Our favourite tales of 2021

The top of the 12 months is all the time an excellent time for a little bit of introspection and self-reflection. It additionally appears proper to pause to have fun a few of the excessive factors from a difficult 12 months.

We requested our writers and editors to look again over all of the tales we revealed in 2021 and inform us which of them actually stood out. Which tales did their colleagues publish that made them proud to work for MIT Expertise Evaluation? (And no, they weren’t allowed to decide on their very own.)

An edited model of the record runs under, however there was one story that our workforce stored coming again to as a touchstone for the type of protection that we do: Karen Hao’s investigation into Fb.

Abby Ivory-Ganja, our viewers engagement editor, mentioned it was “showstopping.” She added: “It’s straightforward to consider tech corporations as monoliths and CEOs and never as teams of individuals. However Karen did such an excellent job explaining issues at Fb by means of Joaquin Quiñonero Candela. This was one among TR’s most generally learn tales of the 12 months, and it’s no shock why when you learn it.”

Charlotte Jee, information editor, mentioned: “This text was a bombshell when it got here out in March. It revealed, in painstaking element, the total extent to which Fb knew its algorithms drove individuals in direction of dangerous, hateful content material—and selected to not do something about it. Why? As a result of, as Karen so completely put it, ‘The reason being easy. All the pieces the corporate does and chooses to not do flows from a single motivation: [Mark] Zuckerberg’s relentless need for progress.’ In case you learn it now, within the gentle of the Fb Papers, it seems to be so prescient.”

How Fb bought hooked on spreading misinformation

Joaquin Quinonero Candela
The corporate’s AI algorithms gave it an insatiable behavior for lies and hate speech. Now the person who constructed them can’t repair the issue.
WINNI WINTERMEYER

See should you agree. After which when you’re achieved studying that one, see what else the remainder of our workforce selected as their high hits of the 12 months.

Have a contented new 12 months!


Michael Reilly, government editor

Contained in the machine that saved Moore’s Regulation

A narrative a few big, nearly unbelievably complicated machine that pushes engineering to absolutely the max? Sure, please. Chip fabrication will not be a straightforward topic to put in writing about, however in Clive’s fingers it’s a romp.

Meet Altos Labs, Silicon Valley’s newest wild wager on dwelling without end

Death and Jeff Bezos
Funders of a deep-pocketed new “rejuvenation” startup are mentioned to incorporate Jeff Bezos and Yuri Milner.
ALAMY, GETTY (BEZOS)

“It’s been mentioned that younger individuals dream of being wealthy, and wealthy individuals dream of being younger.” Combine that sentiment along with a little bit of thrilling science and a few funding from Jeff Bezos and different billionaires and also you’ve bought Antonio Regalado’s deep dive into the frothy world of longevity analysis.

Magnificence filters are altering the way in which younger women see themselves

We all know algorithms are on the market all the time nudging our considering on issues like purchasing selections and political beliefs. Even so, this piece from Tate Ryan-Mosley is a stunner, exhibiting simply how far the algorithmic “optimization” of every thing has seeped into younger women’ view of their very own bodily look.  


Tanya Basu, senior reporter, people and know-how

First he held a superspreader occasion. Then he beneficial pretend cures. 

Eileen has a knack for not solely discovering these tales however with the ability to examine and piece collectively what some individuals in tech won’t need uncovered. Written in March, it was an indication of themes to return in the remainder of 2021: covid deniers, snake oil therapies, and folks with egos that supersede frequent sense and security.

Some artists discovered a lifeline promoting NFTs. Others fear it’s a entice. 

I really feel like each NFT story is snarky and/or exclusionary, making them actually onerous for the typical particular person to search out one thing to care about in what’s arguably an essential subject. Abby is ready to hit that nerve right here and exposes how a gaggle of actually weak individuals who merely wish to make artwork and an honest dwelling are getting thrown beneath the bus by scammers.

A feminist web can be higher for everybody

conceptual illustration showing a hand holding a phone with long haircut silhouettes
Life on-line for girls is poisonous and stuffed with hate and sexism. Some activists say it’s time to reimagine how the entire thing works.
INA JANG

It’s type of unhappy that we’ve got to make this assertion in 2021, however right here we’re. What I like about this piece as a author is the futuristic fiction that leads it off—and the belief that this isn’t science fiction anymore. What I like about this piece as a reader is that Charlotte has real hope and sensible ideas about the way forward for the web that don’t make me really feel like every thing is misplaced. (Linda, our copy chief, agreed, saying: “As normal, Charlotte finds the brighter facet.”)


Abby Ivory-Ganja, viewers engagement editor

Why the ransomware disaster immediately feels so relentless

I beloved this story from Patrick as a result of it helped me perceive the ransomware universe a bit extra. He actually offers a view of the panorama from 36,000 toes, which I all the time recognize. 

