AI Sweeps Through Newsrooms, but Is It a Journalist or a Tool?

The New York Times [Gift Article] – A.I. has set off industrywide soul-searching about its potential and pitfalls – Artificial intelligence is sweeping through newsrooms, transforming the way journalists around the world gather and disseminate information. Traditional news organizations increasingly use tools from companies like OpenAI and Google to streamline work that used to take …

Subjects: AI, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Codifying the Constitution’s Emoluments Clauses

The Brennan Center – “To prevent corruption, the Constitution prohibits the president and other officials from receiving untoward benefits. Congress, however, must take action to enable enforcement. A number of President Donald Trump’s actions in his second term potentially violate the Constitution’s Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses. These clauses bar the president and other federal …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Cryptocurrency, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

Is This Woman Old Master the Greatest Artistic Rediscovery of the Century?

Via Semafor – “Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum is hosting the first major exhibition of 17th-century painter Michaelina Wautier. Virtually unknown today, Wautier painted across genres, including portraiture, still life, and even historical scenes, which usually required the study of live models, a practice women were banned from. The exhibition includes 29 paintings, including Triumph of Bacchus, …

Subjects: Education

To Preserve Records, Homeland Security Now Relies on Officials to Take Screenshots

The New York Times Gift Article: “Experts say the new policy, which ditches software that automatically captured text messages, opens ample room for both willful and unwitting noncompliance with federal records laws. The Department of Homeland Security has stopped using software that automatically captured text messages and saved trails of communication between officials, according to …

Subjects: Data Governance, E-Government, E-Records, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents show

Reuters: “Meta projected 10% of its 2024 revenue would come from ads for scams and banned goods, documents seen by Reuters show. And the social media giant internally estimates that its platforms show users 15 billion scam ads a day. Among its responses to suspected rogue marketers: charging them a premium for ads – and …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Legal Research, Marketing, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, November 8, 2025

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, November 8, 2025 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and …

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Privacy, Search Engines

Google Maps will start incorporating generative AI to create an “all-knowing copilot”

Semafor: “Users can ask open-ended questions, such as “What’s parking like at my destination?” or “Is there a good restaurant nearby?” It’s part of Google’s wider move toward AI: Google’s Meet, Docs, and Calendar all have AI functionality via the company’s Gemini model, and its AI can also read all of your Gmail messages. As …

Subjects: AI, E-Mail, E-Records, Knowledge Management, Privacy, Search Engines, Transportation

After Law Firm Deals With Trump, D.C. Bar Warns of Ethical Jeopardy

Follow up to previous post – How Trump’s crackdown on law firms is undermining legal defenses for the vulnerable…Read the D.C. Bar legal ethics committee opinion. The New York Times: “Months after law firms made deals with President Trump to ward off punitive executive orders, the ethics committee of the District of Columbia Bar is …

Subjects: Censorship, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

AI isn’t replacing jobs. AI spending is

Fast Company – “Big spending on artificial intelligence puts pressure on jobs, as gloomy narratives about the future of work are ironically making new graduates less employable.. For decades now, we have been told that artificial intelligence systems will soon replace human workers. Sixty years ago, for example, Herbert Simon, who received a Nobel Prize …

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

Google’s Hidden Empire

Google’s Hidden Empire: This paper presents striking new data about the scale of Google’s involvement in the global digital and corporate landscape, head and shoulders above the other big tech firms. While public attention and some antitrust scrutiny has focused on these firms’ mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activities, Google has also been amassing an empire …

Subjects: E-Commerce, E-Records, Economy, Financial System, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines

Whistleblower docs show Maxwell seeking commutation

Follow up to Epstein survivors sue Bank of America and Bank of New York Mellon – The Hill: “Documents provided by a whistleblower show Ghislaine Maxwell has asked President Trump to commute her sentence as prison employees suggest she has received “concierge-style treatment” at a new facility where she is being given custom meals and access …

Subjects: Censorship, Congress, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research