News Room

Concerns are mounting among policymakers and utility companies amid the impact of severe weather on the nation's electrical grids. In recent months, electrical grids in Texas have been tested to the point of near failure. So it seems like perfect timing that new research in the INFORMS journal Management Science identifies a new method that provides the best way to utilize "direct load control contracts" to mitigate electricity demand surges, increase grid reliability and reduce electricity cost. All of this right down to the individual household.

Chinese American physicist Xiaoxing Xi is still haunted by the memory of an early morning in 2015, when a group of FBI officers surrounded his home in Pennsylvania. 

As an Artificial Intelligence researcher, I’ve always felt the worst feature of AI is its role in the spread of lies. The AI-amplification of lies in Myanmar reportedly contributed to the Rohingya massacre, the spread of COVID-19 and vaccine misinformation likely contributed to hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths and election misinformation has weakened our democracy and played a part in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection. This was all possible because humans turned algorithms into weapons, manipulating them to spread noxious information on platforms that claimed to be neutral. These algorithms are all proprietary to companies, and they are unregulated. And so far, none of the companies have admitted any liability. Apparently, no one feels guilty.

It’s clear that COVID-19 has killed many hundreds of thousands of people in the United States. Less clear is its impact on other health issues, which will be felt in the years to come.