It's Painful
/Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don’t belong. -Mandy Hale
ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
Ignorant but confident
/“People have a strong tendency to believe that they always have enough data to make an informed decision—regardless of what information they actually have. The good news? When given the full picture, most people are willing to change their opinions.” -John Timmer writing in Aretechnica
31 AI & Data Science Articles from Oct 2024
/Agentic AI is the top strategic technology trend for 2025
How The New York Times incorporates editorial judgment in algorithms to curate its home page
Deep Learning vs Data Science: What is more important, your data or your model?
AI Definitions: Large Language Models
Using Archetypes to Decode the Four Types of AI
4 ways to improve the retrieval of your RAG pipeline
Ways to exploit what AI can do to enrich data science solutions
Notion Templates Every Data Scientist Should Have in 2024
AI Definitions: Constitutional AI
AI-native software engineering may be closer than developers think
Replacing my Right Hand with A (a pitch for the “AI engineer“)
Geospatial intelligence capability communication is being weaponized (sub. req.)
AI Definitions: foundation models
A Data Scientist GenAI Survival Guide
Maven helps Military emergency responders pinpoint where to place aid
The 10 most prevalent and impactful vulnerabilities in large language model
AI Definitions: Data Scientist
An alternative framework for understanding memory in large language models
The release of the Qwen2.5-Coder series
Injecting Logic into Contexts for Full Reasoning in Large Language Models
CLIP for vision-language foundation models
How I Would Learn Data Science in 2024
Smaller LLMs perform well but this paper suggests they are also fragile
AI Definitions: AI model collapse
Correlating measures of hierarchical structures in artificial neural networks with their performance
How AutoML is changing the landscape of ML development
Can damage from fine-tuning an AI model be fixed? These researchers think so
The Data Centric Approach— rather than focusing on better models working on higher quality data
The Enemy
/The great enemy of communication is the illusion of it. -William H. Whyte
Insight into who will respond better in a crisis
/A person’s capacity for healthy outcomes during difficulties is tied to their ability to define their life’s goals and values apart from the surrounding pressure to conform to a particular viewpoint.
In his book Generation to Generation, Edwin Friedman offers a way to test resistance to togetherness pressures, that is, possessing the power to say “I” when others are demanding “you” and “we.”
When presented with an issue that does not include “should” and “musts” some listeners will respond in a way that better defines themselves (such as “I agree” or “I disagree”). This person is likely to function well (emotionally) during a crisis. Other people may respond by attempting to define the speaker (comments like “How can you say that when…” or “After saying that I wonder if you are really one of us”). This indicates the person will likely resist progress toward healthy outcomes during crises and difficulties. People who more clearly define themselves are also more likely to take personal responsibility, whereas those who focus on the speaker are more likely to blame outside forces for their situations.
One of the founding fathers of family therapy, Murray Bowen, suggested the capacity to define one’s own life’s goals and values apart from surrounding pressure, that is, to be a “relatively nonanxious presence in the midst of anxious systems” is an indication of taking “maximum responsibility for one’s own destiny and emotional being.” It shows up in “the breadth of one’s repertoire of responses when confronted with crisis.” The concept shouldn’t be confused with narcissism. For Bowen, differentiation means the capacity to be an “I” while remaining connected.
