Afrigather Plus: US officers have confirmed that Iran hacked Donald Trump’s marketing campaign
That is right this moment’s version of The Obtain, our weekday publication that gives a each day dose of what is going on on on the earth of know-how.
Methods to fine-tune AI for prosperity
Predictions abound on how the rising record of generative AI fashions will rework the way in which we work and arrange our lives, offering on the spot recommendation on every part from monetary investments to the place to spend your subsequent trip.
However for economists, essentially the most important query round our obsession with AI is how the fledgling know-how will (or received’t) enhance general productiveness, and if it does, how lengthy it is going to take. Can the know-how result in renewed prosperity after years of stagnant financial progress? Learn the total story.
—David Rotman
Combating for a future past the local weather disaster
With regards to local weather breakdown and the extinction disaster, the query usually requested is: How can now we have hope?
However perhaps hope is the fallacious emotion to give attention to. As a substitute, we want shock and awe within the face of the majesty and fragility of nature, humility within the face of the vastness of the transformations our type has set in movement—a bristling realization of imminent peril. Learn the total story.
—Lydia Millet
This piece is from the forthcoming print challenge of MIT Expertise Evaluation, which is celebrating 125 years of the journal! It’s set to go stay on Wednesday August 28, so for those who don’t already, subscribe now to get a replica when it lands.
Why you’re about to see much more drones within the sky
For many years, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has restricted folks’s capability to fly drones in shared airspaces or dense neighborhoods. That’s made it arduous to ship futuristic concepts like drones delivering our packages.
However that’s altering. The company lately granted Amazon’s Prime Air program approval to fly drones past the visible line of sight in elements of Texas, and in addition granted related waivers to a whole bunch of police departments across the nation.
Nonetheless, there’s an excellent greater change coming in lower than a month. It guarantees to be essentially the most vital drone determination in many years, and one that may determine simply what number of drones all of us can anticipate to see and listen to buzzing above the US each day. Learn the total story.
—James O’Donnell
This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly AI publication. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Monday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you right this moment’s most enjoyable/vital/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 US officers confirmed Iran hacked Donald Trump’s marketing campaign
The hackers additionally tried to infiltrate the Democrat marketing campaign. (The Guardian)
+ They tricked victims into sharing delicate data through ‘social engineering.’ (FT $)
+ Officers consider Iran is attempting to sow discord forward of the presidential election. (AP)
2 AI helps to personalize therapy for Parkinson’s
Individualized algorithms tailor the quantity {of electrical} stimulation sufferers obtain. (NYT $)
+ The primary scientific trial of the know-how seems to be promising. (FT $)
+ Right here’s how customized mind stimulation might deal with melancholy. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
3 Energy era within the US is at its highest level in 21 years
Shock shock, it’s due to AI. (Bloomberg $)
+ Locals in India declare Microsoft’s new knowledge heart is dumping waste close by. (Remainder of World)
+ AI is an vitality hog. That is what it means for local weather change. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
4 The EU is probing Chinese language subsidies and imports
It covers every part from EVs to photo voltaic panels. (Reuters)
5 A rocket exploded throughout a check launch within the UK
And it’s not instantly clear why. (BBC)
6 Lethal lightning strikes are on the rise
Rising world temperatures are fuelling extra frequent harmful storms. (Wired $)
7 Even essentially the most resilient coral reefs are combating local weather change
A troublesome Caribbean reef is reaching its limits. (Vox)
+ The race is on to save lots of coral reefs—by freezing them. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
8 AI-enabled dishonest is getting worse
Universities want a sturdy plan to struggle it—and quick. (The Atlantic $)
+ ChatGPT goes to alter schooling, not destroy it. (MIT Expertise Evaluation)
9 This startup makes use of AI to create new episodes of South Park
It’s changing into the most recent solution to hold fandoms paying for his or her favourite media. (The Info $)
10 Would you meet up with a stranger for breakfast?
An app is matching diners looking for deep conversations over eggs and bacon. (WP $)
Quote of the day
“It’s very arduous to have a democratic society if folks can’t consider the issues that they see and listen to with their very own eyes.”
—Robert Weissman, co-president of non-profit Public Citizen, tells the Verge concerning the risks of Donald Trump sharing faux AI-generated photos, together with one in every of Taylor Swift endorsing him.
The large story
How local weather vulnerability and the digital divide are linked
June 2023
Strolling round low-income neighborhoods all through the US, Monica Sanders has observed a sample. The adjunct professor of regulation at Georgetown College measures Wi-Fi speeds as a part of a venture drawing connections between a number of indicators on the intersection of web availability, environmental danger, and historic racial inequity.
Sanders has discovered {that a} lack of web entry mirrors different inequities. In neighborhoods formed by racism and inadequate infrastructure funding, residents can face disproportionate danger from local weather change, affecting every part from flood vulnerability to the power to get catastrophe warnings. And she or he desires to empower them to deal with no matter subsequent comes their method. Learn the total story.
—Colleen Hagerty
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Received any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ It’s by no means too late—you’ll be able to grow to be an athlete at any age.
+ Glassblowing won’t ever not be fascinating.
+ It’s not simply you, bathroom roll actually is getting smaller. 🧻
+ Legendary producer Aphex Twin has a shocking facet hustle as a marriage DJ.
