A Caterpillar
/There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly. -Buckminster Fuller
ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
13 Webinars This Week about AI, Journalism, & More
/Mon, July 22 - Jason Rezaian on freedom 10 years since imprisonment and global press freedom
What: Jason Rezaian, the former Tehran bureau chief for The Washington Post, who was unjustly imprisoned in 2014 in Iran on charges of espionage for 544 days, joins The Washington Post’s Frances Stead Sellers to reflect on his freedom 10 years since his imprisonment, his work to raise awareness about journalists being held captive and the state of global press freedom.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Washington Post
Tue, July 23 - Growth-Driven Website Design for Nonprofits
What: Learn how to create an impactful online presence that drives growth and advances your nonprofit cause.
Who: Jason Spangler, Tapp Network, Director of Sales; Jon Hill Tapp Network, Web Project Manager
When: 10am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: TechSoup
Tue, July 23 - FakeSpotting: Verifying visuals in the age of generative AI
What: Learn about the strategies to identify and verify AI-generated content as well as the tech tools you will want to consider.
Who: Patrick Dell, Senior Visuals Editor for The Globe and Mail
When: 2 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free to members or $25 for nonmembers
Sponsor: Online News Association
Wed, July 24 - AI Essentials for Nonprofits: Understanding Bias
What: This session is designed for nonprofit professionals to demystify AI, with a particular focus on understanding biases in AI and a framework for assessing your organization's readiness to embrace AI technologies. Learning outcomes include understanding what the collective challenge with AI is and understanding what can be done when we intend to center the community at the core of the design.
Who: Meena Das of Namaste Data
When: 12 noon
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: The NonProfit Learning Lab
Wed, July 24 - AI Audio Innovations: Transforming Content Creation and Engagement
What: Tailored for newsrooms in radio and podcasting, participants will delve into practical demonstrations, discussions on real-world applications, and critically examine the ethical implications of AI in the industry.
Who: Davar Ardalan, audio industry veteran and Founder of TulipAI
When: 2 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free to members or $25 for nonmembers
Sponsor: Online News Association
Thu, July 25 - The Digital Marketing Blueprint Series: Creating Engaging Social Media Content
What: This virtual workshop is designed to equip small business owners with the knowledge and practical insights necessary to develop an effective social media content strategy that drives engagement and business growth.
Who: SBDC Business Consultant Elizabeth Fegert; Ellen Mattis of Hello Social Co.
When: 12 noon, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Penn State Small Business Development Center
Thu, July 25 - Free legal trainings for journalists covering 2024 political conventions
What: Legal training for journalists covering the 2024 Democratic National Convention events taking place in Chicago. Attorneys will discuss journalists’ newsgathering rights, safely reporting on protests, ways to avoid arrest and what to do if arrested, local bail procedures, potential security restrictions, and more. Journalists will come away with practical tips and resources to support their work around the 2024 elections.
Who: Jen Nelson Senior Staff Attorney, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; Mickey Osterreicher General Counsel·National Press Photographers Association
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsors: Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, National Press Photographers Association
Thu, July 25 - Retaining and engaging audiences post-election
What: Experts will share a “lightning round” of ideas on how to keep everyone engaged after votes are counted and winners are announced.
Who: Katie Vogel is the Politics and Washington, D.C., editor for the Associated Press; Shay Totten is API’s newsroom success manager; Gabrielle Jones is the Vice President of Content at Louisville Public Media.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: American Press Institute, Associated Press
Thu, July 25 - Journalism in Crisis: How Did We Get Here and What Comes Next?
What: Journalism is facing a series of intersecting crises. Funding models have not kept pace with technological change, leading to large-scale layoffs and the shuttering of outlets across the country. Misinformation and disinformation are rampant. And increasingly sophisticated generative A.I. stands to exacerbate both these problems and undermine the entire enterprise. Join us for a look at how we got to this point and where we go from here.
Who: Cassandra Willyard Freelance Science Journalist and NASW President; Benjamin Toff Hubbard School of Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota; Courtney Radsch Center for Journalism and Liberty at the Open Markets Institute; Patrick Dell Senior Visuals Editor at The Globe and Mail.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: National Association of Science Writers
Thu, July 25 - The State of Gen Z and the Future of Advertising
What: Actionable insights across all screens, to help marketers gain new insights into this key consumer cohort and optimize ways to engage and convert them across social, digital, TV, and streaming.
