Coming to terms with the Unknown

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A Dutch experiment gave subjects a series of jolts of electricity. The group was divided into those who knew they would receive 20 shocks and those who were told they would receive 17 mild shocks and 3 intense jolts. The second group wasn't told which shock was coming when. 

The researchers found that the group that did not know what was coming had a higher level of anxiety, even though they received fewer hits. The group facing uncertainty sweated more, and their hearts beat faster.  

Anticipation of the unknown creates more stress than knowing something bad is going to happen. We prefer knowing a sure thing, even if it is bad news, to suspecting there may be bad news waiting for us ahead. 

It’s hard to come to terms with the unknown. When we know what we are facing, we are able to grieve and move forward. But when we don’t know whether to grieve or not, when we don’t know whether to feel relief or not, we become stuck in the land of uncertainty. 

Stephen Goforth

Judgment can’t be Automated

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There is little doubt A.I. will be transformative. And yet, for all the disruption it promises, I am struck by how much will remain unchanged. The most consequential decisions in business have never been about processing information faster or detecting patterns more efficiently. The most salient concerns are questions such as what kind of enterprise a firm should aspire to be, what culture it should embrace, what risks it should tolerate and how its leaders can plan when the path forward is unclear. These are questions of judgment, and judgment cannot be automated — at least not any time soon. - Blair Effron writing in The New York Times

26 Recent Articles about the Dangers of AI

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World ‘may not have time’ to prepare for AI safety risks, says leading researcher – The Guardian  

The Dangerous Paradox of A.I. Abundance – The New Yorker

‘Dangerous and alarming’: Google removes some of its AI summaries after users’ health put at risk – The Guardian  

The Risks of Kid-Friendly AI Learning Toys – EdWeek

There’s One Easy Solution to the A.I. Porn Problem – New York Times 

How to kill a rogue AI Shutting off the internet? Detonating a nuke in space? None of the options are very appealing. - Vox

Grok AI is undressing anyone, including minors - The Verge  

Recovering from AI delusions means learning to chat to humans again – Washington Post

A teen’s final weeks with ChatGPT illustrate the AI suicide crisis - The Washington Post

The rise of deepfake cyberbullying poses a growing problem for schools – MSN

AI's energy gusher - Axios

Boys at her school shared AI-generated, nude images of her. After a fight, she was the one expelled - MSN 

It’s their job to keep AI from destroying everything Spoiler: the nine-person team works for Anthropic. – The Verge  

Fears About A.I. Prompt Talks of Super PACs to Rein In the Industry  - New York Times

Teens Are Saying Tearful Goodbyes to Their AI Companions – Wall Street Journal

AI jury finds teen not guilty: The mock trial at the UNC School of Law raises questions about AI’s role in criminal justice. – UNC  

Is AI making some people delusional? Families and experts are worried – LA Times 

A Researcher Made an AI That Completely Breaks the Online Surveys Scientists Rely On – 404 Media

AI is changing the relationship between journalist and audience. There is much at stake – The Guardian

Don't fall into the anti-AI hype - antirez 

The Adolescence of Technology Confronting and Overcoming the Risks of Powerful AI – Dario Amodei  

Inside an AI start-up’s plan to scan and dispose of millions of books - Washington Post

The Hidden Dangers of AI-Driven Mental Health Care – Psychology Today 

The dangers of not teaching students how to use AI responsibly – Phys.org

Pope Leo warns of dangers of AI, emphasizes dignity of human faces, voices – Catholic Culture

Rich countries’ greater use of AI risks deepening inequality, Anthropic warns – Financial Times

15 Articles about AI’s future

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Leaders' AI Strategies Reveal What They Think of Their People

