The Obtain: residing for longer, and intercourse within the age of AI

That is right now’s version of The Download, our weekday publication that gives a day by day dose of what’s happening on the earth of expertise.

Possibly it is possible for you to to reside previous 122

How lengthy can people reside? This can be a good time to ask the query. The longevity scene is having a second, because of a mix of scientific advances, public curiosity, and an unprecedented stage of funding. Just a few key areas of analysis recommend that we’d be capable of push human life spans additional, and probably reverse no less than some indicators of getting older.

Researchers can’t even agree on what the precise mechanisms of getting older are and which they need to be focusing on. Debates proceed to rage over how lengthy it’s potential for people to reside—and whether or not there’s a restrict in any respect.

Nevertheless it seems to be possible that one thing might be developed within the coming many years that may assist us reside longer, in higher well being. Read the full story.

—Jessica Hamzelou

This piece is from the forthcoming print subject of MIT Expertise Assessment, which is celebrating 125 years of the journal! It’s set to go reside tomorrow, so if you happen to don’t already, subscribe now to pay money for future copies as soon as they land.

AI and the way forward for intercourse

Pornography raises so many questions. What’s obscene? What is moral or secure to look at? We don’t should devour and even help it, however porn nonetheless calls for solutions. The query now could be: What’s “actual” porn? 

What if porn is wholly created by an algorithm? In that case, whether or not it’s obscene, moral, or secure turns into secondary to What does it imply for porn to be “actual”—and what is going to the reply demand from all of us? Read the full story.

—Leo Herrera

A skeptic’s information to humanoid-robot movies

We live in “humanoid robotic summer time” proper now, if you happen to didn’t know. Seemingly each week brings a brand new moody, futuristic video that includes a humanoid robotic staring intensely (and generally unnervingly) into the digital camera, leaping round, or sorting issues into piles. Typically they even communicate.

However what do they present, precisely? James O’Donnell, our AI and {hardware} reporter, has watched dozens of them this 12 months, and continuously oscillates between being impressed, scared, and bored. Read his guide to what you should, and crucially shouldn’t, be excited by.

This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly publication supplying you with the within monitor on all issues AI. Sign up to obtain it in your inbox each Monday.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the web to seek out you right now’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.

1 Telegram’s founder was arrested as a part of an even bigger investigation
Authorities are trying into the huge portions of felony exercise on the platform. (The Guardian)
+ Pavel Durov has a famously hands-off strategy to moderation. (NYT $)
+ Telegram is the one main platform that fails to ban unlawful materials in non-public chats. (WP $)

2 Amazon is poised to launch a brand new and improved Alexa
However you’ll should pay to make use of it. (WP $)

3 China’s chip materials export restrictions are biting within the West

Costs of scarce important minerals are rocketing in Europe. (FT $)
+ What’s subsequent in chips. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Fb will resist future moderation strain from the US authorities 
Mark Zuckerberg says he regrets not talking out extra in regards to the Biden administration’s efforts to pressure the platform to censor covid content material. (WSJ $)
+ He gained’t contribute to supporting electoral infrastructure, both. (FT $)

5 Upstate New York is posed to develop into a quantum computing hub
If Nvidia co-founder Curtis Priem will get his approach, that’s. (The Guardian)
+ PsiQuantum plans to construct the most important quantum computing facility within the US. (MIT Technology Review)

6 Scientific fraud has a staggering loss of life toll
Falsified information prices lives. Ought to its authors face felony penalties? (Vox)

7 Tesla’s rivals are nonetheless unable to make use of its supercharger community
Regardless of Elon Musk’s guarantees that they’d 12 months in the past. (NYT $) 
+ Why EV charging wants greater than Tesla. (MIT Technology Review)

8 The US is doubling down on sewer surveillance
In a bid to trace the unfold of illicit pharmaceuticals. (The Atlantic $)
+ How scientists traced a mysterious covid case again to 6 bathrooms. (MIT Technology Review)

9 This audio safety startup claims it may well determine an AI spam name
Pindrop Safety traced the origin of the Joe Biden audio deepfake earlier this 12 months. (Bloomberg $)
+ Meta has created a option to watermark AI-generated speech. (MIT Technology Review)

10 Spotify is rife with pretend bands
Their proliferation will make it even more durable for human artists to make a residing. (Slate $)

Quote of the day

“I may at all times be unsuitable. I’ve been unsuitable earlier than. And I feel each astrologer has been unsuitable earlier than.”

—Social media astrologer Amy Tripp tells Wired about her prediction that Donald Trump will win the forthcoming US Presidential election.

The massive story

The open-source AI growth is constructed on Huge Tech’s handouts. How lengthy will it final?

Could 2023

In Could 2023 a leaked memo reported to have been written by Luke Sernau, a senior engineer at Google, stated out loud what many in Silicon Valley should have been whispering for weeks: an open-source free-for-all is threatening Huge Tech’s grip on AI.

New open-source giant language fashions—alternate options to Google’s Bard or OpenAI’s ChatGPT that researchers and app builders can research, construct on, and modify—are dropping like sweet from a piñata. These are smaller, cheaper variations of the best-in-class AI fashions created by the massive companies that (virtually) match them in efficiency—they usually’re shared without spending a dime.

In some ways, that’s a very good factor. AI gained’t thrive if just some mega-rich corporations get to gatekeep this expertise or determine how it’s used. However this open-source growth is precarious, and if Huge Tech decides to close up store, a boomtown may develop into a backwater. Read the full story.

—Will Douglas Heaven

We are able to nonetheless have good issues

A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Acquired any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)

+ Pleased Oasis reunion day to all those that rejoice!
+ For those who’re heading into the nice outdoor for the final time this summer time, right here’s the best way to benefit from camping.
+ The Web Archive is a fairly superb useful resource: do you know you should utilize it to play arcade games?
+ There’s drama unfolding in your again backyard, you just need to know where to look.