Stephen Goforth
18 Recent Articles about Students Using AI
/Meet Sassy, the AI Chatbot Helping Students Find Their Dream Jobs – Ed Week
How Students Can Use AI to Manage Their Time - CNET
Parents sue after student disciplined for using AI on school project in Massachusetts - CBS Boston
AI Detectors Falsely Accuse Students of Cheating—With Big Consequences – Bloomberg
I write about AI for a living — and NotebookLM is the most exciting tech to arrive since ChatGPT – Tom’s Guide
The Students Who Are Overlooked by Most AI Tools – Ed Week
Students with concentration issues turn to ChatGPT and similar AI tools, study finds -PsyPost
Black teenagers twice as likely to be falsely accused of using AI tools in homework – Semafor
A teacher caught students using ChatGPT on their first assignment to introduce themselves. Her post about it started a debate. – Business Insider
Kids who use ChatGPT as a study assistant do worse on tests - PopSci
AI Cheating Is Getting Worse – The Atlantic
I tested 7 AI content detectors - they're getting dramatically better at identifying plagiarism – ZDnet
Students and Professors Believe AI Will Aid Cheating – Inside Higher Ed
Study shows disengaged students more likely to use AI tools for assignments – Phys.org
Turkish student arrested for using AI to cheat in university exam – Reuters
AI can beat university students, study suggests - BBC
More than 400 Scottish students caught cheating using AI - AGCC
What motivates students to use Generative AI and what would motivate them not to? – Dynamics of Writing
How to Pick the Best Leaders
/“Employees who do well at their assigned tasks and score well on a simple IQ test are more likely to succeed as managers than noisy self-promoters. But there is an even better way to pick managers, according to these experts — directly test people’s aptitude for core management skills. The best managers, it turns out, are those who are actually good at one of the primary responsibilities of a manager — assigning the right projects to the right people.” - Inc
20 Recent Articles about How to Use AI
/Surprising ways to prompt AI – Wonder Tools
5 prompts to have a fun AI chatbot conversation - Mashable
I write about AI for a living — here's how to become a true power user – Tom’s Guide
Google unveils invisible ‘watermark’ for AI-generated text – Nature
Adobe promises AI tools that build 3D scenes, animate text, and make distractions disappear. – The Verge
Should You Be Nice to Your Chatbot? – Wall Street Journal
Adobe’s AI video model is here, and it’s already inside Premiere Pro - The Verge
I write about AI for a living — and NotebookLM is the most exciting tech to arrive since ChatGPT – Tom’s Guide
Perplexity AI : How to Use It for Fast, Accurate Results – Geeky-Gadgets
Meta Unveils Instant A.I. Video Generator That Adds Sounds – New York Times
I Built a Chatbot to Replace Me. It Went a Little Wild. - Wall Street Journal
Learn From My Worst AI Images and Fix These Biggest AI Fails – CNET
AI's parent-teen knowledge gap – Axios
Create Better AI Images With These Expert Prompt Writing Tips - CNET
How to use Midjourney's new AI image editor - Tom’s Guide
How to cite ChatGPT in APA Style – American Psychological Association
How do I cite generative AI in MLA style? - Modern Language Association
What Is AI Best at Now? Improving Products You Already Own - Wall Street Journal
Can Security Experts Leverage Generative AI Without Prompt Engineering Skills? – Tech Republic
Using AI to buy your home? These companies think it's time you should
Greener Grass
/The grass is always greener wherever you water it. –Anonymous
You are who you are becoming
/You are who you are becoming. Your virtue as a human individual is not related to any static, unchanging identity; it is about the person you are turning into—who you are today, as opposed to who you were yesterday, or could be tomorrow. You truly are, in Aristotelian terms, the life story you are writing through your actions and habits; as the historian and philosopher Will Durant summarized Aristotle’s view, “We are what we repeatedly do.”
Research has consistently shown that when people see themselves as engaged in change and capable of progress, they are happier. You will have a better chance of realizing happiness if you can see yourself as a dynamic agent of your own progress.
Arthur C. Brooks writing in The Atlantic
12 Webinars this week about AI, Journalism & More
/Mon, Oct 28 - Election Fact-Checking Tools and Best Practices
What: We’ll explore ways to fight back against misinformation and disinformation during election coverage. We’ll use tools such as Google Fact-Check Explorer to track fact-checked images and stories. We’ll use reverse image search, Google Pinpoint and other Google tools to check election claims. We’ll break down doctored video and audio with FramebyFrame and Deepfake-o-meter. We’ll also look at the innovative Rolliapp.com to track disinformation spreaders on social channels.
Who: Mike Reilley has been a lecturer in data and digital journalism at the University of Illinois Chicago and is a digital tools trainer in the Google News Initiative training program.