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AI is forcing every leader into a choice they can’t dodge: do you believe your people are fundamentally creative and motivated, or lazy and in need of control?  Most leaders won’t want to answer that honestly, but their AI strategy already has. Douglas McGregor was a social psychologist and MIT Sloan professor who, in 1960, argued that leaders don’t just manage from goals and objectives; they manage from hidden assumptions about human nature. He called one cluster of assumptions Theory X: the belief that people dislike work, avoid responsibility, and need tight control and incentives to perform. The contrasting Theory Y assumed that, given the right conditions, people will seek responsibility, exercise self-direction, and bring far more creativity and judgment than most organizations ever tap. When leaders push AI in ways that amplify surveillance, shrink autonomy, or quietly replace judgment with automation, they aren’t just “modernizing,” they’re hard-coding Theory X into the operating system of work. Here’s the thing about Theory X/Y: McGregor wasn’t arguing which was right, whether employees were fundamentally lazy or capable, but that managerial beliefs become self-fulfilling. - Bud Waddell writing in Fast Company

21 Articles about AI & Legal Issues

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85 Predictions for AI and the Law in 2026 – National Law Review

How Judges Are Using AI to Help Decide Your Legal Dispute - Wall Street Journal 

New York Times publisher: AI is using our facts without paying for them – Mediate

AI Surveillance Systems Are Causing a Staggering Number of Wrongful Arrests – Futurism

Researchers find compelling evidence that AI models are copying data, not just learning from it – Futurism  

The NYT sued Perplexity claiming it repeatedly used its copyrighted work without permission. – New York Times

Matthew McConaughey Trademarks Himself to Fight AI Misuse – Wall Street Journal

Say Goodbye to the Billable Hour, Thanks to AI – Wall Street Journal

Deepfake of North Carolina lawmaker used in award-winning Whirlpool video - Washington Post

Prosecutor Used Flawed A.I. to Keep a Man in Jail, His Lawyers Say - New York Times

AI jury finds teen not guilty: The mock trial at the UNC School of Law raises questions about AI’s role in criminal justice. – University of North Carolina

Is AI making some people delusional? Families and experts are worried – LA Times

White House drafts order directing Justice Department to sue states that pass AI regulations - Washington Post

Ontario man alleges ChatGPT drove him to psychosis, leading him to the delusion that he could save the world. – CTV

Who Pays When A.I. Is Wrong? - New York Times

OpenAI fights order to turn over millions of ChatGPT conversations – Reuters   

I Built a Python Script to Make 10,000 Laws Understandable – Hackeroon

AI's Copyright Dilemma Affects All of Us, Even You. Here's What You Need to Know – CNET

Vigilante Lawyers Expose the Rising Tide of A.I. Slop in Court Filings - New York Times

An online database tracking AI “fabricated cases” cited in court filings -  Damien Charlotin

South Korea launches landmark laws to regulate AI, startups warn of compliance burdens – Reuters

AI definitions: Open Source AI

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Open Source AI – The underlying source code of an AI is available to the public, including other businesses and researchers. It can be used, modified, and improved by anyone. Closed AI means access to the code is tightly controlled by the company that produced it. The closed model gives users greater certainty as to what they are getting, but open source allows for more innovation. Of course, once it’s out in the wild, open-source AI is impossible to corral. It could be used to spread disinformation or cause other serious harm. Open-source AI would include Stable Diffusion, Hugging Face, Llama (created by Meta), and DeepSeek (from China). Closed Source AI would include Google’s Bard and, despite its name, OpenAI (creator of ChatGPT).

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An AI Prompt Strategy

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The difference between a bot with access to infinite knowledge and a good human doctor is that the doctor knows how to answer a question with more questions. That’s how you actually solve someone’s problem. An AI strategy I now use regularly: front-load your queries to a chatbot with as many details as you can think of, knowing that the AI might not stop to ask for some of them before trying to answer. Instead of “summarize this lease,” try “summarize this lease for a renter in D.C., flagging clauses about fees, renewal and early termination.” -Washington Post

 

24 Articles about Relationships with AI

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She built an AI bot of her mother to help her grieve – Rest of World

AI romance is not a bug It’s Big Tech’s most dangerous feature. – Fast Company

Could AI relationships actually be good for us?  - The Guardian

A religious fervor surrounds our relationship with technology. – New York Times 

Inside Google's vision to make Gmail your personal AI agent command center - ZDnet

