Introducing TED Talks Tech

TED's new biweekly dive into all things tech and AI [TED Talks Daily]( This is a special message from TED's Tech Curator. We'll return to regular TED Talks Daily programming on Monday!   The world of tech is moving at lightning speed … and TED has a new way to keep up with it all. Explore our biweekly dive into all things tech, written by real humans. Whether you're a bona fide techno-optimist, tech-concerned or both, TED Talks Tech is your place for delightfully unexpected inspiration and insight. Below, enjoy a preview of our first issue, and [subscribe]() for more tech news, talks, podcasts and more. [Subscribe now]() [Subscribe now]()   [TED](   [TED Talks Tech]   May 4, 2024   Dear reader, We wrapped TED's 40th-anniversary conference last month, and AI seemingly dominated — according to one audience member's count, it was mentioned more than 330 times on stage throughout the week. From mind-blowing art to the practicalities of policy, you could say the tech-minded speakers stole the show: [TED Talk]( Niceaunties - 11 min [The weird and wonderful art of Niceaunties]( [TED Talk]( Daniela Rus - 13 min [How AI will step off the screen and into the real world]( [TED Talk]( Helen Toner - 11 min [How to govern AI — even if it's hard to predict]( There is so much more to tech than AI (and we promise to not lose sight of that!), but as policy researcher Helen Toner said at TED2024, "AI is already happening to us." Our work at TED is about digging deep into ideas so we can better understand the implications of what's happening — and who's making it so. In this newsletter, we'll share the tech news that matters along with ideas to help make sense of it all. — Simone Ross, TED Tech Curator   The download Roughly 78% of US adults say that social media companies have too much power and influence in politics today, according to a new [Pew Research Center survey](. More from TED: Former CIA analyst and Facebook employee Yaël Eisenstat shared why she believes [Facebook is “breaking democracy,”]( while creator and activist Sofia Ongele explained how it's possible to get creative and [defend democracy online](.   No one wants AI to go rogue, but teaching philosophical ideals of right and wrong is confoundingly complex. In [Noema Magazine](, Nathan Gardels reflects on how "different cultural zones with different values will censor different things" — and highlights the imminent threat of US AI giants imprinting American culture around the globe. More from TED: Social technologist Divya Siddarth offers a vision of a future with more [collaborative AI models](, sharing how a group of people helped retrain one of the world's most powerful AI models on a constitution they wrote.   Researchers demonstrated the possibility of programming a swarm of [cyborg cockroaches]( — that's Madagascar hissing cockroaches, controlled by a remote via computers mounted on their backs — to be used on search and rescue missions. More from TED: This isn't the first time bugs and tech have crossed antennae. In her talk from TED2022, neuroscientist Frances S. Chance showed how untangling the [web of neurons in insects' tiny brains]( could lead to breakthroughs in computers, AI and more.   Tune in [TED Tech]( [How wireless energy from space could power everything]( TED Tech - 14 min Electrical engineer Ali Hajimiri explains the principles behind wireless energy transfer and shares his far-out vision for launching flexible solar panels into space to collect sunlight, convert it to electrical power and light up our world from space. Listen on [Spotify]( | [Apple]( | [More](   [The Redemption of Jar Jar Binks]( [The internet's first main character?]( The Redemption of Jar Jar Binks - 32 min Whether or not you celebrate May the 4th, this podcast will take you on a journey into how the internet has shaped pop culture since its inception. We start in 1999, when a new Star Wars brings radical changes to the galaxy far, far away — and not everyone's happy about it. Listen on [Spotify]( | [Apple]( | [More](   All about AI [TED Talk]( Mustafa Suleyman - 22 min [What is an AI anyway?]( When it comes to artificial intelligence, what are we actually creating? Even those closest to its development are struggling to describe exactly where things are headed, says Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman, one of the primary architects of the AI models many of us use today. He offers an honest and compelling new vision for the future of AI: “I think AI should best be understood as something like a new digital species. Don't take this too literally, but I predict that we'll come to see them as digital companions, new partners in the journeys of all our lives. Whether you think we're on a 10-, 20- or 30-year path here, this is, in my view, the most accurate and most fundamentally honest way of describing what's actually coming. And above all, it enables everybody to prepare for and shape what comes next.” — Mustafa Suleyman [Watch →](   Tech·know·ledge·y Deciphering the lingo of today's tech. [Grokking]( [ graa-kuhng ] · verb To understand profoundly and intuitively. In AI, it refers to when a model seemingly fails to learn a certain task, and then [suddenly succeeds](. Dive deeper with a TED Talk: [TED Talk]( [Does AI actually understand us?]( Alona Fyshe - 10 min [Watch →](   [TED Talks Tech]()   In the next TED Talks Tech later this month, we'll share exciting news about our new podcast — [The TED AI Show](, hosted by creative technologist Bilawal Sidhu — plus a conversation with our Localization team about the launch of AI-powered dubbed TED Talks. [Subscribe to TED Talks Tech]() and get the latest tech news along with talks to help make sense of it all, in your inbox every two weeks! 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