The New York Times: “On Friday, the Supreme Court is expected to discuss whether to hear two cases that challenge laws in Texas and Florida barring online platforms from taking down certain political content. Next month, the court is scheduled to hear a case that questions Section 230, a 1996 statute that protects the platforms… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: January 2023
What Happens When AI Has Read Everything?
The Atlantic – The dream of an artificial mind may never become a reality if AI runs out of quality prose to ingest—and there isn’t much left. What Happens When AI Has Read Everything?. “Artificial intelligence has in recent years proved itself to be a quick study, although it is being educated in a manner… Continue Reading
Disquiet in the archives: archivists make tough calls with far-reaching consequences – they deserve our support
The Conversation: “Right now, for technological, ethical and political reasons, the world’s archivists are suddenly very busy. Advances in digital imaging and communications are feeding an already intense interest in provenance, authorship and material culture. Two recent discoveries – a woman’s name scratched in the margins of an 8th-century manuscript, and John Milton’s annotations in… Continue Reading
Addressing the risks in crypto: laying out the options
BIS Bulletin | No 66 | 12 January 2023 by Matteo Aquilina, Jon Frost and Andreas Schrimpf PDF full text The recent high-profile failures of FTX and other crypto firms have re-ignited the debate on the appropriate policy response to address the risks in crypto, including through regulation. The “shadow financial” functions enabled by crypto markets share… Continue Reading
Find Academics on Mastodon
Find Academics on Mastodon – “This is a prototype web application that allows folks to browse some of the lists of Academics of Mastodon, [20 disciplines] view public profiles and posts, and easily follow people on the list by logging in. The wonderful Academics of Mastodon site contains links to a variety of lists of… Continue Reading
Predictive Justice in Light of the New AI Act Proposal
Gallese, Chiara, Predictive Justice in Light of the New AI Act Proposal (September 29, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4286023 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4286023 – “In the latest years, there has been an increasing trend for police forces and judicial authorities to employ predictive profiling technologies in criminal justice, posing major risks to the fundamental rights of citizens.… Continue Reading
The Financialization of Recession Response
The Financialization of Recession Response, Yale Program on Financial Stability, December 22, 2022, Aaron Klein: “This paper analyzes economic policy responses to the COVID-19-induced recession, focusing on the American policy response. Despite widespread political distrust between the two parties sharing control of the government and the timing of the upcoming presidential election, America’s political system… Continue Reading
FBI warns of neo-Nazi plots as attacks on Northwest power grid spike
OPB – “Plots by white supremacists to target electrical infrastructure in the United States have increased dramatically since 2016, according to a report published by the Program on Extremism at The George Washington University in September. “The rise of accelerationist ideology and doctrine during the past decade likely fueled the increased risk of attack plots… Continue Reading
SCOTUS Statement Concerning the Leak Investigation Jan 19, 2023
I am updating this post with the most recent article in response to the “we do not have any idea who did it” investigation [hint – they did not quiz the justices and spouses]. CNN – Supreme Court embarrassed by the opinion leak is embarrassed again Follow up to May 2, 2022 Politico article –… Continue Reading
AI Accountability in the US Federal Government – A Primer
American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) – “Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been implemented for hundreds of use cases across the Federal government. Given this increased adoption, Federal leaders have an opportunity to lean in to take responsible and prudent measures to address AI accountability in the context of their unique mission. This paper outlines… Continue Reading
Websites Selling Abortion Pills Are Sharing Sensitive Data With Google
ProPublica – “Some sites selling abortion pills use technology that shares information with third parties like Google. Law enforcement can potentially use this data to prosecute people who end their pregnancies with medication. These third-party trackers, including a Google Analytics tool and advertising technologies, collect a host of details about users and feed them to… Continue Reading
Covid-19 Spillover Effects onto General Vaccine Attitudes
Trujillo, K. L., Green, J., Safarpour, A., Lazer, D., Lin, J., & Motta, M. (2022, October 20). Covid-19 Spillover Effects onto General Vaccine Attitudes. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/w7mq5 “Even amid the unprecedented public health challenges attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, opposition to vaccinating against the novel coronavirus has been both prevalent and politically contentious in American public life.… Continue Reading