AI Romance is Perverse – Christianity Today  

Man Who Had Managed Mental Illness Effectively for Years Says ChatGPT Sent Him Into Hospitalization for Psychosis – Futurism

They hear, but do they care? What AI can teach us about listening better – BBC  

People Are Paying $99 a Month to Talk to a Tony Robbins Chatbot – Wall Street Journal 

Recovering from AI delusions means learning to chat to humans again – Washington Post

AI companions: "The new imaginary friend" redefining children's friendships – Axios

A mom thought her daughter was texting friends before her suicide. It was an AI chatbot. – CBS News 

A teen’s final weeks with ChatGPT illustrate the AI suicide crisis - The Washington Post

A Prompt Engineering Framework for Large Language Model-Based Mental Health Chatbots - PubMed

Empathetic, Available, Cheap: When A.I. Offers What Doctors Don’t – New York Times

Teens Are Saying Tearful Goodbyes to Their AI Companions - Wall Street Journal

The Biggest AI Companies Met to Find a Better Path for Chatbot Companions – Wired

Is AI making some people delusional? Families and experts are worried – LA Times

Instead of an AI Health Coach, You Could Just Have Friends – Wired

Admit it, You're in a Relationship with AI – Bloomberg

The People who Marry Chatbots – The Atlantic  

Google and Character.AI to Settle Lawsuit Over Teenager’s Death - New York Times

AI companions: "The new imaginary friend" redefining children's friendships - Axios

Here's Why You Shouldn't Let AI Run Your Social Life - TIME

24 Webinars this week about AI, Journalism & Media

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Tue, Jan 27- Journalism, Media, & Technology Trends and Predictions 2026

What: This report examines how generative AI, shifting audience behaviors, and the rise of creators are accelerating change across the news industry. Join the lead as he presents and discusses the report’s key findings.

Who: Mitali Mukherjee Director, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism; Nic Newman, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism; Joanna Webster, Global Editor, Agency News Strategy, Reuters.

When: 9 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

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Tue, Jan 27- Rethinking Visual Design in eLearning with Generative AI

What: We’ll explore how AI-powered image generation is reshaping the way instructional designers create visuals for eLearning. You’ll see how generative AI can help you move beyond generic stock images to create purposeful, contextual, and consistent visuals—faster than ever before.

Who: Sharath Ramaswamy Senior eLearning Evangelist, Adobe.

When: 11 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Adobe

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Tue, Jan 27- How journalism collaboratives can accept corporate sponsorships

What: This webinar will help collaboratives understand the range of sponsorship opportunities, including in-kind partnerships, event sponsorship support, and funding for editorial projects, with a focus on how they can work effectively for journalism collaboratives.

Who: Emily Dresslar, Partnerships & Philanthropy at The Assembly.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Center for Cooperative Media

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Tue, Jan 27- Enhancing independence with the Meta Glasses

What: This workshop will explore the emerging role of Meta Glasses as assistive technology and examine how wearable AI can enhance independence and everyday functioning for people with diverse needs. We will highlight features such as object identification and text interpretation, along with practical examples across school, work, home, and community settings. The session will also demonstrate how the glasses can be pivotal for users with mobility limitations, low vision, or executive function challenges.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Pacer Center

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Tue, Jan 27- 2026 AI Trends That Will Transform Your Organization

What: Learn practical strategies to strengthen digital visibility, protect your data, personalize outreach at scale, and streamline internal processes with intelligent automation. Whether your organization is just beginning its AI journey or is looking to accelerate adoption, this presentation and Q&A will empower you to confidently navigate the future and position your team for long-term success. Tapp Network will guide you through actionable steps to harness AI as a strategic advantage and become a leader in innovation within your industry.

Who: Joe DiGiovanni, Tapp Network, Co-Founder; Kyle Barkins, Tapp Network , Co-Founder.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: TechSoup

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Tue, Jan 27- Should publishers block AI bots from scraping their content?

What: We will show you how AI actually impacts different types of publishers, how blocking AI bots impacts your visibility and website traffic, loopholes that AI companies use to scrape your content, and how to block AI bots effectively.

