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The Download: peering inside an LLM, and the rise of Signal
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.
Anthropic can now track the bizarre inner workings of a large language model
The news: The AI firm Anthropic has developed a way to peer inside a large language model and watch what it does as it comes up with a response, revealing key new insights into how the technology works. The takeaway: LLMs are even stranger than we thought.
Why it matters: It’s no secret that large language models work in mysterious ways. Shedding some light on how they work would expose their weaknesses, revealing why they make stuff up and can be tricked into going off the rails. It would help resolve deep disputes about exactly what these models can and can’t do. And it would show how trustworthy (or not) they really are. Read the full story.
—Will Douglas Heaven
What is Signal? The messaging app, explained.
With the recent news that the Atlantic’s editor in chief was accidentally added to a group Signal chat for American leaders planning a bombing in Yemen, many people are wondering: What is Signal? Is it secure? If government officials aren’t supposed to use it for military planning, does that mean I shouldn’t use it either?
The answer is: Yes, you should use Signal, but government officials having top-secret conversations shouldn’t use Signal. Read the full story to find out why.
—Jack Cushman
This story is part of our MIT Technology Review Explains series, in which our writers untangle the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what’s coming next. You can read more of them here.
“Spare” living human bodies might provide us with organs for transplantation
—Jessica Hamzelou
This week, MIT Technology Review published a piece on bodyoids—living bodies that cannot think or feel pain. In the piece, a trio of scientists argue that advances in biotechnology will soon allow us to create “spare” human bodies that could be used for research, or to provide organs for donation.
If you find your skin crawling at this point, you’re not the only one. It’s a creepy idea, straight from the more horrible corners of science fiction. But bodyoids could be used for good. And if they are truly unaware and unable to think, the use of bodyoids wouldn’t cross “most people’s ethical lines,” the authors argue.
I’m not so sure. Read the full story.
This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 A judge has ordered Trump’s officials to preserve their secret Signal chat
While officials are required by law to keep chats detailing government business, Signal’s messages can be set to auto-disappear. (USA Today)
+ The conversation detailed an imminent attack against Houthi rebels in Yemen. (The Hill)
+ A government accountability group has sued the agencies involved. (Reuters)
+ The officials involved in the chat appear to have public Venmo accounts. (Wired $)
2 The White House is prepared to cut up to 50% of agency staff
But the final cuts could end up exceeding even that. (WP $)
+ The sweeping cuts could threaten vital US statistics, too. (FT $)
+ Can AI help DOGE slash government budgets? It’s complex. (MIT Technology Review)
3 OpenAI is struggling to keep up with demand for ChatGPT’s image generation
The fervor around its Studio Ghibli pictures has sent its GPUs into overdrive. (The Verge)
+ Ghibli’s founder is no fan of AI art. (404 Media)
+ Four ways to protect your art from AI. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Facebook is pivoting back towards friends and family
Less news, fewer posts from people you don’t know. (NYT $)
+ A new tab shows purely updates from friends, with no other recommendations. (Insider $)
5 Africa is set to build its first AI factory
A specialized powerhouse for AI computing, to be precise. (Rest of World)
+ What Africa needs to do to become a major AI player. (MIT Technology Review)
6 A TikTok network spread Spanish-language immigration misinformation
Including clips of the doctored voices of well-known journalists. (NBC News)
7 Your TV is desperate for your data
Streamers are scrambling around for new ways to make money off the information they gather on you. (Vox)
8 This startup extracts rare earth oxides from industrial magnets 🧲
It’s a less intrusive way of accessing minerals vital to EV and wind turbine production. (FT $)
+ The race to produce rare earth elements. (MIT Technology Review)
9 NASA hopes to launch its next Starliner flight as soon as later this year
After its latest mission stretched from a projected eight days to nine months. (Reuters)
+ Europe is finally getting serious about commercial rockets. (MIT Technology Review)
10 The Sims has been the world’s favorite life simulation game for 25 years
But a new Korean game is both more realistic and multicultural. (Bloomberg $)
Quote of the day
“It’s like, can you tell the difference between a person and a person-shaped sock puppet that is holding up a sign saying, ‘I am a sock puppet’?”
—Laura Edelson, a computer science professor at Northeastern University, is skeptical about brands’ abilities to ensure their ads are being shown to real humans and not bots, she tells the Wall Street Journal.
The big story
The race to fix space-weather forecasting before next big solar storm hits
April 2024
As the number of satellites in space grows, and as we rely on them for increasing numbers of vital tasks on Earth, the need to better predict stormy space weather is becoming more and more urgent.
Scientists have long known that solar activity can change the density of the upper atmosphere. But it’s incredibly difficult to precisely predict the sorts of density changes that a given amount of solar activity would produce.
Now, experts are working on a model of the upper atmosphere to help scientists to improve their models of how solar activity affects the environment in low Earth orbit. If they succeed, they’ll be able to keep satellites safe even amid turbulent space weather, reducing the risk of potentially catastrophic orbital collisions. Read the full story.
—Tereza Pultarova
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 skeet ’em at me.)
+ This is very cool—a nearly-infinite virtual museum entirely generated from Wikipedia.
+ How to let go of that grudge you’ve been harboring (you know the one)
+ If your social media feeds have been plagued by hot men making bad art, you’re not alone.
+ It’s Friday, so enjoy this 1992 recording of a very fresh-faced Pearl Jam.
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