Technology and society

MIT researchers have found that companies with experienced technologists on their boards tend to have better financial outcomes, reports Sara Castellanos and Angus Loten for The Wall Street Journal. “Directors on digitally savvy boards have an understanding, tested by experience, of how digital technologies impact the way that companies will succeed in the next decade,” explains research scientist Stephanie Woerner.

In an article for Wired, Media Lab director Joi Ito, a professor of the practice at MIT, discusses his decision to allow his young daughter to have screen time and the potential impact of technology on children. Ito argues that tech leaders should focus on “creating technology that makes screen entertainment healthier and fun for all families.”

TechCrunch reporter Devin Coldewey writes about the Ethics and Governance in AI Initiative, a research program developed by the Media Lab and Harvard. Coldewey notes that the initiative just announced funding for a number of projects “aimed at using technology to keep people informed, or informing people about technology.”

New York Times reporter Natasha Singer spotlights how MIT and Georgetown Law are offering a joint course in privacy law and technology as part of multi-university effort focused on technology and the public good. “Everybody who is researching, working at these big companies believes that what they’re doing is good,” says third year student Rachel Wei. “But we have to understand the other side of the issue.”

Prof. Carlo Ratti speaks with NBC Mach reporter Wynne Parry about his vision for the city of the future. “New technologies will have an impact on the experience of the city more than on its physical form,” Ratti explains. “The way we move, communicate and shop will be radically different from how it is today.”

In an article for Wired celebrating 10 pioneering women in STEM, Emily Dreyfuss highlights the work of Margaret Hamilton, who led a team at the MIT Instrumentation Lab that developed the onboard flight software on the Apollo computers. Dreyfuss notes that without Hamilton, “the modern computing era would not be what it is today.”

WGBH’s Kirk Carapezza reports from the launch of the new MIT Stephen Schwarzman College of Computing on how the new college is indicative of a shift in higher education towards more technical fields. “They can choose the major which is their passion and be confident they’re going to gain the skills that are necessary to advance that passion,” explains Provost Martin Schmidt.

Anne Mostue reports for Bloomberg Baystate Business on the launch event for the new MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing. Eric Schmidt, former executive chairman of Alphabet, noted that the new college will be able to achieve something that has not been possible before, namely to “aggressively diffuse this new technology into fields which need it, but can’t get it on their own.”

VentureBeat reporter Kyle Wiggers highlights a panel discussion focusing on AI and entrepreneurship held during an event for the new MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. “We know that entrepreneurs drive the economy,” said Eric Schmidt, former executive chairman of Alphabet. “What do you need to have [AI] companies? You need entrepreneurs. And let me tell you: we need more entrepreneurs.”

Bloomberg News reporter Amanda Gordon writes about the three-day event for the new MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. “MIT is going to be the anchor of what we will know in society as public interest technology,” said Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation, during a panel discussion on considering the social impacts of AI.

Diane Greene SM ’78, a life member of the MIT Corporation, speaks with Becky Quick of CNBC about the future of AI. Greene explains that companies can now combine data with computational power, so that an “algorithm can learn from the data. Once you start doing that you start getting insights you’ve never gotten before that can leapfrog what you’re able to do.”

President Rafael Reif and Stephen Schwarzman discuss the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing on Squawk Box. “We are integrating those computing and AI tools into all the disciplines we have, so every student here, no matter what he or she majors in, will be very comfortable using these new tools to practice their profession,” explains Reif.

Xconomy reporter Jeff Engel writes about the three-day celebration held for the new MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing. Engel writes that during the event, Eric Schmidt, technical advisor for Alphabet, noted that the new college will help address the AI talent shortage. “The level of demand across everything is exploding in this field,” Schmidt explained.

CBS Boston highlights how research engineer Dane Kouttron has developed a snow blower that can be operated remotely. Kouttron explains that the idea behind the machine is to, “sit out with your cup of tea and remotely pilot your snow moving machine from the comfort of your own home.”

Prof. Tim Berners-Lee speaks with Wired reporter K.G. Orphanides about his startup Inrupt, which is aimed at transforming how we share personal data on the web. Orphanides explains that Berners-Lee’s idea is that, “instead of a company storing all your personal data on their servers, you would keep it on your own personal data ‘pod.’”