When: 1:30 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: RTDNA/Google News Initiative
Tue, Oct 29 - Documenting War Through Photography with Ron Haviv
What: Insights into capturing images that serve both as historical records and tools for justice. This session will focus on how journalists can use photography to investigate war crimes, shining a light on how images can be critical pieces of evidence in the search for truth.
Who: Award-winning photojournalist Ron Haviv. From conflict zones to courtrooms, Haviv’s work has been instrumental in documenting atrocities and ensuring accountability.
When: 9 am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Global Investigative Journalism Network
Tue, Oct 29 - Leveraging AI Tools like ChatGPT to Accelerate Your Business Growth
What: Discover how AI tools like ChatGPT can revolutionize your business operations and drive exponential growth. Topics include: An introduction to AI and how it can be integrated into business operations; Real-world examples of how businesses use AI tools like ChatGPT to enhance productivity and customer engagement; Step-by-step guidance on how to start using AI tools in your business with minimal cost and effort; Future Trends: Insights into the future of AI and how businesses can stay ahead of the curve.
Who: Jeff Bullock, CEO & Founder of PRISM AI Consultants.
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Small Business Development Center, Widener University
Tue, Oct 29 - Funding Quality Journalism Isn’t Just Good for Democracy—It’s Good for Business
What: The critical role of supporting quality journalism, particularly with the nation approaching a major election in November. Amid growing misinformation, advertisers can play a key part in protecting democracy by investing in trusted news environments. The session will feature findings from a joint Teads and Lumen study.
Who: Jesse Waldele, Wall Street Journal; Jana Meron, Washington Post; Alexis Williams; Rick Corteville, Lenovo; Mike Dupree, Teads; John Trotter, Teads; Kate Chunka, MMA.
When: 12:30 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Teads, Marketing Management Association
Tue, Oct 29 - Navigating Disinformation
What: The critical role of AI in shaping this election cycle, unpacking the complexities of disinformation and its implications for journalism.
Who: Jiore Craig Resident Senior Fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, focuses on Digital Integrity.
When: 5 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: National Association of Hispanic Journalists
Wed, Oct 30 - The Digital Media Sweet Spot
What: Designed for sales leaders, you'll learn how digital products work together to get your clients the best results.
Who: Shannon Kinney, Dream Local Digital
When: 11 am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Local Media Association
Wed, Oct 30 - Electoral Frontiers': Democracy's Challenge to Rising Authoritarianism
What: Around the world, authoritarianism is seeing a resurgence, challenging democratic norms and institutions. New regimes exploit democratic processes to gain power, then systematically erode civil liberties, minority rights, and checks on their authority. Even countries with long democratic histories are grappling with the danger of authoritarian political movements that threaten to undermine long-standing democratic traditions and values. Join the Pulitzer Center to discuss the rise of authoritarianism and threats to democracy.
Who: Ana Luiza Albuquerque is a Brazilian journalist and a staff reporter at Folha de S.Paulo, where she covers politics and human rights; Simon Ostrovsky is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and a PBS NewsHour special correspondent who has covered the Middle East, Asia, and the countries of the former Soviet Union extensively throughout his career.
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: The Pulitzer Center
Wed, Oct 30 - Webinar Examines How AI Lawsuits Could Affect Copyrighted Content
What: A panel of experts who’ll discuss the lawsuits and AI’s impact on copyright law and protections for writers.
Who: Regan Smith, senior vice president and general counsel at the News/Media Alliance, and a recognized expert in intellectual property law and policy; Umair Kazi, director of policy and advocacy at the Authors Guild, a professional organization of over 15,000 writers; Maggie Harrison Dupré, an award-winning journalist and senior staff writer for Futurism, where she covers AI and its intersections with media, information and the internet.
When: 1:30 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: American Society of Journalists & Authors
Wed, Oct 30 - Content That Converts: Strategies for Impactful Newsletters
What: In this session, learn how to create engaging newsletters that not only captivate your audience but also boost your revenue and support your goals. Whether you’re an experienced newsletter creator or just starting out, this webinar will offer actionable insights and practical strategies to enhance your newsletter’s effectiveness.
