The Download: what tomorrow holds for today’s babies, and replacing the brain
Plus: California’s lawmakers have amended its AI safety bill
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.
What the future holds for those born today
Happy birthday, baby.
You have been born into an era of intelligent machines. They have watched over you almost since your conception. They let your parents listen in on your tiny heartbeat, track your gestation on an app, and post your sonogram on social media. Well before you were born, you were known to the algorithm.
In the future, everyone thinks, computers will get smaller and more plentiful still. But the biggest change in your lifetime will be the rise of intelligent agents. Computing will be more responsive, more intimate, less confined to any one platform. It will be less like a tool, and more like a companion. It will learn from you and also be your guide.
Your arrival coincided with the 125th anniversary of this magazine. With a bit of luck and the right genes, you might see the next 125 years. How will you and the next generation of machines grow up together? We asked more than a dozen experts to imagine your joint future. Read what they prophesied for your future.
—Kara Platoni
Kara’s story is from the forthcoming print issue of MIT Technology Review, which is celebrating 125 years of the magazine! It’s set to go live on Wednesday August 28, so if you don’t already, subscribe now to get a copy when it lands.
This researcher wants to replace your brain, little by little
A US agency pursuing moonshot health breakthroughs has hired a researcher advocating an extremely radical plan for defeating death.
His idea? Replace your body parts. All of them. Even your brain.
Jean Hébert, a new hire with the US Advanced Projects Agency for Health, is expected to lead a major new initiative around “functional brain tissue replacement,” the idea of adding youthful tissue to people’s brains.
The brain renewal concept could have applications such as treating stroke victims, who lose areas of brain function. But Hébert, a biologist at the Albert Einstein school of medicine, has most often proposed total brain replacement, along with replacing other parts of our anatomy, as the only plausible means of avoiding death from old age.
The strategy is not widely accepted, even among researchers in the aging field. But Hébert’s ideas appear to have gotten a huge endorsement from the US government. Read the full story.
—Antonio Regalado
What’s next for drones
Drones have been a mainstay technology among militaries, hobbyists, and first responders alike for more than a decade. No longer limited to small quadcopters with insufficient battery life, drones are aiding search and rescue efforts, reshaping wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and delivering time-sensitive packages of medical supplies. And billions of dollars are being plowed into building the next generation of fully autonomous systems.
These developments raise a number of questions: Are drones safe enough to be flown in dense neighborhoods and cities? Is it a violation of people’s privacy for police to fly drones overhead at an event or protest? Who decides what level of drone autonomy is acceptable in a war zone?
Those questions are no longer hypothetical. Advancements in drone technology and sensors, falling prices, and easing regulations are making drones cheaper, faster, and more capable than ever. Here’s a look at four of the biggest changes coming to drone technology in the near future.
—James O’Donnell
This story is from MIT Technology Review’s What’s Next series, which looks across industries, trends, and technologies to give you a first look at the future. You can read the rest of them here.
Aging hits us in our 40s and 60s. But well-being doesn’t have to fall off a cliff.
—Jessica Hamzelou
You might feel like you’re on a slow, gradual decline, but, at the molecular level, you’re likely to be hit by two waves of changes, according to researchers at Stanford University. The first one comes in your 40s. Eek.
But it’s not as simple as it sounds. And midlife needn’t involve falling off a cliff in terms of your well-being. Let’s explore why.
This story is from The Checkup, our weekly biotech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday.
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The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 California lawmakers have watered down the state’s AI safety bill
The changes make it more difficult for the state’s attorney general to sue AI firms. (TechCrunch)
+ The open source community is still concerned it’ll stifle innovation. (NYT $)
2 Mpox has been detected in Pakistan
Shortly after a case of the new variant was confirmed in Sweden. (Reuters)
+ The new mpox strain is far deadlier than its predecessor. (Wired $)
+ Covid cases are on the rise too. (Vox)
3 The world can’t kick its fossil fuel habit
And AI data centers are partly to blame. (WSJ $)
+ If your power bill is on the rise, you’re not alone. (Vox)
+ AI is an energy hog. This is what it means for climate change. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Ozempic patients are hacking their injection pens
While most are trying to save money, others are managing side effects. (The Atlantic $)
+ Weight-loss injections have taken over the internet. But what does this mean for people IRL? (MIT Technology Review)
5 Election influence campaigns are rife on X
Elon Musk’s war on bots seems to have had little effect. (Rest of World)
+ Eric Schmidt has a 6-point plan for fighting election misinformation. (MIT Technology Review)
6 Why deepfake detection tools fail
They’re easily fooled by software tweaks and edits. (WP $)
+ Google is finally taking action to curb non-consensual deepfakes. (MIT Technology Review)
7 What’s next for psychedelic medicine?
The FDA’s rejection of MDMA as treatment for PTSD is bad news for startup Lykos Therapeutics. (Wired $)
+ Why the FDA’s advisors decided against approving it. (MIT Technology Review)
8 US states are clamping down on tiny Japanese cars
The imported Kei vehicles are dwarfed by SUVs, which authorities argue is dangerous. (Ars Technica)
9 TikTok influencers are embracing a new demure mindset
It’s all down to creator Jools Lebron’s tongue-in-cheek clips. (The Guardian)
10 Magic: The Gathering is facing an AI reckoning
The card game’s distinctive artwork is ripe for AI aping. (Slate $)
+ This artist is dominating AI-generated art. And he’s not happy about it. (MIT Technology Review)
Quote of the day
“You drop out and you die immediately, or you partner with them and you probably just die slowly, because eventually they’re not going to need you either.”
—Joe Ragazzo, publisher of the news site Talking Points Memo, tells Bloomberg about the tricky choice publishers are facing between offering their content up to AI firms, or disappearing from Google search altogether.
The big story
The great chip crisis threatens the promise of Moore’s Law
The world is facing an economically devastating shortage of microchips.
Production has also slowed for smartphones, laptops, video-game consoles, TVs, and even smart appliances, all because of the lack of cheap microchips. Their use is so essential and so widespread that some observers think the chip crisis could threaten the global economic recovery from the pandemic.
The spirit of Moore’s Law—the expectation that cheap, powerful chips will always be readily available—is now being threatened by something far more mundane: inflexible supply chains. Read the full story.
—Jeremy Hsu
We can still have nice things
A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Today in pointless news: this man plugged 444 consoles into a single TV.
+ If you’ve ever wondered what happens to all those tennis balls once Wimbledon is over, they’re repurposed into homes for harvest mice 🥹
+ Happy birthday to the one and only queen of pop—66 today.
+ Wait—young people don’t wear sneakers any more!?
