For pregnant women, ultrasounds are an informative (and sometimes necessary) procedure. They typically produce two-dimensional black-and-white scans of fetuses that can reveal key insights, including biological sex, approximate size, and abnormalities like heart issues or cleft lip. If your doctor wants a closer look, they may use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which uses magnetic fields to capture images that can be combined to create a 3D view of the fetus. MRIs aren’t a catch-all, though; the 3D scans are difficult for doctors to interpret well enough to diagnose problems because our visual system is not accustomed to processing 3D volumetric […]

In early 2024, a striking deepfake fraud case in Hong Kong brought the vulnerabilities of AI-driven deception into sharp relief. A finance employee was duped during a video call by what appeared to be the CFO—but was, in fact, a sophisticated AI-generated deepfake. Convinced of the call’s authenticity, the employee made 15 transfers totaling over $25 million to fraudulent bank accounts before realizing it was a scam. This incident exemplifies more than just technological trickery—it signals how trust in what we see and hear can be weaponized, especially as AI becomes more deeply integrated into enterprise tools and workflows. From […]

MIT Technology Review Explains: Let our writers untangle the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what’s coming next. You can read more from the series here. It’s been a big year for video generation. In the last nine months OpenAI made Sora public, Google DeepMind launched Veo 3, the video startup Runway launched Gen-4. All can produce video clips that are (almost) impossible to distinguish from actual filmed footage or CGI animation. This year also saw Netflix debut an AI visual effect in its show The Eternaut, the first time video generation has been used to make […]