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The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman

AI’s Wave

Carl Mitcham, Lukas Fuchs

A new book by Mustafa Suleyman (written with Michael Bhaskar) is different from other jeremiads about artificial intelligence, write Carl Mitcham and Lukas Fuchs. Suleyman’s core analytical contribution is to conceive artificial intelligence as an omni-use, hyperevolving technology that is transforming a broad spectrum of other technologies similarly to how electricity transformed manufacturing, communication, urban life, and more. “Technologies of the coming wave are highly powerful,” he writes, “precisely because they are fundamentally general.”Read More

Science Policy IRL

Rashada Alexander Prepares the Next Generation of Science Policy Leaders

Rashada Alexander, Lisa Margonelli

The American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Science and Technology Policy Fellowship program has brought thousands of scientists and engineers into the policy world. In our latest podcast episode, we talk with the program’s director, Rashada Alexander, about why scientists and engineers should apply for this transformative experience.Read More

Urban Infrastructure

living in viele's world

Living in Viele’s World

Guru Madhavan

In the 1850s, a fierce New York City rivalry raged between a near-forgotten engineer, Egbert Ludovicus Viele, and the architect credited with codesigning Central Park, Frederick Law Olmsted. Today, the world may admire and amplify Olmstead’s vision—but New Yorkers live in the city that Viele imagined.Read More

Real Numbers

Governing AI With Intelligence

Governing AI With Intelligence

Certain patterns stand out amid the diversity of approaches to regulating artificial intelligence—patterns that constitute a thickening web of AI norms. They offer hints as to what it might mean to govern this evolving technology intelligently.Read More

AI Governance

Bringing Communities In, Achieving AI for All

Bringing Communities In, Achieving AI for All

Shobita Parthasarathy, Jared Katzman

Mounting evidence indicates that the output of artificial intelligence models exacerbates social inequity and injustice. How can funders, universities, developers, and the government address these problems and ensure that AI tools benefit all of society?Read More

In Focus

Guru Madhavan's New York Trilogy

  • Guru Madhavan’s New York Trilogy

    Engineers work not only on visionary projects, but build and—critically—maintain the infrastructure of modern life: sanitation, trains, bridges, and elevators. There is no better place to understand the importance of engineering than New York City, and no better advocate for this often-overlooked infrastructure than Guru Madhavan.  

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The SUMMER Issue

Summer 2024 Issues in Science and Technology
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On the Front Lines of Change: Reporting From the Gulf of Mexico

“In many respects, the Gulf is on the front lines. Massive disruptions brought by climate change, the need to transition to a new energy economy, and the potential collapse of vital ecosystems are on the horizon for the nation as a whole, not just the Gulf region.”

—Lauren Alexander Augustine

Supporting the Gulf

A skiff cleans up oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico

Ten Years Into the Gulf Research Program

Lauren Alexander Augustine

The Gulf of Mexico is on the front lines of change. But massive disruptions brought by climate change, the need to transition to a new energy economy, and the potential collapse of vital ecosystems are on the horizon for the nation as a whole.Read More

Emergency Management

photograph of bulrushes for the roots that ward off disaster

The Roots That Ward Off Disaster

Samantha Montano

Recent disasters have strained the Gulf’s ability to respond. Building capacity for local emergency management agencies and disaster research could help the region cope—and thrive.Read More

The Loop Current

Gewin on the loop current

A Scientific “Forced Marriage” Takes on the Mysteries of the Loop Current

Virginia Gewin

Decisionmakers need insights on how this powerful current shapes hurricanes, fisheries, energy supplies, and life in the Gulf of Mexico. An ambitious project to collect data and predict the current’s erratic behavior is compelling scientists to cross disciplines as well as borders.Read More

The Energy Transition

Tristan Baurick on the energy transition in Port Arthur, Texas

How Will Carbon Capture Transform Port Arthur, Texas?

Tristan Baurick

Advances in engineering and financial incentives are putting a Gulf Coast city at the forefront of the energy transition. Can policies make good on promises to clean the environment and create jobs?Read More

News

Connecting today’s headlines with deeper policy analyses from the Issues archives.

Making Direct Cash Payments Work

AI May Boost Creativity … but at a Cost

New High-Tech Look at an Old Animal

Shattered Satellite Creates More Space Debris

Science and Technology Policy Survey

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