Our favourite tales of 2021

The tip of the 12 months is at all times an excellent time for a little bit of introspection and self-reflection. It additionally appears proper to pause to rejoice among the excessive factors from a difficult 12 months.

We requested our writers and editors to look again over all of the tales we revealed in 2021 and inform us which of them actually stood out. Which tales did their colleagues publish that made them proud to work for MIT Expertise Assessment? (And no, they weren’t allowed to decide on their very own.)

An edited model of the checklist runs beneath, however there was one story that our group stored coming again to as a touchstone for the form of protection that we do: Karen Hao’s investigation into Fb.

Abby Ivory-Ganja, our viewers engagement editor, mentioned it was “showstopping.” She added: “It’s simple to consider tech firms as monoliths and CEOs and never as teams of individuals. However Karen did such an incredible job explaining issues at Fb by means of Joaquin Quiñonero Candela. This was one among TR’s most generally learn tales of the 12 months, and it’s no shock why when you learn it.”

Charlotte Jee, information editor, mentioned: “This text was a bombshell when it got here out in March. It revealed, in painstaking element, the complete extent to which Fb knew its algorithms drove folks in direction of dangerous, hateful content material—and selected to not do something about it. Why? As a result of, as Karen so completely put it, ‘The reason being easy. Every little thing the corporate does and chooses to not do flows from a single motivation: [Mark] Zuckerberg’s relentless need for development.’ In case you learn it now, within the mild of the Fb Papers, it seems so prescient.”

How Fb bought hooked on spreading misinformation

See when you agree. After which when you’re executed studying that one, see what else the remainder of our group selected as their prime hits of the 12 months.

Have a cheerful new 12 months!

Michael Reilly, government editor

Contained in the machine that saved Moore’s Legislation

A narrative a few big, nearly unbelievably complicated machine that pushes engineering to absolutely the max? Sure, please. Chip fabrication shouldn’t be a simple topic to put in writing about, however in Clive’s arms it’s a romp.

Meet Altos Labs, Silicon Valley’s newest wild guess on dwelling endlessly

“It’s been mentioned that younger folks dream of being wealthy, and wealthy folks dream of being younger.” Combine that sentiment along with a little bit of thrilling science and a few funding from Jeff Bezos and different billionaires and also you’ve bought Antonio Regalado’s deep dive into the frothy world of longevity analysis.

Magnificence filters are altering the way in which younger women see themselves

We all know algorithms are on the market at all times nudging our considering on issues like purchasing choices and political beliefs. Even so, this piece from Tate Ryan-Mosley is a stunner, displaying simply how far the algorithmic “optimization” of all the pieces has seeped into younger women’ view of their very own bodily look.  

Tanya Basu, senior reporter, people and expertise

First he held a superspreader occasion. Then he advisable faux cures. 

Eileen has a knack for not solely discovering these tales however with the ability to examine and piece collectively what some folks in tech may not need uncovered. Written in March, it was an indication of themes to return in the remainder of 2021: covid deniers, snake oil remedies, and folks with egos that supersede frequent sense and security.

Some artists discovered a lifeline promoting NFTs. Others fear it’s a lure. 

I really feel like each NFT story is snarky and/or exclusionary, making them actually exhausting for the typical particular person to seek out one thing to care about in what’s arguably an necessary matter. Abby is ready to hit that nerve right here and exposes how a gaggle of actually susceptible individuals who merely need to make artwork and an honest dwelling are getting thrown underneath the bus by scammers.

A feminist web can be higher for everybody

It’s form of unhappy that we have now to make this assertion in 2021, however right here we’re. What I really like about this piece as a author is the futuristic fiction that leads it off—and the belief that this isn’t science fiction anymore. What I really like about this piece as a reader is that Charlotte has real hope and sensible ideas about the way forward for the web that don’t make me really feel like all the pieces is misplaced. (Linda, our copy chief, agreed, saying: “As regular, Charlotte finds the brighter aspect.”)

Abby Ivory-Ganja, viewers engagement editor

Why the ransomware disaster all of the sudden feels so relentless

I cherished this story from Patrick as a result of it helped me perceive the ransomware universe a bit of extra. He actually offers a view of the panorama from 36,000 toes, which I at all times recognize. 

