Nothing great
/Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. -Ralph Waldo Emerson
ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
No one is completely immune
/Psychological research shows that misinformation is cleverly designed to bypass careful analytical reasoning, meaning that it can easily slip under the radar of even the most intelligent and educated people. No one is completely immune. Indeed, there is now evidence that smarter people may sometimes be even more vulnerable to certain ideas, since their greater brainpower simply allows them to rationalise their (incorrect) beliefs.
David Robson writing in The Guardian
13 Articles about AI & Data Science from March 2025
/Using LLMs to write code is difficult and unintuitive – Simon Willison
Tiny satellite sets new record for secure quantum communication – Nature
The Impact of GenAI and Its Implications for Data Scientists – Toward Data Science
This Space Spy Agency’s AI Shift May Hint at Your Company’s Future Facing - INC
The Geospatial Analytics Industry is expected to”grow significantly” - Global News Wire
Advancements in remote sensing & data analysis using AI have transformed archaeology, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of excavations. – Jerusalem Post
Getting Started with Kaggle Kernels for Machine Learning – MarkTechPost
AI Definitions: Synthetic Data
What Data Scientists Need to Know About AI Agents and Autonomous Systems – KD Nuggets
AI Definitions: Symbolic Artificial Intelligence
Scientists claim a major advance in geospatial modelling, which they say significantly reduces power demand while retaining accuracy - University of Glasgow
The next wave of geospatial innovation may not be about small, incremental changes, but about rethinking workflows entirely – GeoWeek News
6 Webinars this Week about AI, Journalism & Media
/Tue, April 1 - Website & Email Marketing
What: We guide you through the essentials of website and email marketing – the most direct online sales tools. Learn how to build an effective website that converts visitors into customers and create compelling email campaigns that drive engagement. Whether you’re just starting or looking to enhance your strategy, take your online presence to the next level.
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Small Business Development Center, Temple University
Tue, April 1 - Introduction to solutions journalism
What: This webinar will explore the basic principles and pillars of solutions journalism, talk about why it’s important, explain key steps in reporting a solutions story, and share tips and resources for journalists interested in investigating how people are responding to social problems.
Who: Michael Davis, SJN's training & curriculum manager.
When: 6 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Solutions Journalism
Wed, April 2 - Hitting the Mark
What: This webinar will help you target your message to distinct audiences, protect your brand’s reputation, maintain public trust and navigate challenges effectively.
When: 10 am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: C2 Strategic and Indiana GAL CASA
Wed, April 2 - Beyond the Basics of Science Reporting
What: This webinar is designed for reporters covering science either occasionally or full-time. It teaches basic principles about recognizing science worth reporting on and doing it justice in your coverage.
Who: Freelance science reporter Elena Renken and Ph.D. neuroscientist Dr. Tori Espensen
When: 2 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Society of Environmental Journalists
Wed, April 2 - The Future Press: Testing AI in Journalism
What: This webinar will feature a presentation about an innovative project funded by the Dallas Morning News Innovation Endowment in which journalism students test the boundaries of AI in media production by utilizing tools such as ChatGPT, Bing AI, and Google Bard to generate content for a publication. The team maintains transparency throughout the process, openly discussing the use of AI and the editing required to refine AI-generated content for publication.
Who: Gracie Warhurst, UT alum and journalist Ryan Serpico; Hearst DevHub Angelica Ruzanova; UT student Jonathan Hopper; UT student Ashlyn Poole, UT student.
When: 4 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Online News Association
Wed, April 2 - “And Now, a Word From Our Sponsor”: The Early Days of TV Advertising
What: How advertising evolved during television’s first two decades and the important role it played in convincing viewers that the key to happiness was to buy their way into the American dream.
Who: Media historian Brian Rose
When: 6:30 pm
Where: Zoom
Cost: $25
Sponsor: The Smithsonian
Thu, April 3 - The Ethics of Nonprofit News: What Board Members and Donors Need to Know
What: Issues will include conflicts of interest and understanding the boundaries between the news and fundraising sides of a community journalism organization.
