MIT Technology Review Narrated

AI-powered BaZi analysis has become the new oracle for a disillusioned generation seeking answers. This story was written by Caiwei Chen and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com.

How companies like Amazon and Google reach their emissions goals is more important than how fast. This story was written by James Temple and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com.

A look back at the Office of Technology Assessment, the Congressional think tank that detected lies and tested tech. This story was written by Peter Andrey Smith and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com.

The US still has no federal privacy law. But recent enforcement actions against data brokers may offer some new protections for Americans’ personal information. This story was written by Eileen Guo and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com.

The incoming administration’s hostile trade plans threaten to slow the shift to cleaner industries, boost inflation, and stall the economy. This story was written by James Temple and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com.

A string of startups are racing to build models that can produce better and better software. They claim it’s the shortest path to AGI. This story was written by Will Douglas Heaven and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com.

For a while researchers thought they’d have to make do with noisy, error-prone systems, at least in the near term. That’s starting to change. This story was written by Michael Brooks and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com.

If most robots still need remote human operators to be safe and effective, why should we welcome them into our homes? This story was written by James O'Donnell and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com.

People are spending thousands of dollars on unproven exosome therapies for hair loss, skin aging, and acne, as well as more serious conditions like long covid and Alzheimer’s. This story was written by Jessica Hamzelou and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com.

If we’re going to live on Mars we’ll need a way to grow food in its arid dirt. Researchers think they know a way. This story was written by David W. Brown and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com.

Researchers have been dreaming of an Internet of Animals. They’re getting closer to monitoring 100,000 creatures—and revealing hidden facets of our shared world. This story was written by Matthew Ponsford and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com.

An intelligent digital agent could be a companion for life—and other predictions for the next 125 years. This story was written by Kara Platoni and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com.

Startups in Latvia and other nearby countries see the mobilization of Ukraine as a warning and as inspiration. They are now changing consumer products—from scooters to recreational drones—for use on the battlefield. This story was written by Peter Guest and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com.

At its best, AI search can better infer a user’s intent, amplify quality content, and synthesize information from diverse sources. But if AI search becomes our primary portal to the web, it threatens to disrupt an already precarious digital economy. Today, the production of content online depends on a fragile set of incentives tied to virtual foot traffic: ads, subscriptions, donations, sales, or brand exposure. By shielding the web behind an all-knowing chatbot, AI search could deprive creators of the visits and “eyeballs” they need to survive. This story was written by Benjamin Brooks and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com.

“Electroceuticals” promised the post-pharma future for medicine. But the exclusive focus on the nervous system is seeming less and less warranted. This story was written by Sally Adee and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com.

As the climate changes, genetic engineering will be essential for growing food. But is it creating a race of superweeds? This story was written by Douglas Main and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com.

Tech companies have been funneling billions of dollars into quantum computers for years. The hope is that they’ll be a game changer for fields as diverse as finance, drug discovery, and logistics. Those expectations have been especially high in physics and chemistry, where the weird effects of quantum mechanics come into play. In theory, this is where quantum computers could have a huge advantage over conventional machines. But while the field struggles with the realities of tricky quantum hardware, another challenger is making headway in some of these most promising use cases. AI is now being applied to fundamental physics, chemistry, and materials science in a way that suggests quantum computing’s purported home turf might not be so safe after all. This story was written by Edd Gent and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com.

We’re making more data than ever. What can—and should—we save for future generations? And will they be able to understand it? This story was written by Niall Firth and narrated by Noa.

More than 60 companies now produce organs on chips commercially, focusing on five major organs: liver, kidney, lung, intestines, and brain. They’re already being used to understand diseases, discover and test new drugs, and explore personalized approaches to treatment. Could this be the end of animal testing? This story was written by Harriet Brown and narrated by Noa.

Figuring out how the human body can withstand underwater pressure has been a problem for over a century, but a ragtag band of divers is experimenting with hydrogen to find out. This story was written by Samantha Schuyler and narrated by Noa.

Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus VR, has set his sights on a new mixed-reality headset customer: the Pentagon. His company Anduril Industries, which focuses on drones, cruise missiles, and other AI-enhanced technologies for the US Department of Defense, announced it would partner with Microsoft on the US Army’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS), arguably the military’s largest effort to develop a headset for use on the battlefield. Anduril’s contribution to the project will be Lattice, an AI-powered system that connects everything from drones to radar jammers to surveil, detect objects, and aid in decision-making. It’s a tool that allows soldiers to receive instantaneous information not only from Anduril’s hardware, but also from radars, vehicles, sensors, and other equipment not made by Anduril. Now it will be built into the IVAS goggles. Luckey says the IVAS project is his top priority at Anduril. If designed well, the device will automatically sort through countless pieces of information—drone locations, vehicles, intelligence—and flag the most important ones to the wearer in real time. But that’s a big “if.” Though few would bet against Luckey’s expertise in the realm of mixed reality, few observers share his optimism for the IVAS program. They view it, thus far, as an avalanche of failures. This story was written by AI reporter James O'Donnell and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com.

Podcaster Joe Rogan, former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and football quarterback Aaron Rodgers are all helping revive AIDS denialism—a false collection of theories arguing either that HIV doesn’t cause AIDS or that there’s no such thing as HIV at all. These ideas were initially promoted back in the 1980s and ’90s by a cadre of scientists from unrelated fields, as well as many science-adjacent figures and self-proclaimed investigative journalists. But as more and more evidence stacked up against them, and as more people with HIV and AIDS started living longer lives thanks to effective new treatments, their claims largely fell out of favor. At least until the coronavirus arrived. This story was written by Anna Merlan and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com

The newest versions of generative AI are bedazzling, with lifelike videos, seemingly expert-sounding prose, and other all too humanlike behaviors. Business leaders are fretting over how to reinvent their companies as billions flow into startups, and the big AI companies are creating ever more powerful models. Predictions abound on how ChatGPT and the growing list of large language models will transform the way we work and organize our lives, providing instant advice on everything from financial investments to where to spend your next vacation and how to get there. But for economists, the most critical question around our obsession with AI is how the fledgling technology will (or won’t) boost overall productivity, and if it does, how long it will take. Think of it as the bottom line to the AI hype machine: Can the technology lead to renewed prosperity after years of stagnant economic growth? It could. But getting there will take some serious course corrections. This story was written by editor at large David Rotman and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com.

Despite it being over 100 years old, radio technology is still critical in almost all aspects of modern warfare—including in the drones that have come to dominate the Russia-Ukraine war. But before the war, there was a frightening vacuum of expertise. Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, who has been obsessed with radios since childhood, stepped in to fill it. Now, the unlikely hero is sharing expert advice and intel on the ever-evolving technology that’s taken over the skies. His work may determine the future of Ukraine, and wars far beyond it. This story was written by Charlie Metcalfe and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com

You can practically hear the shrieks from corner offices around the world: “What is our ChatGPT play? How do we make money off this?” Whether it’s based on hallucinatory beliefs or not, an AI gold rush has started to mine the anticipated business opportunities from generative AI models like ChatGPT. But while companies and executives see a clear chance to cash in, the likely impact of the technology on workers and the economy on the whole is far less obvious. This story was written by editor at large David Rotman and narrated by Noa.

In the future, CRISPR will get easier and easier to administer, potentially opening up paths for tinkering with human evolution. What will that mean for our species? This story was written by senior biomedicine editor Antonio Regalado and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com

Did you know that NASA intends to destroy the International Space Station by around 2030? Once it's gone, private companies will likely swoop in with their own replacements. Get ready for the great commercial takeover of low Earth orbit. This story was written by David W. Brown and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com

