An AI-powered Mathematical Future

A group of mathematicians are now starting to examine what an AI-powered mathematical future might look like, and how it will change what they value. In such a future, instead of spending most of their time proving theorems, mathematicians will play the role of critic, translator, conductor, experimentalist. Mathematics might draw closer to laboratory sciences, or even to the arts and humanities.  Imagining how AI will transform mathematics isn’t just an exercise in preparation. It has forced mathematicians to reckon with what mathematics really is at its core, and what it’s for. - Jordana Cepelewicz writing in Quanta Magazine

The AI-first Trend

Why would CEOs be saying that everyone at their companies should be using AI tools? Do they think their employees are all bad at their jobs? Being “AI-first” shows that a company is participating in the AI trend in the "right" way, by imposing it on workers, rather than trusting workers to judge what tools are useful for them to do their jobs. It's telling that the creators of so many of the AI tools don't even have enough confidence in their offerings to simply let users choose to adopt them, and are instead forcing them into users' faces in every possible corner of their apps and websites. - Anil Dash

What on earth is He up to?

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of — throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.

CS Lewis, Mere Christianity

17 Webinars This Week about AI, Journalism & Media

Mon, May 5 - Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence and Climate Change

What: A discussion about how new advances in artificial intelligence can help solve climate challenges

Who: Prashant Shenoy, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Prakhar Mehrotra, PayPal; Line Roald, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Yury Dvorkin, Johns Hopkins University.

When: 10 am, Eastern

Where: Vimeo

Cost: Free

Sponsor: National Academies

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Mon, May 5 - From Stone Age to AI

What: Whether you're in K-12 education, higher ed, or curriculum development, this session will offer rich conversation and timely connections to media literacy, civic education, and the challenges of teaching in an age of information overload.

Who: Wesley Fryer is a STEM and media literacy teacher  

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Media Education Lab

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Mon, May 5 - What You Need to Know About Bots and CX

What: Whether your organization is toying with the idea of implementing bots to support your CX efforts or is ready to dive in, join us online Monday, May 5, from 4-4:30 p.m. ET/1-1:30 p.m. ET. You’ll hear from a CX expert about the bot basics and how to get started.  You’ll learn:  Use cases for implementing bots. How to measure success and communicate it across your organization. Best practices and common mistakes to avoid as you embark on your bot journey.

Who: Renee Murray, E-Government Program Lead, MS Department of Information Technology Services

When: 4pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: GovLoop

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Tue, May 6 - Communicating in Times of Change

What: We’ll break down how to respond with clarity and confidence when change happens fast and stakeholders need answers.

Who: Chad Carlton, CEO of C2 Strategic Communications.

When: 10 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: C2 Strategic Communications

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Tue, May 6 - Gathering Evidence and Documents in Conflict and War Zones — A MENA Case Study

What: We’ll explore how investigative journalists can document human rights abuses in war zones, with a focus on methods to ensure the information gathered can later be used by legal investigators or international courts.

Who: Raji Abdul Salam is a legal data archive analyst with deep expertise in documenting war crimes: Laila Al-Arian is a journalist and senior producer for Al Jazeera English; Hadi Al Khatib is the founder and director of the Syrian Archive and co-founder of Mnemonic, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and verifying open source documentation of human rights abuses in conflict zones; Alia Ibrahim, CEO and co-founder of Daraj, an independent digital media platform based in Lebanon.

When: 10 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Global Investigative Journalism Network

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Tue, May 6 - Optimizing Your Content for Generative AI Search

What: Level up your SEO approach in the era of generative AI. You'll learn about the importance of optimizing your content not just for human eyes but also for AI agents who are increasingly conducting searches on behalf of users.

Who: Andrea Volpini, CEO and co-founder of WordLift.

When: 11 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: WordLift, Heretto

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Tue, May 6 - DeepSeek Deep Dive: Uncovering the Opportunities and Risks

What: This special webinar panel will catch you up on the latest developments around DeepSeek and the startup’s positive and negative implications.

Who: Simon Salmon,CISSP,ISC2 Instructor|Managing Dir emPSN; Scott Clinton,Co-chair,OWASP Gen AI Security project; Matt Pearl, Dir Tech Program CSIS;Brandon Dunlap, Moderator.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: ISC2

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Tue, May 6 - Beyond stress: What journalists should know about burnout

What: Created specifically for those working within news organizations, this session will help journalists: Assess where they sit on the stress spectrum Understand what is inside and outside of their control Self-prescribe a set of actions to combat their unique blend of burnout.

