Monthly archives: May, 2023

School librarians face a new penalty in the banned-book wars: Prison

Washington Post: “Librarians could face years of imprisonment and tens of thousands in fines for providing sexually explicit, obscene or “harmful” books to children under new state laws that permit criminal prosecution of school and library personnel. At least seven states have passed such laws in the last two years, according to a Washington Post …

Subjects: Censorship, Education, Free Speech, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Legislation, Libraries

Navy Library at Washington Navy Yard

“The Navy Library at the Washington Navy Yard is our nation’s oldest federal library and houses a treasure vault of material, artifacts and rare books pertaining to the Washington Navy Yard and Naval Gun Factory civilian workforce1. The library is home to the most comprehensive collection of historical literature on the United States Navy. Over 13.5% …

Subjects: Defense, Education, Government Documents, Libraries

Beyond the Safeguards: Exploring the Security Risks of ChatGPT

6 major risks of using ChatGPT, according to a new study – Beyond the Safeguards: Exploring the Security Risks of ChatGPT. Erik DernerA and Kristina Batisti, 13 May 2023. arXiv:2305.08005 “The increasing popularity of large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT has led to growing concerns about their safety, security risks, and ethical implications. This …

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Internet, Knowledge Management, Privacy

Global temperatures set to reach new records in next five years

“Global temperatures are likely to surge to record levels in the next five years, fuelled by heat-trapping greenhouse gases and a naturally occurring El Niño event, according to a new update issued by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).  There is a 66% likelihood that the annual average near-surface global temperature between 2023 and 2027 will be …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law

Majority of U.S. Twitter users say they’ve taken a break from the platform in the past year

“A majority of Americans who have used Twitter in the past year report taking a break from the platform during that time, and a quarter say they are not likely to use it a year from now, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted about five months after billionaire Elon Musk acquired the site. …

Subjects: Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Social Media

Generative AI meets copyright law

“On April 26, Pamela Samuelson, Richard M. Sherman Distinguished Professor of Law at UC Berkeley, delivered the final of four Distinguished Lectures on the Status and Future of AI, co-hosted by CITRIS Research Exchange and the Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research Group (BAIR). Samuelson’s talk explores a particularly controversial topic in the legal community: whether the …

Subjects: AI, Copyright, Internet, Legal Research

IRS submits Direct File report to Congress; Treasury Department directs pilot to evaluate key issues

“The Internal Revenue Service submitted a report today to Congress evaluating a Direct File option for taxpayers and is taking steps to begin a pilot project for the 2024 filing season following a directive from the Treasury Department. The report to Congress, required by the Inflation Reduction Act, evaluated the feasibility of providing taxpayers with …

Subjects: Congress, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legislation

Sparks of Artificial General Intelligence

Microsoft researchers published a study arguing that OpenAI’s GPT-4 AI system was progressing toward artificial general intelligence (AGI). The 155-page paper, entitled “Sparks of Artificial General Intelligence,” argues that GPT-4 is part of a new cohort of large language models (LLMs) “that exhibit more general intelligence than previous AI models.” Sparks of Artificial General Intelligence: …

Subjects: AI, Economy, Education, Internet, Knowledge Management