What is news?: Deep learning is behind the most famous successes of machine learning. But this incredible performance comes at a heavy price: training deep learning models requires a large amount of energy. Now, new research shows how scientists using cloud platforms to train algorithms can dramatically reduce the energy they use and therefore the emissions they produce.
How can they do that?: Simple changes to cloud settings are key. The researchers created a tool that measures the power usage of any machine learning program running on Azure, Microsoft’s cloud service, during every phase of their project. They estimated the emissions based on zip codes of servers running 11 machine learning models, finding that they could be significantly reduced if the researchers adjusted the settings to use servers in geographic locations. specific and at certain times of the day.
Bigger picture: Getting people to opt-in to tweak their own settings is an uphill battle. Only 13% of Azure users running machine learning programs have reviewed the energy meter since it launched in October, so the next step will be to convince the rest. Read full story.
—Tammy Xu
The world will need dozens of groundbreaking climate technologies over the next decade
We are living in an important decade. By 2030, global emissions must be halved, primarily through the massive deployment of existing technologies such as wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles. But emerging climate technologies must also come to market within this decade, even if they don’t generate many emissions right away.
People this year list by MIT Technology Review Innovators under the age of 35 are seizing the opportunity to decarbonize the economy and make the clean energy transition affordable. Read more about their work and what it takes to help them succeed this essay by Varun Sivaram, senior director for clean energy and innovation for the US President’s special envoy for climate John Kerry.
This essay is part of the MIT Technology Review’s 2022 Innovators under 35 years old The package recognizes the most promising young people working in today’s technology sector. See the full list here.
Things to read
I scoured the internet to find you today’s most interesting/important/scary/fascinating stories about tech.
1 Leaked data of a billion Chinese people who have been online for over a year
It went unnoticed in an insecure database before a hacker offered it for sale. (CNN)
2 Large Hadron Collider helped scientists find three new particles
The combination has never been seen before. (Motherboard)
+ Don’t let these misconceptions about the capabilities of the Hadron Collider. (Think big)
3 How Wall Street emerged unscathed from the crypto carnage
It turns out that regulation is quite useful after all. (NYT $)
+ And it’s coming soon for crypto as well. (Wired $)
+ The crypto crash could be a step backwards for web3. (FT $)
+ Venture capitalists battered by a decade of frenetic growth are cautious. (Motherboard)
+ Black investors are suffering the most. (FT $)
+ You can opt out of the crypto revolution. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Europe has a Green Illuminated Big Tech regulation
However, it will take some time until the new law goes into effect. (Axios)
+ The UK’s Online Safety Bill has been tweaked to prioritize the detection of child abuse material. (Guardians)
+ The Supreme Court’s EPA ruling last week did not bode well for regulations in the US. (Protocol)
5 Microsoft is still using emotion detection AI
For an app for people with vision loss — despite widespread skepticism about the technology’s accuracy. (Protocol)
+ Emotion AI researchers say exaggerated claims give their work a bad name. (MIT Technology Review)
6 How technology is saving Sri Lanka’s beleaguered tourism industry
Including virtual leopard hunt. (The rest of the world)
7 Humans are not allowed to hibernate
But a handful of cases show that it is possible to enter a torpor-like state. (Cnet)
8 Everything is a vibe these days
This suggests it may be time to change your vibe — move away from your vibes. (Atlantic $)
9 Space sports coming soon
No gravity? No problem. (WSJ $)
+ Can constant acceleration be used to create artificial gravity in space? (MIT Technology Review)
10 Existential Sorrows of Robots
Maybe it’s time to stop projecting our emotions onto them. (Guardians)
+ Our review of robots. (MIT Technology Review)
+ That said, they make pretty good surgeons. (IEEE spectrum)