Who: Sam Ragland, API’s vice president of journalism strategy.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: American Press Institute

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Tue, May 6 - AI’s Effect on Lifelong Learning

What: Exploring how colleges and universities can prepare students to learn — and keep learning — critical skills related to artificial intelligence and automation.

Who: Ian Wilhelm Deputy Managing Editor The Chronicle of Higher Education.

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Chronicle of Higher Ed

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Tue, May 6 - Build Your Own ChatGPT: Tips & Tricks for Custom GPTs

What: A hands‑on workshop that demystifies OpenAI’s Custom GPT builder and shows you how to spin up production‑worthy chatbots in minutes.

Who: Muntaser Syed, Consultant; Grant Kurtz, Founder at GPTechDay

When: 6 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: OpenAI

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Wed, May 7 - Getting Started with AI in Teams: Foundations, Ethics, and Practical Prompts

What: Step into the world of AI with this beginner-friendly workshop tailored for nonprofit professionals. We’ll cover the essentials of artificial intelligence, focusing on what AI can (and can’t) do, the ethical considerations critical to responsible usage, and practical applications using tools like ChatGPT. Through discussions and hands-on activities, you’ll gain a foundational understanding of AI, uncover its ethical challenges, and learn to create effective prompts for ChatGPT to support your mission-driven work.

Who: Meena Das, Namaste Data.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: The NonProfit Learning Lab

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Wed, May 7 - Next Level AI: Mastering Google Gemini & Microsoft CoPilot

What: This 60-minute masterclass is designed for small business owners and solopreneurs ready to move beyond basic AI usage and tap into the powerful, built-in tools from Google and Microsoft. You’ll learn how to use Google Gemini inside Gmail, Docs, and Sheets, and Microsoft Copilot inside Outlook, Word, and Excel to automate tasks, write faster, organize better, and make data-driven decisions. We’ll explore real-world workflows like drafting client emails, analyzing spreadsheets, summarizing long threads, and brainstorming content.  

Who: Tim Daniel Coach & Instructor.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Small Business Development Center at Widener University

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Wed, May 7 - 5 Social Media Tips that Will Help You Turn heads and Raise Funds for Your Nonprofit

What: Tips for how to get the most out of your social media even when you are busy and wearing a lot of hats.

Who: Taylor Shanklin, the Founder and CEO of Barlele, a brand and marketing strategy firm.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Barlele

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Thu, May 8 - Reporting in challenging free speech environments

What: Journalists from around the world will discuss their experiences working under constraints on press freedom. They will offer lessons and tips on news gathering in difficult circumstances, how to access controlled information and data, and ways to enhance safety and security for sources and journalists. Their experiences in various countries can offer insights, guidance and tools for journalists confronting these constraints anew.

Who: Rodrigo Pérez Ortega Science Reelected to his third term on the NASW Board, Rodrigo is a past recipient of the NASW Diversity Summer Fellowship; Priyanka Runwal Chemical & Engineering News; Carol Guensburg Voice of America; András Pethő, co-founder and executive director of Direkt36, an investigative journalism center in Hungary; Dyna Rochmyaningsih is a science journalist from South Sumatra in Indonesia.

When: 11 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free to members

Sponsor: National Association of Science Writers

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Thu, May 8 - Remove the Dirty Work and Build Better Relationships with AI

What: Join us as we discuss how AI won’t replace advisors but instead elevate advice, extend capabilities, and serve as a tool to handle repetitive tasks, allowing you to focus on what you do best: delivering personalized advice. Learn how to confidently integrate new technology into your workflow and see how these tools can elevate your business in 2025, making you a more efficient, standout advisor.

Who: Dom Dugo, Steven Berger, Thomas Aviles.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Morningstar

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Thu, May 8 - Strengthening State Media Ecosystems: Tools to build a culture of news advocacy

What: We will discuss how tools like media newsletters, shared office space, research partnerships, funding fellowships, Press Forward chapters and beyond can mobilize local support for news.

Who: Andrea Hickerson, Dean of the School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi; Andrew Conte, director of the Center for Media Innovations at Point Park University; and Corey Hutchins, manager of the Journalism Institute at Colorado College and the lead author on the new CCN study on media newsletters.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: University of Vermont

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Thu, May 8 - Integrating AI: A People-First Approach

What: In this webinar, we will walk through key areas for business leaders and training professionals to prioritize in their digital journey—focusing on trust, transparency, and training.

Who: Tiffany Prince, Chief Performance Officer, Prince Performance LLC.

When: 3 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Allego

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The Madman’s Narrative

Consider that two people can hold incompatible beliefs based on the exact same data. Does this mean that there are possible families of explanations and that each of these can be equally perfect and sound? Certainly not. One may have a million ways to explain things, but the true explanation is unique, whether or not it is within our reach. 