Podcast: How pricing algorithms be taught to collude

This episode of our podcast In Machines We Belief about how pricing algorithms be taught to collude actually blew my thoughts. Our podcast group did such an incredible job of pulling again the curtain behind the value of an Uber journey or books on Amazon. They make it really easy to know one thing difficult, and we’re all higher for it.  

Amy Nordrum, editorial director, particular initiatives and operations

Contained in the FBI, Russia, and Ukraine’s failed cybercrime investigation

This was a riveting story of how an effort to crack down on cybercriminals by one of many world’s prime regulation enforcement businesses went sideways. It’s a richly reported piece chock filled with element that may make you’re feeling you have been alongside for the journey amid the investigation’s many twists and turns. By the top, the FBI brokers’ frustration is palpable and also you’ll have a larger appreciation of why it’s so tough to carry cybercriminals to justice. 

These unimaginable devices might change the way forward for music

It is a enjoyable little story about how software program is altering what it means to make music, partly by permitting musicians to create and play devices that defy physics and that actually couldn’t exist in the actual world. There’s a humorous backstory, too, about how one group’s painstaking effort to design software program that very exactly imitates precise devices was upended when actual musicians bought maintain of it and began messing round.

Auditors are testing AI hiring algorithms for bias, however there’s no simple repair

A lot has been written about the issue of AI bias. One potential answer includes auditing the underlying algorithms for bias. A cottage trade of consultants has sprung as much as just do that, however it’s removed from good. This story breaks down one specific AI audit for example the boundaries of this specific strategy.

Niall Firth, editorial director, digital

What an octopus’s thoughts can train us about AI’s final thriller

Again in 2020, Will had ventured into controversial territory, tackling one of the crucial hotly contested matters in AI—whether or not a real synthetic common intelligence is even doable. In 2021 he determined to go one step additional and ask: May a machine ever be acutely aware? Drawing on philosophy of thoughts—and never afraid to get into actually deep conversations in regards to the nature of consciousness—the story began out by asking what it might take for a machine to develop into acutely aware and self-aware. Nevertheless it ended up with an much more complicated conclusion: If a machine turned acutely aware, would we even know? Come for the mind-bending philosophy, keep for the octopus anecdotes.

She risked all the pieces to reveal Fb. Now she’s telling her story.

Karen’s tenacious reporting over Fb misinformation and troll farms has rightly been praised, however I assumed this story was brilliantly executed. Sophie Zhang was a whistleblower who had uncovered how faux accounts and likes on Fb have been permitting politicians to sway the general public in nations outdoors the US, and probably allow election interference. The story had been advised, however nobody had written a profile of her earlier than. Karen confirmed readers that “for Zhang, the reason of why she cared a lot is tied up in her id.” Telling that story was an skilled piece of profile-writing that required sensitivity and compassion.

James Temple, senior editor, local weather and vitality

First he held a superspreader occasion. Then he advisable faux cures. 

Considered one of my favourite Tech Assessment reads this 12 months was Eileen Guo’s scoop on a high-priced enterprise convention that went forth in defiance of regional public well being orders, and changed into a superspreader occasion. It was hosted by a high-profile Silicon Valley entrepreneur who had cofounded a covid-19 vaccine firm. The deeply sourced story described in nice element each the warnings that have been made prematurely of the occasion and the aftermath, together with the obvious effort to restrict communications in regards to the ensuing covid-19 infections.

They known as it a conspiracy concept. However Alina Chan tweeted life into the concept that the virus got here from a lab.

Antonio Regalado wrote a must-read profile of Alina Chan, the Broad Institute postdoc who helped revive the concept that covid-19 might have leaked from a lab in China. The story particulars how she researched and communicated the probabilities, the virologists she angered in doing so, and the pushback and even threats she’s acquired. However in the end hers is a narrative in regards to the nature of scientific uncertainty, and the generally fuzzy line between crackpot conspiracies, conjecture and unlikely concepts nonetheless in want of vigorous mental debate.

Charlotte Jee, information editor

Tips on how to speak to unvaccinated folks

The stakes for conversations in regards to the vaccines are sky-high, and the talk has triggered non-public, painful rifts in so many households. Many people see the pictures as the one significant means out of the pandemic, and the first means to maintain family members alive and properly, so it’s deeply infuriating when others don’t see it the identical means. This considerate, well-researched piece by Tanya was a well timed reminder that individuals who don’t need to get vaccinated are nonetheless folks, and whereas it could nonetheless be price your whereas to attempt to persuade them, it is best to achieve this in a respectful method. Nobody ever persuaded anybody by yelling at them. 

