The Extraction: Managing Nuclear Waste and Coordinating Operatives

—Casey Crownhart

This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.

Orchestrated agents are coming for white-collar work

When people discuss how AI will transform industries, they’re often referring to AI agents. While ChatGPT demonstrated that AI can engage in conversation, true transformation requires these agents to perform actions. The real potential emerges when agents collaborate in teams, managing multiple roles to address complex tasks. Tools like Codex and Claude Cowork provide insight into this evolution, introducing multi-agent general-purpose productivity solutions.

Theoretically, networks of AI agents could revolutionize white-collar knowledge work in a manner similar to how assembly lines transformed manufacturing. This is the vision, yet as agents are incorporated into practical systems, the associated risks also increase. Read the full story.

—Will Douglas Heaven

Agent Orchestration is one of the 10 Things That Matter in AI Right Now

This is MIT Technology Review’s guide to what’s truly worth your attention in the busy, dynamic world of AI. We’re examining one item from the list each day here in The Download, so stay tuned.

MIT Technology Review Narrated: No one’s sure if synthetic mirror life will pose existential risks

In February 2019, a group of scientists proposed an ambitious and intriguing idea for funding: creating “mirror” bacteria.