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To understand how artificial intelligence is being applied in practical, real-world situations, a new weekly newsletter series aims to provide critical insight. Titled "Making AI Work," this new publication from MIT Technology Review explores how generative AI is being deployed across various industries. The series explains what professionals must know to utilize these powerful tools effectively and responsibly.
Each edition begins with a detailed case study focusing on a specific use of artificial intelligence within a particular field. It then examines the specific AI tool involved, offering additional context regarding how other companies or sectors are employing similar systems. Finally, the newsletter concludes with practical, action-oriented advice designed to help readers apply the tool in their own professional work.
The inaugural issue investigates the profound transformation of the health care sector by artificial intelligence. It delves into the future of medical documentation by analyzing the Microsoft Copilot tool utilized by physicians at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. This specific example sets the stage for a deeper examination of how technology is fundamentally reshaping daily professional lives. By studying this case, readers can see the tangible benefits and challenges of integrating AI into high-stakes environments.
Recently, some prominent figures in the technology industry have described certain online spaces populated by AI agents as a vision of the future. These platforms allow AI agents to interact with each other without constant human intervention. They initially appeared to demonstrate AI systems performing useful tasks for their human creators, simulating a world where software assists people in working smarter. While some of these sites were eventually saturated with cryptocurrency scams and many posts were actually written by people pretending to be bots, the underlying concept suggested a future populated by helpful AI assistants. However, this entire experiment reminded Will Douglas Heaven, the senior AI editor at MIT Technology Review, of something far less futuristic and much more familiar: the world of Pokémon.