How magnificence filters perpetuate colorism

Numerous us know by now that reasonably than erasing current biases, many applied sciences amplify them. However now and again you learn one thing that makes you notice that the issue is even larger—and extra dangerous—than you appreciated. This piece, which uncovered how magnificence filters perpetuate colorism (a type of discrimination in opposition to folks with darker complexions), had that impact on me. It made me unhappy, it made me nervous, and most of all it made me offended. 

This piece can (and may) be learn as a companion piece constructing on the superb article Tate wrote in April in regards to the impression of magnificence filters on younger women’ self-image.

Eileen Guo, senior reporter, options and investigations

I requested an AI to inform me how stunning I’m

I cherished Tate’s story sequence on how tech and tech platforms have an effect on perceptions of magnificence. All three tales are glorious and price a learn (“I requested an AI to inform me how stunning I’m,” “Magnificence filters are altering the way in which younger women see themselves,” and “How digital magnificence filters perpetuate digital colorism”), as is the accompanying podcast episode. I really like Tate’s willingness to incorporate herself in her tales and her capacity to take action in a means that’s relatable: within the first story, she asks questions that the reader seemingly has as properly, and he or she is empathetic in digging into the nuances of how magnificence tech impacts totally different communities in a different way. It’s additionally noteworthy to have this type of in-depth remedy of “girls + tech” points, and I actually hope she  does extra of it!  

What went fallacious with America’s $44 million vaccine information system?

Cat Ferguson’s well timed and well-told investigation into the CDC’s Vaccine Administration Administration System (VAMS), the largely ineffective and extremely costly web site to schedule vaccine appointments, was the kind of investigation that MIT Expertise Assessment is finest positioned to do. It answered the query everybody had, again in that part of the pandemic, about why it was so exhausting to schedule vaccine appointments, and it did so with depth and element that comes out of Cat’s deep experience in well being tech and her nice sleuthing and reporting abilities. And it make clear an space that doesn’t get as a lot scrutiny because it ought to: authorities tech. A lot much less horny than investigating Fb, however simply as necessary.  

Tate Ryan-Mosely, reporter, digital rights and democracy 

The local weather answer truly including hundreds of thousands of tons of CO2 into the environment

James’s investigative reporting, a collaboration with ProPublica’s Lisa Music, was a momentous accounting of California’s carbon offset program. It discovered that firms might be gaming the system and undermining the local weather objectives of the mission. It’s an excellent difficult topic, and James and Lisa have been in a position to obtain an explanatory tone that made it accessible; it is perhaps the story that I realized essentially the most from this 12 months. In addition they leaned into the nuances right here, trying into questions of stewardship and the way this system is impacting Native American tribes.

That is the actual story of the Afghan biometric databases deserted to the Taliban

Eileen and Hikmat’s super-impressive reporting added much-needed proof in regards to the instruments the Taliban have been more likely to have at their disposal following the US withdrawal from the nation. It’ll develop into a vital historical past lesson in regards to the risks of propping up a authorities with surveillance instruments, solely to have them fall into the fallacious arms.

In fact you might have seen this coming

Abby’s fast tackle the January 6 riot squarely positioned the occasion as a continuation of forces which were gathering for a very long time. On the time of publishing, the noise across the riot was all-consuming and blurry, and her take provided readability and evaluation based mostly on her years of reporting.

Will Douglas Heaven, senior editor, AI

Contained in the struggle to reclaim AI from Huge Tech’s management

Karen Hao takes us behind the scenes on the beginning of a motion, introducing the hopes and fears of the AI researchers pushing again in opposition to a establishment by which the world’s strongest expertise is quick turning into monopolised by the world’s strongest firms. 

This US firm bought iPhone hacking instruments to UAE spies

In a scoop that made different investigative journalists jealous, Patrick Howell O’Neill succeeded the place others failed in unmasking a controversial firm promoting cyberweapons to overseas intelligence businesses. Few expose the shadowy worldwide workings of cyber safety so properly.