Ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
Stephen Goforth
‘Human-in-the-loop’ is not always a meaningful mitigation. When an AI model relies on thousands of data points to come to conclusions. It wouldn't really be possible for a human to sift through that amount of information to determine if the AI output was erroneous. -MIT Tech Review
Generative AI is learning to spy for the US military – MIT Tech Review
AI Military AI is here. Some experts are worried – Fast Company
Pentagon signs AI deal to help commanders plan military maneuvers – Washington Post
A German startup specializing in geospatial data, is using sensing technology in autonomous vehicles to map the seafloor to strengthen underwater military defense – Wall Street Journal
A.I. Military Start-Up Anduril Close to Deal That Would Value It at $28 Billion – New York Times
Military AI Will Mean Overhauling Test as Well as Tactics: DOD’s First AI Chief – Air & Space Forces Magazine
The US Central Command is employing large language models for some of its processes – AFCEA
Military takes on question of when AI is the right thing to do – Military Aerospace
Meta Permits Its A.I. Models to Be Used for U.S. Military Purposes - New York Times
The Technology for Autonomous Weapons Exists. What Now? – Undark
Air Force continues to expand its version of ChatGPT following summer launch – Stripes
This Space Spy Agency’s AI Shift May Hint at Your Company’s Future Facing- Inc
Microsoft workers say they were fired for protesting Israel’s use of AI – ABC News
8 countries that are scaling up AI in their military – Quartz
Oracle to provide cloud computing, AI services to Singapore military – Reuters
No one in a relationship problem is ever totally innocent or totally guilty. With this belief, people can always keep the door open to their own faults without engaging in excessive, guilt-provoking self-incrimination. Holding back anger for even a short time and engaging in self-analysis in private has the effect of tempering the expression of anger. Confession altars our goals from changing others to changing the relationship.
Gary Collins, Counseling and Anger
Sentiment analysis (also known as opinion mining or emotion artificial intelligence) – A tool using natural language processing techniques to collect and analyze the tone behind how people interact online with a brand. It attempts to get past numbers (mentions, comments, etc.) to extract subjective qualities from data—including attitudes, emotions, sarcasm, confusion or suspicion. Sentiment analysis makes use of data mining, machine learning, artificial intelligence and computational linguistics to arrive at actionable insights.
More AI definitions here.
Courage is when somebody sits down with their hurt. They name it and they feel it. Only then will it begin to fade. – Jonny Thomson
What: An introduction to ChatGPT designed for beginners. Only a free ChatGPT account is required to follow along.
Who: Lois Newman and Solutions Engineer Mohammed Husain, both from OpenAI.
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: OpenAI Academy
What: Learn how to optimize layout, content, accessibility features, and navigation on your website. This session will provide strategies for designing user-friendly, visually compelling websites that connect with diverse audiences and reflect your mission. Whether you're revamping an existing site or building a new one, this workshop will empower your nonprofit to create a digital presence that is both impactful and inclusive.
Who: Kyle Barkins, Co-Founder of Tapp Network; Jon Hill, Web Project Manager at Tapp Network.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: TechSoup
What: How can newsrooms disclose their use of AI in ways that build trust and demonstrate ethical practices? Learn how to disclose your use of AI with customizable language for a variety of use cases, including: writing content, transcribing interviews and translating content. People want transparency. Let's give it to them and model responsible use of AI in our newsrooms.
Who: Lynn Walsh, Trusting News assistant director and SPJ past president.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Society of Professional Journalists
What: Is this the future of independent journalism? Can writers really make money, or is the real benefit in influence – and what’s the balance? This webinar will explain how to build a successful Substack.
Who: David Andelman, Deadline Club board member and author of Andelman Unleashed along with established Substackers Claire Atkinson and Richard Galant.
When: 6 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Deadline Club
What: This presentation will delve into the evolution from traditional DevOps to the advanced usage of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to automate and optimize the software development and delivery processes. This includes automating code scanning, testing and deployment processes while eliminating the threats in each possible way in the cycle.
