The World as You'll Know It
Newsletter / Issue No. 38
Where Are All the Driverless Cars?
Despite becoming significantly more reliable in the past five years — and winning over lots of skeptics in the process — driverless cars still face daunting obstacles on the path to ubiquity. What will it take to reduce both costs and mistakes enough so that driverless taxis become a reality in a city like, say, Boston?
Plus
Robotic surgeons are successfully removing organs from pigs. California will use AI to manage power outages. Adaptive brain implants promise fine-tuned Parkinson’s relief. And … a reporter lets two AI agents run his life for a day, with mixed results.
Technology / Feature
A $10-Billion Plan to Sell Africa's Wind and Sun to Countries 7,000 Miles Away
A deep look at how green hydrogen could capitalize on remote areas of renewable resources and redraw the world's energy map.
Artificial Intelligence / Feature
One Company's Decision to Put AI Into the Ground
What does it mean to adopt AI? For John Deere it meant hundreds of millions of dollars, a new corporate culture and forever changing the relationship between a farmer and the land.
By Gideon Lewis-Kraus
Podcast / Podcast
A Podcast Series about the Future of Aging
Podcast / Podcast
A Podcast Series about the Future of Aging
Robotics / Feature
Small, Flexible and Sometimes Weird. The Next Generation of Robots is Here.
By Clive Thompson
Robotics / Feature
Small, Flexible and Sometimes Weird. The Next Generation of Robots is Here.
By Clive Thompson
Robotics / Timeline
13 Milestones in the History of Robots
People have been making machines that replicate human abilities for centuries. These are the breakthroughs that got robots to where they are today. Photo: NMAH
By Clive Thompson
Robotics / Feature
Robots' final frontier? Taking care of us.
To understand how far robots are from replacing humans, just look at the everyday task of using a fork.
By Clive Thompson