The Download: ethics in physics, and talking to ChatGPT

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

The US physics community is not done working on trust

—Frances Houle, Kate Kirby, Laura Greene & Michael Marder

In April 2024, Nature released detailed information about investigations into claims made by Ranga Dias, a physicist at the University of Rochester, in two high-profile papers the journal had published about the discovery of room-temperature superconductivity. Those two papers, which showed evidence of fabricated data, were eventually retracted, along with other Dias papers. 

This work made it into top journals because reviewers are used to being able to trust that data have not been so completely manipulated, and Dias’s experiments required very high pressures that other labs could not easily replicate. One natural reaction from the physics community would be “How could we ever have let this happen?” But another should be “Here we go again!” 

Alas, a pattern of similar behavior has been known for at least two decades. But improved education alone is not enough to sustain a culture of ethics in physics. Here’s what we need to do as well.

OpenAI has released a new ChatGPT bot that you can talk to

The news: OpenAI is rolling out an advanced AI chatbot that you can talk to. It’s available now—at least for some. The new ChatGPT voice bot can tell what different tones of voice convey, respond to interruptions, and reply to queries in real time. It has also been trained to sound more natural and use voices to convey a wide range of different emotions.

Why it matters: The new chatbot represents OpenAI’s push into a new generation of AI-powered voice assistants in the vein of Siri and Alexa, but with far more capabilities to enable more natural, fluent conversations. It is a step in the march to more fully capable AI agents. Read the full story.

—Melissa Heikkilä

A controversial Chinese CRISPR scientist is still hopeful about embryo gene-editing. Here’s why.

Back in 2018, it was my colleague Antonio Regalado, senior editor for biomedicine, who broke the story that a Chinese scientist named He Jiankui had used CRISPR to edit the genes of live human embryos, leading to the first gene-edited babies in the world.

The news made JK (as he likes to be called) a controversial figure across the world, and just a year later, he was sentenced to three years in prison by the Chinese government, which deemed him guilty of illegal medical practices.

Last Thursday, JK, who was released from prison in 2022, sat down with Antonio and Mat Honan, our editor in chief, for a live broadcast conversation on the experiment, his current situation, and why he’s hopeful that society will come around one day and accept embryo gene editing as a form of medical treatment. Read the full story.

—Zeyi Yang

This story is from China Report, our weekly newsletter exploring technology in China. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Tuesday.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 The US Senate has passed landmark online child safety bills 
They’re the first bills of their kind to be passed in two decades. (The Verge)
+ The legislation forces platforms to take ‘reasonable’ steps to protect children. (WP $)
+ But child online safety laws could actually hurt kids, critics say. (MIT Technology Review)

2 The US is clamping down on the export of chipmaking equipment
A new rule will restrict exports even further than they are currently. (Reuters)
+ Some major makers are dodging the ban, though. (Bloomberg $)

3 X suspended the account of a major Kamala Harris fundraiser
Its owner, Elon Musk, is a vocal supporter of rival candidate Donald Trump. (WP $)
+ How all in on crypto is Harris really? (NY Mag $)

4 Meta will pay Texas more than $1 billion
To settle claims it harvested residents’ biometric data without consent. (FT $)
+ The movement to limit face recognition tech might finally get a win. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Hollywood’s editors and artists are fearful of AI
They’re increasingly worried they’ll become electronic gig workers. (NYT $)+ Why artists are becoming less scared of AI. (MIT Technology Review)

6 Goodbye to Meta’s celebrity chatbots
Turns out no one wanted to chat to an AI version of Snoop Dogg. (The Information $)
+ AI Studio, which makes customizable chatbots, is its new focus. (The Verge)

7 3D printers are experiencing a renaissance
Defense and energy companies rely on them to overcome shortages. (WSJ $)

8 Primitive cells look very different to 21st century cells
Biologists are working to understand why and how they changed. (New Scientist $)

9 How social media turned tinned fish into a must-have
Sardines, eels, whelks; you name it, it’s selling. (Economist $)

10 Managing our digital lives is a full time job
But do we really need to keep our old photos and messages? (The Guardian)

Quote of the day

“Tag somebody and ask them: Do you believe?”

—Kenyan preacher Jeffter Wekesa, who broadcasts nightly sermons live on social media, implores his congregation to connect, Rest of World reports.

The big story

Inside the messy ethics of making war with machines

August 2023

In recent years, intelligent autonomous weapons—weapons that can select and fire upon targets without any human input—have become a matter of serious concern. Giving an AI system the power to decide matters of life and death would radically change warfare forever.

Intelligent autonomous weapons that fully displace human decision-making have (likely) yet to see real-world use.

However, these systems have become sophisticated enough to raise novel questions—ones that are surprisingly tricky to answer. What does it mean when a decision is only part human and part machine? And when, if ever, is it ethical for that decision to be a decision to kill? Read the full story.

—Arthur Holland Michel

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)

+ To mark Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 77th birthday this week, let’s take a trip down memory lane to appraise the Austrian Oak’s finest roles (number one is entirely correct).
+ This photo of Brazilian Olympic surfer Gabriel Medina is unbelievable.
+ The trailer for the forthcoming Bob Dylan biopic actually looks pretty good.
+ How is Purple Rain 40 years old?!