Who: Jyotirmayee Pradeep Kumar, Vice President- CoreDev DevOps.
When: 4 am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: BrightTalk
What: Discover the latest AI and automation tools and techniques to make professional L&D graphics, slides, and covers. Quickly turns text, data, and ideas into professional, at-a-glance designs. Also, learn three AI truths that impact your job and our industry for years to come.
Who: Mike Parkinson Author, Owner, Billion Dollar Graphics.
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Training Magazine Network
What: The panelists will discuss their experiences with and reporting on adversarial administrations, the recent court ruling against the White House for barring the AP from its press pool, and other alarming efforts to sideline journalists — along with how we can push back against these threats to public accountability and the free flow of information.
Who: Brian Karem, journalist and former White House correspondent; Stephanie Sugars, senior reporter for the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker; Caitlin Vogus, senior adviser at Freedom of the Press Foundation (moderator).
When: 2 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Society of Environmental Journalists
What: A panel discussion on what the rise of agentic AI means for innovation, competition, and policy, how prepared the United States is to keep pace, and what policy shifts might be needed to ensure consumers and businesses can successfully develop and deploy AI agents.
Who: A.J. Bhadelia, AI Public Policy, Cohere; Erica Finkle, AI Policy Director, Meta; Avijit Ghosh, Applied Policy Researcher in the Machine Learning and Society Team, Hugging Face; Helen Toner, Director of Strategy and Foundational Research Grants, Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET); Hodan Omaar, Senior Policy Manager, Center for Data Innovation (moderator).
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: The Center for Data Innovation
What: Lessons for journalism students and small-market journalists everywhere about what the appropriate standards are in deciding whether - and how - to accept a news release or an op-ed.
Who: Michael de Yoanna, managing editor, Mountain West News Bureau.
When: 1:30 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Society of Professional Journalists Colorado Pro Chapter
What: You will get essential takeaways on: Building trusted channels: How to create accessible, community-driven media platforms that reach underserved audiences; Fighting misinformation and reclaiming narratives; Strategies to identify, debunk, and prevent the spread of false information while restoring accurate and authentic community stories; Local journalism today: Exploring the challenges and opportunities for journalists in the current political and media landscape; Empowering BIPOC publishers: Lessons, tools, and resources to enhance impact, ensure safety and promote sustainability.
Who: Maritza L. Félix, founder of Conecta Arizona, a Spanish-language news service that connects communities along the U.S.-Mexico border.
When: 3 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Indiegraf
What: How nonprofits used technology in 2024 and what’s ahead for 2025. Based on anonymized data from Okta’s nonprofit customers, this annual report reveals the most-used apps, the fastest-growing security tools, and the evolving cyberthreat landscape. You’ll gain insights into how nonprofits are advancing their missions with technology — and where there’s still room for growth.
Who: Shruti Ramaswami, TechSoup Vice President, Strategy & Strategic Relationships; Stephen Jackson, TechSoup Director, Strategic Communications; Remy Champion, Okta Head of Tech for Good; Taylor Whitfield, Okta Manager, Tech for Good.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsors: TechSoup, Okta for Good
Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it will not always be so. -Mary Jean Irion
I had the most satisfying Eureka experience of my career while attempting to teach flight instructors that praise is more effective than punishment for promoting skill-learning. I was telling them about an important principle of skill training: rewards for improved performance work better than punishment of mistakes. This proposition is supported by much evidence from research on pigeons, rats, humans and other animals.
When I had finished my enthusiastic speech, one of the most seasoned instructors in the audience raised his hand and made a short speech of his own. He began by conceding that positive reinforcement might be good for the birds, but he denied that it was optimal for flight cadets. This is what he said,
“On many occasions I have praised flight cadets for clean execution of some aerobatic maneuver. The next time they try the same maneuver they usually do worse. On the other hand, I have often screamed into a cadet’s earphone for bad execution, and in general he does better one his next try. So please don’t tell us that reward works and punishment does not, because the opposite is the case.”
