Tag Archives: artificial intelligence

The STAAR test will be graded by AI this year

Posted on April 10, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Surely something like this was inevitable. Students sitting for their STAAR exams this week will be part of a new method of evaluating Texas schools: Their written answers on the state’s standardized tests will be graded automatically by computers. The … Continue reading →

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Secretaries of State and AI

Posted on March 27, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I sure hope our SOS is ready for this. A false call from a secretary of state telling poll workers they aren’t needed on Election Day. A fake video of a state election director shredding ballots before they’re counted. An … Continue reading →

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Texas colleges and AI

Posted on March 18, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting story. When Taylor Eighmy talks to people about the growth of artificial intelligence in society, he doesn’t just see an opportunity — he feels a jolt of responsibility. The president of The University of Texas at San Antonio said … Continue reading →

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In which I learn about our use of “Dataminr”

Posted on March 11, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. The Houston Police Department will stay in the ranks of law enforcement agencies around the country using software to monitor social media for information on criminal activity following a City Council vote … Continue reading →

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How should state agencies use artificial intelligence?

Posted on January 28, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve now got a committee for that. When the Texas Workforce Commission became inundated with jobless claims in March 2020, it turned to artificial intelligence. Affectionately named for the agency’s former head Larry Temple, who had died a year earlier, … Continue reading →

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New frontiers in propaganda

Posted on March 25, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

We are at the forefront, because of course we are. Readers of the daily email newsletter of one of the country’s leading right-wing, fossil fuel-funded think tanks were treated to a bizarre sight [last] week: an AI-generated image of a … Continue reading →

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More on the limits of social media monitoring for school violence prevention

Posted on December 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Some good stuff from the DMN. When Social Sentinel representatives pitched their service to Florida’s Gulf Coast State College in 2018, they billed it as an innovative way to find threats of suicides and shootings posted online. But for the … Continue reading →

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Social media monitoring is not a solution to school shootings

Posted on June 4, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

While current Republican “solutions” for gun violence include door control and arming teachers, one “solution” that has been in place for the past few years has been monitoring social media for signs of gun-related threats. That was in place in … Continue reading →

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Enron’s other legacy

Posted on March 17, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The company is long gone, its leaders have faded into history, but Enron’s emails are forever. During its 2002 investigation of the bankruptcy of Enron, the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) checked the energy company’s emails: more than 600,000 … Continue reading →

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Is there a better way to predict flooding?

Posted on December 21, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

This startup thinks so. An artificial intelligence startup now says it can provide that warning. The company, One Concern, has announced that it can predict whether your block will flood — and if so, by how much — five days … Continue reading →

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