“It’s a cauldron of innovation at all levels of science,” Moungi Bawendi, a member of the MIT faculty since 1990, said of the Institute on Wednesday. Bawendi made the remarks at a press conference after winning the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

A new finger-shaped sensor allows robots to operate with greater dexterity, researchers say. This long, curved touch sensor could enable a robot to perform multiple types of grasps and manipulation tasks, beyond just pinching.

AI is often seen as replacing human work. But in a recent talk, Daron Acemoglu described a future in which AI augments jobs, boosting productivity and prosperity. “There are transformative and very consequential choices ahead of us,” he said.

Our prior beliefs about an AI agent, like a chatbot, affect our interactions with that agent and our perceptions of its trustworthiness. “How we talk about AI systems will ultimately have a big effect on how people respond to them,” Pattie Maes says.

Via @mit.health on Instagram: “MIT President Sally Kornbluth started the week off right by getting a flu vaccination. Thanks for setting a great example, Dr. Kornbluth!”

Postdoc Ubadah Sabbagh’s journey from Syria to MIT has been marked by determination, courage, and curiosity. “For me, a scientist is a person who is not only in the lab but also has a unique perspective to contribute to society,” he says.