Who: Josh Stearns, managing director of programs at the Democracy Fund; Kara Meyberg Guzman, CEO and co-founder of Santa Clara Local, a nonprofit startup; Joe Kriesberg, publisher of CommonWealth Beacon.
When: 7 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: The What Works project on the future of local news, part of Northeastern University’s School of Journalism
Why Humans are Better Storytellers Than AI
/Literary agent Jamie Carr of the Book Group describes great storytelling as something that makes “connections between things and ideas that are totally nonsensical — which is something only humans can do.” Can ChatGPT bring together disparate parts of your life and use a summer job to illuminate a fraught friendship? Can it link a favorite song to an identity crisis? So far, nope. Crucially, ChatGPT can’t do one major thing that all my clients can: have a random thought. “I’m not sure why I’m telling you this” is something I love to hear from students, because it means I’m about to go on a wild ride that only the teenage brain can offer. It’s frequently in these tangents about collecting cologne or not paying it forward at the Starbucks drive-thru that we discover the key to the essay. I often describe my main task as helping students turn over stones they didn’t know existed, or stones they assumed were off-limits. ChatGPT can’t tap into the unpredictable because it can only turn over the precise stones you tell it to — and if you’re issuing these orders, chances are you already know what’s under the stone.
Sanibel Chai writing in New York Magazine
Do I have Value?
/To say a person has worth or value formulates only half a sentence. It begs two questions and raises a third: Worth what? To whom? Who says? These questions reveal a search for a source, a valuer, an authority behind the action of attaching worth. This quest implies our awareness of a person larger than us, who initiates relationships with us. Our parents stood as the original superhumans in whose eyes we wanted much worth. Now as adults, when we feel worthless, we ache with the dangling half-question. Do I have any value? We used to seek evidence from Mom and Dad of our importance to them. Though we no longer look to them as our source, we have not yet identified a new one. We spin our wheels with the unanswered questions of our half-sentences. We wistfully yearn for some authority to come along and fill those gaps that our parents left.
Dennis Gibson, The Strong-Willed Adult
20 Articles about the Limitations of AI
/"Humans in the loop" make AI work, for now - Axios
We were promised “Star Trek,” so why did we settle for these lousy chatbots? – Big Think
Having AI Mock Up An Old Game Is Not The Same As Preserving It – Tech Dirt
"Humans in the loop" make AI work, for now - Axios
AI is ‘beating’ humans at empathy and creativity. But these games are rigged – The Guardian
The truth about DOGE’s AI plans: The tech can’t do that – Washington Post
The Cultural Backlash Against Generative AI – Toward Data Science
Why Do AI Chatbots Have Such a Hard Time Admitting ‘I Don’t Know’? – Wall Street Journal
China has more trust in AI than the United States – Axios
AI can solve math olympiad problems but flunks tic-tac-toe – Stat Modeling
The Words That Stop ChatGPT in Its Tracks Why won’t the bot say my name? – The Atlantic
7 ways gen AI can create more work than it saves – CIO
AI’s Trust Problem – MIT Tech Review
I'm the CEO of an AI company, and this is the BS behind AI – Fast Company
Despite its impressive output, generative AI doesn’t have a coherent understanding of the world – MIT
The Death of Search AI is transforming how billions navigate the web. A lot will be lost in the process. – The Atlantic
ChatGPT outperforms undergrads in intro-level courses, falls short later – ArsTechnica
AI polling company defends wrong predictions on the US election – Semafor
Detroit police falsely arrested woman after faulty facial recognition hit: lawsuit - Detroit News
AI Definitions: The Turing test
/The Turing test - Proposed by computing pioneer Alan Turing in 1950, the Turing test measures whether a computer program could fool a human into believing it was human too.
More AI definitions here.