Who: Danan Ren, SVP, Client Insights and GTM Enablement, Comscore; Bo Liu, Principal Analyst, Client Insights, Comscore; Caleb White, Product Marketing Principal, Comscore.
When: 3 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: The Association of National Advertisers
Thu, July 25 - Your New Instructional Design Sidekick Training Network
What: In this workshop you will leave equipped with the skills to leverage AI as your instructional design partner. Together we will explore AI's capabilities and limitations, ensuring you can use different AI tools effectively.
Who: Shannon Tipton, Learning Rebels
When: 3 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Training Magazine
Thu, July 25 - Nellie Bly: The Investigative Journalist Who Reformed America
What: Explore the fascinating life and legacy of Elizabeth Cochran (1864-1922) — aka Nellie Bly — a tireless and dedicated undercover reporter, wartime journalist, suffragist, and inventor who was a driving force of much-needed change and reformation in America during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Who: Dave Gardner is a licensed New York City tour guide and is also a member of GANYC (Guides Association of New York City).
When: 7 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: $12
Sponsor: The New York Adventure Club
Thu, July 25 - Artificial Intelligence for Journalists with AI expert and digital guru Sree Sreenivasan (this is a rescheduled event from July 11)
Who: Sree Sreenivasan has been teaching generative AI workshops worldwide for the past year. He was a full-time journalism professor at Columbia University for 20+ years and served as the chief digital officer at Columbia. He is the 2024 president of the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA), which he co-founded in 1994.
When: 7 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Society of Professional Journalists
Fri, July 26 - Design Workshop: How to create compelling visuals when it’s not usually your job
What: Best practices for creating visuals, regardless of your hands-on design experience. We’ll work through specific exercises during the program, so plan to walk away inspired and with at least one design you can use right away.
Who: Beth Francesco, the National Press Club Journalism Institute’s executive director
When: 12 noon, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: $25
Sponsor: The National Press Club’s Journalism Institute
In the dark
/Faith sees best in the dark -Søren Kierkegaard
14 Recent Articles about Running an AI Company
/Censorship slows China's AI advances - Axios
Google brings AI to US broadcast of Paris Olympics – Reuters
OpenAI says chat bots will soon be able to perform human-level reasoning - Axios
A.I. Needs Copper. It Just Helped to Find Millions of Tons of It. – New York Times
OpenAI working on new reasoning technology under code name ‘Strawberry’ – Reuters
AI's problem: The missing revenues - Axios
OpenAI illegally stopped staff from sharing dangers, whistleblowers say - The Washington Post
Microsoft Quits OpenAI’s Board Amid Antitrust Scrutiny – Wall Street Journal
AI Investors Are Starting to Wonder: Is This Just a Bubble? – New York Magazine
OpenAI Scale Ranks Progress Toward `Human-Level' Problem Solving – Bloomberg
AI companies are finally being forced to cough up for training data – MIT Tech Review
OpenAI promised to make its AI safe. Employees say it ‘failed’ its first test. - The Washington Post
California advances unique safety regulations for AI companies despite tech firm opposition – Associated Press
In the AI era, data is gold. And these companies are striking it rich – Fast Company
The digital twin baby boom in the AI industry - Axios
A Hacker Stole OpenAI Secrets, Raising Fears That China Could, Too – New York Times
For AI Giants, Smaller Is Sometimes Better - Wall Street Journal
To Live Fully
/It is a law of human life as certain as gravity: To live fully, we must learn to use things and love people.. not love things and use people.
The Limits of Science
/There is this strain, especially among popular communicators of science, that if you don’t look at the world through a scientific lens, then what’s the point; you’re just fooling yourself; you’re living in a world of delusions.
But my pushback to that is, I’m a professional scientist; the vast majority of decisions that I make in my everyday life are not based on the scientific method. When I’m trying to pick what to have for dinner tonight, or who to fall in love with, I’m not using the scientific method, I’m just following my gut —literally when it comes to dinner. I’m just using other tools than the scientific method to arrive at conclusions and decisions.
There are many, many questions that science does not have a solid answer on, and may not ever have a solid answer on. And it’s perfectly legitimate for people to turn to other modes of inquiry and investigation into this beautiful, messy world that we live in, to seek answers and comfort from that.
