6 Ethical Questions to Think about if you use Generative AI

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1. The image below recently won one of the world’s most prestigious photography competitions.

The artist said it was “co-produced by the means of AI (artificial intelligence) image generators.” He wrote, “Just as photography replaced painting in the reproduction of reality, AI will replace photography. Don’t be afraid of the future. It will just be more obvious that our mind always created the world that makes it suffer.”

Do you agree? What role should AI have in the creation of images, not only in contests but by those producing media for companies, schools, and even churches?

2. If a painting, song, novel or movie that you love was generated by an AI, would you want to know? Would it change your reaction if you knew the creator was a machine?  

3. Would it be ethical for a chatbot to write a PhD thesis, as long as the student looks over and makes refinements to the work? What percent of rewriting would be the minimum to make this acceptable?

4. Is it OK for AI to brainstorm ideas for projects or products that you later claim as your own? Would it change your answer if you came up with the original question? What if you fine-tuned some of the ideas? What if you give the AI some credit for helping you?

5. If you use AI and it plagiarizes an artist or writer, who should be blamed? Would your answer change if you were not aware the AI had committed the plagiarism? How might you prove that you were unaware?

6. How do you draw the ethical line for using a chatbot like ChatGPT? Would it be OK for writing an email to schedule a meeting? A sales pitch to a client? A religious sermon? A conversation in an online dating app? A letter to a friend going through depression?

There are more ethical questions for AI in this Wall Street Journal Article

Making people confirm our favored conclusions

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Most of us have ways of making other people confirm our favored conclusions without ever engaging them in conversation. Consider this: To be a great driver, lover, or chef, we don’t need to be able to parallel park while blindfolded, make ten thousand maidens swoon with a single pucker, or create a pâte feuilletée so intoxicating that the entire population of France instantly abandons its national cuisine and swears allegiance to our kitchen. Rather, we simply need to park, kiss, and bake better than most other folks do. How do we know how well most other folks do? Why, we look around, of course—but in order to make sure than we see what we want to see, we look around selectively.

For example, volunteers in one study took a test that ostensibly measured their social sensitivity and were then told that they had flubbed the majority of the questions. When these volunteers were then given an opportunity to look over the test results of other people who had performed better or worse than they had, they ignored the test of the people who had done better and instead spent their time looking over the tests of the people who had done worse.

The bottom line is this: The brain and the eye may have a contractual relationship in which the brain has agreed to believe what the eye sees, but in return the eye has agreed to look for what the brain wants.

Daniel Gilbert, Stumbling on Happiness

Motivated by stress

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I very much was a person who was motivated by stress; I would use a deadline as a motivator. I think a lot of people do that, where they're like, "I'll just wait until the last minute, and that'll light a fire underneath me and I'll get it done." And I just kept thinking, "Well, that's a terrible way to live. Why am I building a house and lighting a fire in the basement just to see if I can finish the roof before it burns down my whole house?"

Dan Deacon speaking to NPR

10 Webinars THIS WEEK about media literacy, AI, investigative journalism, video trends, newsletters, bias, & more

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Mon, April 17 – Can Media Literacy Help Us See Through the AI Hype?

What: We will identify the logics and assumptions baked into generative AI tools, and examine the tech ecosystem from which these tools emerge. We will consider: How might we use the core principles of media literacy to help us critically question generative AI technologies—not just the content that they produce, but the tools themselves?

Who: Michelle Ciccone is a second year PhD student in the Department of Communication at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Previously, she was a K-12 technology integration specialist. Michelle is also the co-organizer of the 2023 and 2020 Northeast Media Literacy Conferences.

When: 12 noon, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Media Education Lab

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Tue, April 18 - Media Law Litigation in a Post-Newspaper Future

What: For a century, U.S. courts and policymakers have assumed that a well-funded Fourth Estate would act as a check on abuses of government power, assuring that incursions on fundamental First Amendment rights would not go unchallenged. But with the alarming spread of “news deserts” engulfing the United States, is that assumption still valid? And if not, what – if anything – can replace local newspapers as sentinels over government secrecy and overreach.