Podcast: How pricing algorithms be taught to collude

dynamic ticket pricing concept
AI might be taught to kind digital cartels in an effort to maximise income
MS TECH | ENVATO

This episode of our podcast In Machines We Belief about how pricing algorithms be taught to collude actually blew my thoughts. Our podcast workforce did such an excellent job of pulling again the curtain behind the worth of an Uber journey or books on Amazon. They make it really easy to know one thing difficult, and we’re all higher for it.  


Amy Nordrum, editorial director, particular initiatives and operations

Contained in the FBI, Russia, and Ukraine’s failed cybercrime investigation

conceptual illustration showing a police evidence board with reference to various people, places, and things in the story
Russia and Ukraine promised to cooperate and assist catch the world’s most profitable hackers. However issues didn’t fairly go to plan.
MAX-O-MATIC

This was a riveting story of how an effort to crack down on cybercriminals by one of many world’s high legislation enforcement businesses went sideways. It’s a richly reported piece chock stuffed with element that may make you’re feeling you have been alongside for the journey amid the investigation’s many twists and turns. By the tip, the FBI brokers’ frustration is palpable and also you’ll have a higher appreciation of why it’s so tough to deliver cybercriminals to justice. 

These not possible devices might change the way forward for music

It is a enjoyable little story about how software program is altering what it means to make music, partly by permitting musicians to create and play devices that defy physics and that actually couldn’t exist in the true world. There’s a humorous backstory, too, about how one group’s painstaking effort to design software program that very exactly imitates precise devices was upended when actual musicians bought maintain of it and began messing round.

Auditors are testing AI hiring algorithms for bias, however there’s no straightforward repair

A lot has been written about the issue of AI bias. One potential resolution includes auditing the underlying algorithms for bias. A cottage trade of consultants has sprung as much as just do that, however it’s removed from good. This story breaks down one specific AI audit for example the boundaries of this specific strategy.


Niall Firth, editorial director, digital

What an octopus’s thoughts can train us about AI’s final thriller

Again in 2020, Will had ventured into controversial territory, tackling one of the crucial hotly contested matters in AI—whether or not a real synthetic normal intelligence is even doable. In 2021 he determined to go one step additional and ask: Might a machine ever be aware? Drawing on philosophy of thoughts—and never afraid to get into really deep conversations concerning the nature of consciousness—the story began out by asking what it could take for a machine to turn into aware and self-aware. But it surely ended up with an much more complicated conclusion: If a machine grew to become aware, would we even know? Come for the mind-bending philosophy, keep for the octopus anecdotes.

She risked every thing to reveal Fb. Now she’s telling her story.

Sophie Zhang
Sophie Zhang, a former knowledge scientist at Fb, revealed that it permits world political manipulation and has achieved little to cease it.
CHRISTIE HEMM KLOK

Karen’s tenacious reporting over Fb misinformation and troll farms has rightly been praised, however I believed this story was brilliantly achieved. Sophie Zhang was a whistleblower who had uncovered how pretend accounts and likes on Fb have been permitting politicians to sway the general public in nations outdoors the US, and doubtlessly allow election interference. The story had been informed, however nobody had written a profile of her earlier than. Karen confirmed readers that “for Zhang, the reason of why she cared a lot is tied up in her id.” Telling that story was an knowledgeable piece of profile-writing that required sensitivity and compassion.


James Temple, senior editor, local weather and vitality

First he held a superspreader occasion. Then he beneficial pretend cures. 

snake oil remedy
After dozens of individuals caught the coronavirus at his costly convention, tech mogul Peter Diamandis provided fraudulent covid-19 therapies to them, from injectable peptides to amniotic fluid.
MS TECH | GETTY

One in all my favourite Tech Evaluation reads this 12 months was Eileen Guo’s scoop on a high-priced enterprise convention that went forth in defiance of regional public well being orders, and was a superspreader occasion. It was hosted by a high-profile Silicon Valley entrepreneur who had cofounded a covid-19 vaccine firm. The deeply sourced story described in wonderful element each the warnings that have been made prematurely of the occasion and the aftermath, together with the obvious effort to restrict communications concerning the ensuing covid-19 infections.

They referred to as it a conspiracy idea. However Alina Chan tweeted life into the concept that the virus got here from a lab.

Antonio Regalado wrote a must-read profile of Alina Chan, the Broad Institute postdoc who helped revive the concept that covid-19 might have leaked from a lab in China. The story particulars how she researched and communicated the probabilities, the virologists she angered in doing so, and the pushback and even threats she’s obtained. However in the end hers is a narrative concerning the nature of scientific uncertainty, and the generally fuzzy line between crackpot conspiracies, conjecture and unlikely concepts nonetheless in want of vigorous mental debate.


Charlotte Jee, information editor

Learn how to discuss to unvaccinated individuals

The stakes for conversations concerning the vaccines are sky-high, and the talk has precipitated personal, painful rifts in so many households. Many people see the pictures as the one significant approach out of the pandemic, and the first means to maintain family members alive and nicely, so it’s deeply infuriating when others don’t see it the identical approach. This considerate, well-researched piece by Tanya was a well timed reminder that individuals who don’t wish to get vaccinated are nonetheless individuals, and whereas it might nonetheless be value your whereas to attempt to persuade them, you need to accomplish that in a respectful method. Nobody ever persuaded anybody by yelling at them. 