Pump jacks and pipelines clutter the Elk Hills oil field of California, a scrubby stretch of land in the southern Central Valley that rests above one of the nation’s richest deposits of fossil fuels. Oil production has been steadily declining in the state for decades, as tech jobs have boomed and legislators have enacted rigorous environmental and climate rules. Companies, towns, and residents across Kern County, where the poverty rate hovers around 18%, have grown increasingly desperate for new economic opportunities. In late 2023, one of the state’s largest oil and gas producers secured draft permits from the US Environmental Protection Agency to develop a new type of well in the oil field, which it asserts would provide just that. If the company gets final approval from regulators, it intends to drill a series of boreholes down to a sprawling sedimentary formation roughly 6,000 feet below the surface, where it will inject tens of millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide to store it away forever. Hundreds of similar projects are looming across the state, the US, and the world. Proponents hope it’s the start of a sort of oil boom in reverse, kick-starting a process through which the world will eventually bury more greenhouse gas than it adds to the atmosphere. But opponents insist these efforts will prolong the life of fossil-fuel plants, allow air and water pollution to continue, and create new health and environmental risks that could disproportionately harm disadvantaged communities surrounding the projects, including those near the Elk Hills oil field. This story was written by senior climate and energy editor James Temple and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com.

Robots that can do many of the things humans do in the home—folding laundry, cooking meals, cleaning—have been a dream of robotics research since the inception of the field in the 1950s. While engineers have made great progress in getting robots to work in tightly controlled environments like labs and factories, the home has proved difficult to design for. Out in the real, messy world, furniture and floor plans differ wildly; children and pets can jump in a robot’s way; and clothes that need folding come in different shapes, colors, and sizes. Managing such unpredictable settings and varied conditions has been beyond the capabilities of even the most advanced robot prototypes. But now, the field is at an inflection point. A new generation of researchers believes that generative AI could give robots the ability to learn new skills and adapt to new environments faster than ever before. This new approach, just maybe, can finally bring robots out of the factory and into the mainstream. This story was written by senior AI reporter Melissa Heikkilä and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com

In an attempt to protect its forests and famous wildlife, Virunga has become the first national park to run a Bitcoin mine. But some are wondering what crypto has to do with conservation. This story was written by Adam Popescu and narrated by Noa (newsoveraudio.com)

We live in an undeniably gamified world. We stand up and move around to close colorful rings and earn achievement badges on our smartwatches; we meditate and sleep to recharge our body batteries; we plant virtual trees to be more productive; we chase “likes” and “karma” on social media sites and try to swipe our way toward social connection. But instead of liberating us from drudgery and maximizing our potential, gamification has turned out to be just another tool for coercion, distraction, and control. Why did we fall for it? This story was written by Bryan Gardiner and narrated by Noa (newsoveraudio.com)

Digital clones of people's dead relatives are far from perfect: they're occasionally impersonal and sometimes downright creepy. But if the technology might help us hang onto the people we love, is it so wrong to try? This story was written by news editor Charlotte Jee and narrated by Noa.

A Silicon Valley startup wants to supercharge trees to soak up more carbon and cool the climate. Is this the great climate solution or a whole lot of hype? This story was written by Boyce Upholt and narrated by Noa.

Artificial intelligence is the hottest technology of our time. But what is it? It sounds like a stupid question, but it’s one that’s never been more urgent. MIT Technology Review takes a deep dive into the competing answers from titans of industry and helps us understand how we got here—and why you should care, no matter who you are. This story was written by senior AI editor Will Douglas Heaven and narrated by Noa.

The growing business of surf pools wants to bring the ocean experience inland, making surfing more accessible to communities far from the coasts. These pools can use—and lose—millions upon millions of gallons of water every year. With many planned for areas facing water scarcity, who bears the cost of building the perfect wave? This story was written by senior features and investigations reporter Eileen Guo and narrated by Noa.