Doing Nothing
/I strongly suspect that doing nothing, if we can do it well, makes us happier too. -Arthur C. Brooks writing in The Atlantic
15 Articles about AI & the Bigger Questions
/Is AI eroding our critical thinking? – Big Think
A neuroscientist makes the case that AI can think – Washington Post
AI Military AI is here. Some experts are worried – Fast Company
Your A.I. Lover Will Change You - The New Yorker
We’re Already at Risk of Ceding Our Humanity to AI - LitHub
The Cultural Backlash Against Generative AI – Toward Data Science
When A.I. Passes This Test, Look Out – New York Times
What Would a Stoic Do? An AI-Based Decision-Making Model - Toward Data Science
Logging off life but living on: How AI is redefining death, memory and immortality – The Conversation
Nvidia unveils $3,000 desktop AI computer for home researchers – Arstechnica
This AI Pioneer Thinks AI Is Dumber Than a Cat – Wall Street Journal
The AI Boom Has an Expiration Date – The Atlantic
Does Your Teen Recognize A.I.? Do You? - New York Times
Will ChatGPT Get Tenure? - Leiden Madtrics
The AI Stigma
/“Some researchers have performed deception studies where the participants were falsely informed that something came from AI (when it was in fact human-made) or that something came from a human (when it was in fact AI-made). Flipping the claimed source from human to AI often caused study participants to give worse ratings to the deliverable.” -Jakob Nielsen
Conserve Your Willpower: It Runs Out
/Ever wonder why your resolve to hit the gym weakens after you’ve slogged through a soul-sapping day at work? It’s because willpower isn’t just some storybook concept; it’s a measurable form of mental energy that runs out as you use it, much like the gas in your car.
Roy Baumeister, a psychologist at Florida State University, calls this “ego depletion,” and he proved its existence by sitting students next to a plate of fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies. Some were allowed to snack away, others ordered to abstain. Afterward, both groups were asked to complete difficult puzzles. The students who’d been forced to resist the cookies had so depleted their reserves of self-control that when faced with this new task, they quickly threw in the towel. The cookie eaters, on the other hand, had conserved their willpower and worked on the puzzles longer.
But there are ways to wield what scientists know about willpower to our advantage. Since it’s a finite resource, don’t spread yourself thin: Make one resolution rather than many. And if you manage to stick with it by, say, not smoking for a week, give your willpower a rest by indulging in a nice dinner. Another tactic is to outsource self-control. Get a gym buddy. Use Mint.com to regulate your spending or RescueTime.com to avoid distracting websites.
As John Tierney, coauthor with Baumeister of Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength explains, “People with the best self-control aren’t the ones who use it all day long. They’re people who structure their lives so they conserve it.” That way, you’ll be able to stockpile vast reserves for when you really need it.
Judy Dunn, Wired Magazine
AI Definitions: Temperature
/Temperature - A setting within some generative AI models that determines the randomness of the output. The higher the temperature set by the user the more variability there is in the result.
More AI definitions here
The AI Lens
/Striving to create an AI strategy will likely force employees to look at everything through an AI lens. Right now, it seems like AI is seen as the solution, whatever the problem is. But just because it’s getting all the attention today doesn’t mean that will continue. There will be other technologies that are coming downstream, and focusing too much on AI will crowd out other solutions to other problems a company might have. -Wall Street Journal
12 Articles about AI & Audio
/AI at the microphone: The voice of the future? - The Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society
Audio Tech Focus: AI Has Plenty of Potential — and Potential Pitfalls — for Broadcast Sports – Sports Video
These AI powered earbuds pack a secret — you can record and translate speech – Tom’s Guide
What audio artists working in games think of AI – The Conversation
Eerily realistic AI voice demo sparks amazement and discomfort online – ArsTechnica
AI can steal your voice, and there's not much you can do about it – NBC News
How AI can turn audio recordings into accurate images – Data Science Central
Holiday Terms & Conditions — A Christmas Album (created by AI) - Grex
Illuminate is a new AI podcasting tool from Google - The Conversation
All Madeline wanted was to talk to her deceased husband, Eli, again. She recreated his voice with A.I. – New York Times
Celine Dion warns fans to beware of fake, AI-generated songs appearing online – CNN
Memories are Overrated
/A comment I heard from a member of the audience after a lecture illustrates the difficulty of distinguishing memories from experiences. He told of listening raptly to a long symphony on a disc that was scratched near the end, producing a shocking sound, and he reported that the bad ending “ruined the whole experience.” But the experience was not actually ruined, only the memory of it. The experience itself was almost entirely good, and the bad end could not undo it, because it had already happened. My questioner had assigned the entire episode a failing grade because it had ended very badly, but that grade effectively ignored 40 minutes of musical bliss. Does the actual experience count for nothing?
