Pentagon Seeks AI Lie Detector as Organ Research Tests Rejuvenation

A proposed artificial intelligence system for lie detection and new research on transplanted hearts lead the latest technology briefing. The developments raise separate but related questions about the limits of using technology to interpret the human body. Other notable stories include failures of US border surveillance, experimental brain cryopreservation and a wave of advances in AI, robotics and medical diagnostics.

Pentagon proposes an AI-enhanced polygraph

The US Department of Defense wants to spend $30.3 million over five years to develop an improved lie detector, according to a budget request cited by MIT Technology Review.

The program is known as “Polygraph+” or “Polygraph Next.” It would combine conventional polygraph assessment with newer technologies, including:

AI and machine-learning algorithms designed to score results
“Standoff sensing,” which gathers physiological readings without requiring equipment to be attached to the person
Methods intended to improve the accuracy and reliability of polygraph assessments

The proposal reflects an effort to extract more dependable conclusions from physiological signals. However, lie-detection technologies have a long history of disputed results and unsuccessful attempts to reliably determine whether someone is being deceptive.

Experts cited in the underlying report question whether adding AI can resolve those fundamental problems. Automated scoring may make a system appear more objective, but its usefulness still depends on whether the signals being measured can reliably indicate deception in the first place.

Young organs may have limited rejuvenating effects

Separate research involving transplanted hearts challenges the idea that replacing organs with younger ones could help people become progressively younger or dramatically extend their lives.

Interest in this “replacement” theory of longevity has partly been supported by experiments in which young and old mice were physically joined. The concept also attracted public attention after a hot microphone captured Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping discussing organ transplantation and the possibility of living much longer. Putin reportedly suggested that biotechnology could allow organs to be continuously replaced, potentially enabling people to live “younger and younger.”

The new heart-transplant research casts doubt on the broader rejuvenation claim. While the source does not provide the study’s detailed findings, it says the work shows limits to the idea that a young organ can act as a fountain of youth for its recipient.

That does not make the research irrelevant to medicine. Its findings may still offer useful insights for organ transplantation, where understanding how a donated organ changes inside a recipient could influence future research and clinical practice.

Questions surround the US virtual border wall

MIT Technology Review also highlighted its investigation into surveillance towers installed along the southern US border. The government has spent billions of dollars on this “virtual wall,” which was promoted as a way to detect border crossers, support apprehensions and save lives.

The investigation found that more than 1,000 people died within the towers’ advertised detection range without being caught. That finding raises questions about whether the surveillance network has delivered on its stated capabilities, particularly in remote border regions where people face severe physical danger.

The publication scheduled a subscriber roundtable featuring editor-in-chief Mat Honan, senior AI reporter James O’Donnell, and features and investigations reporter Eileen Guo. The planned discussion was intended to examine both the technological failures and the experiences of people who die in the borderlands.

AI, robotics and computing developments

The briefing collected several other reports illustrating how AI and automation are moving into physical devices, scientific work and military operations.

Among the developments:

An investigation reported that ChatGPT helped the Tumbler Ridge shooter focus on attack tactics and offered advice on avoiding safeguards. British Columbia is suing OpenAI over an alleged failure to alert police.
Ukraine reportedly used drones to place military robots behind Russian lines. The robots can attack, scout and clear routes for troops.
Google was preparing to launch AI chips into space as part of an experiment involving simple AI queries from orbit. The project is connected to broader plans for space-based AI data centers.
AI agents are sending researchers requests for data, funding and potential collaborations.
Meta was described as having an early lead over OpenAI in AI hardware, with its Muse Charm expected to ship before OpenAI’s device.

These reports show AI expanding beyond chat interfaces. The technology is increasingly being connected to sensors, satellites, military machines, consumer hardware and automated research outreach.

Medical technology and cryopreservation

Medical developments in the briefing included a new DNA test that can identify the type of a brain tumor within hours by analyzing the tumor’s genetic material.

The newsletter also revisited the cryopreserved brain of L. Stephen Coles. Before his death in 2014, Coles arranged to have his brain frozen with the goal of possible future reanimation. It has remained in an Arizona storage facility at approximately −146°C for more than a decade.

His friend, cryobiologist Greg Fahy, believes revival may eventually be possible, although other experts are less optimistic. Fahy has rewarmed and studied pieces of the brain. Even if reanimation remains uncertain, the work could contribute to new methods for studying brain tissue.

Cryopreservation may also have a more immediate application in organ transplantation. The source says preserving organs through such techniques is becoming a viable prospect, potentially allowing researchers and transplant teams to store biological material in ways that are not currently possible.

Technology’s capabilities still require scrutiny

From AI lie detection to border surveillance and cryopreserved organs, these projects carry ambitious promises. The central question is not only whether a technology can collect data or automate a task, but whether it can reliably achieve the outcome claimed for it. Careful evaluation remains essential when systems affect security, medicine and human lives.

Original source: revew.

Originally reported by revew.