Facebook’s Going Back to Only Using Algorithms to Curate News

Gizmodo: “If at first the algorithms don’t succeed at stopping disinformation, just simply add humans. But if the algorithms grow too burdensome, then simply go back to the algorithm. So round and round the social media carousel we go. Meta, which owns Facebook, confirmed that the human-curated “Top Stories” section in the news tab will …

Subjects: AI, Internet, Knowledge Management, Search Engines, Social Media

Algorithms Quietly Run the City of DC and Maybe Your Hometown

EPIC: “The D.C. government outsources critical governmental decisions to automated decision-making systems in areas such as public benefits, healthcare, policing, and housing. As a result, District residents are surveilled, screened, and scored every day. But because of weak government transparency laws, opaque procurement processes, the power and influence of tech vendors, and the decline in …

Subjects: AI, E-Government, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy

Countries’ climate pledges put unrealistic demands for land ahead of emissions reductions

“Countries favour risky tree-planting schemes over protecting, restoring and sustainably managing the forests we already have standing, with research showing national carbon plans requiring a land area larger than the size of the US, or almost four times the land area of India. A new study released today is the first to calculate that countries …

Subjects: Economy, Energy, Environmental Law

The Rising Tide of Global Sadnes

The New York Times: “…The researchers Charlotte Brand, Alberto Acerbi and Alex Mesoudi analyzed more than 150,000 pop songs released between 1965 and 2015. Over that time, the appearance of the word “love” in top-100 hits roughly halved. Meanwhile, the number of times such songs contained negative emotion words, like “hate” rose sharply. Pop music …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Health Care, Internet, Social Media

How we’re using AI to help address the climate crisis

Google Blog: “…Natural disasters are increasing in frequency and intensity due to climate change. As part of our Crisis Response efforts, we’re working to bring trusted information to people in critical moments to keep them safe and informed. To do so, we rely on the research and development of our AI-powered technologies and longstanding partnerships …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law, Internet, Search Engines

New WorldCat.org connects genealogy enthusiasts, educators, and historians to the world’s libraries

OCLC: “For genealogy enthusiasts, educators, and historians, the new WorldCat.org offers an improved experience to uncover family lineages and investigate historical events. By exploring the billions of library resources from more than 10,000 libraries worldwide represented on WorldCat.org, users can find an unparalleled pool of genealogical information…As more and more hobbyists and professionals alike seek …

Subjects: Education, Internet, Knowledge Management, Libraries, Search Engines

First Street Foundation Partners with Fannie Mae to Deliver Climate Risk Insights

“Today, science and technology nonprofit First Street Foundation announced that Fannie Mae will use their high resolution, property parcel level, climate adjusted risk data to run internal research related to physical climate change impacts to the mortgage market. The data enables Fannie Mae to engage in highly granular analysis of property risk exposure to perils …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Environmental Law, Government Documents

How to Inoculate against Midterm Misinformation Campaigns

Scientific American: “A New York University professor advocates “prebunking”—sounding the alarm before a conspiracy theory spreads too widely.“We the People,” as we self-identify in the preamble to the Constitution, are more polarized than ever in these ostensibly United States. When it is misinformation that fosters this polarization, all eyes immediately turn to social media. Research …

Subjects: Congress, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Social Media