For overmuch of past year, US Marines conducting grooming exercises successful the waters disconnected South Korea, the Philippines, India, and Indonesia were besides moving an experiment. The work members successful the portion liable for sorting done overseas quality and making their superiors alert of imaginable section threats were for the archetypal clip utilizing generative AI to bash it, investigating a starring AI instrumentality the Pentagon has been funding.
Two officers archer america that they utilized the caller strategy to assistance scour thousands of pieces of open-source intelligence—nonclassified articles, reports, images, videos—collected successful the assorted countries wherever they operated, and that it did truthful acold faster than was imaginable with the aged method of analyzing them manually.
Though the US subject has been processing machine imaginativeness models and akin AI tools since 2017, the usage of generative AI—tools that tin prosecute successful human-like conversation—represent a newer frontier. Read the afloat story.
—James O'Donnell
Why the clime promises of AI dependable a batch similar c offsets
The International Energy Agency states successful a caller study that AI could yet trim greenhouse-gas emissions, perchance by overmuch much than the roar successful energy-guzzling information halfway improvement pushes them up.
The uncovering echoes a constituent that salient figures successful the AI assemblage person made arsenic good to justify, astatine slightest implicitly, the gigawatts’ worthy of energy request that caller information centers are placing connected determination grid systems crossed the world.
There’s thing acquainted astir the proposition that it’s good to physique information centers that tally connected fossil fuels contiguous due to the fact that AI tools volition assistance the satellite thrust down emissions eventually—it recalls the purported committedness of c credits. Unfortunately, we’ve seen again and again that specified programs often overstate immoderate clime benefits, doing small to change the equilibrium of what’s going into oregon coming retired of the atmosphere. Read the afloat story.
—James Temple
The must-reads
I’ve combed the net to find you today’s astir fun/important/scary/fascinating stories astir technology.
1 MAGA influencers are downplaying Trump’s marketplace turmoil
They’re uncovering originative ways to framework the fiscal tumult arsenic quality building. (WP $)
+ Some democrats are echoing his commercialized myths, too. (Vox)
2 Amazon products are going to outgo more
CEO Andy Jassy says helium anticipates 3rd enactment sellers passing the costs introduced by tariffs connected to their customers. (CNBC)
+ He says the institution has been renegotiating presumption with sellers. (CNN)
3 OpenAI has slashed its exemplary information investigating time
Which experts interest volition mean it rushes retired models without capable safeguarding. (FT $)
+ Why we request an AI information hotline. (MIT Technology Review)
4 A pistillate gave commencement to a stranger’s babe successful an IVF mixup
Monash IVF transferred different woman’s embryo to her by accident. (The Guardian)
+ Inside the unusual limbo facing millions of IVF embryos. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Amazon equipped immoderate of its transportation vans successful Europe with defibrillators
In an experimentation to spot if drivers could velocity up assistance to bosom onslaught patients. (Bloomberg $)
6 The aboriginal of biotech is looking shaky
JFK Jr’s assignment and soaring involvement rates are rocking an already volatile industry. (WSJ $)
+ Meanwhile, JFK Jr has visited the families of 2 girls who died from measles. (The Atlantic $)
7 Alexandre de Moraes isn’t backing down
The Brazilian judge, who has butted heads with Elon Musk, is disquieted astir extremist integer populism. (New Yorker $)
8 An experimental pill mimics the effects of gastric bypass surgery
And could beryllium touted arsenic an alternate to weight-loss drugs. (Wired $)
+ Drugs similar Ozempic present marque up 5% of prescriptions successful the US. (MIT Technology Review)
9 What happens erstwhile video games commencement bleeding into the existent world
Game Transfer Phenomenon is simply a existent thing, and obscurity adjacent arsenic amusive arsenic it sounds. (BBC)
+ How generative AI could reinvent what it means to play. (MIT Technology Review)
10 Londoners smashed up a Tesla successful a nationalist creation project
The car was provided by an anonymous donor. (The Guardian)
+ Proceeds from the installation volition spell to nutrient banks successful the UK. (The Standard)
Quote of the day
“It feels truthful bully to beryllium surrounded by a clump of radical who disconnected.”
—Steven Vernon III, who works successful finance, describes the beauties of a integer detox astatine the Masters successful Augusta, Georgia arsenic the markets descend into chaos, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The large story
This idiosyncratic is trying to make an accessible, unhackable voting machine
For the past 19 years, machine subject prof Juan Gilbert has immersed himself successful possibly the astir contentious statement implicit predetermination medication successful the United States—what role, if any, touch-screen ballot-marking devices should play successful the voting process.
While advocates assertion that physics voting systems tin beryllium comparatively secure, amended accessibility, and simplify voting and ballot tallying, critics person argued that they are insecure and should beryllium utilized arsenic infrequently arsenic possible.
As for Gilbert? He claims he’s yet invented “the astir unafraid voting exertion ever created.” And he’s invited respective of the astir respected and vocal critics of voting exertion to beryllium his point. Read the afloat story.
—Spenser Mestel