Who: David Arkin, CEO of David Arkin Consulting
When: 2 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Indiegraf
Wed, Oct 30 - Making the call: How the AP calls election results
What: This webinar will dig into questions about how the Associated Press conducts their election counting, how the count and certification process works, and how reporters should use and convey that information to the public. Attendees will gain a clear understanding of the elections process, helping to build trust amid widespread election misinformation.
Who: Katie Bernard, Politics Reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer; Sally Buzbee (moderator), Visiting Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and former executive editor of The Washington Post and The Associated Press; Tia Mitchell, Washington Correspondent at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; David Scott, Vice President and Head of News Strategy at The Associated Press; Robert Yoon, Elections and Democracy Reporter at The Associated Press
When: 2 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard
Wed, Oct 30 - Retirement Planning for Freelance Journalists
What: Regardless of age , freelance journalists need to have a strong financial plan and retirement options in mind before they are needed. Find out how to build a more-secure future for yourself, your family and your freelance business in this practical session about planning in increments, income stream and tax diversification, the value of a rainy-day fund, adjusting savings for inflation, and more.
Who: Financial services professionals Bennie Currie and Celeste Garrett
When: 7 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Society of Professional Journalists
Fri, Nov 1 - Case Study: Enhancing Fact-Checking with AI at Der Spiegel
What: The Spiegel Group, one of Germany’s most influential media companies, built out an AI tool to support their fact-checking process. Their experimental AI fact-checking system aims to automate routine verification tasks, potentially improving efficiency and accuracy while maintaining journalistic integrity and leveraging human expertise. Join us for a live session to learn how they built it, what they’ve learned and what comes next, and to ask your questions about how the tool came together.
Who: Spiegel Group representatives
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Online News Association
Matchless
/To run yourself down hinders you doing what you can. In effect, when you belittle yourself, you are belittling God. He made you who you are – with your unique talents and lacks. To compare yourself with others is not good. Remember, you are God’s unique original! What an honor and privilege it is to be designed by the Almighty God! He know the end from the beginning. He never makes a mistake. He created you an individual – none other like you – for a purpose.
Ella May Miller
Grace
/Grace must find expression in life, otherwise it is not grace. –Karl Barth
Hot New Job: AI Librarian
/The AI revolution is creating demand for hot new job: AI librarian. “The growing demand for AI librarians “highlights how the evolution of technology is creating roles that merge traditional skills like information management with modern demands in data-driven environments. Companies need experts who can curate and translate the data into actionable insights.” -Digiday
I’m uncomfortable with Ideas that are Different than Mine
/Insecurity causes us to have a low tolerance for differing ideas or opinions because they seem to be a threat to our authority or validity. We sense that differentness will require us to step away from our comfort zones, potentially exposing our weaknesses.
Les Carter, Imperative People: Those Who Must Be in Control
16 Recent Articles about AI & Robotics
/Future of farming? Carbon Robotics raises $70M for AI robots that blast weeds with lasers – Geek Wire
The Battle Over Robots at U.S. Ports Is On – Wall Street Journal
Microsoft is using AI-powered robots to help dismantle and destroy hard drives used in its data centers – Tech Radar
This AI humanoid robot helped assemble BMWs at US factory – Ars Technica
A.I. Begins Ushering In an Age of Killer Robots – New York Times
We Need to Control AI Agents Now Automated bots are about to be everywhere, with potentially devastating consequences. – The Atlantic
Is robotics about to have its own ChatGPT moment? – MIT Tech Review
An open-source vision-language-action model for robotics called OpenVLA has been released. – Venture Beat
Ray Kurzweil is (still, somehow) excited about humans merging with machines – The Washington Post
One-third of U.S. military could be robotic says former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – Axios
Forget drones, this street-smart robot could be future of local deliveries – Fox News
Sotheby's to auction its first artwork made by a humanoid robot – CBS News
MIT engineers enabled robots to self-correct after missteps and carry on with their chores. – MIT Tech Review
In America’s Factories, Even the Robots Are Getting Less Work – Wall Street Journal
The US Army is testing killer robot dogs with AI-powered rifles in the Middle East – Futuris
AI and robots take center stage at ‘world’s largest tech event’ - CNN
AI Definitions: Large Language Models
/Large Language Models (LLMs) - AI trained on billions of language uses, images and other data. It can predict the next word or pixel in a pattern based on the user’s request. ChatGPT and Google Bard are LLMs.