Who: - RoNell Andersen Jones – Lee E. Teitelbaum Endowed Chair and Professor of Law, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law; Affiliated Fellow, Information Society Project, Yale Law School; Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky – Raymond & Miriam Ehrich Chair in U.S. Constitutional Law, University of Florida Levin College of Law; Katie Fallow – Senior Counsel, Knight First Amendment Institute, Columbia University;  Frank D. LoMonte (Moderator), Counsel, CNN; Co-Chair, Free Speech and Free Press Committee, ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice

When: 12 noon, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: The American Bar Association

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Tue, April 18 – Top Video Trends: What businesses are creating in 2023

What: In this webinar, we’ll share examples of how businesses are using video to engage their audiences. Then, we’ll walk you through 6 different videos and tips for making them the easy way. You’ll understand the elements that go into creating videos that resonate with your audience. On top of that, you’ll walk away with the skills, confidence, and inspiration to create them yourself. If you’re interested in video but not sure where to start, you’re in the right place. This webinar is for those in HR, operations, marketing, sales, and anyone who wants to use video to communicate.

Who: Sally Sangood, Chief Video Officer, Animoto

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Animoto

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Tue, April 18 - The Media Landscape in Israel

What:  We look at the media situation in Israel. How have new and politically biased news outlets affected the public’s trust in the media. How has increased government intervention affected press freedom in the country? And what is the impact of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government restructuring proposals on press freedom and independence in Israel.

Who: Ruth Margalit, contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and Tel Aviv resident

When: 12 noon, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Society of Professional Journalists

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Wed, April 19 - Understanding news media bias

What: How the journalistic standards can be applied to confront and avoid bias in news reporting.

Who: Journalists Amethyst J. Davis of the Harvey World Herald and Stephanie Casanova of Signal Cleveland

When: 4 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: News Literacy Project  

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Wed, April 19 - Ethical Decisions in News Graphic Images

What: A robust discussion about the use and impact of graphic images in news reporting. The presenter will share noteworthy examples and offers a decision-making checklist.

Who: Eric Wishart, standards & ethics editor, Agence France-Presse.

When: 8 pm, Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: The Valley of the Sun chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists

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Wed, April 19 - Covering Homelessness 

What: A panel discussion on covering homelessness with respect and sensitivity.

Who: Will Schick, editor-in-chief of Washington, D.C.’s Street Sense Media; Sophie Kasakove, a housing reporter who previously covered housing and climate issues as a fellow on the national desk at the New York Times; Hallie Miller covers city and regional services for the Baltimore Banner who previously worked at The Baltimore Sun.

When: 6 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Society of Professional Journalists, Region 2

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Thu, April 20 - Newsletter Professionals Meetup: Growth, Partnerships and Revenue

What: This is an idea swap for newsletter professionals about growth strategies, marketing, partnerships and revenue. You’ll meet up with others working on newsletter strategy and share ideas in a series of fast-paced breakout discussions. Bring an idea or two to share, and expect to leave with a bunch of new ideas from your peers, plus new professional opportunities, new peers, mentors and colleagues, and inspiration for a collaboration or partnership.   

Who: Melanie Winer  VP of Newsletter Strategy & Operations, Insider, Inc.

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free for members, $25 for non-members

Sponsor: The Online News Association & Inkwell

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Thu, April 20 – Learning Investigative Reporting from Veteran Journalists

What: A panel on investigative reporting.

Who: Newsday’s Sandra Peddie who has written two books and News 12’s lead investigator Walt Kane

When: 7 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Press Club of Long Island

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Fri, April 21 – The Future of Local Journalism

What: The challenges facing local media and solutions that connect Americans with independent journalism.

