News: Radiologists assisted by an AI diagnose breast cancer more successfully than when working alone, according to a new study. The same AI also produces more accurate results in the hands of a radiologist than when operating alone.
Why it is important: The large-scale study, published this month in The Lancet Digital Health, is the first to directly compare the performance of an AI in diagnosing breast cancer according to whether it is used alone or to assist a human expert. The process meant that nearly three-quarters of the screening studies did not need to be reviewed by a radiologist, which could help alleviate the global shortage of specialists.
What happens next: While the findings are promising, the next step would be to confirm how well the AI works over a long period of time in actual clinics with real patients. The hope is that in the future, such systems could save lives by detecting cancers that doctors miss, freeing up radiologists to see more patients and easing the burden in countries with severe shortages of specialists. Read the full story.
-Hana Kiros
Materials with nanoscale components will change what is possible
Materials scientists have long been fascinated by the hierarchical patterns found in nature that repeat themselves down to the molecular level, imbuing the material with extraordinary strength, durability and color. In the future, we may be able to engineer these properties directly into manufactured materials, and even program a degree of intelligence directly into them, which could make new features and functions possible.
Those on this year’s MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 list are working toward the ultimate goal of creating materials and architected devices imbued with the ability to make decisions for themselves. Read more about their work and what it takes to help them succeed in this essay by Julia R. Greer, a materials scientist at the California Institute of Technology.
This essay is part of MIT Technology Review’s 2022 Innovators Under 35 suite that recognizes the most promising young people working in technology today. See the full list here.
Must Reads
I’ve been combing the internet to find you today’s most entertaining/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 A new wave of Covid is sweeping the US
At a time when there is almost no measure of public health. (WP$)
2 Elon Musk and Twitter are going to court
But whether the company can get the volatile Musk to buy it remains to be seen. (WSJ$)
+ In a legal battle, experts think Twitter has the upper hand. (FT$)
+ Musk’s response to Twitter’s threat to sue him was, of course, a meme. (Bloomberg $)
3 Crypto traders want their money back
And that can only mean one thing: a lawsuit. Lots and lots of litigation. (Information $)
+ What crypto companies can learn from the dot-com bust. (protocol)
4 Uber drivers behaved even worse than you might think
It violated the laws and used violence against its leaders, the leaked files revealed. (caretaker)
5 Costa Rica is struggling to recover from a crippling cyber attack
Although the group that hacked the site has disbanded. (FT$)
+ US defense firm L3 Harris is no longer in talks to buy NSO Group. (caretaker)
+ A hacker group called Predatory Sparrow claims it started the fire at an Iranian steelmaker. (BBC)
6 AI has an ethical disconnection problem
Some researchers don’t want to think about how their inventions will be used in the real world. (Protocol)
+ Big Tech’s guide to talking about the ethics of AI. (MIT Technology Review)
7 artists are experimenting with DALL-E 2
But finding that it doesn’t quite match their imagination. (caretaker)
+ The dark secret behind those cute AI-generated animal images. (MIT Technology Review)
8 Meet the YouTubers who hunt and eat invasive species
Experts are divided on whether it is a beneficial or positive development. (Information $)
+ Scientists worry that species are disappearing before we even discover them. (CNET)
+ Why you shouldn’t believe everything nature identification apps tell you. (Party)
9 Pro-vasectomy influencers are having a moment
In a post-Roe world, interest is growing in more permanent birth control methods. (Atlantic $)
10 The optimal shape for a house in space can be a cone
It can help recreate the gravity that people are used to. (Quartz)
