Recommended from Around the Web (Week ending November 14, 2015)
The New Intimacy Economy
Recoiling from the smarm of social media, Leigh Alexander argues that the future will not bring a cold “tech dystopia” but rather “performative—maybe even excessive—intimacy.”
—Brian Bergstein, Executive Editor
The Digital Revolution in Higher Education Has Already Happened. No One Noticed.
Clay Shirky shares the stats that show that online courses are “no longer surprising, rare, or experimental. By adopting them, students are telling us what they need our institutions to become.”
—Megan Barnett, Deputy Editor
Can Sylvia Earle Save the Oceans?
See Sylvia swim. And save our water landscape.
—J. Juniper Friedment, Associate Web Producer
Google Seeks to Influence AI Research by Giving Software Away
The software Google developed and uses for artificial-intelligence tasks such as understanding the content of images is now anyone’s to use or modify. Releasing the software as open source is expected to help researchers and smaller companies develop new applications for machine learning more quickly.
—Tom Simonite, San Francisco Bureau Chief
The Unexpected Charm of Facebook’s Friendship Anniversaries
When a social network adds a new algorithm, friendship—at least on the digital level—gains a notch of legimitacy it doesn’t usually hold against romantic relationships and family relationships.
—Julia Sklar, Interim Associate Web Producer
Where the Cloud Rises from the Sea
The major cable connecting the U.S. to the “global Internet” seems to bypass its coastal California neighbors, many of whom can’t get broadband access.
—Julia Sklar
Two Pranksters Built a Pizza Rat Robot to Terrify New Yorkers
Not a robot, exactly, but innovative nonetheless.
—Will Knight, Senior Editor, AI
The Drone Economy
An interesting piece about the drone boom, and those protesting “killing by remote control.”
—Will Knight
A Rising Tide
Two long features this week looked at cities attempting to adapt to rising sea levels, due to climate change. This one, from the New Republic, examines the increasingly urgent quest in Miami to stay afloat—mainly by building higher seawalls and raising streets. None of these solutions look to be capable of withstanding the looming surge. In fact, the main theme that emerges from interviews with locals seems to be “Enjoy Miami while you can.”
—Richard Martin, Senior Editor, Energy
Keep Reading
Most Popular
Geoffrey Hinton tells us why he’s now scared of the tech he helped build
“I have suddenly switched my views on whether these things are going to be more intelligent than us.”
ChatGPT is going to change education, not destroy it
The narrative around cheating students doesn’t tell the whole story. Meet the teachers who think generative AI could actually make learning better.
Meet the people who use Notion to plan their whole lives
The workplace tool’s appeal extends far beyond organizing work projects. Many users find it’s just as useful for managing their free time.
Learning to code isn’t enough
Historically, learn-to-code efforts have provided opportunities for the few, but new efforts are aiming to be inclusive.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.