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Computers

Annals of Artificial Intelligence

How to Picture A.I.

To understand its strengths and limitations, we may need to adopt a new perspective.
Infinite Scroll

The Birth of the Personal Computer

A new history of the Apple II charts how computers became unavoidable fixtures of our daily lives.
Second Read

What a Sixty-Five-Year-Old Book Teaches Us About A.I.

Rereading an oddly resonant—and prescient—consideration of how computation affects learning.
The New Yorker Interview

“It’s Not Possible for Me to Feel or Be Creepy”: An Interview with ChatGPT

The large language model discusses bullshit, rogue A.I., and the nature of beauty.
Annals of Technology

The World-Changing Race to Develop the Quantum Computer

Such a device could help address climate change and food scarcity, or break the Internet. Will the U.S. or China get there first?
Daily Cartoon

Daily Cartoon: Wednesday, May 25th

It’s past time for a system update.
Profiles

Wendell Berry’s Advice for a Cataclysmic Age

Sixty years after renouncing modernity, the writer is still contemplating a better way forward.
Dept. of Technology

Can “Distraction-Free” Devices Change the Way We Write?

The digital age enabled productivity but invited procrastination. Now writers are rebelling against their word processors.
Office Space

Can Virtual Reality Fix the Workplace?

The struggle to create a digital alternative to the analog office.
Shouts & Murmurs

Computer Functions I Wish I Had in Real Life

The wonders that a search bar and autocorrect can bring to the analog world.
Under Review

Sid Meier and the Meaning of “Civilization”

How one video game tells the story of an industry.
Annals of Technology

The World’s Largest Computer Chip

In the race to accelerate A.I., the Silicon Valley company Cerebras has landed on an unusual strategy: go big.
Cultural Comment

The Chatbot Problem

As we teach computers to use natural language, we are bumping into the inescapable biases of human communication.
Shouts & Murmurs

What’s in My Cryptocurrency Portfolio

Disclaimer: This list is not to be considered financial advice.
Annals of Technology

How to Negotiate with Ransomware Hackers

Kurtis Minder finds the cat-and-mouse energy of outsmarting criminal syndicates deeply satisfying.
Annals of Science

Persuading the Body to Regenerate Its Limbs

Deer can regrow their antlers, and humans can replace their liver. What else might be possible?
Annals of Technology

The Pastry A.I. That Learned to Fight Cancer

In Japan, a system designed to distinguish croissants from bear claws has turned out to be capable of a whole lot more.
Annals of Technology

Who Should Stop Unethical A.I.?

At artificial-intelligence conferences, researchers are increasingly alarmed by what they see.
Books

The Next Cyberattack Is Already Under Way

Amid a global gold rush for digital weapons, the infrastructure of our daily lives has never been more vulnerable.
Daily Cartoon

Daily Cartoon: Monday, January 4th

“I’m not sure that I’m ready to go from my ‘for fun’ tabs back to my ‘for work’ tabs.”