GoKawiilResearchers found that AI agents still can’t conduct open-ended AI research—free-form investigations with no clear-cut answers that require the judgment and creativity needed to make genuine breakthroughs.
The big question now is how crucial open-ended research is to recursive self-improvement—and whether AI systems can grind their way there without it, simply by improving on narrower tasks.
Find out why the results may temper claims that recursive self-improvement is on the horizon.
—Michelle Kim
MIT Technology Review Narrated: what’s behind this summer’s heat, and why 2027 could be worse
This summer has been a scorcher for much of the Northern Hemisphere. June and July marked the hottest two-month stretch in Europe since record-keeping began, the contiguous US endured its hottest month on record in July, and South Korea saw its highest-ever recorded temperature.
Climate change makes heat waves more likely and more intense. But there’s another factor at play: El Niño, which is already ramping up and is expected to have a bigger effect on global temperatures next year.
Here’s what’s behind this summer’s extreme heat—and why 2027 could be even hotter.
This is our latest story to be turned into an MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we publish each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released.