The Download: the risks of addictive AI, and hydrogen bikes’ limitations

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.

We need to prepare for ‘addictive intelligence’

—By Robert Mahari, a joint JD-PhD candidate at the MIT Media Lab and Harvard Law School whose work focuses on computational law, and Pat Pataranutaporn, a researcher at the MIT Media Lab who studies human-AI interaction.

Worries about AI often imagine doomsday scenarios where systems escape control or even understanding. But there are nearer-term harms we should take seriously: that AI could jeopardize public discourse; cement biases in loan decisions, judging or hiring; or disrupt creative industries. 

However, we foresee a different, but no less urgent, class of risks: those stemming from relationships with nonhuman agents. 

AI companionship is no longer theoretical—our analysis of a million ChatGPT interaction logs reveals that the second most popular use of AI is sexual role-playing. We are already starting to invite AIs into our lives as friends, lovers, mentors, therapists, and teachers. Even the CTO of OpenAI warns that AI has the potential to be “extremely addictive.”

Here’s what we need to do to prepare ourselves for these risks.

Hydrogen bikes are struggling to gain traction in China

If you are in China and looking to ride a shared bike in a city, you might find something on the bike that looks a little different: a water-bottle-size hydrogen tank.

At least a dozen cities in China now have some kind of hydrogen-powered shared bikes for their residents. They offer an easier ride than traditional bikes and a safer energy source than lithium batteries. One Chinese company is betting that this will be the next big thing in public transportation, while others are riding on a national trend toward government policies that encourage the development of the hydrogen industry.

However, the reception to these bikes has been mixed. Read our story to find out why. 

—Zeyi Yang

The must-reads

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

1 Tech stocks in the US took a big plunge on Friday
Due to worries about the economy, and underwhelming returns on AI investments. (CNBC)
+ Optimism around AI is becoming more muted. (FT $)
+ Tech shares in Europe are down today too. (Reuters $)
+ What even is AI, anyway? No one seems to really agree. (MIT Technology Review)

2 How online falsehoods helped spark far-right rioting in the UK
Utter nonsense, some of it AI-generated, started circulating online just hours after a fatal stabbing attack in Southport. (The Guardian)
+ It doesn’t help that a prominent far-right agitator’s account was reinstated on X last year. (The Independent $)

3 OpenAI has a tool to catch AI-generated text, but won’t release it
It’s apparently 99.9% accurate, but the company worries it’d put people off using its products. (WSJ $)
+ Here’s how people really use AI chatbots. (WP $)

4 The US Justice Department is suing TikTok
It’s accusing the company of violating children’s privacy. (NPR)
+ The depressing truth about TikTok’s impending ban. (MIT Technology Review) 

5 What went wrong at Intel?
It’s struggling to capitalize on the chip industry boom, as Nvidia takes the technological lead. (Vox)
+ Nvidia is being probed by US antitrust officials, amid complaints it’s abusing its market dominance. (The Information $)
+ Here’s what to expect from the chip sector this year. (MIT Technology Review)

6 Elon Musk claims Neuralink implanted its device into a second person
And he says there’ll be plenty more to come this year, if all goes well. (Bloomberg $)
+ But Neuralink isn’t the only game in town. (WSJ $)
+ The first brain implant made of graphene is about to be tested in a clinical trial. (FT $)

7 How to protect yourself from wildfire smoke
Whatever you do, do not exercise outdoors if you’re in an affected area. (Wired $)
+ The Park Fire in California is now the state’s fourth-largest blaze on record. (Axios)

8 Companies are planning to fuel cargo ships with ammonia
It’s an unusual, but potentially effective, way to help cut greenhouse gas emissions. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ How ammonia could help clean up global shipping. (MIT Technology Review) 

9 Meet the influencers who’ve gone full carnivore 
Some are convinced it’s repairing their gut. The evidence suggests otherwise. (The Cut $)

10 The limitations of Screen Time tools 
It’s how you’re using your phone, not just how much, that matters. (The Atlantic $)

Quote of the day

“If we can’t trust them to govern themselves, we certainly shouldn’t let them govern the world.”

—Gary Marcus, a professor emeritus at NYU, writes that we should apply more skepticism to AI companies in general, and OpenAI’s Sam Altman in particular, in The Guardian. 

The big story

The $100 billion bet that a postindustrial US city can reinvent itself as a high-tech hub

KATE WARREN

July 2023

On a day in late April, a small drilling rig sits at the edge of the scrubby overgrown fields of Syracuse, New York, taking soil samples. It’s the first sign of construction on what could become the largest semiconductor manufacturing facility in the United States.

The CHIPS and Science Act was widely viewed by industry leaders and politicians as a way to secure supply chains, and make the United States competitive again in semiconductor chip manufacturing. 

Now Syracuse is about to become an economic test of whether, over the next several decades, aggressive government policies—and the massive corporate investments they spur—can both boost the country’s manufacturing prowess and revitalize neglected parts of the country. Read the full story.

—David Rotman

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.)

+ Did you know that there are clips of all the Olympic athletes explaining how their names are pronounced on the official website? LeBron James’ is particularly great.
+ There’s a lot more to search-and-find illustrations than Where’s Waldo.
+ How many of these director’s cuts have you seen?
+ From Medusa to the shape-shifting Lamia, many of mythology’s most compelling monsters are female.