Tag Archives: Automation

MIT Technology Review – March/April 2025 Preview

MIT Technology Review

MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW (February 26, 2025): The ‘Relationships Issue’ features AI, Automation, and Surveillance will improve productivity. Or else.

This issue explores the many ways technology is transforming our relationships, from the AI chatbot revolution that’s changing how we connect with one another to the increasing power imbalance in the workplace that’s happening as monitoring increases and protections fall far behind. Plus animating ancient animals, lab-grown spandex, and adventures in the genetic time machine.

The AI relationship revolution is already here

Chatbots are rapidly changing how we connect to each other—and ourselves. We’re never going back.

Adventures in the genetic time machine

Ancient DNA is telling us more and more about humans and environments long past. Could it also help rescue the future?

Your boss is watching

Monitoring technology is increasing the power imbalance between companies and workers. Protections lag far behind.

Fast Food & Grocery: An AI And Automation Takeover

CNBC (July 15, 2024): Fully autonomous fast-food chains to smart carts lining grocery store parking lots, the way the food industry looks is changing due to massive investment in AI technology.

Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 2:34 CH 1. Digitizing food retail 5:35 CH 2. The risk and reward from robots 8:30 CH 3. What’s next?

The American consumer is starting to pull back on spending and rising food and labor costs are causing the food industry to invest more into automation to lower labor costs and improve sales, in order to stay competitive and take advantage of shifting consumer taste.

Podcast: The ‘Future Of Work’ (The Economist)

The pandemic has fuelled an explosion of unemployment and a transformation in how many people work, especially in richer countries. Many of these changes are promising and there are many reasons for optimism about the labour market

Also, the prospects for working from home and MIT labour economist David Autor on the effect of covid-19 on automation. Simon Long hosts

Electric Vehicles: ‘Inside Tesla Gigafactory’ (Video)

Tesla is by far one of the most successful companies in modern history. They popularized fully electric cars and created a massive demand among the public. With a market cap of around 380 billion dollars, Tesla is growing by the day.

But to keep up with orders Tesla built a futuristic facility called the Gigafactory. Today we’re taking a look inside the Tesla Gigafactory. Tesla currently produces about 350,000 cars a year—far fewer than the public demands. But they have ambitions to ramp up production to more than 20 million cars a year.

This bold strategy will require numerous advances in their current chain of production, including several larger factories, which are currently being built all over the world. But the bedrock of Tesla’s production line is their Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada. The company’s first fully built factory will serve as the model for what eventually could be a dozen massive Tesla factories globally.

Economics: ‘Universal Basic Income Experiment In South Korea’ (WSJ Video)

To stimulate its pandemic-hit economy, a province in South Korea has been experimenting with universal basic income programs by regularly giving out cash, no questions asked. Now, some politicians want to go national with the concept.

Illustration: Crystal Tai/WSJ