A new database of AI risks has been developed by MIT researchers in an effort to help guide organizations as they begin using AI technologies, reports Will Knight for Wired. “Many organizations are still pretty early in that process of adopting AI,” meaning they need guidance on the possible perils, says Research Scientist Neil Thompson, director of the FutureTech project.
TechCrunch reporter Kyle Wiggers writes that MIT researchers have developed a new tool, called SigLLM, that uses large language models to flag problems in complex systems. In the future, SigLLM could be used to “help technicians flag potential problems in equipment like heavy machinery before they occur.”
MIT researchers have developed an AI risk repository that includes over 70 AI risks, reports Kyle Wiggers for TechCrunch. “This is an attempt to rigorously curate and analyze AI risks into a publicly accessible, comprehensive, extensible and categorized risk database that anyone can copy and use, and that will be kept up to date over time,” explains Peter Slattery, a research affiliate at the MIT FutureTech project.
In an excerpt from her new book, “The Mind’s Mirror: Risk and Reward in the Age of AI," Prof. Daniela Rus, director of CSAIL, addresses the fear surrounding new AI technologies, while also exploring AI’s vast potential. “New technologies undoubtedly disrupt existing jobs, but they also create entirely new industries, and the new roles needed to support them,” writes Rus.
Prof. Daron Acemoglu speaks with NPR Planet Money hosts Greg Rosalsky and Darian Woods about the anticipated economic impacts of generative AI. Acemoglu notes he believes AI is overrated because humans are underrated. "A lot of people in the industry don't recognize how versatile, talented, multifaceted human skills and capabilities are," Acemoglu says. "And once you do that, you tend to overrate machines ahead of humans and underrate the humans."
Writing for Fortune, Prof. Daron Acemoglu explores the estimated scale of AI’s impact on the labor market and productivity. “The problem with the AI bubble isn’t that it is bursting and bringing the market down,” writes Acemoglu. “It’s that the hype will likely go on for a while and do much more damage in the process than experts are anticipating."
MIT researchers have found that “when nudged to review LLM-generated outputs, humans are more likely to discover and fix errors,” reports Carter Busse for Forbes. The findings suggest that, “when given the chance to evaluate results from AI systems, users can greatly improve the quality of the outputs,” explains Busse. “The more information provided about the origins and accuracy of the results, the better the users are at detecting problems.”
Prof. Simon Johnson and Prof. David Autor speak with New York Times reporter Emma Goldberg about the anticipated impact of AI on the job market. “We should be concerned about eliminating them,” says Prof. Simon Johnson, of the risks posed by automating jobs. “This is the hollowing out of the middle class.”
Chanyeol Choi MS '19, PhD '21 and Subeen Pang MS '21, PhD '24 cofounded Linq, an AI startup that “helps hedge funds speed up their research into thousands of listed companies worldwide,” reports John Kang for Forbes. The company’s software “automates time-consuming equity research tasks, such as scanning for company announcements and news, building financial models and summarizing earnings reports and call transcripts,” explains Kang.
Intelmatix, an AI startup founded by by Almaha Almalki MS '18, Anas Alfaris MS '09, PhD '09 and Ahmad Alabdulkareem PhD '18, aims to provide businesses in the Middle East and North Africa with access to AI for decision-making, reports Annie Njanja for TechCrunch. . “The idea of democratizing access to AI has always been something that we’ve been very passionate about,” says Alfaris.
MIT researchers have developed “a robotic system that can rotate different types of fruit and vegetable using its fingers on one hand, while the other arm is made to peel,” reports Alex Wilkins for New Scientist. “These additional steps of doing rotation are something which is very straightforward to humans, we don’t even think about it,” Prof. Pulkit Agrawal. “But for a robot, this becomes challenging.”
Prof. Sherry Turkle shares the benefits of being polite when interacting with AI technologies, reports Webb Wright for Scientific American, underscoring the risks of becoming habituated to using crass, disrespectful and dictatorial language. “We have to protect ourselves,” says Turkle. “Because we’re the only ones that have to form relationships with real people.”
Penny Abeywardena of Forbes spotlights Joy Buolamwini PhD '22 and her work focused on the impacts of AI technologies on privacy. “We have to think about what we do when something goes wrong for the people I call the excoded, or in other words, those harmed by AI systems,” says Buolamwini. “We need to have pathways for redress and design with redress in mind.”
Prof. Stuart Madnick speaks with CNN reporter Allison Morrow about cybersecurity concerns stemming from the recent global technology outage. “There are organizations that we’re heavily dependent upon that we don’t even realize how dependent we are until they stop functioning,” says Madnick.
Forbes reporter Rodger Dean Duncan spotlights “The Skill Code: How to Save Human Ability in an Age of Intelligent Machines,” a new book by Research Affiliate Matt Bean SM '14, PhD '17. Duncan “explains Beane’s take on AI tools, collaboration and remote work, who suggests traditional mentoring is at risk in the workplace. Beane says today’s successful people have ‘discovered new tactics that others can use to get skills without throwing out the benefits of hybrid working arrangements.’”