{"id":855244,"date":"2025-06-13T06:11:48","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T11:11:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/13\/the-download-amsterdams-welfare-ai-experiment-and-making-humanoid-robots-safer\/"},"modified":"2025-06-13T06:11:48","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T11:11:48","slug":"the-download-amsterdams-welfare-ai-experiment-and-making-humanoid-robots-safer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/13\/the-download-amsterdams-welfare-ai-experiment-and-making-humanoid-robots-safer\/","title":{"rendered":"The Download: Amsterdam\u2019s welfare AI experiment, and making humanoid robots safer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Plus: chatbots can’t keep up with the LA riots<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n

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This is today’s edition of\u00a0The Download<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

Inside Amsterdam\u2019s high-stakes experiment to create fair welfare AI<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Amsterdam thought it was on the right track. City officials in the welfare department believed they could build technology that would prevent fraud while protecting citizens\u2019 rights. They followed these emerging best practices and invested a vast amount of time and money in a project that eventually processed live welfare applications. But in their pilot, they found that the system they\u2019d developed was still not fair and effective. Why?<\/p>\n

Lighthouse Reports, MIT Technology Review<\/em>, and the Dutch newspaper Trouw<\/em> have gained unprecedented access to the system to try to find out. <\/strong>Read about what we discovered<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014Eileen Guo, Gabriel Geiger & Justin-Casimir Braun<\/em><\/p>\n

This story is a partnership between MIT Technology Review, <\/em>Lighthouse Reports<\/em><\/a>, and <\/em>Trouw<\/em><\/a>, and was supported by the Pulitzer Center.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

+ Can you make AI fairer than a judge? <\/strong>Play our courtroom algorithm game to find out<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Why humanoid robots need their own safety rules<\/strong><\/p>\n

While humanoid robots are taking their first tentative steps into industrial applications, the ultimate goal is to have them operating in close quarters with humans.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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One reason for making robots human-shaped in the first place is so they can more easily navigate the environments we\u2019ve designed around ourselves. This means they will need to be able to share space with people, not just stay behind protective barriers. But first, they need to be safe. Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014Victoria Turk<\/em><\/p>\n

MIT Technology Review Narrated: The surprising barrier that keeps us from building the housing we need<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sure, there’s too much red tape, but there is another reason building anything is so expensive: the construction industry’s “awful” productivity.<\/strong>This is our latest story<\/a> to be turned into a MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which\u00a0
we\u2019re publishing each week on Spotify<\/a> and Apple Podcasts<\/a>. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it\u2019s released.<\/p>\n

The must-reads<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve combed the internet to find you today\u2019s most fun\/important\/scary\/fascinating stories about technology.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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1 Chatbots are getting facts about the LA riots wrong<\/strong>
AI systems can\u2019t be relied upon at the best of times, let alone with fast-moving news. (Wired<\/a> $)
+ What\u2019s Trump\u2019s goal here, exactly? <\/em>(NY Mag<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

2 Gavin Newsom is becoming a meme<\/strong>
The California governor\u2019s Trump clapbacks are winning him a legion of online fans. (WP<\/a> $)
+ He\u2019s accused the President of \u201cpulling a military dragnet\u201d across the city. <\/em>(The Guardian<\/a>)
+ Newsom has warned that other states are likely to be next. <\/em>(Politico<\/a>)<\/p>\n

3 Trump\u2019s Big Beautiful Bill could lead to more than 51,000 deaths a year<\/strong>
Due to the bill\u2019s provisions for public health insurance. (Undark<\/a>)<\/p>\n

4 How Ukraine\u2019s AI-guided drones hit Russia\u2019s airfields<\/strong>
But its opponent is also stepping up its AI capabilities. (FT<\/a> $)
+ Meet the radio-obsessed civilian shaping Ukraine\u2019s drone defense. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

5 US agencies tracked foreign nationals travelling to Elon Musk<\/strong>
Officials kept an eye on who visited him in 2022 and 2023. (WSJ<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

6 Snap\u2019s new AR smart glasses will go on sale next year<\/strong>
Its sixth generation of Specs will enter an increasingly crowded field. (CNBC<\/a>)
+ Qualcomm has made a new processor to power similar glasses. <\/em>(Bloomberg<\/a> $)
+ What\u2019s next for smart glasses. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

7 Each ChatGPT query uses \u2018roughly one fifteenth of a teaspoon\u2019 of water
<\/strong>That\u2019s according to Sam Altman, at least. (The Verge<\/a>)
+ We did the math on AI\u2019s energy footprint. Here\u2019s the story you haven\u2019t heard. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

8 Death Valley\u2019s air could be a valuable water source
<\/strong>Scientists proved their hydrogel method worked in the real world. (New Scientist<\/a> $)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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9 Gen Z is choosing to skip college entirely<\/strong>
Increasing numbers of young tech workers are opting out and entering the workforce early. (Insider<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

10 How to fight back against a world of AI-generated choices<\/strong>
Good taste is your friend here. (The Atlantic<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

Quote of the day<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re probably going to have flying taxis before we have autonomous ones in London.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014Steve McNamara, the general secretary of the UK\u2019s Licensed Taxi Drivers\u2019 Association, isn\u2019t optimistic about London\u2019s plans to trial autonomous cars, he tells the Guardian<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One more thing<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/a><\/figure>\n
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Exosomes are touted as a trendy cure-all. We don\u2019t know if they work.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a trendy new cure-all in town\u2014you might have seen ads pop up on social media or read rave reviews in beauty magazines.<\/p>\n

Exosomes are being touted as a miraculous treatment for hair loss, aging skin, acne, eczema, pain conditions, long covid, and even neurological diseases like Parkinson\u2019s and Alzheimer\u2019s. That\u2019s, of course, if you can afford the price tag\u2014which can stretch to thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s a big problem with these big promises: We don\u2019t fully understand how exosomes work\u2014or what they even really are. Read our story<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2014Jessica Hamzelou<\/em><\/p>\n

We can still have nice things<\/strong><\/p>\n

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? <\/em>Drop me a line<\/em><\/a> or <\/em>skeet ’em at me<\/em><\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

+ Here\u2019s how to tap into your flow state<\/a> and get things DONE.
+ Check out these must-see art shows and exhibitions<\/a> of the year.
+ Everybody\u2019s free (to listen to one of the best hits of the 90s<\/a>) \u2600\ufe0f
+ Turns out 10CC frontman Graham Gouldman doesn\u2019t just like cricket\u2014he\u2019s just watched his first ever game and he really does love it<\/a> ???? <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Rhiannon Williams<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plus: chatbots can’t keep up with the LA riots This is today’s edition of\u00a0The Download ,\u00a0our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Inside Amsterdam\u2019s high-stakes experiment to create fair welfare AI Amsterdam thought it was on the right track. City officials in the welfare department<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":855245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39193,24097,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-855244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-amsterdams","category-download","category-technology"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=855244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}