Astrophysicist Paul M. Sutter quoted in Undark
23 Recent Articles about Teaching & AI
/Survey: How Are Profs, Staff Using AI? – Inside Higher Ed
What teachers call AI cheating, leaders in the workforce might call progress – Hechinger Report
Teachers Use AI to Grade Student Work. It’s Harsher Than They Are. Teachers Use AI to Grade Student Work. It’s Harsher Than They Are. – Wall Street Journal
AI can't replace teaching but it can make it better – Wired
AI Copilots Are Changing How Coding Is Taught – IEEE
What's next with AI in higher education? – Phys.org
Morehouse College is Using AI assistants – Chronicle of Higher Ed
Can I Use A.I. to Grade My Students’ Papers? – New York Times
Academic Success Tip: Infusing AI into Curricular Offerings – Inside Higher Ed
Google and MIT launch a free generative AI course for teachers – Zdnet
This AI Tool Cut One Teacher's Grading Time in Half. How It Works – Ed Week
California teachers are using AI to grade papers. Who’s grading the AI? – Cal Matters
Making Progress Against ChatGPT - Inside Higher Ed
A quarter of U.S. teachers say AI tools do more harm than good in K-12 education – Pew Research
How two professors harnessed generative AI to teach students to be better writers – Fast Company
AI, online courses divide students, faculty, administrators – Inside Higher Ed
Professors Ask: Are We Just Grading Robots? Some are riding the AI wave. Others feel like they’re drowning. –Chronicle of Higher Ed
How AI Is Changing The Teaching Profession Forever – Forbes
How a computer science professor is using AI in her classroom – UAB
Are You Ready To Use AI In Your Teaching? – Forbes
Survey: How Are Profs, Staff Using AI? – Inside Higher Ed
The Line
/“The line separating good and evil passes, not through states, nor between classes nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart." -Alexandr Solzhenitsyn
Solzhenitsyn endured many years in a Russian Gulag (labor camp) and could write that statement with conviction. Many men did not survive the terrible weather and the harsh treatment in the Gulag.
Solzhenitsyn was dying while interned — until a fellow prisoner showed him unexpected kindness, changing his attitude and refreshing his spirit. He survived to become one of Russia's most well-read and revered writers
Stephen Goforth
Time Alone
/Find a regular time and place to be alone. People in transition are often still involved in activities and relationships that continue to bombard them with cues irrelevant to their emerging needs. Because a person is likely to feel lonely in such a situation, the temptation is to seek more and better contact with others; but the real need is for a genuine sort of aloneness in which inner signals can make themselves heard. Doing housework after the kids leave for school or paperwork with the office door shut are not being alone in the sense I am talking about.
The old passage rituals provide the person with this experience of deep aloneness, often in a wilderness setting. (Interestingly, the Hebrew word for the “wilderness” in which Jesus, Moses, and Buddha spent time during critical periods of their lives is the same word that means ‘sanctuary.” This unmappable “nowhere” was also, as several of these heroes were explicitly told, holy ground.) Traditionally, time spent in such “sanctuaries” was a continuous period; but you many have to plan your time to accommodate your own life situation. One person manages that getting up every morning forty-five minutes ahead of the rest of the family and sitting quietly in the living room with a cup of coffee. Another jogs regularly after work for a half an hour. Another plays ocean sounds and temple bells on his car stereo whenever he drives along. Still another has cleaned out a little storage room off the upstairs hall and sits quietly alone in there for an hour after supper.
