Disruptive Technologies

Why 2020 disinformation campaigns may be outsourced to the Philippines

By Matt Field | Disruptive Technologies, What We’re Reading

Photo illustration by Matt Field based in part on photos by premier.gov.ru and www.kremlin.ru via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 4.0.

Ahead of 2020, disinformation and fake news are alive and well on social media 

By Matt Field | Disruptive Technologies, What We’re Reading

Credit: Pixabay via Wikimedia Commons. CC0.

Scientists, businesspeople, professional forecasters predict differing worlds of 2052

By Fred Phillips, Brendan Monks, Ulrich Betz | Analysis, Disruptive Technologies

A US military artist's vision of laser weapons. Perhaps surprisingly, on Earth, the Pentagon is well on the way to making talking laser-formed plasma balls a reality. Credit: Defense Department via Wikimedia Commons.

The Pentagon’s getting closer to fielding talking lasers

By Matt Field | Disruptive Technologies, What We’re Reading

Illustration by Matt Field. Based in part on photo by Ulfbastel via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0.

Digital authoritarianism and the threat to global democracy

By Justin Sherman | Disruptive Technologies, Voices of Tomorrow

Fake faces generated by the StyleGAN algorithm developed by Tero Karras, Samuli Laine, and Timo Aila at NVIDIA via Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West. CC-BY-NC 4.0.

University bullshit experts: Fake face software signals a new era of AI-based BS

By Matt Field | Artificial Intelligence, Disruptive Technologies

The Chinese city of Urumqi in Xinjiang. Credit: Alexander Flühmann via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0.

Ultrasounds and blood draws: An account of Chinese government oppression of the Uighurs

By Matt Field | Disruptive Technologies, What We’re Reading

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump at G20 meeting, July 7, 2017

Pentagon report: Russian leaders believe they are already at war with the United States—in the gray zone

By Matt Field | Technology and Security, What We’re Reading

Illustration by Matt Field.

Laboratories in the cloud

By Filippa Lentzos, Cédric Invernizzi | Disruptive Technologies, Synthetic biology

The Russian Uran-9 is an armed robot. Credit: Dmitriy Fomin via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.0.

In Syria, Russia found the chance to showcase its swagger–and its robot weapons

By Matt Field | Disruptive Technologies, What We’re Reading

A “Star Wars” sequel? The allure of directed energy for space weapons

By Jeff Hecht | Nuclear Weapons, Special Topics, Technology and Security

The existential threat from cyber-enabled information warfare

By Herbert Lin | Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, Disruptive Technologies, Special Topics, Technology and Security