The Download: an interview with Palmer Luckey, and AI-assisted math tutors
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.
Palmer Luckey on the Pentagon’s future of mixed reality
Palmer Luckey has, in some ways, come full circle.
His first experience with virtual-reality headsets was as a teenage lab technician at a defense research center in Southern California, studying their potential to curb PTSD symptoms in veterans. He then built Oculus, sold it to Facebook for $2 billion, left Facebook after a highly public ousting, and founded Anduril, which focuses on drones, cruise missiles, and other AI-enhanced technologies for the US Department of Defense. The company is now valued at $14 billion.
Now Luckey is redirecting his energy again, to headsets for the military. In September, Anduril announced it would partner with Microsoft on the US Army’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS), arguably the military’s largest effort to develop a headset for use on the battlefield. Luckey says the IVAS project is his top priority at Anduril.
He spoke to MIT Technology Review about his plans. Read the full interview.
—James O’Donnell
This AI system makes human tutors better at teaching children math
The US has a major problem with education inequality. Children from low-income families are less likely to receive high-quality education, partly because poorer districts struggle to retain experienced teachers.
Artificial intelligence could help. A new tool could improve the one-on-one tutoring sometimes used to supplement class instruction in these schools, by letting tutors tap into more experienced teachers’ expertise during virtual sessions. Here’s how it works.
—Rhiannon Williams
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Google is developing an AI agent called Jarvis
It’ll be able to do entire tasks for you, like buying things or making bookings. (The Information $)
+ What are AI agents? (MIT Technology Review)
2 Far-right sheriffs are preparing to disrupt the election
And the means they’re planning to use are getting more and more violent. (Wired $)
+ Election officials are receiving an unprecedented number of threats. (The Atlantic $)
+ Groups are coordinating online to spread lies about the election. (NBC)
3 Check out the first images of the sun’s flares from a new NASA telescope
These storms are what’s behind the increased visibility of shimmering lights in our night skies recently. (NYT $)
4 Elon Musk seems to have briefly worked illegally in the US
Which makes his current obsession with borders look a tad hypocritical. (WP $)
+ Why is he backing Trump so enthusiastically? (Vox)
5 An AI transcription tool used in hospitals invents things no one said
OpenAI has said its Whisper tool shouldn’t be used in ‘high-risk domains’. But that’s exactly what’s happening. (AP)
6 China is restricting access to materials needed to make chips
It has a near-monopoly, so any squeeze on supply is likely to have an outsized impact. (NYT $)
+ What’s next in chips. (MIT Technology Review)
7 A Neuralink rival says its eye implant restored vision to blind people
It’s an exciting finding—but still very early days for testing the technology. (Wired $)
8 Nuclear power is back in fashion
But whether building new reactors is the best way to rapidly cut emissions is debatable. (Nature)
+ Why artificial intelligence and clean energy need each other. (MIT Technology Review)
9 Is Boeing fixable?
It’s been in chaos for the best part of five years, and the problems just keep piling up. (FT $)
10 People have a lot of love for Microsoft Excel
It’s been around for 40 years, during which time it’s gathered a surprisingly devoted fanbase. (The Guardian)
Quote of the day
“Today’s win may not be parfait, but it’s still pretty sweet.”
—Meredith Rose, senior policy counsel for consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge, hails a US Copyright Office ruling which should make it much easier to fix McDonald’s McFlurry machines, Ars Technica reports.
Longevity enthusiasts want to create their own independent state. They’re eyeing Rhode Island.
May 2023
—Jessica Hamzelou
Earlier this month, I traveled to Montenegro for a gathering of longevity enthusiasts. All the attendees were super friendly, and the sense of optimism was palpable. They’re all confident we’ll be able to find a way to slow or reverse aging—and they have a bold plan to speed up progress.
Around 780 of these people have created a “pop-up city” that hopes to circumvent the traditional process of clinical trials. They want to create an independent state where like-minded innovators can work together in an all-new jurisdiction that gives them free rein to self-experiment with unproven drugs. Welcome to Zuzalu. Read the full story.
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.)
+ I learned a lovely new word recently: sonder.
+ Feeling less brave than you’d like to? This Maya Angelou poem is for you.
+ You can use miso to boost the flavor of so many more things than you’d imagine.
+ Such a tender moment captured in this photo of kids buying ice cream.
