The Obtain: the AI Invoice of Rights, and fixing the Nord Stream pipelines

That is at this time’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a day by day dose of what’s occurring on this planet of know-how.

The White Home simply unveiled a brand new AI Invoice of Rights

The information: US President Biden has at this time unveiled a brand new AI Invoice of Rights, which outlines 5 protections People ought to have within the AI age. Biden has prior to now known as for higher privateness safeguards and for tech firms to cease accumulating information. However the US — dwelling to a few of the world’s largest tech and AI firms — has to date been one of many solely Western nations with out clear steerage on tips on how to defend its residents in opposition to AI harms.

Why it issues: AI is a strong know-how that’s reworking our societies. The announcement is the White Home’s imaginative and prescient of how the US authorities in addition to know-how firms and residents ought to work collectively to carry AI accountable. Nonetheless, critics say the blueprint lacks enamel, and the US wants even stronger regulation round AI. Learn the total story.

—Melissa Heikkilä

Right here’s how the Nord Stream fuel pipelines might be mounted

What’s occurred: Till Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Nord Stream 1 and a couple of fuel pipelines had been a key a part of Europe’s vitality infrastructure. Russia has since used Nord Stream as a geopolitical pawn in retaliation to the financial sanctions imposed upon it, and in late September, sudden harm brought about 4 leaks within the subsea pipeline system. Everybody besides Russia believes it’s deliberate sabotage to squeeze fuel provides forward of a tough winter scarcity in Europe, and now the race is on to repair the important pipelines earlier than winter—if that’s even doable.

What’s the harm? Any mission will probably be an unprecedented problem for the oil and fuel sector, requiring advanced robotics and imaginative engineering. Whereas we don’t even know for positive how dangerous the state of affairs is at this stage, the harm is anticipated to be important, and will take months—and an excessive amount of cash—to restore. And even when repairs will be made, it’s unlikely that Nord Stream will recommence provides any time quickly. Learn the total story.

—Chris Stokel-Walker

Prepare for the following technology of AI

Simply when the AI group was wrapping its head across the astounding progress of text-to-image techniques, we’re already shifting on to the following frontier: text-to-video.

Late final week, Meta unveiled Make-A-Video, an AI that generates five-second movies from textual content prompts. The event is a breakthrough in generative AI that additionally raises some robust moral questions, sparking fears  it might be harnessed as a strong software to create and disseminate misinformation. Learn the total story.

This story is from The Algorithm, MIT Expertise Assessment’s new weekly e-newsletter supplying you with the within monitor on all the newest cutting-edge AI developments. Signal as much as obtain it in your inbox each Monday.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the web to search out you at this time’s most enjoyable/vital/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.

1 The US Supreme Courtroom will probe Huge Tech’s legal responsibility for terror content material 
It’s the primary time the Courtroom has agreed to look at the bounds of Part 230, the legislation that shields web corporations from authorized legal responsibility for hosted content material. (WSJ $)
+ Why there’s no proper to free speech on the web. (WP $)
+ Why probably the most controversial US web legislation is value saving. (MIT Expertise Assessment)

2 Elon Musk has sparked fury in Ukraine
President Volodymyr Zelensky hit again at a ballot the billionaire tweeted asking whether or not Ukraine ought to cede floor to Russia. (BBC)
+ One in every of Ukraine’s high officers had some alternative language for Musk. (CNBC)

three Conspiracy theorists are threatening a tiny elections firm
Regardless of the actual fact it has nothing to do with accumulating or counting ballots. (NYT $)

four The US is cracking down on Chinese language-made chips
The brand new guidelines are the hardest so far. (WP $)
+ Taiwan is caught up within the US and China’s chip battle. (The Atlantic $)
+ Samsung has some severely bold semiconductor plans. (CNBC)
+ Contained in the software program that can grow to be the following battle entrance within the US-China chip battle. (MIT Expertise Assessment)

5 Hurricanes have gotten extra damaging
The US is spending hundreds of thousands on supercomputers to maintain tabs on them. (FT $)

6 Brazil is cut up over the trustworthiness of its voting tech
Residents have been voting electronically for many years, however there are nonetheless issues over rigging. (Remainder of World)
+ The presidential candidates will face one another later within the month. (Economist $)

7 You aren’t your web id 
For the perpetually on-line, it’s getting tougher to know the distinction. (Wired $)

eight Contained in the business that composts your deceased family members
The method, which takes no less than two months, is a part of a brand new wave of deathcare. (The Verge) 
+ US cities have been composting bushes, too. (Wired $)

9 The frantic race to equip New York with EV chargers 
Only a few drivers have personal driveways, which means public chargers must decide up the slack. (Motherboard)
+ The U.S. solely has 6,000 quick charging stations for EVs. Right here’s the place all of them are. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
+ Right here’s tips on how to encourage folks to care about carbon emissions. (Slate $)

10 The world’s largest digicam is nearing completion 🔭
It might be in use in Chile as quickly as 2024. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ NASA’s DART asteroid crash final week left a 10,000km tail. (New Scientist $)

Quote of the day

“You may think about my stress degree.”

—Sybren Stüvel, a software program developer who lives in Amsterdam, recollects the frustration of an airline check-in system refusing to acknowledge the umlaut in his surname earlier than a flight to the Wall Avenue Journal.

The massive story

Why are merchandise for older folks so ugly?

August 2019

On a drizzly Tuesday afternoon in San Francisco, individuals are filtering right into a small convention room appointed with a whiteboard and subdued black-and-white pictures. They’re right here to speak about know-how—a scene that must be totally unremarkable in a metropolis crammed with small white convention rooms the place individuals are doing precisely the identical.

The important thing distinction is that the common age of the 11 ladies and 5 males gathered right here is someplace within the mid-70s. They’re the Longevity Explorers, a part of an experiment to enhance the best way know-how is developed for older adults.

Consultants say older adults who nonetheless work, or who spend time with youthful members of the family who use know-how, are extra apt to choose it up. But the listing of awful merchandise for older folks is lengthy—and progress is incremental. Learn the total story.

—Andy Wright

We are able to nonetheless have good issues

A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre occasions. (Acquired any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)

+ I want my reminiscence was nearly as good as this canine’s.
+ A banana bread recipe for the ages.
+ Kurt Steiner, stone-skimming legend, has lived a captivating life.
+ If we may recreate artifacts and work utilizing digital recordings of the true issues, would we nonetheless have to preserve treasured historic gadgets in museums?
+ A pair who married after being blended up as infants? I scent an enormous display adaptation!

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