False AI warnings and experimental CRISPR therapy
Meredith Broussard is unusually well-positioned to analyze the ongoing hype surrounding AI. She is a data scientist and associate professor at New York University, and has been one of the leading researchers in the field of algorithmic bias for many years.
And though her own work has her buried in math problems, she’s spent the past few years thinking about problems that math can’t solve. Broussard argues that we are always too eager to apply artificial intelligence to social problems in inappropriate and damaging ways—especially when race, gender, and ability are not considered.
Broussard spoke with Tate Ryan-Mosley, our senior technology policy correspondent, about the issues in police use of technology, the limits of “AI fairness,” and the solutions that can be taken. She sees some of the challenges that AI is posing. Read full story.
More than 200 people have been treated with the experimental CRISPR therapy
Jessica Hamzelou, senior biotech reporter for MIT Technology Review, has spent the past few days listening to scientists, ethologists, and patient groups grappling with emotional dilemmas and morality.
They debated how, when and whether we should use gene editing tools to alter the human genome at the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing in London. .
There’s a lot to get excited about. In the decade since scientists discovered they can use CRISPR to edit the genomes of cells, the technology has been used to save some lives and transform others.