The quest for quantum-proof encryption just made a leap forward

The field of natural language processing is chasing the wrong goal

Sponsored by IBM The Download Your daily dose of what’s up in emerging technology 08.03.20 Good morning! Today: we're getting closer to quantum-proof encryption, the field of natural language processing is chasing the wrong goal, and Microsoft might buy TikTok's US business. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. The quest for quantum-proof encryption just made a leap forward   The issue: Many of the things you do online every day are protected by encryption so that no one else can spy on it. Your online banking and messages to friends are likely encrypted, for example—as are government secrets. But that protection is under threat from the development of quantum computers, which threaten to render modern encryption methods useless.  Getting ahead of the game: While modern encryption is still a long way from being broken, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology launched a competition in 2016 to develop new standards for cryptography that will be more quantum-proof. Winners won’t be announced until 2022, but last week the organization announced that it had narrowed the initial field of 69 contenders down to just 15.  A promising method: So far, a single approach to “post-quantum cryptography” accounts for the majority of the finalists: lattice-based cryptography. While public-key encryption uses traditional math to encode data, lattice-based cryptography instead uses enormous grids with billions of individual points across thousands of dimensions. The NSA says the approach has promise. Read the full story. —Patrick Howell O’Neill The field of natural language processing is chasing the wrong goal The outlook: Researchers are concerned about the core methods and objectives of natural-language processing (NLP), the branch of AI focused on creating systems that analyze or generate human language. Are these methods enough to achieve the field’s ultimate goals? What even are those goals? What needs fixing: The way NLP is evaluated could be part of the problem. Researchers publish new data sets of even trickier questions, only to see even bigger neural networks quickly post impressive scores. But many people in the field are growing weary of such leaderboard-chasing. Do recent “advances” really translate into helping people solve problems? Such doubts are more than abstract fretting; whether systems are truly proficient at language comprehension has real stakes for society. Where we go from here: To bring evaluations more in line with the targets, it helps to consider what holds today’s systems back. A human reading a passage will build a detailed representation of entities, locations, events, and their relationships—a “mental model” of the world described in the text. To construct more meaningful evaluations, NLP researchers should test whether an AI system is able to construct this sort of model. Read the full story.  Written by Jesse Dunietz, a researcher at Elemental Cognition, where he works on developing rigorous evaluations for reading comprehension systems. He is also an educational designer for MIT’s Communication Lab and a science writer. We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.)   + Piper the dog was having a grand old time in the paddling pool. Until she found the pipe.   + A story all about reviving extinct British cheeses.   + Meet Gary, the punk penguin.   + Try making your own tape quilts.   + You’ve heard of hibernation, but what about estivation, which occurs during the summer?   + Hey, here’s a thought...maybe we should all stop washing.   + A poem about being bored.   + Pineapples were a status symbol in the UK for a long time.   + Anglerfish are clingy as HELL.   + A forum for astronomy geeks. Sponsor Message A smarter supply chain control tower The control tower concept has been around for more than a decade and is getting renewed attention as companies try to pivot business operations, products, and experiences.   In this paper, learn how smarter control towers are the performance nerve center for supply chains and how AI can help you:   Deliver end-to-end visibility across the supply chain Correlate the right data against a set of rules and deliver AI-assisted insights Enable collaboration across teams and partners   Register to learn more about smarter control towers. The top ten must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Microsoft might buy TikTok’s US business Its CEO has had conversations with Trump this weekend, after he vowed to ban the app. (TechCrunch)   + What’s in it for Microsoft? (NYT $)   + It would be a hugely risky purchase. (Reuters)   + The US is planning to crack down on even more Chinese software companies. (FT $)   + Why America is afraid of TikTok. (The Atlantic)  2 Summer camps show how hard it’ll be for schools to reopen safely 🚸 Separated cohorts, outdoor classes, and lots of testing will all need to be part of the mix. (National Geographic)   + American parents are setting up homeschool “pandemic pods.” (TR)  3 Three suspects have been arrested over the Twitter hack They are 17, 19, and 21. And they’re in a lot of trouble. (Vice)   + This is how the FBI tracked them down. (ZDNet)  4 Two NASA astronauts safely came home from the ISS in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon 🚀 It was the first return of a commercially operated US spacecraft. (CNET) 5 How immunity to covid-19 works This explains a) why you shouldn’t fear it waning and b) why the prospects for a vaccine are good. (NYT $)   + Russia says it’s going to start vaccinations in October, raising safety concerns. (NYT $)   + Coronavirus is airborne. We need to get that message across to people. (Slate)  6 The impact of the pandemic on healthcare workers is starting to hit home Anxiety, depression and PTSD seem to be on the rise. (Wired UK)   + Critical care doctors helped out in New York, then watched covid-19 come to their communities when they returned. (New Yorker $)   + We need to prepare for mental health issues among survivors from the ICU, too. (TR)  7 Twitter’s algorithm does not discriminate against right-wingers  In fact, it amplifies the reach of inflammatory tweets. (The Economist $)   + Twitter has permanently banned former KKK leader David Duke. (WP $)  8 We need to not go back to flying ✈️ The pandemic presents a unique opportunity to combat climate change. We must not waste it. (The Correspondent)  9 Netflix is letting you change the speed you watch TV at 📺 Who in their right mind wants to watch a show 1.5 times faster? SO WRONG. (The Verge) 10 Inside the rise and rise of Zoom A decade ago, Silicon Valley had written it off. Now it’s impossible to imagine life without it. (The Guardian) Join us online at EmTech MIT as we reset, rethink, and rebuild. This year, we're focusing on emerging technologies and trends that you can leverage to help you lead with innovation. Register now. Quote of the Day “He never really seemed to care about anyone but himself." —Connor Belcher, a gamer, tells the New York Times he was not surprised when 17-year-old Graham Clark was charged with the Twitter hack. Top image credit: Google Please send cheese to hi@technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @charlottejee. Thanks for reading! —Charlotte Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? 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