The Obtain: the dangers of addictive AI, and hydrogen bikes’ limitations

Plus: why tech shares are down.

That is at the moment’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a day by day dose of what is going on on on this planet of know-how.

We have to put together for ‘addictive intelligence’

—By Robert Mahari, a joint JD-PhD candidate on the MIT Media Lab and Harvard Legislation College whose work focuses on computational regulation, and Pat Pataranutaporn, a researcher on the MIT Media Lab who research human-AI interplay.

Worries about AI typically think about doomsday eventualities the place techniques escape management and even understanding. However there are nearer-term harms we must always take significantly: that AI might jeopardize public discourse; cement biases in mortgage choices, judging or hiring; or disrupt inventive industries.

Nonetheless, we foresee a special, however no much less pressing, class of dangers: these stemming from relationships with nonhuman brokers.

AI companionship is now not theoretical—our evaluation of 1,000,000 ChatGPT interplay logs reveals that the second hottest use of AI is sexual role-playing. We’re already beginning to invite AIs into our lives as mates, lovers, mentors, therapists, and academics. Even the CTO of OpenAI warns that AI has the potential to be “extraordinarily addictive.”

Right here’s what we have to do to organize ourselves for these dangers.

Hydrogen bikes are struggling to achieve traction in China

If you’re in China and seeking to trip a shared bike in a metropolis, you may discover one thing on the bike that appears slightly totally different: a water-bottle-size hydrogen tank.

Not less than a dozen cities in China now have some form of hydrogen-powered shared bikes for his or her residents. They provide a better trip than conventional bikes and a safer vitality supply than lithium batteries. One Chinese language firm is betting that this would be the subsequent huge factor in public transportation, whereas others are driving on a nationwide development towards authorities insurance policies that encourage the event of the hydrogen trade.

Nonetheless, the reception to those bikes has been combined. Learn our story to search out out why.

—Zeyi Yang

The must-reads

I’ve combed the web to search out you at the moment’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.

1 Tech shares within the US took an enormous plunge on Friday
As a result of worries in regards to the economic system, and underwhelming returns on AI investments. (CNBC)
+ Optimism round AI is changing into extra muted. (FT $)
+ Tech shares in Europe are down at the moment too. (Reuters $)
+ What even is AI, anyway? Nobody appears to essentially agree. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)

2 How on-line falsehoods helped spark far-right rioting within the UK
Utter nonsense, a few of it AI-generated, began circulating on-line simply hours after a deadly stabbing assault in Southport. (The Guardian)
+ It doesn’t assist {that a} distinguished far-right agitator’s account was reinstated on X final yr. (The Unbiased $)

3 OpenAI has a device to catch AI-generated textual content, however gained’t launch it
It’s apparently 99.9% correct, however the firm worries it’d put folks off utilizing its merchandise. (WSJ $)
+ Right here’s how folks actually use AI chatbots. (WP $)

4 The US Justice Division is suing TikTok
It’s accusing the corporate of violating kids’s privateness. (NPR)
+ The miserable reality about TikTok’s impending ban. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)

5 What went mistaken at Intel?
It’s struggling to capitalize on the chip trade increase, as Nvidia takes the technological lead. (Vox)
+ Nvidia is being probed by US antitrust officers, amid complaints it’s abusing its market dominance. (The Info $)
+ Right here’s what to anticipate from the chip sector this yr. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)

6 Elon Musk claims Neuralink implanted its machine right into a second particular person
And he says there’ll be a lot extra to come back this yr, if all goes nicely. (Bloomberg $)
+ However Neuralink isn’t the one sport on the town. (WSJ $)
+ The primary mind implant fabricated from graphene is about to be examined in a medical trial. (FT $)

7 Find out how to defend your self from wildfire smoke
No matter you do, don’t train outdoor should you’re in an affected space. (Wired $)
+ The Park Fireplace in California is now the state’s fourth-largest blaze on file. (Axios)

8 Corporations are planning to gasoline cargo ships with ammonia
It’s an uncommon, however probably efficient, approach to assist reduce greenhouse fuel emissions. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ How ammonia might assist clear up world transport. (MIT Know-how Evaluate)

9 Meet the influencers who’ve gone full carnivore 🥩
Some are satisfied it’s repairing their intestine. The proof suggests in any other case. (The Reduce $)

10 The constraints of Display screen Time instruments
It’s how you’re utilizing your cellphone, not simply how a lot, that issues. (The Atlantic $)

Quote of the day

“If we will’t belief them to manipulate themselves, we definitely shouldn’t allow them to govern the world.”

—Gary Marcus, a professor emeritus at NYU, writes that we must always apply extra skepticism to AI corporations typically, and OpenAI’s Sam Altman particularly, in The Guardian.

The large story

The $100 billion guess {that a} postindustrial US metropolis can reinvent itself as a high-tech hub

July 2023

On a day in late April, a small drilling rig sits on the fringe of the scrubby overgrown fields of Syracuse, New York, taking soil samples. It’s the primary signal of building on what might develop into the biggest semiconductor manufacturing facility in the US.

The CHIPS and Science Act was broadly seen by trade leaders and politicians as a strategy to safe provide chains, and make the US aggressive once more in semiconductor chip manufacturing.

Now Syracuse is about to develop into an financial check of whether or not, over the following a number of a long time, aggressive authorities insurance policies—and the huge company investments they spur—can each enhance the nation’s manufacturing prowess and revitalize uncared for components of the nation. Learn the total story.

—David Rotman

We are able to nonetheless have good issues

A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Acquired any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)

+ Do you know that there are clips of all of the Olympic athletes explaining how their names are pronounced on the official web site? LeBron James’ is especially nice.
+ There’s much more to search-and-find illustrations than The place’s Waldo.
+ What number of of those director’s cuts have you ever seen?
+ From Medusa to the shape-shifting Lamia, lots of mythology’s most compelling monsters are feminine.