In 2026, the hype for artificial intelligence (AI) agents is louder than ever before. These semi-autonomous programs can “think” and execute well-defined tasks in areas like customer service and software development, typically using language models (LMs). But fields like medical diagnosis and scientific discovery require them to inquire about a vast range of solutions in uncertain environments, which LMs struggle with.
A new method developed by MIT researchers can accelerate a privacy-preserving artificial intelligence training method by about 81 percent. This advance could enable a wider array of resource-constrained edge devices, like sensors and smartwatches, to deploy more accurate AI models while keeping user data secure.
David Clark, Senior Research Scientist at MIT CSAIL, helped design the system that connects nearly every computer on earth. As Chief Protocol Architect of the Internet from 1981 to 1989, he was there for the beginnings of the Internet. Calling the wave of AI technology an “echo” of what happened in the 80’s, Dr. Clark is cautioning, “ maybe we need to slow things down and think a bit.”
