AI Coworkers and Stratospheric Internet: Today’s Top Tech News
▼ Summary
– Managers who treat AI as a “coworker” catch 18% fewer errors than when it is viewed as a chatbot, according to a Boston University study.
– Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google have released tools for managing teams of AI agents, marketed as digital colleagues.
– A company called Sceye plans to test a 200-foot-long solar-powered platform in the stratosphere to supplement 5G networks by beaming data to devices.
– High-altitude platform stations (HAPS) are being developed by several firms to provide internet connectivity from the stratosphere.
– Billions are being invested in “reprogramming” cells to reverse aging, with MIT Technology Review examining the science behind these experimental treatments.
Treating an AI system as a coworker rather than a tool might actually make you worse at your job. That is the surprising finding from Boston University professor Emma Wiles, whose research shows that managers caught 18% fewer errors when work was attributed to an “AI employee” instead of a simple chatbot.
This finding offers a troubling preview of where Silicon Valley is heading. Major players like Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google have all launched tools designed to manage teams of AI agents, often marketing them as digital colleagues. The evidence, however, suggests that framing AI this way is a losing proposition for human workers.
,James O’Donnell
This analysis originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly AI newsletter. Sign up to get it delivered every Monday.
—
A flying solar-powered platform could soon deliver better internet from the stratosphere. As early as August, a massive silver craft roughly 200 feet long will launch from the southwestern United States, cut across the Pacific, and park itself 18 kilometers above the ocean near Japan.
Built by New Mexico-based company Sceye (pronounced “sky”), the platform will use a custom antenna to supplement a 5G network, beaming data directly to devices below. Sceye is one of several firms developing high-altitude platform stations (HAPS) that aim to connect us from the stratosphere.
,Rachel Courtland
This story appears in the latest edition of our magazine, which focuses on engineering. Subscribe to receive a copy and access all our issues plus exclusive subscriber content.
—
Longevity’s next frontier involves “reprogramming” your body to reverse aging. Billions of dollars are pouring into research aimed at returning cells to a younger state. But how close are these experimental treatments? And will they actually work?
At a virtual Roundtables event today, MIT Technology Review will examine the science behind the hype and separate fact from fantasy.
(Source: MIT Technology Review)
