The premise of the Black Mirror episode “Hang the DJ” is a walled-off society where people are required to be matched into romantic relationships by an unknown matchmaking algorithm. Given an arbitrary expiration date, each relationship supposedly provides the algorithm with the data to ultimately make the optimal match for…

Every morning, my alarm goes off at 9:30 AM to tell me to get up, get dressed, and head over to Shiru café just two blocks down the street from my off-campus house. As is my habit, I skip my 9 AM to enjoy a free cup of coffee, usually…

An apocalyptic global order where security breaches and a lack of accountability foster widespread fear is among the extreme, yet possible, futures for our world. Through a shared imagination, we envision impending possibilities that are inextricably linked to our severe dependence on technology — a dependence that has left us…

From 2010 to 2017, a single bitcoin rose in value from mere pennies to nearly $20,000 on the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (BPI). The cryptocurrency’s meteoric ascent introduced the modern world to the notion of blockchain (the technology upon which bitcoin relies) and soon, the term began to grip dialogue…

Editorially independent of the university, Brown Technology Review explores developments in technology and considers the economic, social, and political impacts. BTR pulls insight from both industry and academia, aiming to provide readers a holistic perspective. Ultimately, we are a community where Brown students, alumni, and faculty can provide coverage and…

This article was originally published on March 8, 2019 Mind control in its various forms — hypnosis, possession, brainwashing — has captured our imaginations for centuries in literature and in film. George Orwell’s 1984 famously conceptualizes means of ideological indoctrination that allow a government to brainwash its subjects, while Anthony…

This article was originally published on February 8, 2019 The screen lights up with a new text message from Scott, a professor at the University of Texas: How many legs does a camel have? Eugene types back: Something between 2 and 4. Maybe, three? …

This article was originally published on November 16, 2018 “These systems are simply mirrors for a biased society,” says Dr. Jerry Kaplan, a professor at Stanford University, speaking about deep learning models. A renowned expert in the field of artificial intelligence, having founded several AI startups and published three books…

I learned to enjoy the process. When my sea monkeys first hatched, I couldn’t wait for them to become full-grown sea monkeys, constantly googling “how long” until the next milestone in the aging process. But midway through the 6–8 weeks that the internet said it would take for them to…