Roundtables

How China Got Ahead on EVs Speakers: Zeyi Yang, China reporter, Amanda Silverman, Features & investigations editor, and Abby Ivory-Ganja, Sr engagement editor In the race to produce and sell more electric vehicles, China has emerged as the unexpected winner. If you visit Shanghai or Shenzhen today, it feels like half of the cars running on the streets are electric. The burgeoning domestic demand also transformed Chinese auto companies into aggressive challengers in the global auto market. What did China’s government…

Future of Families: How reproductive technology can reverse population decline Speakers: Antonio Regalado, Sr Editor of biomedicine and special guest Martín Varsavsky, Founder of Prelude Fertility Birth rates have been plummeting in wealthy countries, well below the “replacement” rate. Even in China, a dramatic downturn in the number of babies has officials scrambling, as its population growth turns negative. What’s behind the baby bust and can new reproductive technology reverse the trend? Startup companies are…

Recorded on October 11, 2023 How does AI work? Speakers: Mary Beth Griggs, Science editor and Will Douglas Heaven, Sr Editor for AI Everyone’s talking about large language models and image generators built on artificial intelligence. Many people have tested out tools like ChatGPT or DALL-E 2 and been amazed at the results, or disturbed by their tendency to hallucinate. But how do the algorithms underpinning these new generative tools actually work? And what’s the best way to evaluate their…

The AI Economy Speakers: Mat Honan, Editor in chief and David Rotman, Editor at large There’s no doubt that generative AI will impact the economy—but how, exactly, remains an open question. Despite fears that these AI tools will upend workers and exacerbate wealth inequality, early evidence suggests the technology could actually help level the playing field for some. But only if we deploy it in the right ways.  Meanwhile, the demand for chips that underpin modern AI including generative tools is expected to grow…

How should we regulate AI? Speakers: Melissa Heikkilä, Senior reporter for AI and Charlotte Jee, News editor There’s little doubt that artificial intelligence will be subject to more regulation in the years ahead. Major tech companies have requested it, and multiple countries and regions are now moving forward with plans to pass new rules governing the technology’s development or use. Broadly speaking, these proposed policies aim to redirect AI toward serving societal goals or address potential biases that put people…

“I honestly was concerned that it was over for me,” Billie Eilish confesses at a table with Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo, Jon Batiste, Cynthia Erivo and Julia Michaels, who came together to discuss their songwriting prowess and process. “We’d been trying and it wasn’t doing what it usually would do in me. I was honestly like, ‘Damn, maybe I hit my peak and I don’t know how to write anymore?’ ” Struggling for inspiration, the 21-year-old had hit a wall, until Greta Gerwig called in January with an assignment: Write a…

There is little doubt that generative AI will affect the economy—but how, exactly, remains an open question. Despite fears that these AI tools will upend jobs and exacerbate wealth inequality, early evidence suggests the technology could help level the playing field—but only if we deploy it in the right ways. Likewise, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Chips Act both have huge implications for the economy, and for efforts to revive America’s high-tech manufacturing base. Rotman and Honan will look at who stands to…