Who: Media pioneer Evan Smith

When: 3:45 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: The University of Virginia's Karsh Institute of Democracy

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Keeping & Losing Friends

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Are your friendships driven by your preferences or more by your social opportunities? It’s the latter, according to a study out of the Netherlands. Sociologist Gerald Mollenhorst interviewed more than 1000 people and interviewed them again seven years later. His finding: Our personal networks are not formed solely based on personal choices.

Mollenhorst says you’ll have a turnover of about half of your closest friends at least every seven years. But don’t blame it on fickleness or disloyalty. Circumstances will play a major role in who stays in the inner circle as your favorite discussion partners and practical helpers. When parts of your friendship network move away or change jobs or have babies, you replace them. As you make life-changing decisions about marriage and divorce, your best mates will be determined largely by the happenstance surrounding the decision. 

Friends come and go. But you should hold on to some of them. Who makes you a better person just for hanging around with them? Who expands your world and helps you to define yourself better? It takes extra effort but hang on to these friends. They're worth it.

Stephen Goforth

A new approach to lie detection

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Researchers from the University of Amsterdam's Leugenlab (Lie Lab) have developed a new approach to lie detection through a series of lab experiments.

Participants were free to use all possible signals—from looking people in the eye to looking for nervous behavior or a particularly emotional story—to assess whether someone was lying.

In this situation, they found it difficult to distinguish lies from truths and scarcely performed above the level of probability. When instructed to rely only on the amount of detail (place, person, time, location) in the story, they were consistently able to discern lies from truths.

Bachelor's students from the UvA and Master's students from the UvA and the UM carried out data collection, control experiments and replication studies for the research in the context of their theses. 

Read more online at The Univeristy of Amsterdam 

The Most Effective Therapeutic Approach to Serious Emotional Issues

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We are on a road to significant life disruptions when we cling to what we wish the world was like instead of what it really is like. As M Scott Peck wrote, “Mental health is an ongoing process of dedication to reality at all costs.” 

Like it or not, we are all neurotic to some degree. If the wrong set of circumstances comes along, and if they are combined with unhealthy attitudes encouraged by poor parenting and genetic tenancies, any of us can tip over into the abyss. 

Mental clarity is fundamental to emotional health. That's why, despite the biological component of mental illness, our therapeutic approaches should be holistic and address cognitive issues. A cognitive-focused approach has a history of greater effectiveness than drugs (except when dealing with extreme psychotic breaks, schizophrenia, etc.). After an initial physical exam rules out disease and general illness, an eclectic approach that is focused on cognitive therapy is the most effective direction. For most issues, drugs are best regulated to use as a tool allowing a person to find a place of stability in order to deal with fundamental unhealthy cognitive issues.

Stephen Goforth

8 Media Webinars this week about freelancing, objective news, PR, anxiety, quality journalism & more

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Mon, April 10 - A Conversation with Michelle Miller

What: Miller will discuss her career as well as her new book, Belonging. 

Who: Michelle Miller is a co-host of "CBS Saturday Morning."

When: 2 pm, Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: San Diego State University

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Tue, April 11 - How to make it as a freelancer in investigative & data journalism

What: Learn from freelancing experts how they've been able to become their own boss. Topics include: How to pitch an investigation; Who to pitch to and when; Dealing with contracts; Negotiating pay for a project; Finding documents on a budget; Building your team of success (lawyers, story contacts, etc.).

Who: Jordan Gass-Pooré - Independent Journalist, Creator/Host, Hazard NJ podcast (NJ Spotlight News/NJ PBS); Sonali Kohli, Senior Recruiter, URL Media; Laird Townsend, Director, Freelance Investigative Reporters and Editors (FIRE);  Rebecca Aguilar, freelance journalist/educator (moderator)

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free for members, $25 for nonmembers

Sponsor: Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE)

More info

 

Tue, April 11 - Truth, Objectivity & Journalists of Color

What: What does objectivity in journalism look like for journalists of color? Is objectivity still a realistic goal?

