Extracting hydrogen from rocks | MIT News
It’s commonly thought that the most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen, exists mainly alongside other elements — with oxygen in water, for example, and with carbon in methane. But naturally occurring underground pockets of pure hydrogen are punching holes in that notion — and generating attention as a potentially unlimited source of carbon-free power. One…
When an antibiotic fails: MIT scientists are using AI to target “sleeper” bacteria | MIT News
Since the 1970s, modern antibiotic discovery has been experiencing a lull. Now the World Health Organization has declared the antimicrobial resistance crisis as one of the top 10 global public health threats. When an infection is treated repeatedly, clinicians run the risk of bacteria becoming resistant to the antibiotics. But why would an infection return…
Microsoft AI opens London hub to access ‘enormous pool’ of talent
Microsoft is doubling down on its AI efforts in the UK with the opening of a major new AI hub in London. The Microsoft AI London outpost will focus on advancing state-of-the-art language models, supporting infrastructure, and tooling for foundation models. The hub will be led by AI scientist and engineer Jordan Hoffmann, who previously…
ML Olympiad returns with over 20 challenges
The popular ML Olympiad is back for its third round with over 20 community-hosted machine learning competitions on Kaggle. The ML Olympiad – organised by groups including ML GDE, TFUG, and other ML communities – aims to provide developers with hands-on opportunities to learn and practice machine learning skills by tackling real-world challenges. Over the…
China plans to disrupt elections with AI-generated disinformation
Beijing is expected to ramp up sophisticated AI-generated disinformation campaigns to influence several high-profile elections in 2024, according to Microsoft’s threat intelligence team. Microsoft warned that state-backed Chinese cyber groups – with assistance from North Korean actors – “are likely to target” the presidential and legislative elections in countries such as the US, South Korea,…
Why data quality is critical for marketing in the age of GenAI
A recent survey reveals that CMOs around the world are optimistic and confident about GenAI’s future ability to enhance productivity and create competitive advantage. Seventy per cent are already using GenAI and 19 per cent are testing it. And the main areas they’re exploring are personalisation (67%), content creation (49%) and market segmentation (41%). However,…
How to safeguard your business from AI-generated deepfakes
Recently, cybercriminals used ‘deepfake’ videos of the executives of a multinational company to convince the company’s Hong Kong-based employees to wire out US $25.6 million. Based on a video conference call featuring multiple deepfakes, the employees believed that their UK-based chief financial officer had requested that the funds be transferred. Police have reportedly arrested six…
A new computational technique could make it easier to engineer useful proteins | MIT News
To engineer proteins with useful functions, researchers usually begin with a natural protein that has a desirable function, such as emitting fluorescent light, and put it through many rounds of random mutation that eventually generate an optimized version of the protein. This process has yielded optimized versions of many important proteins, including green fluorescent protein…
UK and US sign pact to develop AI safety tests
The UK and US have signed a landmark agreement to collaborate on developing rigorous testing for advanced AI systems, representing a major step forward in ensuring their safe deployments. The Memorandum of Understanding – signed Monday by UK Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan and US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo – establishes a partnership to align the…
Does technology help or hurt employment? | MIT News
This is part 2 of a two-part MIT News feature examining new job creation in the U.S. since 1940, based on new research from Ford Professor of Economics David Autor. Part 1 is available here. Ever since the Luddites were destroying machine looms, it has been obvious that new technologies can wipe out jobs. But…