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The Download: the dangers of AI agents, and ChatGPT’s effects on our wellbeing

—Margaret Mitchell, Avijit Ghosh, Sasha Luccioni, Giada Pistilli all work for Hugging Face, an open source AI company. AI agents have set the tech industry abuzz. Unlike chatbots, these groundbreaking new systems... Read more »

Why handing over total control to AI agents would be a huge mistake

And when systems can control multiple information sources simultaneously, potential for harm explodes. For example, an agent with access to both private communications and public platforms could share personal information on social... Read more »

OpenAI has released its first research into how using ChatGPT affects people’s emotional wellbeing

The researchers found some intriguing differences between how men and women respond to using ChatGPT. After using the chatbot for four weeks, female study participants were slightly less likely to socialize with... Read more »

The Download: saving the “doomsday glacier,” and Europe’s hopes for its rockets

The Thwaites glacier is a fortress larger than Florida, a wall of ice that reaches nearly 4,000 feet above the bedrock of West Antarctica, guarding the low-lying ice sheet behind it. But... Read more »

Inside a new quest to save the “doomsday glacier”

Further, they argue that the interventions could harm polar ecosystems by adding contaminants, producing greenhouse gases, or altering the structure of the ice in ways that may even increase sea-level rise. “Overwhelmingly,... Read more »

Autopsies can reveal intimate health details. Should they be kept private?

This is where things get really complicated. Ethically speaking, we should consider the wishes of the deceased. Would that person have wanted to share this information with relatives? It’s also worth bearing... Read more »

Europe is finally getting serious about commercial rockets

“I expect four or five companies to get to the point of launching, and then over a period of years reliability and launch cadence [or frequency] will determine which one or two... Read more »

Roundtables: AI Chatbots Have Joined the Chat

The latest iteration of a legacy Founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1899, MIT Technology Review is a world-renowned, independent media company whose insight, analysis, reviews, interviews and live events... Read more »

The Download: the future of energy, and chatting about chatbots

Where can you find lasers, electric guitars, and racks full of novel batteries, all in the same giant room? This week, the answer was the 2025 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit just outside... Read more »

The elephant in the room for energy tech? Uncertainty.

This year, though, there was an elephant in the room, and it’s the current state of the US federal government. Or maybe it’s climate change? In any case, the vibes were weird. ... Read more »