Memory is a core component of all computing systems. Tech leaders are now warning of a potential global crisis in memory chip production, largely due to the accelerated growth of Artificial Intelligence and the data centers that support it. The pressures are estimated to persist over the next couple of years at least, signaling difficult times ahead for consumers and electronics manufacturers alike.
View More DRAM Deficit: Global Decline in Memory Chip Supply Worsens
Spain has joined a growing number of countries banning social media for users under 16. These bans reflect a global concern over these platforms’ documented, pervasive threats to children’s mental health and safety, which companies have responded to with largely cosmetic changes that fail to meaningfully protect minors. This trend ultimately signals a disappointing and widespread failure to uphold ethical standards in the industry.
View More Spain Makes a Stand Against Social Media Platforms’ Disappointing Ethical Failures
Federal law enforcement agencies like ICE are increasingly using technologies to identify, document, and surveil U.S. residents. The dependency of these new technologies is still questionable. Still, they are being used as a valid justification for questioning, prosecuting, and threatening civilians, especially protestors.
View More Strengthened Surveillance of US Residents
The trend toward increased development of artificial intelligence, data centers, electric transportation, advanced manufacturing, military operations, and aerospace systems requires immense amounts of electricity to maintain and scale performance. Power modules play a significant role in modern electrical systems. The current architecture of power modules has significant limitations when integrated into higher power systems. The Ultra Low Inductance Smart (ULIS) power module, developed by researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), is set to overcome these limitations.
View More The Next Generation of Power Electronics: A Bright Path Ahead
Advancements in the technologies and support available to postpartum women are essential, and many new technologies designed for mothers are promising to hasten their physical and emotional recovery. While this may seem a noble goal on the surface, many products marketed to postpartum women are hindering rather than helping their recovery by feeding into an increasingly twisted societal ideal of what postpartum recovery should look like. It is the ethical imperative of engineers to consider how their technologies are contributing to the dangerous “bounce-back” culture directed at postpartum women and the maternal mental health crisis.
View More Selling the Problem, Selling the Cure: Bounce-Back Culture and its Toll on New Mothers
Two of the most popular brands of chips have released “naked” versions of their products, which have no artificial colors. Supported by studies that show the potential harm of artificial additives, efforts to “strip down” products have grown widespread across several manufacturers of prepackaged food in America.
View More Stripped Chips: Bringing Cleaner Snacks to American Shelves
Amazon Web Services is one of the world’s largest cloud service providers with estimated control over 30% of the Internet. It provides critical computing infrastructure, including databases and virtual servers, to businesses across several industries. Due to this single point of critical systems, its 14-hour outage has a catastrophic impact on several global sectors. This article examines the ethical and systemic risks associated with centralizing cloud infrastructure, where a single failure can cascade into widespread, severe disruption across interconnected global systems.
View More Too Big To Fail: How AWS’s Outage Broke Down a Sizable Chunk of the Internet
Gene and molecular-level interventions are just one example of how modern medicine is seeking to push boundaries and uncover breakthroughs. CRISPR-Cas9 is the most common gene-editing technology used today. The Cleveland Clinic conducted a Phase 1, first-in-human clinical trial overseas to test the safety and effectiveness of a new CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing therapy called CTX310. While a relatively new biotech startup, called Preventive, announced its plans to pursue embryo-editing technologies aimed at preventing hereditary disease, and preparing for the possibility of implanting a genetically edited embryo to create a baby. Many uncertainties surround gene editing practices, leaving professionals unsure of how far such technologies should go and how they should be regulated.
View More Build-A-Baby: Is Gene Editing the Future of Humanity?
Tesla’s vision for its Optimus humanoid robot fleet raises questions about the direction AI technology and robotics are taking. This is especially important to consider as people increasingly project human qualities – such as empathy – onto technology designed to mimic humanity.
View More The Ethics of Humanoid Robots
AI talent is entering the film and entertainment industry. Eline Van der Velden’s company Xicoia is in the process of making AI performers, the first of which is Tilly Norwood. While the public has brashly criticized the entity, studios and agencies are excited to work with her.
View More AI Actors Enter Hollywood