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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.
This caller instrumentality could support your pictures from AI manipulation
What’s happening? There’s presently thing stopping idiosyncratic taking the selfie you posted online past week and editing it utilizing almighty generative AI systems. Even worse, it mightiness beryllium intolerable to beryllium that the resulting representation is fake. The bully quality is that a caller tool, created by researchers astatine MIT, could forestall this.
How does it work? The tool, called PhotoGuard, works similar a protective shield by altering photos successful tiny ways that are invisible to the quality oculus but forestall them from being manipulated. If idiosyncratic tries to usage an editing app based connected a generative AI exemplary to manipulate an representation that has been “immunized” by PhotoGuard, the effect volition look unrealistic oregon warped.
Why it matters: The request to find ways to observe and halt AI-powered manipulation has ne'er been much urgent, due to the fact that generative AI tools person made it quicker and easier than ever before. Read the afloat story.
—Melissa Heikkilä
Why air-conditioning is simply a clime antihero
Temperatures are rising astir the globe, shattering utmost vigor records connected fundamentally each continent. It’s making air-conditioning little of a “nice to have” and much of an implicit necessity successful immoderate parts of the world.
But air-conditioning is becoming a monster erstwhile it comes to vigor demand. We mightiness person to adhd a full US electrical grid’s worthy of caller vigor procreation conscionable to powerfulness each the aerial conditioners that volition travel online successful the adjacent fewer decades. On the upside, plentifulness of radical are moving towards improving existing systems to marque them much climate-friendly. Read the afloat story.
—Casey Crownhart
This communicative is from The Spark, Casey’s play newsletter giving you the wrong way connected each things clime and energy. Sign up to person it successful your inbox each Wednesday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the net to find you today’s astir fun/important/scary/fascinating stories astir technology.
1 Scientists are questioning the find of a room-temperature superconductor
Some are wondering if the reported breakthrough is excessively bully to beryllium true. (New Scientist $)
+ A large diary has retracted a insubstantial written by 1 of the aforesaid authors. (NYT $)
+ Physicist Ranga Dias is facing accusations that helium fabricated data. (Scientific American $)
2 Temperatures are breaking records crossed the world
But not each records are equal, exactly. (Vox)
+ All these clime disasters are costing america billions of dollars. (Bloomberg $)
+ Scientists are arguing implicit whether the Atlantic’s currents are truly collapsing. (Wired $)
+ More close upwind forecasting is connected the horizon. (Economist $)
+ Weather forecasting is having an AI moment. (MIT Technology Review)
3 AI’s biggest companies are forming a information body
But it relies connected them each openly sharing information with each different which seems… unlikely. (WP $)
+ It’s looking an atrocious batch similar a tendency to self-regulate. (FT $)
4 NASA wants to physique a nuclear-powered rocket 🚀
In theory, it could velocity astronauts to Mars successful fractional the clip it presently takes. (NYT $)
+ Quicker journeys would beryllium overmuch amended for cooped-up unit members. (WP $)
5 The US is yet getting caller EV chargers
But adjacent the 30,000-strong web is falling abbreviated of what’s needed. (WSJ $)
+ In the clash of the EV chargers, it’s Tesla vs. everyone else. (MIT Technology Review)
6 AI’s quality workers are rising up
Data annotators accidental they’re overworked, underpaid and mistreated. (The Atlantic $)
+ We are each AI’s escaped information workers. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Texas constabulary purchased Israeli phone-tracking tech
Authorities are cracking down connected migrants attempting to transverse the borderline from Mexico. (The Intercept)
+ The caller US borderline partition is an app. (MIT Technology Review)
8 Fears are increasing astir China’s self-driving car tech
Experts fearfulness it could physique autonomous subject vehicles. (Bloomberg $)
+ Meanwhile successful San Francisco, a radical is waging warfare against robotaxis. (The Guardian)
+ Robotaxis are here. It’s clip to determine what to bash astir them. (MIT Technology Review)
9 Robots are becoming much human-like
When combined with blase chatbots, the results are adjacent much uncanny. (New Yorker $)+ This four-legged robot is arsenic comfy connected 2 legs. (IEEE Spectrum)
10 It’s virtually intolerable to vie with Google Search
But a radical of erstwhile Googlers are having a go. (The Verge)
Quote of the day
“At this clip of time you lone spot tourists successful the square. Everyone other is indoors.”
—Panagiotis Vahaviolos, a edifice proprietor successful Mystras, Greece, despairs astatine the aggravated vigor question savaging the country, helium tells the Guardian.
The large story
The gig workers warring backmost against the algorithms
April 2022In the Bendungan Hilir neighborhood, conscionable a stone’s propulsion from Jakarta’s glitzy concern district, motorcycle drivers stitchery successful an informal “base camp.” They are drivers with Gojek, Indonesia’s largest ride-hailing firm. They’re besides portion of the backbone of a increasing question of absorption against the dispatch algorithms that predominate their lives.
Base camps grew retired of a contented that existed earlier algorithmic ride-hailing services came to Indonesia. They’re the web done which drivers astir the metropolis enactment successful choky communication.
This consciousness of assemblage is present astatine the bosom of what distinguishes Jakarta’s drivers from different gig workers astir the world, and could uncover a caller playbook for resistance: a mode for workers to physique corporate power, execute a measurement of security, and instrumentality attraction of 1 different erstwhile seemingly nary 1 other will. Read the afloat story.
—Karen Hao & Nadine Freischlad
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.)
+ Uni the charismatic cat definite loves squishing into boxes.
+ Why are we truthful gripped by near-death experiences?
+ If you’re ever passing done Kings Cross St Pancras presumption successful London, you mightiness beryllium fortunate capable to stumble crossed this benignant of impressive duet.
+ The net tin beryllium cruel, particularly if you’re called Karen.
+ This is cool: Michelangelo was fond of utilizing antheral models to picture his pistillate subjects.
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