How magnificence filters perpetuate colorism

Conceptual illustration of a young black woman's face with circles that zoom in on certain features, image is black and white with pink highlights
An historical type of prejudice about pores and skin coloration is flourishing within the trendy web age.
JOAN WONG

A lot of us know by now that moderately than erasing current biases, many applied sciences amplify them. However from time to time you learn one thing that makes you notice that the issue is even greater—and extra dangerous—than you appreciated. This piece, which uncovered how magnificence filters perpetuate colorism (a type of discrimination towards individuals with darker complexions), had that impact on me. It made me unhappy, it made me anxious, and most of all it made me offended. 

This piece can (and may) be learn as a companion piece constructing on the superb article Tate wrote in April concerning the affect of magnificence filters on younger women’ self-image.


Eileen Guo, senior reporter, options and investigations

I requested an AI to inform me how lovely I’m

conceptural illustration of 4 quadrants showing different people's faces with details called out for scoring
Computer systems are rating the way in which individuals look—and the outcomes are influencing the issues we do, the posts we see, and the way in which we predict.
JOAN WONG

I beloved Tate’s story sequence on how tech and tech platforms have an effect on perceptions of magnificence. All three tales are glorious and value a learn (“I requested an AI to inform me how lovely I’m,” “Magnificence filters are altering the way in which younger women see themselves,” and “How digital magnificence filters perpetuate digital colorism”), as is the accompanying podcast episode. I like Tate’s willingness to incorporate herself in her tales and her potential to take action in a approach that’s relatable: within the first story, she asks questions that the reader seemingly has as nicely, and he or she is empathetic in digging into the nuances of how magnificence tech impacts completely different communities otherwise. It’s additionally noteworthy to have this type of in-depth therapy of “ladies + tech” points, and I actually hope she  does extra of it!  

What went incorrect with America’s $44 million vaccine knowledge system?

Cat Ferguson’s well timed and well-told investigation into the CDC’s Vaccine Administration Administration System (VAMS), the largely ineffective and extremely costly web site to schedule vaccine appointments, was the kind of investigation that MIT Expertise Evaluation is finest positioned to do. It answered the query everybody had, again in that section of the pandemic, about why it was so onerous to schedule vaccine appointments, and it did so with depth and element that comes out of Cat’s deep experience in well being tech and her nice sleuthing and reporting expertise. And it make clear an space that doesn’t get as a lot scrutiny because it ought to: authorities tech. A lot much less horny than investigating Fb, however simply as essential.  


Tate Ryan-Mosely, reporter, digital rights and democracy 

The local weather resolution truly including thousands and thousands of tons of CO2 into the ambiance

Conceptual illustration
New analysis exhibits that California’s local weather coverage created as much as 39 million carbon credit that aren’t reaching actual carbon financial savings. However corporations should purchase these forest offsets to justify polluting extra anyway.
JON HAN

James’s investigative reporting, a collaboration with ProPublica’s Lisa Track, was a momentous accounting of California’s carbon offset program. It discovered that corporations might be gaming the system and undermining the local weather targets of the venture. It’s a brilliant difficult topic, and James and Lisa have been capable of obtain an explanatory tone that made it accessible; it is perhaps the story that I discovered essentially the most from this 12 months. Additionally they leaned into the nuances right here, wanting into questions of stewardship and the way this system is impacting Native American tribes.

That is the true story of the Afghan biometric databases deserted to the Taliban

Eileen and Hikmat’s super-impressive reporting added much-needed proof concerning the instruments the Taliban have been more likely to have at their disposal following the US withdrawal from the nation. It’ll turn into a necessary historical past lesson concerning the risks of propping up a authorities with surveillance instruments, solely to have them fall into the incorrect fingers.

In fact you would have seen this coming

Abby’s fast tackle the January 6 riot squarely positioned the occasion as a continuation of forces which were gathering for a very long time. On the time of publishing, the noise across the riot was all-consuming and blurry, and her take provided readability and evaluation primarily based on her years of reporting.

Will Douglas Heaven, senior editor, AI

Contained in the struggle to reclaim AI from Large Tech’s management

Karen Hao takes us behind the scenes on the beginning of a motion, introducing the hopes and fears of the AI researchers pushing again towards a established order by which the world’s strongest know-how is quick turning into monopolised by the world’s strongest corporations. 

This US firm bought iPhone hacking instruments to UAE spies

In a scoop that made different investigative journalists jealous, Patrick Howell O’Neill succeeded the place others failed in unmasking a controversial firm promoting cyberweapons to overseas intelligence businesses. Few expose the shadowy worldwide workings of cyber safety so nicely.

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