{"id":883965,"date":"2026-01-10T06:27:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T12:27:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/10\/the-download-a-peek-at-ais-future\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T06:27:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T12:27:39","slug":"the-download-a-peek-at-ais-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/10\/the-download-a-peek-at-ais-future\/","title":{"rendered":"The Download: a peek at AI\u2019s future"},"content":{"rendered":"
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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

The State of AI: A vision of the world in 2030\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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There are huge gulfs of opinion when it comes to predicting the near-future impacts of generative AI. In one camp there are those who predict that over the next decade the impact of AI will exceed that of the Industrial Revolution\u2014a 150-year period of economic and social upheaval so great that we still live in the world it wrought.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the other end of the scale we have team \u2018Normal Technology\u2019: experts who push back not only on these sorts of predictions but on their foundational worldview. That\u2019s not how technology works, they argue.<\/p>\n

Advances at the cutting edge may come thick and fast, but change across the wider economy, and society as a whole, moves at human speed. Widespread adoption of new technologies can be slow; acceptance slower. AI will be no different. What should we make of these extremes?\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Read the full conversation<\/a> between MIT Technology Review\u2019s senior AI editor Will Douglas Heaven and Tim Bradshaw, FT global tech correspondent, about where AI will go next, and what our world will look like in the next five years.<\/p>\n

This is the final edition of The State of AI, a collaboration between the Financial Times and MIT Technology Review.\u00a0Read the rest of the series<\/a>, and if you want to keep up-to-date with what\u2019s going on in the world of AI,\u00a0sign up<\/a>\u00a0to receive our free Algorithm newsletter every Monday.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

How AI is changing the economy<\/strong><\/p>\n

There’s a lot at stake when it comes to understanding how AI is changing the economy at large. What’s the right outlook to have? Join Mat Honan, editor in chief, David Rotman, editor at large, and Richard Waters, FT columnist, at 1pm ET today to hear them discuss what’s happening across industries and the market.\u00a0Sign up now<\/a>\u00a0to be part of this exclusive subscriber-only event.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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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

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1 Trump says he\u2019ll sign an order blocking states from regulating AI<\/strong>
But he\u2019s facing a lot of pushback, including from members of his own party. (CNN<\/a>)
+\u00a0The whole debacle can be traced back to congressional inaction.\u00a0<\/em>(Semafor<\/a>)<\/p>\n

2 Google\u2019s new smart glasses are getting rave reviews\u00a0<\/strong>\ud83d\udc53
You\u2019ll be able to get your hands on a pair in 2026. Watch out, Apple and Meta. (Tech Radar<\/a>)<\/p>\n

3 Trump gave the go-ahead for Nvidia to sell powerful AI chips to China<\/strong>
The US gets a 25% cut of the sales\u2014but what does it lose longer-term? (WP<\/a>\u00a0$)
+\u00a0And how much could China stand to gain?<\/em>\u00a0(NYT<\/a>\u00a0$)
+\u00a0How a top Chinese AI model overcame US sanctions.<\/em>\u00a0(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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4 America\u2019s data center backlash is here<\/strong>
Republican and Democrat alike, local residents are sick of rapidly rising power bills. (Vox<\/a>\u00a0$)
+\u00a0More than 200 environmental groups are demanding a US-wide moratorium on new data centers.<\/em>\u00a0(The Guardian<\/a>)
+\u00a0The data center boom in the desert.<\/em>\u00a0(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

5 A quarter of teens are turning to AI chatbots for mental health support<\/strong>
Given the lack of real-world help, can you really blame them? (The Guardian<\/a>)
+\u00a0Therapists are secretly using ChatGPT. Clients are triggered<\/em>. (MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

6 ICEBlock is suing the US government over its App Store removal\u00a0<\/strong>
Its creator is arguing that the Department of Justice\u2019s demands to Apple violated his First Amendment rights. (404 Media<\/a>)
+\u00a0It\u2019s one of a number of ICE-tracking initiatives to be pulled by tech platforms this year.<\/em>\u00a0(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

7 This band quit Spotify, but it\u2019s been replaced by AI knockoffs<\/strong>
The platform seems to be struggling against the tide of slop. (Futurism<\/a>)\u00a0
+\u00a0AI is coming for music, too.\u00a0<\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

8 Think you\u2019re immune to online ads? Think again<\/strong>
If you\u2019re scrolling on social media, you\u2019re being sold to. Relentlessly. (The Verge<\/a>\u00a0$)<\/p>\n

9 People really do not like Microsoft Copilot<\/strong>
It\u2019s like Clippy all over again, except it\u2019s even less avoidable. (Quartz<\/a>\u00a0$)<\/p>\n

10 The longest solar eclipse for 100 years is coming<\/strong>
And we\u2019ll only have to wait until 2027 to see it! (Wired<\/a>\u00a0$)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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

\u201cGovernments and MPs are shooting themselves in the foot by pandering to tech giants, because that just tells young people that they don\u2019t care about our future.\u201d<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014Adele Zeynep Walton, founding member of online safety campaign group Ctrl+Alt+Reclaim, tells\u00a0The Guardian<\/a>\u00a0why young activists are taking matters into their own hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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

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\"fleet<\/p>\n

COURTESY OF OCEANBIRD<\/p>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Inside the long quest to advance Chinese writing technology<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Every second of every day, someone is typing in Chinese. Though the mechanics look a little different from typing in English\u2014people usually type the pronunciation of a character and then pick it out of a selection that pops up, autocomplete-style\u2014it\u2019s hard to think of anything more quotidian. The software that allows this exists beneath the awareness of pretty much everyone who uses it. It\u2019s just there.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s largely been forgotten is that a large cast of eccentrics and linguists, engineers and polymaths, spent much of the 20th century torturing themselves over how Chinese was ever going to move away from the ink brush to any other medium.\u00a0Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2014Veronique Greenwood<\/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

+ Pantone chose a \u2018calming\u2019\u00a0shade of white<\/a>\u00a0for its Color of 2026\u2026 and people are fuming.\u00a0
+ Ozempic needles on the Christmas tree, anyone?\u00a0Here\u2019s why\u00a0<\/a>we\u2019re going crazy for weird baubles.\u00a0
+ Can relate to\u00a0this baby seal<\/a>\u00a0for instinctively heading to the nearest pub.
+ Thrilled to see One Battle After Another get so many Golden Globes\u00a0nominations<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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

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. The State of AI: A vision of the world in 2030\u00a0\u00a0 There are huge gulfs of opinion when it comes to predicting the near-future impacts of generative AI. In one camp there<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":883966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83232,24097],"tags":[110129,9193],"class_list":["post-883965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ais","category-download","tag-ais","tag-download"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883965","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=883965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/883966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}