Confusing experience with the memory of it is a compelling cognitive illusion – and it is the substitution that makes us believe a past experience can be ruined. The experiencing self does not have a voice. The remembering self is sometimes wrong, but it is the one that keep score and governs what we learn from living, and it is the one that makes decisions. What we learn from the past is to maximize the qualities of our future memories, not necessarily of our future experience. This is the tyranny of the remembering self.
We have strong preferences about the duration of our experiences of pain and pleasure. We want pain to be brief and pleasure to last. But our memory (represents) the most intense moments of an episode of pain or pleasure and the feelings when the episode was at its end. A memory that neglects duration will not serve our preferences for long pleasure and short pains.
Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow
16 Webinars this Week about AI, Journalism & Media
/Mon, March 24 - Reporting on university DEI changes
What: As universities respond to state laws and federal mandates to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs, student journalists share their tips for covering the changes, including using open records to uncover the effects on campus. Three students will talk about covering DEI changes on their own campuses and a SPLC rep will walk through his suggestions for using public records to report on these issues.
Who: McKinnon Rice from the North Texas Daily; Nora Igelnik and Reilly Ackermann from Ohio State's The Lantern; and Ismael Belkoura, a graduate student at Northwestern University and SPLC extern.
When: 5 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Student Press Law Center
Mon, March 24 - Writing Compelling Fact-Based Stories
What: Some of the techniques journalists and nonfiction writers can use to make their work more cinematic and, in the process, more engaging to their readers.
Who: Award-winning nonfiction author Lee Gutkind, the founding editor of Creative Nonfiction Magazine, who has written more than 30 books that have made an impact on the craft of journalism. He has appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Good Morning America, and NPR's All Things Considered.
When: 6 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Society of Professional Journalists, DC Chapter
Mon, March 24 - From Inbox to Impact: Perfecting Your Nonprofit Email Marketing Strategy
What: This presentation is designed for professionals involved in marketing, development, or donor engagement who want to maximize the impact of their email campaigns. This session dives into strategies to cut through the digital noise and drives meaningful action, whether it's donor stewardship, fundraising appeals, or event promotions. Attendees will learn proven methods to boost open rates, click-through rates, and donor response by leveraging data-driven insights and audience segmentation. The webinar also explores how to design segmented email lists and craft personalized messaging to better resonate with supporters. Additionally, participants will gain practical tips for setting up effective welcome series, drip campaigns, and event-based communications.
Who: Beth Brown of Humanitru.
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Nonprofit Learning Lab
Tue, March 25 - Legal Considerations for Environmental Journalists
What: An exploration of the legal threats faced by environmental journalists, and provide practical advice and support.
Who: Sabah A., Media Defence Lawyer; Barış Altıntaş, Journalist & Co-Director, Media and Law Studies; Association; Maciek Piasecki – Freelance Environmental Journalist.
When: 10 am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsors: Media Defence and Journalismfund Europe
Tue, March 25 - 10 Essential Adobe Photoshop Tips for eLearning Workflows
What: This session is packed with practical tips to help you make the most of Photoshop in your eLearning projects.
