The Download: watermarking AI text, and freezing eggs

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. A watermark for chatbots can spot text written by an AI What’s happened: A new method could help us to spot AI-generated texts. Watermarking buries hidden patterns in the text that are invisible to the...

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A watermark for chatbots can expose text written by an AI

Hidden patterns purposely buried in AI-generated texts could help identify them as such, allowing us to tell whether the words we’re reading are written by a human or not. These “watermarks” are invisible to the human eye but let computers detect that the text probably comes from an AI system. If embedded in large language models, they could...

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How do I know if egg freezing is for me?

This article is from The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, sign up here. Egg freezing is on my mind. At 36, I’m at an age when many of my friends have had babies, and the few who haven’t are weighing up their options. If they plan on having children at some point in the...

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How Roomba tester’s private images ended up on Facebook

A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on social media? This episode we go behind the scenes of an MIT Technology Review investigation that uncovered how sensitive photos taken by an AI powered vacuum were leaked and landed on the internet. Reporting: A Roomba recorded a woman...

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The Download: ChatGPT workout plans, and cleaning up aviation

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. People are already using ChatGPT to create workout plans When I opened the email telling me I’d been accepted to run the London Marathon, I felt elated. And then terrified. Barely six months on from...

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How new technologies could clean up air travel

This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. As a climate reporter, I sometimes hesitate to admit this, but I feel it’s time that I came clean on something … I love flying. It’s not even just about traveling and seeing new places: I truly enjoy...

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People are already using ChatGPT to create workout plans

When I opened the email telling me I’d been accepted to run the London Marathon, I felt elated. And then terrified. Barely six months on from my last marathon, I knew how dedicated I’d have to be to keep running day after day, week after week, month after month, through rain, cold, tiredness, grumpiness, and hangovers.  What no one warns...

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The Download: a brain implant breakthrough, and China tech reflections

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. An ALS patient set a record for communicating via a brain implant The news: Eight years ago, a patient lost her power of speech because of ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, which causes progressive paralysis....

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Resolving to live the Year of the Rabbit to the fullest

China Report is MIT Technology Review’s newsletter about technology developments in China. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Tuesday. This past Sunday was the Lunar New Year, the most important holiday for Chinese and several other Asian cultures. It’s difficult to celebrate this holiday with China Report readers, as I originally planned,...

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An ALS patient set a record for communicating via a brain implant: 62 words per minute

Eight years ago, a patient lost her power of speech because of ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, which causes progressive paralysis. She can still make sounds, but her words have become unintelligible, leaving her reliant on a writing board or iPad to communicate. Now, after volunteering to receive a brain implant, the woman has been able to...

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