Amanda Silverman

What is AI? Everyone thinks they know, but no one can agree. And that’s a problem.

Read their stories!

What is AI? from Will www.technologyreview.com/2024/07/10/1...

What we leave behind, from Niall www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/19/1...

Coming soon! The Best American Science & Nature Writing 2025 Discover the 2025 Best American Science & Nature Writing anthology, curated by Susan Orlean and featuring exceptional science writing that explores the wonders of our natural world.

And then pieces from our own @willdouglasheaven.bsky.social and @niallfirth.bsky.social are among notable works in the Best American Science and Nature Writing jaimealyse.beehiiv.com/p/basnw25

Announcing the 2025 NASW Science in Society Journalism Award winners The National Association of Science Writers and its Awards Committee are pleased to announce the winners of the **2025 NASW Science in Society Journalism Awards.** This year, NASW is awarding prizes i...

Then the brilliant Erika Haysaki won the NASW Science in Society Journalism Awards in Longform Narratives (www.nasw.org/article/anno...) for this fantastic story www.technologyreview.com/2024/05/16/1...

How AI and Wikipedia have sent vulnerable languages into a doom spiral Machine translators have made it easier than ever to create error-plagued Wikipedia articles in obscure languages. What happens when AI models get trained on junk pages?

It’s been an exciting few weeks for features over at @technologyreview.com. First we published one for all you lovely Wikipedia nerds out there, about how the platform + AI are sending small languages into a doom spiral, from @jacobjudah.bsky.social www.technologyreview.com/2025/09/25/1...

Why we should thank pigeons for our AI breakthroughs The bird has never gotten much credit for being intelligent. But the reinforcement learning powering the world’s most advanced AI systems is far more pigeon than human.

So it turns out the most advanced AI systems that people fear/hope are “becoming human” are actually a lot more pigeon-like than human-like?!It’s maybe time we reconsider the much-maligned bird. Brilliant from @bencrair.bsky.social. @technologyreview.com www.technologyreview.com/2025/08/18/1...

Inside the most dangerous asteroid hunt ever As space rock 2024 YR4 became more likely to hit Earth than anything of its size had ever been before, scientists all over the world mobilized to protect the planet.

NEW: This is the inside story of how astronomers tracked down 2024 YR4, the most dangerous asteroid ever found, in the hope of working out whether it would strike Earth in a few short years. It’s Don’t Look Up, but everyone lives.

Me @technologyreview.com www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/08/1...

Everything about this story is *fantastic* but I particularly enjoyed the bonus fun sidebar: astronomers absolutely hate the moon

Inside the controversial tree farms powering Apple’s carbon neutral goal The tech behemoth is betting that planting millions of eucalyptus trees in Brazil will be the path to a greener future. Some ecologists and local residents are far less sure.

Fantastic new big story out today from Greg Barber about Big Tech's plans to plant its way to being carbon neutral.

Wonderful read, with sensational art and photos. Enjoy!

The kind of big ambitious piece that makes me proud to work at @technologyreview.com www.technologyreview.com/2025/04/24/1...

What if I told you the key to Apple’s big goal to be carbon neutral by 2030 was…planting millions of eucalyptus in Brazil? It’s a controversial plan—and one many may copy. Luckily we have @gregbarber.bsky.social to take us on a journey through the groves www.technologyreview.com/2025/04/24/1...

UPDATE: It happened. In an 11:15 meeting, employees were told that the office has been eliminated and their positions will be terminated.

Even more unsettling though are the conditions inside these compounds. Pete and Emily spoke to several survivors who talk about getting beaten for crossing their legs or not meeting strict quotas. Give it a read, share it, and raise awareness. And subscribe to @technologyreview.com

And, as reporting from @emilyfishbein11.bsky.social and @peterguest.bsky.social reveals, the entire scam from start to end relies on western tech—FB, and also Instagram, Telegram, WhatsApp, Tinder, and various crypto exchanges. It’s unsettling, to say the least.

This scams and more broadly the vast romance scam business, sometimes know by the graphic term “pig butchering,” often trick people into becoming scammers by promising them legitimate-sounding jobs abroad. And to do it, criminal syndicates use the Big Tech platforms we all use, including Facebook.

Inside a romance scam compound—and how people get tricked into being there Survivors reveal how criminal syndicates use Big Tech to recruit and trap people into operating “pig butchering” scams—and then use the same platforms to steal billions of dollars from targets all ove...

Have you ever gotten a weird wrong number text? You’re probably not surprised to hear that was likely a scammer. You may be surprised to hear that scammer is possibly a victim themselves—and perhaps being held in a prison-like compound in Southeast Asia. www.technologyreview.com/2025/03/27/1...

Inside a romance scam compound—and how people get tricked into being there Survivors reveal how criminal syndicates use Big Tech to recruit and trap people into operating “pig butchering” scams—and then use the same platforms to steal billions of dollars from targets all ove...

Yesterday's earthquake in Myanmar is another catastrophe for a country already in crisis.

For months, Peter Guest & I have been investigating another crisis in Myanmar -- its online scamming industry, which largely relies on forced labor (thread)
www.technologyreview.com/2025/03/27/1...

How the Ukraine-Russia war is reshaping the tech sector in Eastern Europe Startups in Latvia and other nearby countries see the mobilization of Ukraine as a warning and as inspiration. They are now changing consumer products—from scooters to recreational drones—for use on t...

I was totally fascinated by @peterguest.bsky.social’s reporting here, about how Ukraine’s neighbors fear what happened there—and have been inspired to quickly reshape their own civilian tech, like scooters, drones, med tech + way more @technologyreview.com www.technologyreview.com/2024/12/04/1...

How covid conspiracy theories led to an alarming resurgence in AIDS denialism Widespread distrust of our public health system is reviving long-debunked ideas on HIV and AIDS—and energizing a broad movement that questions the foundations of disease prevention.

Been thinking a lot about this @technologyreview.com story over the past few weeks, by @annamerlan.bsky.social. Crucial reading to understand the growing mistrust in our health care institutions—and a preview of even more theories RFK may push if confirmed. www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/07/1...

Inside Clear’s ambitions to manage your identity beyond the airport The company that has helped millions of people cut security lines wants to give you a frictionless future—in exchange for your face.

You’ve probably been at an airport and thought, huh, what’s the deal with Clear and how come these people can skip the line? Well @eileenguo.bsky.social did a deep dive. Super important read about the rise of Clear and biometric tech in @technologyreview.com: www.technologyreview.com/2024/11/20/1...

@asilverman.bsky.social and I will be talking abt this story, Clear, biometrics, and identity, on a LinkedIn live tomorrow. Join us: www.linkedin.com/events/72628...

The AI lab waging a guerrilla war over exploitative AI The tools Glaze and Nightshade are giving artists hope that they can fight back against AI that hoovers internet data to train. Are they enough?

Our deep dive from @melissahei.bsky.social on the battle by one Chicago lab to slowly tilt the balance of power from large corporations back to individual creators. www.technologyreview.com/2024/11/13/1...