Paul Nicolaus, via NPR
A body of research
has shown that we might just be short-changing our own happiness by ignoring
opportunities to connect with the people around usMalcolm Gladwell's 'Talking to Strangers' Doesn't Say Much - The Atlantic
Gladwell has often built his arguments from other peoples’ sketchy statistical manipulations and the far-fetched results he’s managed to cull from social science journals. The data, taken uncritically, served to buttress anecdotes that were intended to dramatize some general truth about the human animal. What’s new in Talking to Strangers is that Gladwell doesn’t use these bits of pseudo-science to point to any larger lessons. It seems he’s no longer trying to explain much of anything. By book’s end, the best he can do is counsel a sense of realism about what we can and cannot know—a kind of epistemological modesty.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) formally launched its new Center for Strategic Foresight activities today with a conference focused on critical issues confronting policymakers today. The inaugural conference brought together experts to explore two topics with a direct bearing on the future security and well-being of the United States: the management of space policy by government and the private sector, as well as the growing use worldwide of “deep fake” synthetic media to manipulate online and real-world interactions…
.GAO created the Center to enhance its ability to identify, monitor, and analyze emerging issues. Located in GAO’s Office of Strategic Planning and External Liaison, the Center is a unique entity in the federal government, one that reflects the non-partisan independent watchdog agency’s broad mandate to provide Congress with reliable, fact-based information for overseeing federal agencies and programs. The Center currently has nine non-resident Fellows who are leading experts in foresight, planning, and futures studies. Their backgrounds include stints in government, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, academia, and international organizations…”
“The technology that allows Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to function could profoundly change the way government and industry do business. Distributed ledger technology allows the secure transfer of digital assets without management by a central authority. Instead, participants share synchronized copies of a ledger that records assets and transactions. Changes are visible to all participants. Questions remain about the technology, including where it may be most useful, how best to regulate it, and how to mitigate its use in illegal activities.”
- GAO Report and Infographics – How blockchain, a form of distributed ledger technology, acts as a means of payment for cryptocurrencies
TED Talk: “The use of deepfake technology to manipulate video and audio for malicious purposes — whether it’s to stoke violence or defame politicians and journalists — is becoming a real threat. As these tools become more accessible and their products more realistic, how will they shape what we believe about the world? In a portentous talk, law professor Danielle Citron reveals how deepfakes magnify our distrust — and suggests approaches to safeguarding the truth.”
Center for Data Innovation: “Deepfakes—realistic-looking images and videos altered by AI to portray someone doing or saying something that never actually happened—have been around since the end of 2017, yet in recent months have become a major focus of policymakers. Though image and video manipulation have posed challenges for decades, the threat of deepfakes is different. The early examples were created mostly by people editing the faces of celebrities into pornography, but in April 2018, comedian and filmmaker Jordan Peele worked with BuzzFeed to create a deepfake of President Obama, kicking off a wave of fears about the potential for deepfakes to turbocharge fake news. Congress has introduced a handful of bills designed to help address this threat but preventing deepfakes from hurting people and society will require additional solutions.
The risks posed by deepfakes, a portmanteau of “deep learning” and “fake,” fall into two camps: that this technology will intrude on individual rights, such as using a person’s likeness for profit or to create pornographic videos without their consent; and that this technology could be weaponized as a disinformation tool. To address these risks, Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) introduced the Malicious Deep Fake Prohibition Act of 2018 late last year, which would make it illegal to create, with the intent to distribute, or knowingly distribute, deepfakes that would facilitate criminal or “tortious conduct” (i.e. conduct that causes harm, but is not necessary unlawful, such as creating a deepfake that might harm someone’s reputation). And at a June House Intelligence Committee hearing, Representative Yvette Clark (D-NY) introduced the DEEPFAKES Accountability Act, which would require anyone creating a deepfake to include an irremovable digital watermark indicating it as such…”
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