The AI Hype Index: Falling in love with chatbots, understanding babies, and the Pentagon’s “kill list”
MIT Technology Review’s highly subjective take on the latest buzz about AI.

Separating AI reality from hyped-up fiction isn’t always easy. That’s why we’ve created the AI Hype Index—a simple, at-a-glance summary of everything you need to know about the state of the industry.
The past few months have demonstrated how AI can bring us together. Meta released a model that can translate speech from more than 100 languages, and people across the world are finding solace, assistance, and even romance with chatbots. However, it’s also abundantly clear how the technology is dividing us—for example, the Pentagon is using AI to detect humans on its “kill list.” Elsewhere, the changes Mark Zuckerberg has made to his social media company’s guidelines mean that hate speech is likely to become far more prevalent on our timelines.
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China built hundreds of AI data centers to catch the AI boom. Now many stand unused.
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These newer models appear more likely to indulge in rule-bending behaviors than previous generations—and there’s no way to stop them.
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