This was a joyous moment of insight, in which I saw in a new light a principle of statistics that I had been teaching for years. The instructor was right – but he was also completely wrong! His observation was astute and correct: occasions on which he praised a performance were likely to be followed by a disappointing performance, and punishments were typically followed by an improvement. But the inference he had drawn about the efficacy of reward and punishment was completely off the mark.
What he had observed is known as regression to the mean, which in that case was due to random fluctuations in the quality of the performance. Naturally, he praised only a cadet whose performance was far better than average. But the cadet was probably just lucky on that particular attempt and therefore likely to deteriorate regardless of whether or not he was praise. Similarly, the instructor would shout in to a cadet earphones only when the cadet’s performance was usually bad and therefore likely to improve regardless of what the instructor did. The instructor had attached a causal interpretation to the inevitable fluctuations of a random process.
Daniel Kahneman, Thinking Fast and Thinking Slow
When faces go virally wrong AI portraiture and the crisis of the profile picture - UX Design
ChatGPT's new image generator - how to use it for free - ZDnet
Google’s AI Mode now lets users ask complex questions about images – Tech Crunch
15 Expert Tips For Brands Using AI Imagery In Advertising – Forbes
Will AI jeopardize science photography? – Nature
AI-generated photos are warping our sense of reality and hurting small businesses along the way – Washington Post
How to Use AI in Photoshop: The Biggest Features, Plus Expert Tips – CNET
Google’s new AI tool uses image prompts instead of text - CNN
People are using Google’s new AI model to remove watermarks from images – Tech Crunch
Experts fail to reliably detect AI-generated histological data – Nature
Hobbyists discover how to insert custom fonts into AI-generated images – Arstechnica
How Google Used AI to Re-Create ‘The Wizard of Oz’ for the Las Vegas Sphere – Wall Street Journal
New AI chips transfer data using light instead of electricity for greater speed – Reuters
New AI algorithm to predict risk of cardiovascular events, heart-related death – AP 7am
AI is shaking up the hidden world of earthquake forecasting – The Star
This new AI tool changes a speaker's accent to American English in real-time - hear for yourself – Zdet
Doctors Told Him He Was Going to Die. Then A.I. Saved His Life.- New York Times
Arizona Supreme Court taps AI avatars to make the judicial system more publicly accessible – Associated Press
Agibot unveils AI model that allows humanoid robots to perform real-world tasks – SCMP
How A.I. Is Changing the Way the World Builds Computers - New York Times
Artificial intelligence finds 5,000-year-old civilization beneath Dubai desert – Jerusalem Post
AI made its way to vineyards. Here’s how the technology is helping make your wine – Associated Press
Google Cloud unveils AI-powered weather predictions - Axios
The New Leverage: AI and the Power of Small Teams – Jarango
Duke Health develops AI model that predicts mental health illness risks for adolescents – CBS 17
AI can outperform humans in predicting correlations between personality items – Nature
McDonald’s Gives Its Restaurants an AI Makeover - Wall Street Journal
These AI powered earbuds pack a secret — you can record and translate speech – Tom’s Guide
Earth AI is using AI algorithms to identify overlooked deposits of critical minerals – Tech Crunch
Surveillance software uses machine learning and motion analysis to help retailers catch shoplifters – Financial Times
A weather model that offers a faster and more efficient alternative to traditional forecasting methods – The Register
A small robot can be used to detect and potentially treat cancers found in the large intestine – Medical Express
A new AI tool helps recruitment agencies automate outreach and follow-ups - Financial Times
Krisp is using AI to change user accents during phone calls in real-time. - Tech Crunch
Scientists in the UK have developed an AI model that speeds up the diagnosis of coeliac disease – The Guardian
AI and satellites help aid workers respond to Myanmar earthquake damage – Associated Press
Meta Unveils Mind-Reading AI That Types Your Thoughts with Shocking Precision – The Brighter Side
Life only gets easier when you’re going downhill.
