Artificial intelligence

Researchers at CSAIL have created three “libraries of abstraction” – a collection of abstractions within natural language that highlight the importance of everyday words in providing context and better reasoning for large language models, reports Darren Orf for Popular Mechanics. “The researchers focused on household tasks and command-based video games, and developed a language model that proposes abstractions from a dataset,” explains Orf. “When implemented with existing LLM platforms, such as GPT-4, AI actions like ‘placing chilled wine in a cabinet' or ‘craft a bed’ (in the Minecraft sense) saw a big increase in task accuracy at 59 to 89 percent, respectively.”

Nature reporter Andrew Robinson reviews “The Heart and the Chip,” a new book by Prof. Daniela Rus and science writer Gregory Mone. The book “focuses on combining human and robotic strengths to pair ‘the heart and the chip’ in three interlinked fields: robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning,” explains Robinson. 

Scientific American’s Nick Hilden reports on the influence that popular narratives have on our collective perceptions. Graduate student Pat Pataranutaporn notes: “why do we always imagine science fiction to be a dystopia? Why can’t we imagine science fiction that gives us hope?”

The Hill reporter Tobias Burns spotlights the efforts of a number of MIT researchers to better understand the impact of generative AI on productivity in the workforce. One research study “looked as cases where AI helped improved productivity and worker experience specifically in outsourced settings, such as call centers,” explains Burns. Another research study explored the impact of AI programs, such as ChatGPT, among employees. 

Forbes selects innovators for the list’s Healthcare & Science category, written by senior contributor Yue Wang. On the list is MIT PhD candidate Yuzhe Yang, who studies AI and machine learning technologies capability to monitor and diagnose illnesses such as Parkinson's disease.

In an article for Fast Company, Lecturer Guadalupe Hayes-Mota offers five takeaways concerning the potential impact of AI on healthcare. Understanding AI’s healthcare potential “is crucial for business leaders and policymakers to foster an environment where AI and other analytics tools enhance rather than complicate societal outcomes,” Hayes-Mota writes.

Break Through Tech A.I., a new program hosted and supported by MIT and a number of other universities, is providing free artificial intelligence courses to “reduce obstacles to tech careers for underrepresented college students, including lower-income, Latina and Black young women,” reports Natasha Singer for The New York Times. The program “aims to help lower-income students, many of whom have part-time jobs on top of their schoolwork, learn A.I. skills, develop industry connections and participate in research projects they can discuss with job recruiters,” writes Singer. 

Researchers from the Department of Air Force-MIT Artificial Intelligence Accelerator are applying new AI technologies to assist with everything from pilot communication to developing an AI alternative to GPS satellite-dependent navigation, reports Associated Press reporter Tara Copp. 

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have used quantitative and computational methods to analyze animal communication, reports Emily Anthes for The New York Times.

Writing for The Architect’s Newspaper, James McCown describes the glass curtain wall at the new MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. “Artificial intelligence will be one of the chief research initiatives taking place at Schwarzman,” McCown notes. With all of its transparency, here MIT and SOM have created a powerful gesture of openness and accountability—a crucial perspective as AI technology advances in ways that are both exciting and foreboding.” 

An analysis by MIT researchers has identified “wide-ranging instances of AI systems double-crossing opponents, bluffing and pretending to be human,” reports Hannah Devlin for The Guardian. “As the deceptive capabilities of AI systems become more advanced, the dangers they pose to society will become increasingly serious,” says postdoctoral associate Peter Park. 

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have found that “showing AI-generated images of a less car-reliant American city boosted support for sustainable transportation policies,” reports Linda Poon for Bloomberg. “Let’s help them imagine what it would actually be like to live in a car-less neighborhood, and a car-less city,” says postdoctoral associate Rachit Dubey. 

MIT researchers have developed a new procedure that uses game theory to improve the accuracy and consistency of large language models (LLMs), reports Steve Nadis for Quanta Magazine. “The new work, which uses games to improve AI, stands in contrast to past approaches, which measured an AI program’s success via its mastery of games,” explains Nadis. 

Prof. Yoon Kim speaks with USA Today reporter Eve Chen about how AI can be used in everyday tasks such as travel planning. “AI is generally everywhere,” says Kim. “For example, when you search for something – let’s say you search for something on TripAdvisor, Hotels.com – there is likely an AI-based system that gives you a list of matches based on your query.” 

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have used an AI model to develop a “new approach to finding money laundering on Bitcoin’s blockchain,” reports Andy Greenberg for Wired. “Rather than try to identify cryptocurrency wallets or clusters of addresses associated with criminal entities such as dark-web black markets, thieves, or scammers, the researchers collected patterns of bitcoin transactions that led from one of those known bad actors to a cryptocurrency exchange where dirty crypto might be cashed out,” explains Greenberg.