Afrigather That is at this time’s version of The Obtain, our weekday publication that gives a day by day dose of what is going on on on the planet of expertise.
Methods to break freed from Spotify’s algorithm
For the reason that heyday of radio, data, cassette tapes, and MP3 gamers, the branding of sound has advanced from broad genres like rock and hip-hop to “paranormal darkish cabaret afternoon” and “synth house,” and streaming has grow to be the default.
In the meantime, the ritual of discovering one thing new is now neatly packaged in a 30-song playlist, refreshed weekly. The one rule in music streaming, as in another business nowadays, is personalization.
However what we’ve gained in comfort, we’ve misplaced in curiosity. Certain, our limitless entry lets us hearken to Swedish tropical home or New Jersey hardcore, however this abundance of selection really makes our listening expertise much less expansive or eclectic.
As we develop accustomed to the comfort of shuffling a generated playlist, we overlook that discovering music is an energetic train. However it doesn’t should be this fashion. Learn the total story.
—Tiffany Ng
Tiffany’s piece is from the newest print subject of MIT Know-how Assessment, which is celebrating 125 years of the journal! If you happen to don’t already, subscribe now to make sure you pay money for future copies as soon as they land.
Roundtable: Producing climate-friendly meals
Our meals methods account for a serious chunk of worldwide greenhouse-gas emissions, however some companies try to develop options that would assist tackle the local weather impacts of agriculture. That features two corporations on the recently-announced 2024 listing of MIT Know-how Assessment’s 15 Local weather Tech Corporations to Watch. Pivot Bio is inventing new fertilizers, and Rumin8 is working to deal with emissions from cattle.
Be a part of MIT Know-how Assessment senior editor James Temple and senior reporter Casey Crownhart at 12pm ET this Thursday October 10 for a subscriber-exclusive Roundtable diving into the way forward for meals and the local weather with particular visitors Karsten Temme, chief innovation officer and co-founder of Pivot Bio, and Matt Callahan, co-founder and counsel of Rumin8. Register right here.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you at this time’s most enjoyable/vital/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 A lethal virus is spreading throughout Rwanda
Marburg, which has similarities to Ebola, is prone to unfold to its neighboring international locations. (Vox)
+ Rwanda has began vaccine trials to aim to comprise it. (BBC)
+ The danger of it spreading globally is comparatively low, although. (NYT $)
2 Two American biologists have been awarded the Nobel Prize
Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun have been honored for his or her microRNA analysis. (CNN)
3 This highly effective lobbying group is difficult US little one security payments
Specialists are involved it’s misusing the First Modification to take action. (NYT $)
+ Silicon Valley’s lobbying energy is on the ascent. (New Yorker $)
+ Youngster on-line security legal guidelines will really damage youngsters, critics say. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
4 Scammers in Southeast Asia stole as much as $37 billion final yr
Gen AI and deepfakes imply their schemes are extra convincing than ever. (Bloomberg $)
+ Telegram is a hotbed of prison exercise and fraud networks. (Reuters)
+ 5 methods criminals are utilizing AI. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
5 How rural communities are preventing again in opposition to information facilities
Grassroots actions are taking again the facility—and profitable. (WP $)
+ Power-hungry information facilities are quietly shifting into cities. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
6 Viable search options to Google are lastly rising
After 15 years of dominance, advertisers are hungry for one thing totally different. (WSJ $)
+ It seems as if much more AI Google options are on their manner. (Insider $)
+ Why Google’s AI Overviews will get issues mistaken. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
7 Substack needs to broaden past newsletters
How, precisely? By turning into a way of fee for creators. (Semafor)
8 The way forward for search and rescue
Drones may be a lot faster and extra thorough than human volunteers. (Wired $)
+ AI-directed drones might assist discover misplaced hikers quicker. (MIT Know-how Assessment)
9 Contained in the final’s yr wild and wacky British innovations
From flatpack coffins to a downwards-facing laptop monitor. (The Guardian)
10 Can robots undergo?
That’s the query artist Lawrence Lek is exploring in his newest AI movie. (FT $)
Quote of the day
“You don’t must press a button to open a window. You’ll be able to simply open the window.”
—Adam DeMartino, cofounder of sustainable meals startup Smallhold, displays on how expertise can over complicate easy concepts to the Guardian.
The large story
AI was speculated to make police bodycams higher. What occurred?
April 2024
When police departments first began shopping for and deploying bodycams within the wake of the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, a decade in the past, activists hoped it might result in actual change.
Years later, regardless of what’s grow to be a multibillion-dollar marketplace for these units, the tech is much from a panacea. A lot of the huge reams of footage they generate go unwatched. Officers typically do not use them correctly. And in the event that they do lastly present video to the general public, it’s typically selectively edited, missing context and failing to inform the entire story.
A handful of AI startups see this downside as a possibility to create what are primarily bodycam-to-text packages for various gamers within the authorized system, mining this footage for misdeeds. However just like the bodycams themselves, the expertise nonetheless faces procedural, authorized, and cultural obstacles to success. Learn the total story.
—Patrick Sisson
We will nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Obtained any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ These chickens are nicely and actually moving into the Halloween spirit!
+ If you happen to’re fortunate sufficient to reside wherever close to these nationwide parks, I recommend you get yourselves down there instantly.
+ Don’t combat it—Mr Brightside continues to be a banger.
+ No extra microtrends, I encourage.