Who: NYU Journalism's Professor Rachel Swarns and guest speakers Cody Gee Sheridan Hmelear (NY AAJA Vice President), Bonita Sostre (NY NABJ President), and Kiara Alfonseca (NY NAHJ Vice President).

When: 5 pm, Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: NYU Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute

More info

 

Tue, April 11 - How High Achievers Overcome Their Anxiety

What: Topics include: How to recognize and avoid common thought traps and triggers; Confronting your own bad habits and unhealthy coping mechanisms ;How to resist perfectionism, manage social anxiety, and set boundaries to prevent burnout; How to model healthy behavior for others in your organization.

Who: Featuring Morra Aarons-Mele, host of The Anxious Achiever, a top-50 business podcast, and author of The Anxious Achiever: Turn Your Biggest Fears into Your Leadership Superpower.

When: 11 am, Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Harvard Business Review

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Wed, April 12 - What is quality journalism?

What: The panelists will discuss their work to build credibility and trust with the public and the standards that guide the newsgathering processes. This session will pull the curtain back on how quality, ethical journalism is done and how it seeks to inform us fairly and accurately.

Who: Journalists Brandon Pope of WBEZ and Molly Parker of Lee Enterprises

When: 4 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: News Literacy Project

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Wed, April 12 - Can AI Transform the Way We Approach PR & Communications?

What: Discover the potential of artificial intelligence to revolutionize public relations and marketing communications.

Who: Emily Taffel Cohen, AWCSF Communications Director and Founder of Mugsy; Yaeunda Williams is the Founder of Everything Metaverses, Fashion & Human Resources; Andrea Felder, is an entrepreneur involved in multiple online endeavors including AI Hacks, Caption Copy, RocketHub, Ampfluence, and more; Jennifer Navarrete, an award-winning social media community builder.

When: 5:30 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: $10

Sponsor: The Assoc for Women in Communications South Florida Chapter

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Wed, April 12 - Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief 101: A Guide for Journalists

What: Learn how state officials and education leaders prioritized COVID-19 relief funding for students’ academic recovery and overall well-being. The webinar will especially help reporters who are new(er) to covering Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding.

Who: Austin Estes, program director for COVID Relief Data Project, Council of Chief State School Officers; Peter Zamora, director of federal relations and policy, Council of Chief State School Officers; Jennifer Pignolet, education reporter, Akron Beacon Journal (moderator)

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Education Writers Association

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Wed, April 12 - The 2023 Media & Entertainment Industry Insights Report: How Companies Are Keeping Up with Change

What: insights from the Salesforce research about how media and entertainment organizations continue to adapt to increasing consumer demand for better and more personalized experiences and how economic uncertainty is impacting plans for investments in people, processes and technology as well as the evolving role of automation and AI.

Who: Brian Bergen, VP, Industry Marketing  Salesforce; Alp Pekkocak, Senior Director, Salesforce                                    

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor:

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A Sickness unto Death

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A person begins as an it and must become an I. The fact that they are not necessarily so is the source of their misery. Sin leads to a disrelationship, a separation of people from themselves called despair. Kierkegaard says this disrelationship of the self to the self, this despair, this spiritual sickness unto death reveals not only our separation from ourselves ... but our separation from God. To be rid of the despair, one must choose it. A person will be enabled to overcome it if they recognize the sickness, accept it, and through an act of free will, makes a leap of faith past it. The cure is to choose the good, to choose one's self, Kierkegaard tells us. It is in the act of becoming one's self a person moves from an it to an I.

Stephen Goforth

Avoiding the Transitions

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Individuals will walk out of relationships, rather than letting go of the approach to the relationships that made them unsuccessful and unsatisfying in the past. Individuals will look for new jobs rather than face the attitudes and behaviors toward work and toward authority-figures that made them unsuccessful in all of their past jobs. They don’t ask what it is time for them to let go of. Instead they say they need to start over. Individuals will decide to move to a new house or a new town, rather than letting go inwardly of the old way of living that lacked meaning. They make a change rather than making the more profound transition, which would put them on a genuinely new life-path.