The kinds of text LLMs can parse out include grammar and language structure, word meaning and context (ex: The word green may mean a color when it is closely related to a word like “paint,” “art,” or “grass”), proper names (Microsoft, Bill Clinton, Shakira, Cincinnati), and emotions (indications of frustration, infatuation, positive or negative feelings, or types of humor).
More AI definitions here
Project Clean Machine
/Adobe’s “Project Clean Machine” is an editing tool that “automatically removes annoying distractions in images and videos, like camera flashes and people walking into frames. For example, if a background firework causes a few seconds of the shot to be overexposed, Clean Machine will ensure the color and lighting are still consistent throughout the video when the flash itself is removed.”
More at The Verge
You are what you learn
/If all you know is how to be a gang member, that's what you'll be, at least until you learn something else. If you become a marine, you'll learn to control fear. If you go to law school, you'll see the world as a competition. If you study engineering, you'll start to see the world as a complicated machine that needs tweaking.
I'm fascinated by the way a person changes at a fundamental level as he or she merges with a particular field of knowledge. People who study economics come out the other side thinking a different way from people who study nursing. And learning becomes a fairly permanent part of a person even as the cells in the body come and go and the circumstances of life change.
You can easily nitpick my definition of self by arguing that you are actually many things, including your DNA, your body, your mind, you environment and more. By that view, you're more of a soup than a single ingredient. I'll grant you the validity of that view. But I'll argue that the most powerful point of view is that you are what you learn.
It's easy to feel trapped in your own life. Circumstances can sometimes feel as if they form a jail around you. But there's almost nothing you can't learn your way out of. If you don't like who you are, you have the option of learning until you become someone else. Life is like a jail with an unlocked, heavy door. You're free the minute you realize the door will open if you simply lean into it.
Suppose you don't like your social life. You can learn how to be the sort of person that attracts better friends. Don't like your body? You can learn how to eat right and exercise until you have a new one. You can even learn how to dress better and speak in more interesting ways.
I credit my late mother for my view of learning. She raised me to believe I could become whatever I bothered to learn. No single idea has served me better.
Scott Adams, Dilbert.com
20 Recent Articles about AI & Healthcare
/Zoom will now use an AI-powered medical notetaker for telehealth visits – Fast Company
New JAMA channel highlights AI’s role in medicine - Washington Post
How Generative AI Is Transforming Medical Education – Harvard Medicine
AI in Medicine: Are Large Language Models Ready for the Exam Room? – Medscape
New JAMA channel highlights AI’s role in medicine – Washington Post
Why Surgeons Are Wearing The Apple Vision Pro In Operating Rooms - TIME
Cancer diagnostics' rapid evolution thanks to AI – Axios
Microsoft announces new AI tools to help ease workload for doctors and nurses - CNBC
As AI-powered health care expands, experts warn of biases – Semafor
How AI could monitor brain health and find dementia sooner – Washington Post
10 Uses Cases of Predictive Analytics in Healthcare - Appinventiv
New AI Tool Rivals Human Experts In Cancer Diagnosis And Prognosis – Science Blog
The AI revolution in health care - Washington Post
Enhancing fairness in AI-enabled medical systems with the attribute neutral framework – Nature
Generative AI-assisted Peer Review in Medical Publications: Opportunities Or Trap - JMIR Publications
Would you trust AI to scan your genitals for STIs? – the 19th
That Message From Your Doctor? It May Have Been Drafted by A.I. – New York Times
When AI looked at biology, the result was astounding - Washington Post
How AI can help — and hurt — when people fundraise for urgent medical needs – Marquette
Google’s AI-backed healthcare search tool now available for general use – Health Care Dive