The Download: bird flu concerns, and tracking AI’s impact on elections

September 19, 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. Why virologists are getting increasingly nervous about bird flu Bird flu has been spreading in dairy cows in the US—and the scale is likely to be far worse than it looks. In addition,…

Small Business Owners Are Watching the Election — But They’re Deeply Skeptical

September 19, 2024

Small business owners are following election news closely — but will the outcome actually help their business? They’re not so sure.

How AI can help spot wildfires

September 19, 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. In February 2024, a broken utility pole brought down power lines near the small town of Stinnett, Texas. In the following weeks, the fire reportedly sparked by that equipment grew to burn…

Why virologists are getting increasingly nervous about bird flu

September 19, 2024

Bird flu has been spreading in dairy cows in the US—and the scale of the spread is likely to be far worse than it looks. In addition, 14 human cases have been reported in the US since March. Both are worrying developments, say virologists, who fear that the country’s meager response to the virus is…

AI-generated content doesn’t seem to have swayed recent European elections

September 18, 2024

AI-generated falsehoods and deepfakes seem to have had no effect on election results in the UK, France, and the European Parliament this year, according to new research. Since the beginning of the generative-AI boom, there has been widespread fear that AI tools could boost bad actors’ ability to spread fake content with the potential to…

Republican Congressman Jim Jordan asks Big Tech if Biden tried to censor AI