The Download: a Nobel winner on AI, and the case for fixing everything
The Download: a Nobel winner on AI, and the case for fixing everything Plus: the first zero-day exploit built by AI has been discovered. 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. Three things in AI to watch, according to a Nobel-winning economist A few months before he won the Nobel Prize in economics in 2024, Daron Acemoglu published a paper that earned him few fans in Silicon Valley. He argued that AI would give only a small boost to US productivity and would not eliminate the need for human work. Two years later, Acemoglu’s measured take has not caught on. The technology has advanced quite a bit since his cautious predictions, but the data is still largely on his side. MIT Technology Review spoke with him to understand if any of the latest developments have changed his thesis. Here are the three things Acemoglu is paying closest attention to in AI right now. —James O'Donnell This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things AI. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Monday. The case for fixing everything Stewart Brand, the counterculture icon and tech industry legend, considers maintenance a “civilizational” act. His new book argues that taking responsibility for maintaining something, whether a motorcycle, a monument, or the planet, can be radical. Brand argues that maintainers haven’t gotten the laurels they deserve—and he’s right. Yet his vision of maintenance often feels solitary: profound, but more about personal fulfillment than tending to a shared world or making it better. Read the full review of his handsome new book, Maintenance: Of Everything, Part One. —Lee Vinsel Lee Vinsel is an associate professor of science, technology, and society at Virginia Tech, a cofounder of The Maintainers, and the host of Peoples & Things, a podcast about human life with technology. This story is from the latest edition of our print magazine, which is all about nature. Subscribe now to read the full issue and receive future print copies once they land. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 The first zero-day exploit built by AI has been discovered Google spotted and stopped the attempted “mass exploitation event.” (CNBC) + The hackers used AI to discover an unknown bug. (NYT $) + AI-powered hacking has exploded into an industrial-scale threat. (Guardian) + New tools are simplifying online crime. (MIT Technology Review) 2 OpenAI just launched its answer to Claude Mythos Daybreak patches vulnerabilities before attackers find them. (The Verge) + Sam Altman said it will “continuously secure software.” (Gizmodo) + It will rival Anthropic’s Claude Mythos, which arrived a month ago. (BBC) + OpenAI is allowing wider access to its cyber models than Anthropic. (CNBC) 3 Trump is heading to China to spread the gospel of American tech While taking cues from Beijing’s more stringent approach. (Guardian)…
