TechCrunch: “A pair of studies published Thursday in the journal Science offers evidence not only that misinformation on social media changes minds, but that a small group of committed “supersharers,” predominately older Republican women, were responsible for the vast majority of the “fake news” in the period looked at. The studies, by researchers at MIT,… Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Author Archives: Sabrina I. Pacifici
Instagram’s Uneasy Rise as a News Site
The New York Times [unpaywalled]: Instagram’s Uneasy Rise as a News Site – In this year’s presidential election, more people are turning to Instagram for news, even as the platform tries de-emphasizing “political content.” Continue Reading
Stanford HAI Tests Westlaw But The GenAI Results Look Worse
Artificial Lawyer: “Ok this story is getting into unusual territory now. Artificial Lawyer just got an email from the spokespeople for the Stanford University HAI team who told this site the researchers had updated their genAI study of hallucinations in case law tools to include Thomson Reuters’ Westlaw. And guess what….? Westlaw has come out… Continue Reading
WTF is AI?
TechCrunch: “So what is AI, anyway? The best way to think of artificial intelligence is as software that approximates human thinking. It’s not the same, nor is it better or worse, but even a rough copy of the way a person thinks can be useful for getting things done. Just don’t mistake it for actual… Continue Reading
How to find and remove spyware from your phone
ZDNET: “iPhone and Android users alike are facing more sophisticated surveillance threats than ever before, and some may be close to home. Suspect you’re being tracked? Here’s what to do. Spyware doesn’t just impact today’s PCs, it can end up on your mobile devices, too. Spyware designed for smartphones can disguise itself as a fake… Continue Reading
Introducing Perplexity Pages
Media Release: “Meet Perplexity Pages, your new tool for easily transforming research into visually stunning, comprehensive content. Whether you’re crafting in-depth articles, detailed reports, or informative guides, Pages streamlines the process so you can focus on what matters most: sharing your knowledge with the world. Seamless creation – Pages lets you effortlessly create, organize, and share… Continue Reading
IRS opening free online tax filing program to all states
“Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that Direct File will be a permanent, free tax filing option and invited all 50 states and the District of Columbia to join in Filing Season 2025. This announcement follows a successful Pilot Program that saw 140,000 taxpayers claim more than $90… Continue Reading
Network of local news sites publishing AI written articles under fake bylines
CNN: “The articles on a local news site popping up around the country appear to cover what any community outlet would focus on: crime, local politics, weather and happenings. “In-depth reporting about your home area,” the outlet’s slogan proudly declares. But a closer look at the bylines populating the local site and a national network… Continue Reading
Why Google’s AI Overviews gets things wrong
MIT Technology Review: “When Google announced it was rolling out its artificial intelligence-powered search feature earlier this month, the company promised that “Google will do the googling for you.” The new feature, called AI Overviews, provides Search users with AI-generated snapshots highlighting key information and links to help you find what you’re searching for faster… Continue Reading
The Trump Manhattan Criminal Verdict
Via Scott McFarlane – For the history books ===> Supreme Court of the State of New York. The People of the State of New York against Donald J. Trump, defendant The New York Times – Jury Hands Down Historic Conviction in Hush-Money Case Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying records to… Continue Reading
Piecing Together the Secrets of the Stasi
The New Yorker [no paywall]: “After the Berlin Wall fell, agents of East Germany’s secret police frantically tore apart their records. Archivists have spent the past thirty years trying to restore them…Dictatorships depend on the willing. They can’t rule by compulsion alone. People support them to gain power or advance their careers, because they like… Continue Reading
A Devil’s Bargain With OpenAI
The Atlantic via MSN: The Atlantic’s CEO, Nicholas Thompson, announced in an internal email that the company has entered into a business partnership with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. (The news was made public via a press release shortly thereafter.) Editorial content from this publication will soon be directly referenced in response to queries in… Continue Reading
