The Hill: “Tens of millions of Americans each day breathe in carcinogenic chemicals that are woven into the interiors of their cars, a new study has found. While opening a window can help reduce the risk, only reforms can keep people safe, researchers wrote in a study in Environmental Science and Technology. Approximately 124 million Americans… Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Author Archives: Sabrina I. Pacifici
Dexa AI-powered podcast search engine
“Dexa’s AI-powered search engine was specifically built with multi-modal expert content in mind. We’re able to index, analyze and transcribe every conversation with such precision that we can tell users exactly who was speaking, what they said and when in the episode they said it. Already, more than 50,000 users are visiting Dexa’s site each… Continue Reading
Ordered back to the office, top tech talent left instead
Return to Office and the Tenure Distribution, David Van Dijcke1, Florian Gunsilius, and Austin Wright, Department of Economics, University of Michigan , Risk Analytics Division, Ipsos Public Affairs, Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago. May 7, 2024: “With the official end of the COVID-19 pandemic, debates about the return to office have taken… Continue Reading
How to Improve the Explanatory Power of an Intelligent Textbook: a Case Study in Legal Writing
Sovrano, F., Ashley, K., Brusilovsky, P.L. et al. How to Improve the Explanatory Power of an Intelligent Textbook: a Case Study in Legal Writing. Int J Artif Intell Educ (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40593-024-00399-w – “Explanatory processes are at the core of scientific investigation, legal reasoning, and education. However, effectively explaining complex or large amounts of information, such… Continue Reading
What actually happens within your lawn when you don’t mow it
Washington Post [link is free to read]: “Your vibrant green lawn may look lush, but it’s actually an ecological wasteland. “The idea for that ideal lawn is that nothing else can live in it,” said David Mizejewski, a naturalist with the National Wildlife Federation, a nonprofit conservation organization. “It’s like a dense, eternally green carpet.”… Continue Reading
How to Get the Most Out of EV Features in Google Maps
MakeUseOf: ” Google Maps provides info on the availability & power capacity of charging stations to ease EV trip planning. Choose the right charging station with the correct plug type for your EV to avoid issues. Utilize Google Maps & EV apps to plan road trips, extending battery life & ensuring a smooth journey. With… Continue Reading
Slop is the new name for unwanted AI-generated content
Simon Willison: “I saw this tweet yesterday from @deepfates, and I am very on board with this: Watching in real time as “slop” becomes a term of art. the way that “spam” became the term for unwanted emails, “slop” is going in the dictionary as the term for unwanted AI generated content…” I’m a big… Continue Reading
The material consequences of “chipification”: The case of software-embedded cars
Forelle, M. (2022). The material consequences of “chipification”: The case of software-embedded cars. Big Data & Society, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517221095429 “Today’s modern car is an assemblage of mechanical and digital components, of metal panels that comprise its structure and silicon chips that run its functions. Communication and information studies scholars have interrogated the problematic aspects of… Continue Reading
OpenAI, Mass Scraper of Copyrighted Work, Claims Copyright Over Subreddit’s Logo
404 Media: “OpenAI, a company that has indiscriminately scraped the internet and vast amounts of knowledge and creative works created by humans to build a company valued at roughly $80 billion, has made what Reddit described as a copyright complaint against the ChatGPT subreddit because it uses OpenAI’s logo. Moderators of the subreddit posted a… Continue Reading
Reading Digitally in 2024
Craig Mod – scroll down the page to this section – Digital Reading in 2024 – “A long time ago, in a universe far, far away, I used to write about / really care about digital reading. A whole chapter of my life / career pivoted around digital reading and books, what could be, and… Continue Reading
We need an AI constitution that protects our civil rights
FT.com [unpaywalled]: “As chief scientist of one of the first companies to use AI in hiring, I built the system that passed you over for that job. The massive employers that were our customers didn’t need to wait for your job application; we in effect applied for you, whether you knew it or not. But… Continue Reading
City Trees Save Lives
Wired: “The humble tree has long protected humans from sickness and even death—and in the modern city, it’s still doing so. As global temperatures rise, so too does the “urban heat island effect”—the tendency for cities to absorb and hold on to the sun’s energy, which is a growing public-health crisis worldwide. On a small… Continue Reading