Who: Eric Shanfelt Founding Partner, Nearview Media.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Local Media Association

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Tue, Jan 27- Ghostwriting, Meet AI: Build a Custom GPT That Captures Your Exec’s Voice  

What: We will guide you step-by-step through building a GPT that writes in your executive’s voice. Following this webinar, you’ll have a tool ready to draft posts, speeches, internal memos or thought-leadership pieces, retaining tone, cadence and personality while giving your team speed and scale.    

Who: Allison Carter is the editor-in-chief of PR Daily and Ragan Communications.

When: 3 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: $40 members.

Sponsor: Public Relations Society of America

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Wed, Jan 28 - Datawrapper’s API: A Beginner’s Guide with Python

What: How to use Datawrapper’s API with Python to automate chart creation and integrate data visualization into your workflow.

Who: Datawrapper Product Specialist Guillermina Sutter Schneider.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Datawrapper

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Wed, Jan 28 - ChatGPT at Work: What Top Performers are Doing Differently

What: We’ll share what top-performing ChatGPT users do differently to change how they work, their impact, and their career trajectory.

Who: Jen Beltran, AI Deployment Manager, OpenAI.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: OpenAI Academy

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Wed, Jan 28 - Building AI-Ready Teams: Unlocking Your People’s Potential in Partnership With AI

What: In this webinar, you’ll learn how to:  Build your team’s confidence in using AI and clarity around its use within your organization; Model responsible use, remove roadblocks and celebrate wins so that new workflows stick and scale; Spot high-value AI opportunities and create repeatable habits that spread AI adoption and results; Guide yourself and your team to use AI with purpose, consistency and measurable outcomes.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: FranklinCovey

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Wed, Jan 28 - Freelance Pitch Panel  

What: Freelancers of all experience levels will learn from seasoned editors about best pitching practices and common pitching pitfalls, have their pitches critiqued and get advice on how to build a robust and diverse freelance portfolio.

Who: Allison Entrekin, Executive Editor, Southbound Magazine; Paul Fain, Co-founder and Editor, Work Shift; Lou Harry, Editor-in-Chief, Quill Magazine; Collin Kelley, Executive Editor, Atlanta Intown and Rough Draft; Laura Kate Whitney, Editor-at-Large, Good Grit.

Mark Woolsey, SPJ Georgia At-Large Board Member

When: 6:30 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Society of Professional Journalists, Georgia

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Wed, Jan 28 - AI-Palooza: Tools for Journalists & Communicators

What: Ways journalists and communicators can use AI ethically, enabling both groups to do their jobs smarter and better.

Who: Benét Wilson, owner/editor-in-chief of Aviation Queen.

When: 7 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: National Association of Black Journalists

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Wed, Jan 28 - Citizen Journalism 101: Local Voices, Real Stories

What: The Power of Local Stories — Mission, Ideas & Purpose - Why local journalism matters — from holding power to celebrating people. Explore different types of stories; Finding your first story; Where stories begin.

Who: Journalist Kristin Palpini.

When: 7 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Urban Media Arts

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Thu, Jan 29 - Collecting Public Opinion During Conflict

What: How AI-assisted methods can be applied to actual public opinion research, especially on highly sensitive and polarized issues. It provides valuable insights for exploring new methods of polling and consensus-building.

Who: Andrew Konya, Remesh USA.

When: 9 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: World Association for Public Opinion Research

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Thu, Jan 29 - Social Media Marketing

What: This session breaks down social media marketing into manageable steps you can actually maintain.  You’ll learn: How to choose the right platforms for your business; What types of posts work best; How to stay consistent without burnout.

When: 11:30 am

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Small Business Development Center, Gannon University 

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Thu, Jan 29 - Disinformation Detox: Teaching Disinformation from Inside the Information Ecosystem

What: Participants will leave with a complete worked example of the assignment, a menu of theoretical lenses.This session is designed for media and information literacy educators who want to move beyond fact-checking checklists toward pedagogical practices that mirror the complexity of the information systems our students inhabit.     

