The Download: why AI’s latest breakthroughs and fears may be more hype than reality
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Don’t be fooled by this summer of AI hype —Timnit Gebru, executive director of the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR), and Emily M. Bender, professor of linguistics at the University of…
This weekly edition of The Download highlights the current landscape of AI hype and concerns. Two prominent voices, Timnit Gebru and Emily M. Bender, express skepticism towards AI's rapid advancement and the misleading rhetoric from tech companies. They argue that the hype is driven by commercial interests, aiming to obscure the truth from policymakers and the public.
The newsletter covers several key developments in AI, including international calls for a global oversight body, Texas and California implementing stricter regulations for data centers, AMD becoming a $1 trillion company due to AI chip sales, Meta's AI agent Muse surpassing ChatGPT in popularity, development of an edible battery for medical devices, Trump's potential veto power over NIH grants, epigenetic editing trials for hepatitis B in humans, funding for tree vaccines and gene-edited butterflies in the UK, the impact of a rocket shortage on satellite launches, and a malfunction in Dyson's $500 toothbrush.
A notable quote from Ben Casselman summarizes the overarching sentiment: AI's potential to disrupt the job market and economy is a reason for people to feel trapped in a lose-lose situation with the AI boom.
Written by urgent.news from MIT Technology Review's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