Who: Pooja Jaisingh, Associate Vice President, Digital Learning and Product Enablement, Icertis.
When: 11 am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: OpenSesame
Tue, March 25 - Public Health Journalism: Covering public health policy in the current political landscape
What: Advice to adapt to this shifting environment while discovering innovative ways to tell critical public health stories.
Who: Julie Rovner, the chief Washington correspondent at KFF Health News
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsors: Common Health Coalition and The National Press Club Journalism Institute
Tue, March 25 - Empowering Research Through Responsible AI on ScienceDirect
What: Join this webinar to learn about Generative AI (GenAI) developments on ScienceDirect and meet the team enabling researchers to explore, compare, and uncover trusted evidence from deep within peer-reviewed literature. This webinar is ideal for library staff and anyone interested in the application of GenAI in full text search and discovery. The ScienceDirect ambition is to make knowledge discovery more efficient and rewarding for researchers, faculty, and librarians.
Who: Judson Dunham Senior Director, Product Management Elsevier; Emily Singley Vice President, North American Library Relations Elsevier.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Elsevier
Tue, March 25 - Webinar: Newsletter Strategies That Drive Engagement and Grow Your Subscriber Base
What: We’ll dive into proven strategies to create newsletters that not only captivate readers but also grow your subscriber base. Learn how to craft compelling subject lines, optimize content for your audience’s needs, and use personalization to boost open rates and click-throughs. We’ll also explore how to leverage segmentation, automation, and analytics to refine your strategy and keep your readers coming back for more.
Who: David Arkin, CEO of David Arkin Consulting.
When: 2 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: The Local Media Association
Tue, March 25 - How Colleges Are Responding to AI
What: AI Strategies and real-world implementation models as panelists share the goals they set for themselves, the reasoning behind those goals, and the concrete steps they’ve taken to bring them to life. From policy development and curricular reform to faculty development and classroom innovation, this discussion will provide a roadmap of practical approaches that institutions can use to navigate AI’s evolving role in education. Whether you're an administrator, faculty member, instructional designer, or student success professional, you’ll gain actionable insights to help your institution plan for success with AI.
Who: Nicole Bosca, Director of the Center for Educational Innovation and Excellence New Jersey Institute of Technology; Anoshua Chaudhuri, Senior Director of the Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning San Francisco State University; Beck Krefting Director of the Center for Leadership, Teaching, and Learning Skidmore College; Desiah Melby, Communication Instructor Mid-State Technical College; Theresa Merrick Senior Instructor of English and Assistant Director of the Writing Center Kansas State University; Shelli Wynants Director of Online Education and Training California State University, Fullerton; C. Edward Watson Vice President for Digital Innovation AAC&U.
When: 3 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: AAC&U (American Association of Colleges and Universities)
Wed, March 26 - AI and the Future of News 2025
What: This day-long event will have sessions on topics like Power, profit and plurality in the age of generative AI; Are journalists telling the most relevant AI stories to their audiences? How three prominent newsrooms are using AI; How will AI reshape society?
Who: Presentations and panel discussions with experts from the University of Oxford and journalists from around the world.
When: 6 am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: The Reuters Institute
Wed, March 26 - Writing and Writing Instruction in the Era of AI
What: This session will examine the core issues around writing in college today and discuss strategies that promote academic integrity, maintain engagement, and encourage learning. Those attending this session will leave with practical solutions for addressing the core issues around college writing today and clarity regarding future trends in writing instruction as AI continues to advance.