Who: Gina Marcello, Rutgers University.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Media Education Lab

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Thu, Jan 29 - Covering Policies that Restrict DEI 

What: Hear from a policy analyst, civil rights lawyer and journalist who can provide attendees with insights into policies and legislation from the state house to the White House. Reporters can expect to walk away with tools to stay ahead of the story and avoid missing critical developments happening in legislative halls, federal agencies, college campuses and classrooms.

Who: Arthur Coleman, founding partner, EducationCounsel; Heidi Tseu, assistant vice president of national engagement, American Council on Education; Brooklyn Draisey, higher education reporter, Iowa Capital Dispatch.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Education Writers Association

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Thu, Jan 29 - The 2026 Advertising Reset: Frameworks for AI and Measurement

What: How to support faster audience creation, more resilient measurement, and smarter budget decisions across paid media, without sacrificing governance or control. You’ll see how leaders are navigating new advertising hurdles with AI-driven systems that connect audience intelligence, real-time qualification, rapid experimentation, and continuous optimization.

Who: Sohail Wadera, Senior Engineering Manager, Autodesk; Colleen Wolfe, Uniphore.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Uniphore

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Thu, Jan 29 - Copyright in the Age of Generative AI

What: Stay informed on how shifting copyright laws and policy debates are responding to generative AI. This session explores recent legislative developments, emerging case law, and practical guidance for libraries navigating AI driven content and copyright questions.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Idaho Commission for Libraries

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Thu, Jan 29 - Strategies for Overcoming Writer's Block 

What: Tips and tricks that will get you in the flow and writing like a professional. Whether you're a beginner or advanced, these tools are ones that anyone will find enlightening and invaluable.

Who: Derek Taylor Kent is the author of 19 books.

When: 1:30 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Author Learning Center

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Thu, Jan 29 - What’s New with AI in PowerPoint Copilot?

What: You’ll see how Copilot can help develop story outlines that relate to your audience, create highly graphic slides, manipulate images, update data, align slide content, and create useful summaries and handouts to share as resources afterwards. And, given that this is being written several months before we go live, who knows what else will come through. 

Who: Richard Goring, Director, BrightCarbon.

When: 3 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: ispring

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Thu, Jan 29 - Amplify your voice: How to build credibility and connections on LinkedIn

What: How to use LinkedIn with the intention to build authentic connections, expand your reach, and strengthen your professional reputation.  

Who: Cory Welsh, LinkedIn

When: 3 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: USC Anneberg School for Communication & Journalism

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Fri, Jan 30 - How to Legally Protect Your Newsgathering, with the Cornell First Amendment Clinic's Local Journalism Project

What: A free webinar for journalists on how they can legally protect their newsgathering.  The program will include a refresher on the basics of defamation law, how to strengthen an article against any potential defamation claim, what to avoid in terms of internal communications that could be twisted in later litigation, best practices for protecting sources, your right to record law enforcement, etc.

When: 11 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: The Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic

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Fri, Jan 30 - ASERL Copyright Office Hour

What: Please bring your puzzling and perplexing copyright questions.

When: 3 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Association of Southeastern Research Libraries

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Knowledge collapse

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In a world where AI increasingly mediates access to knowledge, future generations might lose connection with vast bodies of experience, insight and wisdom. AI developers might argue that this is simply a data problem, solvable by incorporating more diverse sources into training datasets. While that might be technically possible, the challenges of data sourcing, prioritization and representation are far more complex than such a solution implies. - Deepak Varuvel Dennisonis

AI Definitions: Liquid Foundation Models

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Liquid Foundation Models (LFM) – This type of AI has a smaller memory footprint but packs greater computational power than the transformer models found in most GenAI systems. Using fewer parameters and neurons than transformers, LFMs are designed to handle a variety of sequential data (such as text, video, and audio) with significant accuracy. LFMs do not rely on existing frameworks as transformers do. They are built from the ground up (that is, built on “first principles”).

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17 Recent Articles about AI Fakes

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