H-bomb creator Richard Garwin was a giant in science, technology and policy
By: Matthew Bunn, Professor of the Practice of Energy, National Security, and Foreign Policy, Harvard Kennedy School Richard Garwin, who died on May 13, 2025, at the age of 97, was sometimes called “the most influential scientist you’ve never heard of.” He got his Ph.D. in physics at 21 under Enrico Fermi – a Nobel […]
Predictive policing AI is on the rise − making it accountable to the public could curb its harmful effects
By: Maria Lungu, Postdoctoral Researcher of Law and Public Administration, University of Virginia The 2002 sci-fi thriller “Minority Report” depicted a dystopian future where a specialized police unit was tasked with arresting people for crimes they had not yet committed. Directed by Steven Spielberg and based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, the […]
Gender balance in computer science and engineering is improving at elite universities but getting worse elsewhere
By: Joseph Cimpian, Professor of Economics and Education Policy, New York University The share of computer science and engineering degrees going to women has increased at the most selective American universities over the past 20 years and is approaching gender parity, while the proportion has declined at less selective schools. Those are the main findings of a […]
From anecdotes to AI tools, how doctors make medical decisions is evolving with technology
By: Aaron J. Masino, Associate Professor of Computing, Clemson University The practice of medicine has undergone an incredible, albeit incomplete, transformation over the past 50 years, moving steadily from a field informed primarily by expert opinion and the anecdotal experience of individual clinicians toward a formal scientific discipline. The advent of evidence-based medicine meant clinicians identified the […]
Is AI dominance inevitable? A technology ethicist says no, actually
By: Nir Eisikovits, Professor of Philosophy and Director, Applied Ethics Center, UMass Boston Anyone following the rhetoric around artificial intelligence in recent years has heard one version or another of the claim that AI is inevitable. Common themes are that AI is already here, it is indispensable, and people who are bearish on it harm themselves. […]