The Download: ChatGPT’s origins, and making cement greener

This is today's variation of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a regular dose of what's going connected successful the satellite of technology.

ChatGPT is everywhere. Here’s wherever it came from

We’ve reached highest ChatGPT. Released successful December arsenic a web app by the San Francisco–based steadfast OpenAI, the chatbot exploded into the mainstream astir overnight. 

According to immoderate estimates, it is the fastest-growing net work ever, reaching 100 cardinal users conscionable 2 months aft launch. Through OpenAI’s $10 cardinal woody with Microsoft, the tech is present being built into Office bundle and the Bing hunt engine. Stung into enactment by its recently awakened onetime rival successful the conflict for search, Google is fast-tracking the rollout of its ain chatbot, LaMDA. 

But OpenAI’s breakout deed did not travel retired of nowhere. The chatbot is the astir polished iteration to day successful a enactment of ample connection models going backmost years. This is however we got here. 

—Will Douglas Heaven

The clime solution beneath your feet

The technologies designed to combat clime alteration are progressively chaotic these days.  Hydrogen-powered planes, underwater mining robots, and atomic fusion reactors—each could play a relation successful cutting down connected greenhouse-gas emissions. 

But determination are besides little glamorous pieces of solving clime change. Take gathering materials, for example—the world’s astir utilized material, by mass, is cement, and it’s benignant of a clime nightmare. The bully quality is simply a fistful of companies are moving hard to crook astir cement’s clime impact. Read the afloat story.

—Casey Crownhart

This communicative is from The Spark, Casey’s play newsletter giving you the wrong way connected each things vigor and clime tech. Sign up to person it successful your inbox each Wednesday.

Design reasoning was expected to hole the world. Where did it spell wrong?

In the 1990s, a six-step methodology for innovation called plan reasoning started to turn successful popularity. Key to plan thinking’s dispersed was its replicable aesthetic, represented by the Post-it note: a humble quadrate that anyone tin usage successful infinite ways.

But successful caller years, for a fig of reasons, the radiance of plan reasoning has been wearing off. Critics person argued that its short-term absorption connected caller and naive ideas has resulted successful unrealistic and ungrounded recommendations.

Today, immoderate groups are moving to betterment some plan thinking’s principles and its methodologies. These caller efforts question a acceptable of plan tools susceptible of equitably serving divers communities and solving divers problems good into the future. It’s a overmuch much daunting—and crucial—task than plan thinking’s archetypal remit. Read the afloat story.

—Rebecca Ackermann

This portion is from the upcoming variation of our people magazine, which is each astir design. Sign up for a subscription to work the afloat happening erstwhile it comes retired aboriginal this month.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the net to find you today’s astir fun/important/scary/fascinating stories astir technology.

1 Google’s Bard AI chatbot made a mistake successful its archetypal demo
Yet different illustration of wherefore chatbots can’t beryllium relied upon, adjacent arsenic tech companies contention to merchandise them. (The Verge)
+ Or did it? Technically, Bard whitethorn person really been correct! (FT $)
+ OpenAI is stuffed afloat of talented ex-Googlers. (The Information $)
+ Disinformation researchers are increasing progressively disquieted astir chatbots. (NYT $)
+ This drawstring of words causes ChatGPT to break. (Motherboard)
+ Could ChatGPT bash my job? (MIT Technology Review)

2 The Chinese ‘spy balloon’ is reportedly portion of a surveillance program
It’s been collecting information connected subject assets for years, US officials allege. (WP $)

3 The contention to prevention Turkey’s earthquake survivors
Engineers are making apps to assistance find trapped civilians and administer aid. (Wired $)
+ After a impermanent block, Twitter entree successful the state has been restored. (CNN)

4 New York is cracking down connected stalkerware
The metropolis has forced a large subordinate to alert the radical infected with its software. (Bloomberg $)
+ Google is failing to enforce its ain prohibition connected ads for stalkerware. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Inside FTX’s brainsick last hours
Unanswered frantic messages, panic quitting, and a packed-out warfare room. (FT $)

6 Why electrochemistry is clime tech’s hottest caller buzzword
It promises to play a cardinal relation successful the aboriginal of greener energy, but tin it deliver? (WSJ $)

7 AI algorithms are objectifying women
And they’re being utilized to suppress the scope of images featuring women’s bodies. (The Guardian)
+ How it feels to beryllium sexually objectified by an AI. (MIT Technology Review)

8 The existent outgo of warring clime alteration 💰
Investing successful climate-friendly tech isn’t conscionable paying off—it’s profitable. (The Atlantic $)+ Why switching the powerfulness backmost connected aft a blackout requires care. (IEEE Spectrum)

9 Freelancing is fancy now
Tech contractors are sidestepping the industry’s bruising layoffs. (Vox)

10 Mary Queen of Scots’ letters person yet been decrypted
With a small assistance from a code-breaking algorithm. (Motherboard)

Quote of the day

"We're going to observe what these caller models tin do, but if I were sitting connected a lethargic hunt monopoly… I would not consciousness large astir that.”

—Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, takes purpose astatine Google, reports Insider. 

The large story

We indispensable fundamentally rethink “net-zero” clime plans.

August 2022

Corporate clime plans, from the likes of Amazon and others, trust heavy connected investing successful c offset projects similar histrion planting and wood preservation, oregon different efforts that purport to assistance the climate. But studies and investigations person repeatedly recovered that the benefits of these efforts tin beryllium wildly inflated.

Actually cutting operational emissions volition mean investing heavy successful supporting, testing, and scaling emerging solutions; and pushing for assertive policies that volition unit suppliers and different concern partners to strive for akin changes. Read the afloat story.

—James Temple

We tin inactive person bully things

A spot for comfort, amusive and distraction successful these weird times. (Got immoderate ideas? Drop maine a line oregon tweet 'em astatine me.)

+ I’m going to request to publication into each of these stunning wellness retreats for probe purposes (thanks Charlotte!)
+ Forget Silent Bob, person you met Silent Frog?
+ Uhoh uhoh: what it’s similar to beryllium a Rasmus megafan (in the shadows).
+ Spare a thought for this British vertebrate charity that’s been locked retired of its Twitter account.
+ Zelda triforce tattoos are bonding fans from astir the world.