The Download: a new AI risk database, and studying Jupiter’s mysterious moon [MIT Tech Review]

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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.

A new public database lists all the ways AI could go wrong

What’s new: Adopting AI can be fraught with danger. Systems could be biased, or parrot falsehoods, or even become addictive. And that’s before you consider the possibility AI could one day somehow spin out of our control. To manage these potential risks, we first need to understand them. A new database compiled by the FutureTech group at MIT’s CSAIL with a team of collaborators and published online today could help.

Why it matters: The AI Risk Repository documents over 700 potential risks advanced AI systems could pose, making it the most comprehensive source yet of information about issues that could arise from the creation and deployment of these models. However, even with this new database, it’s hard to know which we ought to worry about the most. Read the full story.

—Scott J Mulligan

MIT Technology Review Narrated: The search for extraterrestrial life is targeting Jupiter’s icy moon Europa

We’ve known of Europa’s existence for more than four centuries, but for most of that time, Jupiter’s fourth-largest moon was just a pinprick of light in our telescopes.

Over the last few decades, however, as astronomers have scrutinized it through telescopes and six spacecraft have flown nearby, a new picture has come into focus. Europa is nothing like our moon.

This is our latest story to be turned into a MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast. In partnership with News Over Audio, we’ll be making a selection of our stories available, each one read by a professional voice actor. You’ll be able to listen to them on the go or download them to listen to offline.

We’re publishing a new story each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, including some taken from our most recent print magazine.

Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 US officials are considering breaking up Google 
It would be the first time Washington has tried to dismantle a company for illegal monopolization in two decades. (Bloomberg $)
+ But deliberations are in very early stages. (NYT $)

2 The European Union isn’t afraid of Elon Musk
The entrepreneur’s prolific spat with the bloc marks a key moment in the EU’s attempts to rein in powerful companies. (FT $)

3 Google’s Gemini Live bot sounds incredibly humanlike
It’s designed to hold snappy conversations that sound more natural than its rivals. (WSJ $)
+ It’s not without its flaws, however. (The Verge)
+ OpenAI has released a new ChatGPT bot that you can talk to. (MIT Technology Review)

4 Silicon Valley is worried by an AI regulation bill
The industry fears it will hamper the technology’s progress in California. (NYT $)
+ Companies are spending serious cash on ads promoting AI’s benefits. (WP $)
+ What’s next for AI regulation? (MIT Technology Review)

5 We’re learning more about Mars’ capacity to host life
Significant amounts of water could be trapped in its crust. (The Guardian)

6 Pakistan’s extreme heat waves are getting worse
And it’s the country’s poorest who are suffering the most. (The Atlantic $)
+ Here’s how much heat your body can take. (MIT Technology Review)

7 Dangerous products for children are easily available on Shein and Temu
Regulators have warned that the goods are unsafe. (The Information $)
+ Why my bittersweet relationship with Shein had to end. (MIT Technology Review)

8 Future brain surgeries could be entirely noninvasive
Sound waves could replace scalpels in as little as five years, experts say. (Bloomberg $)
+ Last year, doctors performed brain surgery on a fetus in one of the first operations of its kind. (MIT Technology Review)

9 We’re surrounded by more information than we know what to do with
What we do with that data is up to us. (New Yorker $)

10 Chinese robotaxis have been given the green light in California
Startup WeRide has been granted permission to test its cars—with passengers. (Reuters)
+ What’s next for robotaxis. (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“Knowing how charismatic you are… you could not possibly use such vulgar words.”

—A Facebook user says they weren’t fooled by a deepfake video of Singapore’s former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, Rest of World reports.

The big story

The rise of the tech ethics congregation

August 2023

Just before Christmas 2022, a pastor preached a gospel of morals over money to several hundred members of his flock. But the leader in question was not an ordained minister, nor even a religious man.

Polgar is the founder of All Tech Is Human, a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting ethics and responsibility in tech. His congregation is undergoing dramatic growth in an age when the life of the spirit often struggles to compete with cold, hard, capitalism.

Its leaders believe there are large numbers of individuals in and around the technology world, often from marginalized backgrounds, who wish tech focused less on profits and more on being a force for ethics and justice. But attempts to stay above the fray can cause more problems than they solve. Read the full story.

—Greg M. Epstein

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)

• If you’re lucky enough to own a coffee bar, here’s some inspiration to make sure it’s looking its best. ($)
  + Construction of the world’s largest 3D-printed neighborhood is well underway.
  + What even is true authenticity these days?
  + Forget what you’ve been told: slouching isn’t actually that bad.