The Download: AI’s self-improvement problem, and what’s driving the heat

《下载》：人工智能的自我完善难题，以及高温背后的驱动因素

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. 这是今日份的《下载》，我们平日发行的时事通讯，为您提供每日科技世界的动态。

AI’s recursive self-improvement might not come so quickly after all. The AI industry’s boldest promise right now is that AI will soon improve itself, with almost no need for human oversight. But a new study suggests it might take a while to get there. Researchers 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 人工智能的递归式自我完善或许并不会那么快到来。目前人工智能行业最大胆的承诺是，人工智能很快就能实现自我完善，几乎无需人类监督。但一项新研究表明，实现这一目标可能还需要一段时间。研究人员发现，人工智能代理仍然无法进行开放式的人工智能研究——即那些没有明确答案、需要判断力和创造力才能取得真正突破的自由探索。现在最大的问题是，开放式研究对于递归式自我完善究竟有多重要，以及人工智能系统是否可以在没有它的情况下，仅通过改进更狭窄的任务来达到目标。了解为什么这些结果可能会抑制关于“递归式自我完善即将到来”的言论。——Michelle Kim，《麻省理工科技评论》

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. 音频播报：今夏高温背后的原因，以及为什么 2027 年可能会更糟。今年夏天，北半球大部分地区都经历了酷暑。6 月和 7 月是欧洲有记录以来最热的两个月，美国本土经历了有记录以来最热的 7 月，韩国也出现了有记录以来的最高气温。气候变化使得热浪发生的可能性更高、强度更大。但还有一个因素在起作用：厄尔尼诺现象，它已经在加剧，预计明年将对全球气温产生更大的影响。以下是今夏极端高温背后的原因，以及为什么 2027 年可能会更热。这是我们最新制作成《麻省理工科技评论》音频播客的故事，我们每周在 Spotify 和 Apple Podcasts 上发布。只需在任一平台上搜索“MIT Technology Review Narrated”并关注我们，即可在第一时间获取我们的所有新内容。

The must-reads: I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 必读内容：我已梳理了互联网，为您找出今天最有趣、最重要、最令人恐惧或最引人入胜的科技故事。

OpenAI has paused some model work over safety concerns. It says its Astra model reached a “critical” risk threshold. (Guardian)
OpenAI 因安全担忧暂停了部分模型工作。该公司称其 Astra 模型达到了“临界”风险阈值。（《卫报》）
Chinese humanoid maker Unitree surged 629% in its stock market debut. The IPO has underscored China’s lead in humanoid robots. (Bloomberg)
中国人形机器人制造商宇树科技（Unitree）在首次公开募股中股价飙升 629%。此次 IPO 凸显了中国在人形机器人领域的领先地位。（彭博社）
China is allowing Nvidia’s H200 chips into the mainland. ByteDance and Tencent each recently received about 10,000 processors. (FT)
中国允许英伟达的 H200 芯片进入中国大陆。字节跳动和腾讯最近各收到了约 10,000 个处理器。（《金融时报》）
Flock’s new AI tool lets police identify drivers by their movements. It goes much further than tracking license plates. (Wired)
Flock 的新 AI 工具让警方可以通过驾驶员的动作识别他们。这远不止于追踪车牌。（《连线》）
Prosecutors argue Meta deliberately hooked children on Facebook and Instagram. The claim was made on the first day of a landmark trial. (BBC)
检察官辩称 Meta 故意让儿童沉迷于 Facebook 和 Instagram。这一指控是在一场里程碑式审判的第一天提出的。（BBC）
Even ICE has ethical issues with Meta’s smart glasses. It’s banned them from the workplace over privacy concerns. (NYT)
连美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）都对 Meta 的智能眼镜存在伦理质疑。出于隐私考虑，该机构已禁止在工作场所使用它们。（《纽约时报》）
X’s algorithm learns what you hate—and shows you more of it. A study found the impact was even stronger among Democrats. (404 Media)
X 的算法会学习你讨厌什么，并向你展示更多此类内容。一项研究发现，这种影响在民主党人中更为强烈。（404 Media）
A physicist proposes that the universe may repeat itself forever. The same galaxies, lives and events could recur endlessly. (New Scientist)
一位物理学家提出宇宙可能会永远重复自身。同样的星系、生命和事件可能会无休止地重演。（《新科学家》）
A blind Egyptian developer has built an AI app that helps others “see”. It uses cameras to answer questions about users’ surroundings. (Reuters)
一位失明的埃及开发者构建了一款帮助他人“看见”的 AI 应用。它利用摄像头来回答有关用户周围环境的问题。（路透社）

Quote of the day: “Arizona is Arizone. Illinois starts with a V. I mean, it’s crazy.” —Stacey Morris, a Kentucky mom whose son brought home a packet of AI-generated educational materials, tells local station WDRB about some of the errors. 今日名言：“亚利桑那州变成了‘Arizone’。伊利诺伊州竟然以 V 开头。我的意思是，这太疯狂了。”——肯塔基州的一位母亲 Stacey Morris 在接受当地电视台 WDRB 采访时，谈到了她儿子带回家的 AI 生成的教育材料中存在的一些错误。

One More Thing: The astonishing embryo models of Jacob Hanna. When the Palestinian stem-cell scientist Jacob Hanna was stopped while entering the US last May, he knew the routine. Anything to declare? Any biological samples? But this time the agents’ questions touched on a specific new topic: embryos. Hanna didn’t have any specimens, but if he had, it would have been surprisingly hard to say what they were. That’s because he specializes in creating synthetic embryo models, structures that resemble real embryos but don’t involve sperm, eggs, or fertilization. They could provide unprecedented views of the earliest stages of human development, while also creating a new way to produce cells for transplant medicine. But as these models become more realistic, they are raising difficult questions about how far the science should go. Take a closer look at Hanna’s astounding embryo models—and where they could lead. — Antonio Regalado 额外一件事：Jacob Hanna 令人惊叹的胚胎模型。去年 5 月，当巴勒斯坦干细胞科学家 Jacob Hanna 在进入美国时被拦下，他很清楚流程。有什么要申报的吗？有生物样本吗？但这一次，特工的问题涉及到一个特定的新话题：胚胎。Hanna 没有任何样本，但如果他有，要说明它们是什么会非常困难。这是因为他专门从事合成胚胎模型的创建，这些结构类似于真实的胚胎，但不涉及精子、卵子或受精过程。它们可以提供人类发育早期阶段的前所未有的视角，同时也为移植医学生产细胞创造了一种新方法。但随着这些模型变得越来越逼真，它们引发了关于科学应该走多远的难题。深入了解 Hanna 令人惊叹的胚胎模型，以及它们可能带来的影响。——Antonio Regalado