Agentic AI – Able to operate more independently than AI Agents, Agentic AI can adjust its strategy and continuously learn as it encounters different situations. It’s not just following the rules as agents do, Agentic AI is supposed to be a colleague that can analyze a problem, propose a plan, and take action.
More AI definitions here.
Independent says readers ‘often prefer’ stories provided by new AI service to human-written versions of those articles– Press Gazette
Why AI can’t take over creative writing – The Conversation
NaNoWriMo shut down after AI, content moderation scandals – TechCrunch
The best AI email writing assistant: We tested 5, and only one beats a human - The Washington Post
Researchers surprised to find less-educated areas adopting AI writing tools faster - Ars Technica
ChatGPT firm reveals AI model that is ‘good at creative writing’ – The Guardian
OpenAI’s ‘creative writing’ AI evokes that annoying kid from high school fiction club - TechCrunch
AI Search Has A Citation Problem – Columbia Journalism Review
Break through writer’s block with an AI-powered creativity hack – Mashable
What is interesting writing and can LLMs create it? – Stat Modeling
AI Anxiety Can writing at Harvard coexist with new technologies? – Harvard Magazine
Hollywood writers say AI is ripping off their work. They want studios to sue – LA Times
Is There A Place For AI In Creative Writing? – Caversham Writers
AI won't remove the need for human editing – Times Higher Ed
New AI tool could redefine book charts and bestseller lists – Jerusalem Post
Dow Jones negotiates AI usage agreements with nearly 4,000 news publishers – Harvard’s Nieman Lab
Springer Nature reveals AI-driven tool to 'automate some editorial quality checks' – The Bookseller
Low quality books that appear to be AI generated are making their way into public libraries – 404 Media
Every doctor is a writer: On the end of note-writing and meaning-making in medicine – Stat News
Meta Is Experimenting With AI-Generated Comments, for Some Reason – Life Hacker
Writers respond to the short story written by AI – The Guardian
People say they prefer stories written by humans over AI-generated works, yet new study suggests that’s not quite true – The Conversation
How Scottsdale police are using AI to help write crime reports – Arizona’s Family
According to Austin Kleon’s Steal Like An Artist, the so-called “original” thinkers and creators are simply people who effectively learned to remix other people’s materials.
Originality isn’t about doing what’s never been done in a strict sense, but it’s about the unique way in which each individual gives expression to his or her artistic influences. Quoting Jonathan Lethem, Kleon argues that “when people call something ‘original,’ nine out of ten times they just don’t know the references or the original sources involved.”
It’s a simple idea, but not as simple as “copy the people you like” and you’ll be an instant genius.
The kind of stealing Kleon refers to is not about pretending you came up with somebody else’s idea or just modifying a few details, but it’s about being strategic and selective with the process of choosing your influences, taking what resonates with you, making other people’s ideas your own, and being diverse enough to find unexplored points of intersection between your various influences.
TK Coleman, 5 Ways to Steal Like An Artist
AI Agents – These chatbots have the ability not only to answer questions and provide information, but to act on users' behalf in the background, autonomously. Users provide a goal (from researching competitors to virtual assistant functions like buying a car or planning a vacation), and the agent generates a task list and starting to work by breaking down the overall goal into smaller steps. The ability to understand complex instructions is crucial for agentic AI to be effective. Rather than passive processors of language, these proactive active agents can produce practical, real-world applications in uncertain but data-rich environments as it interacts with external tools and APIs. Agents are not the same as “AI copilots” which can collaborate with users but don’t make decisions on their own as agents can do. They are also not as powerful as Agentic AI, which can act more autonomously.
More AI definitions here.
As Americans, we're obsessed with images. Who we are isn't as important as how we appear. In fact, we spend so much time and effort on appearances, we lose the ability to recognize the true identity of another person, or even ourselves. We've become more familiar with the image than we are with the real thing.
Dating relationships are especially vulnerable to this problem. A person isn't evaluated on character or individuality, but on how close he or she measures up to the other's image of the ideal mate. Real people take second chair to the ideal; they measure up to the image or they don't.