William Bridges, Transitions
21 Recent Articles about AI & Legal Issues
/YouTube will use AI to snip copyrighted music and not silence your whole video – Tech Radar
Three senators introduce bill to protect artists and journalists from unauthorized AI use – Engadget
Chevron’s downfall highlights need for clear artificial intelligence laws - FedScoop
The AI Shakeup: New Tech Innovations and the Future of Corporate Law – JD Supra
Decoding US Copyright Law and Fair Use for Generative AI Legal Cases – Medium
Two 80-something journalists tried ChatGPT. Then, they sued to protect the ‘written word’ – Associated Press
Colorado’s Landmark AI Act: What Companies Need To Know – Skadden
Record labels sue two AI startups for copyright infringement – Axios
Deepfakes and the First Amendment: Are Deepfakes Illegal? – Freedom Forum
What Do You Do When A.I. Takes Your Voice? – New York Times
AI Legal Tools Could Be Too Pricey For Those Most In Need – Law360
Drake threatened with lawsuit over diss track featuring AI Tupac – The Verge
AI is creating fake legal cases and making its way into real courtrooms, with disastrous results – The Conversation
Generative AI For Legal Professionals: What To Know And What To Do Right Now – Above the Law
Gen AI Shows Promise — And Peril — For Pro Se Litigants - Law360
AI hustlers stole women’s faces to put in ads. The law can’t help them. – The Washington Post
Generative AI Is Challenging a 234-Year-Old Law – The Atlantic
George Carlin’s estate settles lawsuit over AI comedy special – Washington Post
How GenAI can enhance your legal work without compromising ethics – Reuters Legal
Calif.'s Top Judge Launches Task Force To Probe AI Uses - Law360
How Dow Jones is building a framework to tackle AI copyright challenges – Journalism.co
The Law of Priorities
/The most remarkable aspect about John Wooden--and the most telling about his ability to focus on his priorities--is that he never scouted opposing teams. Instead, he focused on getting his players to reach their potential. And he addressed those things through practice and personal interaction with the players. It was never his goal to win championships or even to be the other team. His desire was to get each person to play to his potential and to put the best possible team on the floor. And, of course, Wooden’s results were incredible. In more than 40 years of coaching, he had only one losing season--his first. And he led his UCLA teams to four undefeated seasons and a record 10 in NCAA championships. No other college team is ever come close.
John Maxwell, The 21 irrefutable laws of leadership
7 Webinars this Week about AI, Journalism, Writing & More
/Tue, July 16 - Introduction to Reporting on AI
What: This course is designed for reporters interested in getting started but with minimal or no knowledge of artificial intelligence. We will begin with the basics, covering the history of AI, how the technology works, and key technical concepts such as “neural networks” and “deep learning.” We will also dissect what makes a good AI accountability story, from quick turnaround stories to more ambitious investigations, and dig deeper into a few examples. At the end of the course, those who are interested in learning more are encouraged to register for the AI reporting intensive.
Who: An Amsterdam-based AI and technology reporter Gabriel Geiger
When: 7 am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Pulitzer Center
Tue, July 16 - Trauma-Informed Storytelling in Action
What: This session will explore trauma-informed storytelling, a safe and healthy process for your beneficiaries, audiences, and even storytellers. You’ll be equipped with actionable insights and tools to tell trauma-informed and ethical stories that have a huge impact. Participants can expect to gain an understanding of why trauma-informed storytelling matters, learn about the three kinds of people impacted by a story, and leave with resources, tools and actionable steps to integrate trauma-informed practices into your role.
Who: Maria Bryan, Kindsight
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: The Nonprofit Learning Lab
Tue, July 16 - 5 Ways to Improve Your Website For Better Marketing And Sales
What: This webinar is tailored to business owners at all stages and will delve into strategies to elevate and automate your online presence. He will offer practical tips on an easy-to-understand level, covering topics such as his favorite website platform and theme, as well as how to harness the power of video marketing, optimize user experience, and implement effective sales funnels. Whether you’re just starting out or seeking to refine your digital strategy, this webinar offers practical insights to enhance your website and drive business growth.
Who: Jeff Long, founder of True Focus Media
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Temple University Small Business Development Center
Tue, July 16 - How to amp up your reporting using LexisNexis tools
What: You’ll learn how award-winning journalists conduct deep-dive backgrounding on people and subjects, how they get names and numbers from LexisNexis’ list of 800 million profiles, and how they use paywalled content and trade journal expertise to generate story ideas and fresh angles. You don’t have to be a LexisNexis subscriber to attend or benefit from this webinar. Our expert panelist will share his screen and walk you through this trove of source material. If you are a LexisNexis subscriber, you can follow along on your own computer.
Who: Barbara Mantel is AHCJ’s health beat leader for freelancing. Brad Hamilton runs an award-winning digital newsroom, The Hatch Institute.
When: 1:30 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Association of Health Care Journalists
Wed, July 17- How to use AI to help with grant writing
What: A live demo and tips on using generative AI tools to brainstorm and refine grant applications. Participants will learn how AI can facilitate the grant writing process, with a focus on practical applications and examples, particularly from small local newsrooms that have successfully used AI to help with their grant applications.
