Technology

The Download: how OpenAI tests its models, and the ethics of uterus transplants

November 22, 2024
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. How OpenAI stress-tests its large language models OpenAI has lifted the lid (just a crack) on its safety-testing processes. It has put out two papers describing how it stress-tests its powerful large language…

Who should get a uterus transplant? Experts aren’t sure.

November 22, 2024
This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here. Earlier this year, a boy in Sweden celebrated his 10th birthday. Reproductive scientists and doctors marked the occasion too. This little boy’s birth had been special. He was…

How OpenAI stress-tests its large language models

November 21, 2024
OpenAI is once again lifting the lid (just a crack) on its safety-testing processes. Last month the company shared the results of an investigation that looked at how often ChatGPT produced a harmful gender or racial stereotype based on a user’s name. Now it has put out two papers describing how it stress-tests its powerful…

The Download: AI replicas, and China’s climate role

November 21, 2024
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. AI can now create a replica of your personality Imagine sitting down with an AI model for a spoken two-hour interview. A friendly voice guides you through a conversation that ranges from your…

China’s complicated role in climate change

November 21, 2024
This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. “Well, what about China?” This is a comment I get all the time on the topic of climate change, both in conversations and on whatever social media site is currently en vogue.…

Four ways to protect your art from AI 

November 21, 2024
MIT Technology Review’s How To series helps you get things done.  Since the start of the generative AI boom, artists have been worried about losing their livelihoods to AI tools. There have been plenty of examples of companies’ replacing human labor with computer programs. Most recently, Coca-Cola sparked controversy by creating a new Christmas ad…

AI can now create a replica of your personality

November 20, 2024
Imagine sitting down with an AI model for a spoken two-hour interview. A friendly voice guides you through a conversation that ranges from your childhood, your formative memories, and your career to your thoughts on immigration policy. Not long after, a virtual replica of you is able to embody your values and preferences with stunning…

The Download: Clear’s identity ambitions, and the climate blame game

November 20, 2024
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Inside Clear’s ambitions to manage your identity beyond the airport  Clear Secure is the most visible biometric identity company in the United States. Best known for its line-jumping service in airports, it’s also…

Who’s to blame for climate change? It’s surprisingly complicated.

November 20, 2024
Once again, global greenhouse-gas emissions are projected to hit a new high in 2024.  In this time of shifting political landscapes and ongoing international negotiations, many are quick to blame one country or another for an outsize role in causing climate change. But assigning responsibility is complicated. These three visualizations help explain why and provide…

Inside Clear’s ambitions to manage your identity beyond the airport

November 20, 2024
If you’ve ever been through a large US airport, you’re probably at least vaguely aware of Clear. Maybe your interest (or irritation) has been piqued by the pods before the security checkpoints, the attendants in navy blue vests who usher clients to the front of the security line (perhaps just ahead of you), and the…