The Download: brain-computer interfaces, and teaching an AI model to give therapy

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. Brain-computer interfaces face a critical test Brain computer…

April 1, 2025

Tech

Brain-computer interfaces face a critical test

Tech companies are always trying out new ways for people to interact with computers—consider efforts like Google Glass, the Apple Watch, and Amazon’s Alexa. You’ve probably used at least one.…

April 1, 2025

Tech

How do you teach an AI model to give therapy?

On March 27, the results of the first clinical trial for a generative AI therapy bot were published, and they showed that people in the trial who had depression or…

April 1, 2025

Tech

The Download: generative AI therapy, and the future of 23andMe’s genetic data

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 first trial of generative AI therapy shows…

March 31, 2025

Tech

The first trial of generative AI therapy shows it might help with depression

The first clinical trial of a therapy bot that uses generative AI suggests it was as effective as human therapy for participants with depression, anxiety, or risk for developing eating…

March 28, 2025

Tech

How a bankruptcy judge can stop a genetic privacy disaster

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A tech company accumulates a ton of user data, hoping to figure out a business model later. That business model never arrives,…

March 28, 2025

Tech

The Download: peering inside an LLM, and the rise of Signal

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. Anthropic can now track the bizarre inner workings…

March 28, 2025

Tech

“Spare” living human bodies might provide us with organs for transplantation

This week, MIT Technology Review published a piece on bodyoids—living bodies that cannot think or feel pain. In the piece, a trio of scientists argue that advances in biotechnology will…

March 28, 2025

Tech

What is Signal? The messaging app, explained.

MIT Technology Review Explains: Let our writers untangle the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what’s coming next. You can read more from the series here. With…

March 27, 2025

Tech

Anthropic can now track the bizarre inner workings of a large language model

The AI firm Anthropic has developed a way to peer inside a large language model and watch what it does as it comes up with a response, revealing key new…

March 27, 2025