Open-world video games are inhabited by vast crowds of computer-controlled characters. These animated people—called NPCs, for “nonplayer characters”—populate the bars, city streets, or space ports of games. They make virtual worlds feel lived in and full. Often—but not always—you can talk to them. After a while, however, the repetitive chitchat (or threats) of a passing stranger forces you to bump up against the truth: This is just a game. It may not always be like that. Just as it’s upending other industries, generative AI is opening the door to entirely new kinds of in-game interactions that are open-ended, creative, and unexpected. Future AI-powered NPCs that don’t rely on a script could make games—and other worlds—deeply immersive. This story was written by executive editor Niall Firth and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com

At any given time, the US organ transplant waiting list is about 100,000 people long. Martine Rothblatt sees a day when an unlimited supply of transplantable organs—and 3D-printed ones—will be readily available, saving countless lives. This story was written by senior biomedicine editor Antonio Regalado and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com

Design thinking suggests that we are all creatives, and we can solve any problem if we empathize hard enough. The methodology was supposed to democratize design, but it may have done the opposite. Where did it go wrong? This story was written by Rebecca Ackermann and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com

Tokelau is a group of three isolated atolls strung out across the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand (of which it’s an official territory) and Hawaii. Its population hovers around 1,400 people. Reaching it requires a boat ride from Samoa that can take over 24 hours. To say that Tokelau is remote is an understatement: it was the last place on Earth to be connected to the telephone… in 1997. Despite its size, Tokelau has become an internet giant. Until recently, its .tk domain had more users than any other country’s: a staggering 25 million. Yet only one website with a .tk domain is actually from Tokelau. Nearly all the others are used by spammers, phishers, and cybercriminals. This is the story of how Tokelau unwittingly became the global capital of cybercrime—and its fight to fix its reputation. This story was written by Jacob Judah and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com

An AI startup created a hyperrealistic deepfake of MIT Technology Review’s senior AI reporter that was so believable, even she thought it was really her at first. This technology is impressive, to be sure. But it raises big questions about a world where we increasingly can’t tell what’s real and what's fake. This story was written by senior AI reporter Melissa Heikkilä and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com

Though “user” seems to describe a relationship that is deeply transactional, many of the technological relationships in which a person would be considered a user are actually quite personal. That being the case, is the term “user” still relevant? This story was written by Taylor Majewski and narrated by Noa.

We've known of Europa’s existence for more than four centuries, but for most of that time, Jupiter’s fourth-largest moon was just a pinprick of light in our telescopes— a bright and curious companion to the solar system’s resident giant. Over the last few decades, however, as astronomers have scrutinized it through telescopes and six spacecraft have flown nearby, a new picture has come into focus. Europa is nothing like our moon. Observations suggest that its heart is a ball of metal and rock, surrounded by a vast saltwater ocean that contains more than twice as much water as is found on Earth. In the depths of its ocean, or perhaps crowded in subsurface lakes or below icy surface vents, Jupiter’s big, bright moon could host life. MIT Technology Review articles are narrated by Noa (News Over Audio), an app offering you professionally-read articles from the world’s best publications. To stay ‘truly’ informed on Science & Technology, Business & Investing, Current Affairs & Politics, and much more, download the Noa app or visit newsoveraudio.com.

Despite all their runaway success, nobody knows exactly how—or why—large language models work. And that’s a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models. This story was written by senior AI editor Will Douglas Heaven and narrated by Noa ((News Over Audio), an app offering you professionally-read articles from the world’s best publications.

Moore’s Law holds that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles every two years or so. In essence, it means that chipmakers are always trying to shrink the transistors on a microchip in order to pack more of them in. The cadence has been increasingly hard to maintain now that transistor dimensions measure in a few nanometers. In recent years ASML’s machines have kept Moore’s Law from sputtering out. Today, they are the only ones in the world capable of producing circuitry at the density needed to keep chipmakers roughly on track. Martin Van den Brink is the outgoing co-president and CTO of ASML. He joined the Dutch company in 1984 when it was founded and has played a major role in guiding it to it current dominant position. He explains to MIT Technology Review how the company overtook its competition and how it can stay ahead. MIT Technology Review articles are narrated by Noa (News Over Audio), an app offering you professionally-read articles from the world’s best publications. To stay ‘truly’ informed on Science & Technology, Business & Investing, Current Affairs & Politics, and much more, download the Noa app or visit newsoveraudio.com.