Who: Laura Dumin, Professor of English and Technical Writing University of Central Oklahoma; Kyle Jensen, Professor of English and Director of Writing Programs Arizona State University; Sarah Johnson, Academic Integrity Officer, Chair of First-Year Composition, and Writing Center Director Madison Area Technical College; Bethany Miller, Associate Provost and Chief Data Officer Macalester College; Anna Mills English Instructor College of Marin; C. Edward Watson, Vice President for Digital Innovation AAC&U.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: AAC&U (American Association of Colleges and Universities)
Wed, March 26 - GenAI in Action: Demo and Real-World Case Studies Transforming Medical Writing in Global Pharma
What: An off-the-shelf generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) powered medical and regulatory authoring platform, proven in global pharmaceutical deployments. This webinar will showcase real-world case studies via the AuroraPrime platform—a trusted Word add-in already implemented by 10 global pharmaceutical companies and several leading contract research organizations (CRO).
Who: Sharon Chen, Founder and CEO, AlphaLife Sciences; Karen Devcich, ice President, Medical Writing, Quality & Editing and Clinical Trial Transparency, ICON plc; Cieayrra Boozer, Product Solution Specialist, AlphaLife Sciences.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: American Medical Writers Association
Thu, March 27 - AI for journalists
What: How AI can work as your research partner, helping to brainstorm ideas, mine data, uncover angles and streamline workflows.
Who: Harriet Meyer, an experienced financial journalist.
When: 9 am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: £5 members (membership is £10 for students)
Sponsor: Women in Journalism
Thu, March 27 - Navigating the AI Revolution
What: In late 2024, AAC&U and Elon University’s Imagining the Digital Future Center surveyed senior college and university leaders to discern how they believe AI is affecting higher education and what they think will emerge in the future. This session will begin with a brief overview of key findings from the recently published report on the survey, followed by a conversation among leaders in higher education who will reflect on the findings and offer their perspectives on what lies ahead.
Who: Connie Book President Elon University; Mike Flores, Chancellor Alamo Colleges District Lynn Pasquerella President AAC&U; Lee Rainie, Director of the Imagining the Digital Future Center Elon University; Yves Salomon-Fernandez Yves Salomon-Fernández, President Urban College of Boston C.; Edward Watson, Vice President for Digital Innovation AAC&U.
When: 2 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: AAC&U (American Association of Colleges and Universities)
Thu, March 27 - Prototyping AI concepts to reality with AI-in-a-Box Presented by
What: Stay current with the latest webinars on AI. To continue your learning, browse more than 100,000 webinars, videos and virtual events covering hundreds of focused tech and business topics available on TechTarget's BrightTALK.com platform.
Who: Prosenjit Biswas Lead Ecosystem Solution Architect, APAC, Red Hat; Jacky Lee Director, AI Innovation Hub (APJ), Dell Technologie.
When: 11 am, Singapore Time
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Red Hat and Dell Technologies
Thu, March 27 – Introduction to Reporting on AI
What: Designed for reporters interested in starting but with minimal or no knowledge of AI. We will dissect what makes a good AI accountability story, from quick turnaround stories to more ambitious investigations, and dig deeper into a few examples.
Who: Mago Torres, The Examination's data editor
When: 12 pm, Pacific
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Pulitzer Center and the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism
AI Definitions: Vibe Coding
/Vibe Coding – This is coding using AI where the user forgets that the code even exists. Its building software with an LLM without reviewing the code it writes. This is not the same as software development where the user reviews the AI coding and can explain it. Vibe coding platforms would include Claude Artifacts and Cursor.
More AI definitions here.
AI & Academic Research Prediction
/A recent survey by Wiley found that while the majority of researchers believe AI skills will be critical within two years, more than 60 percent said lack of guidelines and training keep them from using it in their work. -Inside Higher Ed
Who creates better memes—humans or AI?
/Researchers in the EU found:
When humans got help from an AI, there were more ideas produced with less work, but the quality wasn’t better.
AI memes did better than human-only collaborative creations though the top-performing memes were human-created
The researchers concluded: “These findings highlight the complexities of human-AI collaboration in creative tasks. While AI can boost productivity and create content that appeals to a broad audience, human creativity remains crucial for content that connects on a deeper level.”