In a famous argument, the logician WV Quine showed that there exist families of logically consistent interpretations and theories that can match a give series of facts. Such insight should warn us that mere absence of nonsense may not be sufficient to make something true. 

Nassim Taleb, The Black Swain

Breaking AI with a few Prompts

"Tests showed Meta AI often balked at prompts that could lead to explicit topics but the Wall Street Journal found these barriers could regularly be overcome simply by asking an AI persona to go back to the prior scene. ‘There are multiple red-teaming examples where, within a few prompts, the AI will violate its rules and produce inappropriate content even if you tell the AI you are 13,’ one employee wrote in an internal note laying out concerns." -Wall Street Journal

What to do when facing inappropriate behavior

When someone keeps repeating inappropriate behavior:

 Describe the other person’s behavior objectively (be specific and don’t switch from talking about the action to the motive) 

Express your feelings (as related to the goal but don’t relive the feelings)

Specify what you want to see changed (and what you are willing to change, don’t merely imply that you’d like a change) 

Give explicit Consequences if there is change (reward) or no change (punishment)

25 Articles about AI & Legal Issues

4 legal experts on AI use in communications – Ragan

Balancing innovation and caution: How lawyers should integrate AI into legal practice – Reuters

AI helped write bar exam questions, California state bar admits – The Guardian

Record Law Grad Employment Rates Suggest AI Isn’t Killing Off Lawyers Just Yet – LawNext

Attorneys for MyPillow's Mike Lindell accused of using AI to prepare court filing - 9news

AI entrepreneur sent avatar to argue in court  - The Register

US appeals court rejects copyrights for AI-generated art lacking 'human' creator - Reuters

Large Language Models and International Law - Virginia Law 

NYT case against OpenAI and Microsoft can advance - Axios

The Unbelievable Scale of AI’s Pirated-Books Problem – The Atlantic  

Arizona Supreme Court taps AI avatars to make the judicial system more publicly accessible – AP

OpenAI urges U.S. to allow AI models to train on copyrighted material – NBC  

People are using Google’s new AI model to remove watermarks from images – Tech Crunch 

French publishers and authors sue Meta over copyright works used in AI training – WFXR-TV

Judge fines lawyers in Walmart lawsuit over fake, AI-generated cases - Reuters

A lab at the University of Chicago is protecting artists from theft by a new adversary: the machines – Chicago Mag 

Detroit PD Sued Over Yet Another Bogus Arrest Based On An Unverified Facial Recognition ‘Match’ – TechDirt

Academic publishers warn against AI copyright plans - Research Professional News  

Just how badly OpenAI and Perplexity are screwing over publishers – Forbes

Microsoft identifies developers it says evaded AI guardrails - Axios

ChatGPT firm reveals AI model that is ‘good at creative writing’ - The Guardian 

Midsized Law Firms Increasingly See AI and Interconnected Technology as Critical for Future Success, New Survey Finds - LawNext

A Buyer’s Guide to Legal AI Tools – Bloomberg Law 

To AI or Not to AI? The Use of AI in Employment Decisions – National Law Review

AI and the visual arts: The case for copyright protection - Brookings

22 Articles about AI & Data Science from April 2025

Uncertainty quantification for neural network potential foundation models – Nature  

AI Definitions: Chain of thought (CoT)

AI Definitions: Multimodal AI

A practical guide to building AI agents from OpenAI – OpenAI

14 Articles about AI & Coding

The NGA is making adoption of AI & ML capabilities a primary focus in 2025 by integrating new technologies into its workflows – Defense Scoop

What happened to genetic algorithms? – StatModeling  

Google introduces its Geospatial Reasoning tools - Google Research   

An Unbiased Review of Snowflake’s Document AI for data scientists - Towards Data Science

Generative AI is learning to spy for the US military – MIT Tech Review  

A Gentle Introduction to Machine Learning Theory – Data Processing 

AI Definitions: Sentiment analysis 

Geospatial Reasoning: Unlocking insights with generative AI and multiple foundation models - Google Research  

Top 5 Career Paths in Data Science and How to Self-Learn for Each - KD Nuggets

Are LLM firewalls the future of AI security? – Computer Weekly 

AI Definitions: Agentic AI 

More pre-training data may not always lead to better large language models – Venture Beat 

Top 5 Data Visualization Tools for Data Scientists - KD Nuggets

AI Definitions: AI Agents 

A new framework for understanding how representations form in neural networks – Techxplore  

Why Data Scientists Should Care about Containers – Towards Data Science 

The argument for data scientists to know and use MicroPython – KD Nuggets