AI consciousness isn’t just a devilishly tricky intellectual puzzle; it’s a morally weighty problem with potentially dire consequences. Fail to identify a conscious AI, and you might unintentionally subjugate, or even torture, a being whose interests ought to matter. Mistake an unconscious AI for a conscious one, and you risk compromising human safety and happiness for the sake of an unthinking, unfeeling hunk of silicon and code. Philosophers, cognitive scientists, and engineers are grappling with what it would take for AI to achieve consciousness—and whether it's even possible. This story was written by Grace Huckins and narrated by NOA.

Three years ago this week we launched this podcast on a mission to show the world how AI touches our everyday lives. It's been our great honor and privilege to make it through three seasons, a global pandemic, an unbelievable nineteen (19!!) award nominations, and a whole lot of tests and demos. Goodbyes are very hard to say, so instead we'll leave you with some of the show's highlights and an invitation to follow us as we continue our journey with a new show called SHIFT. Sign up for updates at shiftshow.ai and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Credits: This series was created by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens with the support of Gideon Lichfield and Michael Reilly. Its producers have been Emma Cillekens and Anthony Green. The editors have included Gideon Lichfield, Michael Reilly and Mat Honan with support from Karen Hao and Tate Ryan Mosley. You can thank Garret Lang and Jacob Gorski for the original music and excellent sound design. The weekly art was from Stephanie Arnett with album art from Eric Mongeon. Thanks for listening.

Hidden away in our voices are signals that may hold clues to how we’re doing, what we’re feeling and even what’s going on with our physical health. Now, AI systems tasked with analyzing these signals are moving into healthcare. We meet: Lina Lakoczky-Torres, student at Menlo College Angela Schmiede, Vice President of Menlo College. Grace Chang, CEO of Kintsugi David Liu, CEO of Sonde Health Liam Kaufman, former CEO of Winterlight Labs. Margaret Mitchell, Chief Ethics Scientist of Hugging Face Bjoern Schuller, professor of artificial intelligence at Imperial College London Credits: This episode was reported by Hilke Schellmann, produced by Jennifer Strong, Emma Cillekens and Anthony Green, edited by Mat Honan and mixed by Garret Lang with original music by Garret Lang and Jacob Gorski. Artwork by Stephanie Arnett. Special thanks to the Knight Science folks at MIT for their support with this reporting.

AI is used in farming in some ways you might not expect, like for tracking the health of crops—from space. We travel from test farms to labs in the second installment of our series on agriculture, AI, and satellites. We Meet: Joseph Liefer, senior product manager of autonomy at John Deere Julian Sanchez, director of emerging technology at John Deere Shely Aranov, CEO of InnerPlant Rod Kumimoto, CSO of InnerPlant Credits: This episode was reported and produced by Jennifer Strong, Emma Cillekens and Anthony Green. It was edited by Mat Honan, and mixed by Garret Lang, with original music by Garret Lang and Jacob Gorski. Artwork by Stephanie Arnett.

In this special episode we bring you a live taping between the "Godfather of AI" Geoffrey Hinton and MIT Technology Review's Senior Editor for AI Will Douglas Heaven. This conversation was recorded at EmTech Digital, our signature AI event, in the MIT Media Lab. Credits: This episode was recorded in front of a live audience in Cambridge, Massachusetts with special thanks to Will Douglas Heaven, Amy Lammers and Brian Bryson. It was produced by Jennifer Strong and Emma Cillekens, directed by Erin Underwood, and edited by Mat Honan.

This episode, we get an insider's look at the ongoing chip war from the person who wrote the book on it, Chris Miller, professor at Tufts University and the author of Chip War. Join us for a live conversation from the MIT Media Lab at Tech Review’s Future Compute conference. Credits: This episode was recorded and produced by Jennifer Strong with help from Emma Cillekens and Anthony Green. We’re edited by Mat Honan and mixed by Garret Lang, with original music from Garret Lang and Jacob Gorski. Artwork from Stephanie Arnett.