The classic computer science adage “garbage in, garbage out” lacks nuance when it comes to understanding biased medical data, argue computer science and bioethics professors from MIT, Johns Hopkins University, and the Alan Turing Institute in a new opinion piece published in a recent edition of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The rising popularity of artificial intelligence has…
Whether you are a new employee, a gymnast, or a bendy straw manufacturer, one trait is ideal across the board: flexibility. The same can now be said about prototyping electronic devices. While designers typically test out their designs on “breadboards,” or thin plastic boards that can hold together electronic components, they are often stiff and slow. With the rigidity of…
In computer graphics and computer-aided design (CAD), 3D objects are often represented by the contours of their outer surfaces. Computers store these shapes as “thin shells,” which model the contours of the skin of an animated character but not the flesh underneath. This modeling decision makes it efficient to store and manipulate 3D shapes, but it can lead to unexpected…
The construction industry has undergone significant changes in the recent years, driven by technology, innovation, and a growing demand for sustainability. Modern construction, as is self-explanatory, refers to the present state of construction practices and technologies that are used during construction processes – starting from designing to building structures. It involves the use of advanced building materials, advanced methods and…
Imagine you’re enjoying a picnic by a riverbank on a windy day. A gust of wind accidentally catches your paper napkin and lands on the water’s surface, quickly drifting away from you. You grab a nearby stick and carefully agitate the water to retrieve it, creating a series of small waves. These waves eventually push the napkin back toward the…
Powerful machine-learning algorithms known as vision and language models, which learn to match text with images, have shown remarkable results when asked to generate captions or summarize videos. While these models excel at identifying objects, they often struggle to understand concepts, like object attributes or the arrangement of items in a scene. For instance, a vision and language model might…
Recently, Saudi Arabia has announced plans to make heavy investments in infrastructure development as a part of the country’s Vision 2030 initiative. Vision 2030 is a strategic plan launched by the Government of Saudi Arabia in the year 2016 with the aim to diversify country’s economy and reduce its dependence on oil. This dynamic plan includes a wide-range of economic…
In today’s rapidly evolving world, technological advancements are transforming and reshaping the manner in which industries work. In such an era of advanced technologies, it has become pretty imperative to prioritize workplace safety and sustainability. As now, more and more organizations strive to augment safety and create more sustainable work environments, the need and the importance of innovative solutions cannot…
The construction industry in India is a key sector driving economic development of the country. Contributing around 8% to the country’s GDP, Indian construction industry has been witnessing a significant growth over the past few years. Construction industry in India is broadly comprised of various sub-sectors, including commercial, institutional, residential, infrastructure, and industrial construction. With its vast potential, diverse projects,…
The Indian railways is a testament to the nation’s rich and diverse history, cultural diversity and economic development. With a vast network connecting the length and breadth of the country, Indian railways constitutes the fourth largest rail network in the world. Its importance is not just limited to transportation, rather it serves as a lifeline for millions of people who…
One of the critical aspects of facility management is effective wastes management. Waste management in facilities refers to the set of practices and processes that are employed to handle and dispose wastes generated within a facility. These wastes can be either solid, liquid, or gaseous, and may also contain hazardous substances – posing threat to the environment as well as…
The mining industry involves the extraction of minerals, metals, and other geological materials from the earth. This industry has been for around thousands of years and plays a crucial role in the global economies. The mining industry is a source of raw materials for various other industries like construction, energy production and manufacturing. Despite its important contribution to the national…
Workplace safety is a crucial notion, especially in critical jobsites like construction, oil & gas, manufacturing and mining. The employers are responsible to ensure that their employees get a safe working environment. The traditional approach to ensuring workplace safety included safety inspections, safety protocols and safety training. However, the emergence of smart site safety systems in current times have revolutionized…
Computing is at an inflection point. Moore’s Law, which predicts that the number of transistors on an electronic chip will double each year, is slowing down due to the physical limits of fitting more transistors on affordable microchips. These increases in computer power are slowing down as the demand grows for high-performance computers that can support increasingly complex artificial intelligence…
Someone learning to play tennis might hire a teacher to help them learn faster. Because this teacher is (hopefully) a great tennis player, there are times when trying to exactly mimic the teacher won’t help the student learn. Perhaps the teacher leaps high into the air to deftly return a volley. The student, unable to copy that, might instead try…
On April 24, MIT celebrated outstanding students and employees at the annual Change-Maker Awards for their diligent work to eradicate sexual misconduct and support survivors. These architects of positive change exemplify one of MIT’s core values: striving to make our community a more humane and welcoming place where all can thrive. Hosted by MIT Violence Prevention and Response (VPR) and…
Socrates once said: “It is not the size of a thing, but the quality that truly matters. For it is in the nature of substance, not its volume, that true value is found.” Does size always matter for large language models (LLMs)? In a technological landscape bedazzled by LLMs taking center stage, a team of MIT Computer Science and Artificial…
Huge libraries of drug compounds may hold potential treatments for a variety of diseases, such as cancer or heart disease. Ideally, scientists would like to experimentally test each of these compounds against all possible targets, but doing that kind of screen is prohibitively time-consuming. In recent years, researchers have begun using computational methods to screen those libraries in hopes of…
There has been a remarkable surge in the use of algorithms and artificial intelligence to address a wide range of problems and challenges. While their adoption, particularly with the rise of AI, is reshaping nearly every industry sector, discipline, and area of research, such innovations often expose unexpected consequences that involve new norms, new expectations, and new rules and laws.…
When interacting with another person, you likely spend part of your time trying to anticipate how they will feel about what you’re saying or doing. This task requires a cognitive skill called theory of mind, which helps us to infer other people’s beliefs, desires, intentions, and emotions. MIT neuroscientists have now designed a computational model that can predict other people’s…
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