Afrigather Plus: AI search engine Perplexity is getting used
That is at this time’s version of The Obtain, our weekday publication that gives a every day dose of what is going on on on this planet of know-how.
How refrigeration ruined recent meals
Three-quarters of every little thing within the common American food regimen passes by way of the chilly chain—the community of warehouses, transport containers, vans, show instances, and home fridges that preserve meat, milk, and extra chilled on the journey from farm to fork.
As shoppers, we put plenty of religion in phrases like “recent” and “pure,” however synthetic refrigeration has created a blind spot. We’ve gotten so good at preserving (and storing) meals, that we all know extra about methods to lengthen an apple’s life span than a human’s, and most of us don’t give that extraordinary course of a lot thought in any respect.
We’ve used refrigeration to unravel issues however haven’t finished a real accounting of the environmental, dietary, and even sociocultural prices, creator Nicola Twilley argues in her new ebook Frostbite: How Refrigeration Modified Our Meals, Our Planet, and Ourselves. And all that comfort has come on the expense of variety and deliciousness. Learn the complete story.
—Allison Arieff
This story is from the subsequent print subject of MIT Expertise Assessment, which comes out tomorrow and delves into the strange world of meals. For those who don’t already, subscribe to obtain a replica as soon as it lands.
Would you belief AI to mediate an argument?
—Melissa Heikkilä
I’ve not too long ago been feeling heartbroken. An in depth buddy not too long ago lower off contact with me. I don’t actually perceive why, and my makes an attempt at fixing the state of affairs have backfired. Conditions like this are hurtful and complicated. So it’s no surprise that persons are more and more turning to AI chatbots to assist clear up them. And there’s excellent news: AI may really have the ability to assist.
Researchers from Google DeepMind not too long ago skilled a system of huge language fashions to assist individuals come to settlement over social or political points. The AI mannequin was skilled to establish and current areas the place individuals’s concepts overlapped. With the assistance of this AI mediator, small teams of research members grew to become much less divided of their positions on varied points.
Among the finest makes use of for AI chatbots is for brainstorming, however this newest analysis suggests they might assist us to see issues from different individuals’s views too. So why not use AI to patch issues up with my buddy? Learn the complete story.
This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly publication supplying you with the within monitor on all issues AI. Join to obtain it in your inbox each Monday.
What questions do you need to learn about local weather know-how?
Do you will have any burning questions on local weather tech that you simply’ve all the time wished to know? Nicely, we’ve obtained solutions. MIT Expertise Assessment’s local weather group is internet hosting an AMA (Ask Me Something) on Reddit at this time at 1pm ET. Get your questions in now!
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you at this time’s most enjoyable/necessary/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 Rupert Murdoch’s information retailers are suing AI search engine Perplexity
They accuse it of “freeriding” on their content material. (The Register)
+ They’re arguing that hallucinating information and attributing it to actual papers is prohibited. (Wired $)
+ Conveniently, Murdoch’s Information Corp agreed a significant take care of OpenAI earlier this 12 months. (CNN)
2 Kamala Harris is going through an onslaught of on-line assaults
Because the US Presidential election approaches, she’s the goal of a recent wave of abuse and false claims. (WP $)
+ Girls’s well being startups are nervous concerning the potential of Trump’s reelection. (Insider $)
3 ByteDance accused an intern of sabotaging its AI fashions
By planting malicious code to intervene with coaching duties. (Ars Technica)
+ Rumors concerning the sacking had been circulating throughout Chinese language social media. (The Guardian)
4 The Pentagon is seeking to recruit prime tech minds
However can it persuade them to swap Silicon Valley for the Protection Division? (WSJ $)
+ Protection contractors are fixated on drone-destroying laser weapons. (FT $)
5 The rise and fall of a Kentucky bitcoin mine
The mission was alleged to usher in prosperity, nevertheless it by no means even obtained off the bottom. (Wired $)
+ How Bitcoin mining devastated this New York city. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
6 Arkansas may be sitting on tons of lithium
It’s absolutely solely a countdown till the exploratory mining begins now. (NYT $)
+ Residents in Hungary are preventing authorities plans for battery crops. (Remainder of World)
7 India is eager to be a part of the EV revolution
The issue is, it hasn’t obtained sufficient of the autos. (Remainder of World)
+ Chinese language-made EVs are flooding into the EU. (Bloomberg $)
+ Some nations are ending help for EVs. Is it too quickly? (MIT Expertise Assessment)
8 Estonia’s authorities is revisiting its defunct reactors
To research their potential as nuclear waste storage websites. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ Why Microsoft made a deal to assist restart Three Mile Island. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
9 Don’t filter out your telephone’s picture library
Photographing scenes of on a regular basis life are literally fairly particular in any case. (New Yorker $)
+ The race to avoid wasting our on-line lives from a digital darkish age. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
10 All hail comedian sans
The much-derived font is having the final snort. (The Atlantic $)
Quote of the day
“Perplexity proudly states that customers can ‘skip the hyperlinks’— apparently, Perplexity needs to skip the examine.”
—Robert Thomson, CEO of writer Information Corp, accuses AI search engine Perplexity of dodging paying for its journalism in a brand new lawsuit, Selection stories.
The large story
How tradition drives foul play on the web, and the way new “upcode” can defend us
August 2023
From Bored Apes and Fancy Bears, to Shiba Inu cash, self-replicating viruses, and whales, the web is crawling with fraud, hacks, and scams.
And whereas new applied sciences come and go, they alter little about the truth that on-line unlawful operations exist as a result of some persons are keen to behave illegally, and others fall for the tales they inform.
Finally, on-line crime is a human story. Three new books provide explanations into why it occurs, why it really works, and the way we will defend ourselves from falling for such schemes—regardless of how convincing they’re. Learn the complete story.
—Rebecca Ackermann
We will nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Bought any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Cease—you’re cleansing your glasses all unsuitable! Right here’s methods to do it correctly, free from smudges.
+ Nineteen Twenties Vampires! Tom Holland! Christopher Nolan! We’re in.
+ All of us get distracted typically, however overcoming it’s all about sustaining momentum.
+ Andrew Garfield has obtained nice style in films.