Have you ever noticed the excitement at the beginning of a romance that later faded with growing familiarity? In the early stages of any new friendship, we're usually seeing more of the image than we are of the real person. We've seen enough of the surface to see similarities between the object of our affections and the ideal we seek, but not enough to show us that our ideal and the new friend are not the same person. In essence, we're falling in love with the image, with the idea that this one person might be "it." Sooner or later the real person is going to start breaking through that image, and disillusionment will set in.
The success of a marriage comes not in finding the "right" person, but in the ability of both partners to adjust to the real person they inevitably realize they married. Some people never make this adjustment, becoming trapped in an endless search for an image that does not exist.
John Fischer, Real Christians Don’t Dance!
Arguing the pros and cons of AI in healthcare - TechTarget
Randomized Trial of a Generative AI Chatbot for Mental Health Treatment – New England Journal of Medicine
Apple Readies Its Biggest Push Into Health Yet With New AI Doctor – Bloomberg
Adaptive deep brain stimulation uses AI to reduce Parkinson’s symptoms - The Washington Post
Retracted articles on cancer imaging are not only continuously cited by publications but also used by ChatGPT to answer questions – Science Direct
Open-Source AI Matches Top Proprietary LLM in Solving Tough Medical Cases – Harvard Medical School
Doctors Told Him He Was Going to Die. Then A.I. Saved His Life. – New York Times
AI-Powered Test Reveals Biological Age from Small Blood Sample – Inside Precision Medicine
AI failed to detect critical health conditions: study - Axios
Algorithm may reduce racial, ethnic inequalities in MS treatment: Study – Multiple Sclerosis News Today
The Hologram Doctor Will See You Now – Wall Street Journal
Machine learning outperforms deep learning in audiometry in a new study – Dev Discourse
Duke Health develops AI model that predicts mental health illness risks for adolescents – CBS17
Can AI predict the next pandemic? A new study says yes – News Medical
Train clinical AI to reason like a team of doctors – Nature
An AI-powered model that accurately predicts blood sugar levels in diabetes patients – Deccan Herald
An AI clinical assistant that automates pre-surgery assessments for cataract patients – BBC
How health insurers are using AI today – StatNews
A diagnostic tool that uses DNA sequencing and machine learning to detect multiple diseases from a single blood sample - Inside Precision Medicine
A Versatile AI System for Analyzing Series of Medical Images - Cornell Medicine
Cancer could be spotted early on thanks to new 'human-defying' AI-powered body scan – Daily Record
AI-based pregnancy analysis discovers previously unknown warning signs for stillbirth and newborn complications – University of Utah
Reid Hoffman Raises $24.6 Million for AI Cancer-Research Startup - Wall Street Journal
From Prediction To Practice: AI’s Role In Healthcare 2025 – Forbes
Assessing AI-Driven Approaches to Student Mental Health – Dartmouth
6 ways AI is transforming healthcare – World Economic Forum
Trump’s early actions imperil efforts to improve AI’s performance in medicine – Stat News
Medical students use AI to practice communication skills - Cornell Chronicle
Wearable AI to enhance patient safety and clinical decision-making – Nature
In a bold move to position itself as a global leader in artificial intelligence, China will mandate AI education for all primary and secondary school students beginning September 1, 2025. The new policy requires even 6-year-olds to begin learning about AI as part of the national curriculum. -Asaaseradio
Quantum Computers – The computers we use today operate on a traditional binary code, which represents information with 0s and 1s. Quantum machines, on the other hand, use quantum bits, or qubits. The unusual properties of qubits make quantum computers far more powerful for some kinds of calculations, including the mathematical problems that underpin much of modern encryption.
More AI definitions here.
It seems reasonable to believe — and I do believe — that the more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us the less taste we shall have for the destruction of our race. Wonder and humility are wholesome emotions, and they do not exist side by side with a lust for destruction.
Rachel Carson acceptance speech for the John Burroughs Medal, April 7, 1952
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