Curated from MIT Technology Review — Here’s what matters right now:
This is today’s edition of The Download , our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. In a first, Google has released data on how much energy an AI prompt uses Google has just released a report detailing how much energy its Gemini apps use for each query. In total, the median prompt—one that falls in the middle of the range of energy demand—consumes 0.24 watt-hours of electricity, the equivalent of running a standard microwave for about one second. The company also provided average estimates for the water consumption (five drops per query) and carbon emissions associated with a text prompt to Gemini. It’s the most transparent estimate yet from a Big Tech company with a popular AI product, and the report includes detailed information about how the company calculated its final estimate. Earlier this year, MIT Technology Review published a comprehensive series on AI and energy , at which time none of the major AI companies would reveal their per-prompt energy usage. Google’s new publication, at last, allows for a peek behind the curtain that researchers and analysts have long hoped for. Read the full story . —Casey Crownhart I gave the police access to my DNA—and maybe some of yours Last year, I added my DNA profile to a private genealogical database, FamilyTreeDNA, and clicked “Yes” to allow the police to search my genes. In 2018, police in California announced they’d caught the Golden State Killer, a man who had eluded capture for decades. Once the police had “matches” to a few relatives of the killer, they built a large family tree from which they plucked the likely suspect. This process, called forensic investigative genetic genealogy, or FIGG, has since helped solve hundreds of murders and sexual assaults. But I wasn’t really driven by some urge to capture distantly related serial killers. Rather, my spit had a less gallant and more quarrelsome motive: to troll privacy advocates whose fears around DNA I think are overblown and unhelpful. By giving up my saliva for inspection, I was going against the view that a person’s DNA is the individualized, sacred text that privacy advocates sometimes claim. Read the full story . —Antonio Regalado This article appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here . Meet the researcher hosting a scientific conference by and for AI In October, a new academic conference will debut that’s unlike any other. All of the work shared at Agents4Science will have been researched, written, and reviewed primarily by AI, and will be presented using text-to-speech technology. That idea is not without its detractors. Among other issues, many feel AI is not capable of the creative thought needed in research, makes too many mistakes and hallucinations, and may limit opportunities for young researchers. Nevertheless, a number of scienti
Next step: Looking for reliable tools to protect your privacy? Browse our security gear and start building your personal toolkit.
Original reporting: MIT Technology Review