William Bridges, The Way of Transition

How instead of Why

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When life is hard, we often find ourselves harping on “why” questions: “Why is this happening to me?” In those moments, Elaine Fox (author of Switch Craft: The Hidden Power of Mental Agility) suggests letting go of the “why” and asking “how” instead: “How can I change this situation?” Or perhaps you’re already asking a “how” question, but the wrong one: Instead of “How do I stop working so much?,” she explains, try an easier question: “How can I find time to go to the gym?”

Kira Newman writing in Greater Good

The Present with a Twist?

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Because time is such a slippery concept, we tend to imagine the future as the present with a twist, thus our imagined tomorrows inevitably look like slightly twisted versions of today. The reality of the moment is so palpable and powerful that it holds imagination in a tight orbit from which it never fully escapes … we fail to recognize that our future selves won’t see the world the way we see it now.

Daniel Gilbert, Stumbling on Happiness

7 Media Webinars this week about media law, sports, ChatGPT, interviews, and more 

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Mon, April 3 - Media Law Office Hours

What: Journalists with legal questions to help find answers with an attorney who specializes in this area.  

Who: Attorney Matthew Leish

When: 5 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: New York’s Deadline Club

More info

 

Tue, April 4 - SPJ Sports Zoom

What: We will discuss Adam's groundbreaking career, plus participants may have the ability to ask Adam questions about his journey to ESPN.

Who: Adam Schefter, ESPN Sr. NFL Insider

When: 7 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Society of Professional Journalists

More info

 

Tues, April 4 - Benefits and Risks of ChatGPT and Other Generative AI Technologies

What: Examples of generative AI technology, then panelists will critically evaluate benefits and risks of ChatGPT and other generative AI technologies.Will generative AI technologies change the practice of law, and if so, how can legal education adapt?

Who: Amy Milligan, Assistant Director of Legal Writing, UofSC School of Law; Jack Neil, Founder and CEO, Hank AI; Eve Ross, Reference Librarian, UofSC School of Law; Seth Stoughton, Professor of Law, UofSC School of Law; Bryant Walker Smith, Associate Professor of Law, UofSC School of Law. 

When: 7 pm. Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: $25

Sponsor: University of South Carolina School of Law

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Wed, April 5 - Rethinking the Interview

What: In an Unequal World, Do We Need New Rules?

Who: Freelance science journalist Tara Haelle who frequently speaks and writes about ethical dilemmas in journalism. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, NPR, the Washington Post, etc. Naseem Miller, a senior editor at The Journalist’s Resource, a project of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University.

When: 6:30 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: NYU

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Wed, April 5 - How to develop and manage collaborative investigations

What: Attendees will receive information, tips and resources on how to develop and manage collaborative investigative projects. The webinar will include information for both news organizations and freelance journalists.

Who: This session will be led by Dianna Hunt, Senior Editor at Indian Country Today and a member of Fund for Investigative Journalism Board of Directors, and Bridget Thoreson, Institute for Nonprofit News Director of Collaborations.

When: 11 am, Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: The Center for Cooperative Media

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Wed, April 5 - How to Explain Data Through Visualization and Storytelling

What: Learn key strategies, tools and processes you can use to make data storytelling and visualization a reality.   

Who: Rachel Leventhal-Weiner, Director of Evaluation and Impact, State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management; Eva Pereira, Chief Data Officer, City of Los Angeles; Stefanie Costa Leabo, Chief Data Officer, City of Boston; Ty Caldwell, Tableau Developer, The Management Performance Hub, State of Indiana; Gabriel Mullen, Principal Sales Engineer – SLED, Snowflake

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: GovLoop

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Thu, April 6 - Customer Experience in the Age of AI

What: How leading companies are using “intelligent experience engines” to assemble high-quality customer experiences using AI powered by customer data.

Who: David C. Edelman, executive adviser and senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, and Mark Abraham, managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Harvard Business Review

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