MIT Computer Science

• Robotic probe quickly measures key properties of new materials

  Developed to analyze new semiconductors, the system could streamline the development of more powerful solar panels.

• MIT and Mass General Hospital researchers find disparities in organ allocation

  In an analysis of over 160,000 transplant candidates, researchers found that race is linked to how likely an organ offer is to be accepted on behalf of a patient.

• New imaging technique reconstructs the shapes of hidden objects

  By leveraging reflections from wireless signals like Wi-Fi, the system could allow robots to find and manipulate items that are blocked from view.

• Using generative AI to help robots jump higher and land safely

  MIT CSAIL researchers combined GenAI and a physics simulation engine to refine robot designs. The result: a machine that out-jumped a robot designed by humans.

• LLMs factor in unrelated information when recommending medical treatments

  Researchers find nonclinical information in patient messages — like typos, extra white space, and colorful language — reduces the accuracy of an AI model.

• Researchers present bold ideas for AI at MIT Generative AI Impact Consortium kickoff event

  Presentations targeted high-impact intersections of AI and other areas, such as health care, business, and education.

• Memory safety is at a tipping point

  Lincoln Laboratory cybersecurity expert Hamed Okhravi calls for a unified approach to securing computer memory, as a matter of national security.

• Unpacking the bias of large language models

  In a new study, researchers discover the root cause of a type of bias in LLMs, paving the way for more accurate and reliable AI systems.

• A sounding board for strengthening the student experience

  Composed of “computing bilinguals,” the Undergraduate Advisory Group provides vital input to help advance the mission of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing.

• This compact, low-power receiver could give a boost to 5G smart devices

  Researchers designed a tiny receiver chip that is more resilient to interference, which could enable smaller 5G “internet of things” devices with longer battery lives.

• Gaspare LoDuca named VP for information systems and technology and CIO

  Chief information officer at Columbia University will join MIT in August.

• Closing in on superconducting semiconductors

  Plasma Science and Fusion Center researchers created a superconducting circuit that could one day replace semiconductor components in quantum and high-performance computing systems.

• Photonic processor could streamline 6G wireless signal processing

  By performing deep learning at the speed of light, this chip could give edge devices new capabilities for real-time data analysis.

• Inroads to personalized AI trip planning

  A new framework from the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab supercharges language models, so they can reason over, interactively develop, and verify valid, complex travel agendas.

• Melding data, systems, and society

  A new book from Professor Munther Dahleh details the creation of a unique kind of transdisciplinary center, uniting many specialties through a common need for data science.

• How we really judge AI

  Forget optimists vs. Luddites. Most people evaluate AI based on its perceived capability and their need for personalization.

• AI-enabled control system helps autonomous drones stay on target in uncertain environments

  The system automatically learns to adapt to unknown disturbances such as gusting winds.

• Envisioning a future where health care tech leaves some behind

  The winning essay of the Envisioning the Future of Computing Prize puts health care disparities at the forefront.

• Helping machines understand visual content with AI

  Coactive, founded by two MIT alumni, has built an AI-powered platform to unlock new insights from content of all types.

• Animation technique simulates the motion of squishy objects

  The approach could help animators to create realistic 3D characters or engineers to design elastic products.

• New system enables robots to solve manipulation problems in seconds

  Researchers developed an algorithm that lets a robot “think ahead” and consider thousands of potential motion plans simultaneously.

• Teaching AI models what they don’t know

  A team of MIT researchers founded Themis AI to quantify AI model uncertainty and address knowledge gaps.

• Teaching AI models the broad strokes to sketch more like humans do

  SketchAgent, a drawing system developed by MIT CSAIL researchers, sketches up concepts stroke-by-stroke, teaching language models to visually express concepts on their own and collaborate with humans.

• An anomaly detection framework anyone can use

  PhD student Sarah Alnegheimish wants to make machine learning systems accessible.

• AI learns how vision and sound are connected, without human intervention

  This new machine-learning model can match corresponding audio and visual data, which could someday help robots interact in the real world.

• Learning how to predict rare kinds of failures

  Researchers are developing algorithms to predict failures when automation meets the real world in areas like air traffic scheduling or autonomous vehicles.

• Scientists discover potential new targets for Alzheimer’s drugs

  Pathways involved in DNA repair and other cellular functions could contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s.

• The sweet taste of a new idea

  Sendhil Mullainathan brings a lifetime of unique perspectives to research in behavioral economics and machine learning.

• With AI, researchers predict the location of virtually any protein within a human cell

  Trained with a joint understanding of protein and cell behavior, the model could help with diagnosing disease and developing new drugs.

• Study shows vision-language models can’t handle queries with negation words

  Words like “no” and “not” can cause this popular class of AI models to fail unexpectedly in high-stakes settings, such as medical diagnosis.