That is at the moment’s version of The Download, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a every day dose of what’s occurring on the earth of know-how.
Generative AI is altering every thing. However what’s left when the hype is gone?
It was clear that OpenAI was on to one thing. In late 2021, a small group of researchers was taking part in round with a brand new model of OpenAI’s text-to-image mannequin, DALL-E, an AI that converts brief written descriptions into photos: a fox painted by Van Gogh, maybe, or a corgi manufactured from pizza. Now they only had to determine what to do with it.
No one may have predicted simply how huge a splash this product was going to make. The speedy launch of different generative fashions has impressed a whole lot of newspaper headlines and journal covers, stuffed social media with memes, kicked a hype machine into overdrive—and set off an intense backlash from creators.
The thrilling reality is, we don’t actually know what’s coming subsequent. Whereas artistic industries will really feel the impression first, this tech will give artistic superpowers to everyone. In the long term, it may very well be used to generate designs for nearly something. The issue is, these fashions nonetheless don’t know what they’re doing. Read the full story.
—Will Douglas Heaven
This story is a part of our upcoming 10 Breakthrough Applied sciences 2023 sequence. Obtain readers would be the first to see the complete checklist in January.
+ Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, tells Will Douglas Heaven, our senior AI editor, what he’s realized from DALL-E 2, and what the mannequin means for society. Read the full story.
Coming quickly: A brand new report from MIT Know-how Overview about how industrial design and engineering corporations are utilizing generative AI. Sign up to get notified when it’s out.
Artists can now choose out of the subsequent model of Steady Diffusion
What’s occurred: Artists at the moment are capable of choose out of the subsequent model of one of many world’s hottest text-to-image AI mills, Steady Diffusion, the corporate behind it introduced. Creators can search a web site referred to as HaveIBeenTrained for his or her works within the information set that was used to coach Steady Diffusion, and choose which works they need to exclude from the coaching information.
Why it’s essential: The choice comes amid a heated public debate between artists and tech firms over how text-to-image AI fashions ought to be educated. The artist couple who created the web site hope that the opt-out service will briefly compensate for the absence of laws governing the sector. Read the full story.
—Melissa Heikkilä
Thoughts-altering substances are being overhyped as marvel medicine
For the previous 5 years or so, barely every week has passed by and not using a examine, remark, or press launch concerning the potential advantages of psychedelic medicine. A rising variety of teachers, therapists, and firms have an interest within the potential of psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD to deal with mental-health problems corresponding to despair, nervousness, PTSD, and substance use problems, to call just a few.
The popularity of psychedelics has been by means of one thing of a rollercoaster journey over the past 70 years or so. They went from producing pleasure, to instilling worry and distrust, to experiencing a latest renaissance. However regardless of the present pleasure, the reality is we don’t but have proof that psychedelics actually are going to vary well being care, resulting in issues that psychedelics analysis is “trapped in a hype bubble.” Read the full story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
Jessica’s story is from The Checkup, her weekly biotech e-newsletter. Sign up to obtain it in your inbox each Thursday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you at the moment’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 Twitter is suspending journalists’ accounts
The widespread thread is that they’ve all reported on Elon Musk’s choice to droop an account that tracks his non-public jet. (The Guardian)
+ The account of rival platform Mastodon has additionally been suspended. (TechCrunch)
+ A lot for Musk’s dedication to free speech. (Vox)
+ Musk stated he’d by no means ban the @elonjet account as just lately as final month. (Motherboard)
+ It’s nonetheless simple to trace the jet’s whereabouts, as the info is public. (Insider $)
2 A stealth effort to bury wooden for carbon elimination has simply raised tens of millions
If the trial is profitable, it may very well be a comparatively simple and simple method of lowering greenhouse gasses. (MIT Technology Review)
3 Bitcoin fanatics are crowing about FTX’s downfall
Despite the fact that bitcoin itself took a serious hit. (Slate $)
+ NBA celebrity Shaquille O’Neal has denied any involvement with FTX. (Insider $)
4 Bio-based plastics are nonetheless plastics
Switching to plastics made out of plant-extracted carbon may enable the business to greenwash the method. (Wired $)
5 Streaming isn’t thrilling anymore
There’s not as a lot cash sloshing round, and Netflix et al don’t need to take dangers in the identical method they as soon as did. (The Verge)
+ Mass-appeal exhibits are de rigueur now. (Insider $)
6 Modifications in a toddler’s microbiome can induce worry
It may have an effect on how they expertise nervousness and despair in later life. (Neo.Life)
7 How on-line buying tries to trick you
Pressuring buyers into making fast selections is on the coronary heart of it. (Vox)
+ Advertisements for advertisements is the most recent factor on TikTok. (FT $)
+ TV advertisements are getting extra meta, too. (The Atlantic $)
8 Gen Z goes again to the tech darkish ages
They’re reshaping what it’s to be a Luddite within the digital age. (NYT $)
9 TikTok desires to rehabilitate pigeons’ dangerous popularity
However taking in wild birds off the road remains to be a foul concept. (The Atlantic $)
+ The way to befriend a crow. (MIT Technology Review)
10 Power coaching in older age pays off 
It’s by no means too late to begin—and it will possibly assist to keep up independence for longer. (Knowable Magazine)
Quote of the day
“It looks like he’s simply attempting to scare me and it’s not going to work.”
—Jack Sweeney, the faculty pupil who tracks Elon Musk’s non-public jet on Twitter utilizing publicly obtainable information, tells Insider why he’s refusing to be shaken by Musk’s announcement he was suing Sweeney.
The large story
The way to mend your damaged pandemic mind
July 2021
People are slowly popping out of the pandemic, however as they reemerge, there’s nonetheless a whole lot of trauma to course of. It’s not simply our households, our communities, and our jobs which have modified; our brains have modified too. We’re not the identical individuals we have been.
Throughout the winter of 2020, greater than 40% of People reported signs of hysteria or despair, double the speed of the earlier 12 months. Whereas this fell the next summer time, as vaccination charges rose and covid instances fell, many People are nonetheless combating their psychological well being. Now the query is, can our brains change again? And the way can we assist them try this? Read the full story.
—Dana Smith
We will nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre occasions. (Received any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Right here’s keep away from succumbing to hanger.
+ If adrenaline-inducing footage is your factor, GoPro Heroes might be proper up your road.
+ A no-bake raspberry cheesecake appears like minimal fuss, most enjoyment.
+ These fairytale homes look so inviting. 
+ We’ve lastly solved the thriller of why prehistoric patterns have been carved into the Center Jap desert.
