November 8, 2024

The Download: AI vs quantum, and the future of reproductive rights in the US

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. Why AI could eat quantum computing’s lunch 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…

The Download: an interview with Palmer Luckey, and AI-assisted math tutors

October 28, 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. Palmer Luckey on the Pentagon’s future of mixed reality Palmer Luckey has, in some ways, come full circle.  His first experience with virtual-reality headsets was as a teenage lab technician at a defense…

Palmer Luckey on the Pentagon’s future of mixed reality

October 28, 2024
Palmer Luckey has, in some ways, come full circle.  His first experience with virtual-reality headsets was as a teenage lab technician at a defense research center in Southern California, studying their potential to curb PTSD symptoms in veterans. He then built Oculus, sold it to Facebook for $2 billion, left Facebook after a highly public…

This AI system makes human tutors better at teaching children math

October 28, 2024
The US has a major problem with education inequality. Children from low-income families are less likely to receive high-quality education, partly because poorer districts struggle to retain experienced teachers.  Artificial intelligence could help, by improving the one-on-one tutoring sometimes used to supplement class instruction in these schools. With help from an AI tool, tutors could…