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Ideas

What it will take for robots to start doing our chores

MIT’s Daniela Rus makes the case for robotic co-workers, robotic toys — and tables and chairs that move themselves.

OpEds

Congress should commit to US biotechnology leadership

Curiosity-driven, peer-reviewed research is a public good that requires public investment.

Ideas

China’s first viral true crime story may also be its last

Online sleuths around the world thought they solved the mystery of how a student was poisoned. But the Chinese justice system posed a challenge they couldn’t crack.

Ideas

We can get more imaginative about what we imagine

Ruha Benjamin questions why some hard problems are considered too far-fetched to solve while others turn into techie moonshots.

Columns

The government didn’t restrain social media. What about AI?

Columbia University professor Tim Wu says artificial intelligence will increase the dominance of Big Tech.

Ideas

Getting AI ready for the real world takes a terrible human toll

Testing whether chatbots will spew offensive or dangerous content forces you down a rabbit hole you can’t easily forget.

Columns

Is it OK if AI surpasses us?

MIT computer scientist Manolis Kellis is working on artificial intelligence that masters molecular biology and points the way to new medical treatments. And if it takes his own job someday? All the better.

Ideas

Why we click on stuff we know we won’t like

Our research reveals a gap between what goes viral and what people want to go viral.