Who: ICFJ Knight Fellow and Newsroom Robots Podcast Host Nikita Roy.
When: 3 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Online News Association
Wed, July 17- Dashboards: Making Your Data Work for You
What: Learn how to make your data – from community impact to financial information – more digestible and useful for making decisions. In this webinar, we’ll discuss the purpose and use of dashboard reports, learn the components of useful dashboard reports, and share some examples.
Who: Catherine Menick
When: 11 am, Pacific
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Propel Nonprofits
Thu, July 18 - Harnessing AI & Machine Learning in Customer Data Platforms for Dynamic Campaign Activation
What: Explore CDP data integration empowered by AI and ML technologies. Through real-world examples, we'll explore how AI and ML enhance the functionality of CDPs, enabling marketers to extract actionable insights, personalize campaigns, and optimize customer experiences.
Who: Frances Davis, Vice President, Integrated AI Marketing & Analytics, Excelligence Learning Corporation Stephen Easter, Director, Analytics Services, Anteriad
When: 3 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Association of National Advertisers
It Will Consume You
/If you do not oppose legalism, you will be consumed by it. Chuck Swindoll
A Different Drummer
/If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away. -Henry David Thoreau (born July 12, 1817)
14 Articles about How Companies are using AI
/Stanford report: How AI is actually transforming the business world – Big Think
AI Business Survey: Four Themes Emerging - Bain
How One Company Is Using AI To Transform Manufacturing – Forbes
Businesses are rushing to use generative AI. Now comes the messy part. – Business Insider
Get Ready for More AI Mania This Earnings Season - Wall Street Journal
Managing the risks around generative AI – McKinsey
How Businesses Can Figure Out The ROI On AI – Forbes
German Companies Bet on AI But Payoff Could Be Years Away – Wall Street Journal
4 Types of Gen AI Risk and How to Mitigate Them – Harvard Business Review
PayPal Mafia’s David Sacks on his new AI-powered work chat app rivaling Slack – Semafor
AI Is Driving ‘the Next Industrial Revolution.’ Wall Street Is Cashing In. - Wall Street Journal
Janet Yellen warns AI in finance poses ‘significant risks’ – KTVZ
How Generative AI is Changing the Global South’s IT Services Sector – Center for Data Innovation
Can A.I. Answer the Needs of Smaller Businesses? Some Push to Find Out. – New York Times
The End of Life
/Happiness is not the end of life: Character is. –Henry Ward Beech
11 Articles about the History of AI
/A brief history of AI: how we got here and where we are going – The Conversation
History of AI (video) – Voice of America
What is the history of artificial intelligence? – Tableau
The History of Artificial Intelligence – Harvard
A Short History of Artificial Intelligence – Every
History of Generative Artificial Intelligence projects and services – GitHub
A Brief History of Large Language Models – DataVersity
8 Key Moments in the Development of A.I. – New York Times
The Secret History of AI, and a Hint at What’s Next – Wall Street Journal
History and evolution of machine learning: A timeline – TechTarget
A Brief History of AI – Life Hacker
Fulfilling Our Purpose
/God creates each person as an individual and in effect says to each human being: “Become yourself, be the person I made you to be.” The person who is conscious that he lives “before God” thus gains the possibility of an identity that is not exhausted by human relations. Such a person is not forced simply to live like “the others,” but has the potential to say, “I need to live my life this way, since it is what God desires for me, even if it means that I have to break with my society’s accepted ways of doing things.”
C. Steven Evans, Kierkegaard: An Introduction
Go!
/Go be the next version of you. -Bob Goff
AI-created Video vs Human-made Video
/Researchers recently tested how audiences liked three types of video: human-made, partly automated and fully automated video. The human-made video did best with audiences, but only slightly better than the partly AI video. Both did much better than the fully AI-made video. The researchers think this supports the use of the hybrid form over fully automated since "audiences like their videos to have a human touch." A key part of making this work, I believe, will be identifying what the audience perceives as indicating a piece of media is AI or human-made. For instance, the researchers note that the audience associated nat sound with video that was (at least partly) human-created. This may translate to other forms of media creation as well. The study is published here and read more about it here.
Stephen Goforth