MIT Technology Review
07.20
The Download
Good morning! Here are today's most important stories in emerging technology.
State-sponsored trolling is everywhere—including in the US
Governments around the world have used targeted online hate and harassment campaigns to intimidate or silence people.
The news: A report out yesterday by the Institute for the Future, a California-based public policy group, documented the extent of the practice, and found it to be widespread in both dictatorships and democracies.
How they do it: Using fake accounts, bots, and coordinated attacks by legions of followers, governments make it extremely difficult to distinguish between public opinion and sponsored trolls.
For example: The Indian government reportedly paid throngs of people to make coordinated posts to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attack his opponents. The report details similar instances in Ecuador, Malta, and Mexico as well. The US doesn’t get away scot free, either. “The strategy of inciting or fueling trolling campaigns has been witnessed in the United States,” the report says, “where hyperpartisan news outlets such as Breitbart and sources close to Trump signal to trolls who to target.”
Moving toward a “token-driven economy”
IBM is turning carbon credits into crypto-tokens—part of a scheme to create a massive marketplace of novel digital assets.
Some background: Companies, governments, and others use carbon offset credits to compensate for the carbon dioxide they emit. The credits are purchased or traded, and the investment goes toward reducing emissions some other way. But the market for them is sluggish and inefficient.
The solution: Blockchain technology, says Jim Procanik, executive director of the Veridium Foundation, is the “perfect background for creating a more liquid and transparent marketplace.” That’s why Veridium has teamed with IBM to “tokenize” carbon offset credits using blockchain.
What’s next: Jesse Lund, IBM’s head of blockchain solutions and financial services, told our own Mike Orcutt we’re going to see what he calls an “arms race” to build the best blockchain-based business networks. He predicts that the networks with more “assets living on them that can be freely exchanged” will see greater adoption. And carbon offset credits are an opportunity to demonstrate how it’s possible to turn a “somewhat exotic” asset class into a token that can be combined with other kinds of business transactions.
Boozy bots could serve you up your next cocktail
At the moment, robotic bartenders are costly—but some startups are aiming to make them competitive with human mixologists.
Automating alcohol: The Tipsy Robot, a Las Vegas bar, has an employee that cost more than $1 million dollars to hire. Its robot bartender, created by Makr Shakr, can sling up to 120 drinks an hour at $12 to $16 a pop.
But... Prices are plummeting. Makr Shakr has just released a mass-market version of its drink-serving machine that costs $115,000. And next month, New York-based startup Barsys will release a $2,500 commercial version of a microwave-size robot bartender.
The jobs question: The creators of these machines don’t see them as supplanting human barkeeps. “In most of the bars, the bartender is the biggest crowd puller,” CEO and founder of Barsys, Akshet Tewari, told the Wall Street Journal. “With Barsys it’s all about increasing the efficiency of a bar.”
Our Data, Ourselves—Personalized Health Care
Massive and growing databases of gene sequencing data promise long-sought breakthroughs in medicine. How will we balance the pursuit of better health with ethical questions raised by this fast-moving field? Join us at EmTech where we will be discussing these issues and more. Secure your seat today.
Ten Fascinating Things
Our roundup of today's top tech news to get you thinking and debating.
1
Facebook is putting a cap on WhatsApp sharing
The limit comes after violence was caused by fake news propagation in India and Myanmar. (Recode)
2
Tesla is losing a lot of preorders
A new analysis says 24 percent of Model 3 reservations have been refunded, outpacing new sales. (CNN)
+ Tesla disagrees. (Reuters)
3
Small brands on Amazon are plagued by counterfeiters
It’s hurting many small businesses’ reputations and reviews. (WSJ)
4
Worries about a cloud computing monopoly are helping Microsoft
Companies are trying not to put all of their eggs in Amazon’s basket. (NYT)
5
Inside “The Machine”
Google Ventures relies heavily on an algorithm to make its investment decisions. (Axios)
6
Larry Page really loves flying cars
The Google co-founder is involved in no fewer than three separate flying vehicle startups. (The Verge)
7
Big names in AI vow not to build autonomous weapons
Elon Musk and other AI luminaries have signed a letter that guarantees they won’t develop “lethal autonomous weapons.” (TR)
8
Amazon is racking up opponents in Washington
An antitrust camp is building force. (The Information)
9
Breaking the ice
These robots are exploring beneath Antarctica’s ice shelves. (Wired)
10
Happy 49th moon landing-iversary!
Check out some outtake photos from the Apollo 11 mission. (Quartz)
+ NASA to reveal its first Commercial Crew Program astronauts next month. (Politico)
Quote of the Day
“I told you so! The European Union just slapped a Five Billion Dollar fine on one of our great companies, Google. They truly have taken advantage of the U.S., but not for long!”
—US president Donald Trump tweeted yesterday in regards to the EU’s assessment of a $5.1 billion dollar fine on Google.
Erin Winick
Top image credit: THEODOR KITTELSEN | {{PD-US}}
Please send tokenized carbon credits to hi@technologyreview.com.
I also write our future of work newsletter, Clocking In. Sign up here.
Follow me on Twitter at @erinwinick. Thanks for reading!
—Erin
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