine learning and artificial intelligence can help guard against cyberattacks, but hackers can foil security algorithms by targeting the data they train on and the warning flags they look for.
by Martin Giles
Briefing Paper
How to Unlock the Power of IoT with Real-Time Monitoring
Executive Briefing
Cloud Development: The Key to Rapid Innovation
Global Survey Report
Unlock Data Intelligence with AI
Executive Briefing
The Artificial Intelligence Imperative
Features
Connectivity
How social media took us from Tahrir Square to Donald Trump
To understand how digital technologies went from instruments for spreading democracy to weapons for attacking it, you have to look beyond the technologies themselves.
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SPONSORED
From the age of perplexity to the era of opportunities
Finance for Growth
by Francisco Gonzalez
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SPONSORED
Undoing Aging with Molecular and Cellular Damage Repair
Since the dawn of medicine, aging has been doctors’ foremost challenge.
by Aubrey D. N. J. de Grey
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SPONSORED
Human Legacies When Robots Rule the Earth
Machines have been displacing humans on job tasks for several centuries, and for seventy years many of these machines have been controlled by computers.
by Robin Hanson
Rewriting Life
Reprogramming our bodies to make us healthier.
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US scientist who edited human embryos with CRISPR responds to critics
Can we safely fix the DNA of human embryos in a lab dish?
by Antonio Regalado
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Data-mining medieval text reveals medically bioactive ingredients
Medieval apothecaries used recipes with significant antibacterial properties, researchers say.
by Emerging Technology from the arXiv
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Million-person genetic study finds gene patterns linked to how long people stay in school
Researchers explore genetic “scores” that may predict educational success.
by Antonio Regalado