Peter Hall
peterha2l.bsky.social
Peter Hall
@peterha2l.bsky.social
PhD student in Cryptography @ NYU. Currently at MIT Technology Review writing about AI and computing
Reposted by Peter Hall
Can AI simulations of human research participants advance cognitive science? In @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social, @lmesseri.bsky.social & I analyze this vision. We show how “AI Surrogates” entrench practices that limit the generalizability of cognitive science while aspiring to do the opposite. 1/
AI Surrogates and illusions of generalizability in cognitive science
Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have generated enthusiasm for using AI simulations of human research participants to generate new know…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 21, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Wrote this piece on battery recycling for AI microgrids a while ago, and now it’s out!
Redwood Materials is one of the largest battery recyclers in the US. Now, the company is using old batteries from electric vehicles to power AI.

We named Redwood Materials to this year's list of 10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch.
2025 Climate Tech Companies to Watch: Redwood Materials and its new AI microgrids
One of the largest US battery recyclers is using old batteries from electric vehicles to power AI.
www.technologyreview.com
October 21, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Reposted by Peter Hall
The administration “is currently pressuring OpenAI and other AI companies to make their models more conservative-friendly.”
OpenAI is trying to clamp down on ‘bias’ in ChatGPT
GPT-5 is better at resisting liberal ‘pressure,’ the company says.
www.theverge.com
October 11, 2025 at 12:02 PM
The 2026 AAAS Mass Media Fellowship application is open! This program was one of the best experiences of my PhD, highly recommend it for anyone interested in #SciComm /Journalism. Happy to answer questions about the app or @technologyreview.com.

@aaasmassmedia.bsky.social @aaas.org

aaas.org/mmf
AAAS Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellowship
This 10-week summer program places science, engineering, and mathematics students at media organizations nationwide. Fellows use their academic training as they research, write, and report today’s hea...
aaas.org
October 1, 2025 at 2:25 PM
One of the final pieces I worked on as a fellow for Technology Review is now up. I profiled James Zou and covered both his Nature article and his upcoming conference #Agents4Science, where AI must be the primary author of submitted papers.

Link here: www.technologyreview.com/2025/08/22/1...
Meet the researcher hosting a scientific conference by and for AI
James Zou used virtual AI ‘scientists’ to find novel covid-19 treatments. Now, he’s having AI review and present all of the research at a controversial new conference.
www.technologyreview.com
August 25, 2025 at 12:53 PM
New at Technology Review today. Some astrophysicists are worried we are due for a bad storm like the Carrington Event (the last superstorm, from 1859). Being able to predict bad storms will be needed to mitigate the havoc this would cause to electrical grids, satellites, etc. #SpaceSky #Space #NASA
August 20, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Devs at all sorts of companies are already hard at work building MCP servers that will let AI agents send emails, edit databases, and more. But there’s still a long way to go to making sure these agents act safely, transparently, and efficiently. Read more at www.technologyreview.com/2025/08/04/1...
These protocols will help AI agents navigate our messy lives
Anthropic, Google, and others are developing better ways for agents to interact with our programs and each other, but there’s still more work to be done.
www.technologyreview.com
August 5, 2025 at 1:31 PM
A little bit of data viz for @technologyreview.com today about where AI is impacting work. Check out some more charts and the rest of the story here: www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/16/1...
July 16, 2025 at 4:43 PM
It seems like safety and responsible AI folks are pushing in a lot of possible directions at once, but one that I’ve found following (with some reservations) for a while has been machine unlearning. Here’s one potential app of it to combat audio deepfakes.
July 15, 2025 at 1:25 PM
New story out for @technologyreview.com today. Working artists are on the frontier of the impacts of AI, and seeing what people are doing in this space will give the the blueprints for everyone else.
A new technique called LightShed will make it harder for artists to use existing protective tools to stop their work from being ingested for AI training. It’s the next step in a cat-and-mouse game—across technology, law, and culture—that has been going on between artists and AI proponents for years.
This tool strips away anti-AI protections from digital art
The proof-of-concept technology removes a layer of digital “poison” meant to disrupt AI models that scrape online images for training.
www.technologyreview.com
July 10, 2025 at 1:57 PM