Republicans propose prohibiting US states from regulating AI for 10 years; The Guardian, May 14, 2025

Johana Bhuiyan, The Guardian; Republicans propose prohibiting US states from regulating AI for 10 years

"Republicans in US Congress are trying to bar states from being able to introduce or enforce laws that would create guardrails for artificial intelligence or automated decision-making systems for 10 years.

A provision in the proposed budgetary bill now before the House of Representatives would prohibit any state or local governing body from pursuing “any law or regulation regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems” unless the purpose of the law is to “remove legal impediments to, or facilitate the deployment or operation of” these systems...

The bill defines AI systems and models broadly, with anything from facial recognition systems to generative AI qualifying. The proposed law would also apply to systems that use algorithms or AI to make decisions including for hiring, housing and whether someone qualifies for public benefits.

Many of these automated decision-making systems have recently come under fire. The deregulatory proposal comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed by several state attorneys general against the property management software RealPage, which the lawsuit alleges colluded with landlords to raise rents based on the company’s algorithmic recommendations. Another company, SafeRent, recently settled a class-action lawsuit filed by Black and Hispanic renters who say they were denied apartments based on an opaque score the company gave them."

Anthropic expert accused of using AI-fabricated source in copyright case; Reuters, May 13, 2025

Blake Brittain , Reuters; Anthropic expert accused of using AI-fabricated source in copyright case

"Van Keulen asked Anthropic to respond by Thursday to the accusation, which the company said appeared to be an inadvertent citation error. He rejected the music companies' request to immediately question the expert but said the allegation presented "a very serious and grave issue," and that there was "a world of difference between a missed citation and a hallucination generated by AI.""

Position Statement on the Termination of Dr. Carla Hayden as Librarian of Congress; Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T), May 14, 2025

Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T); Statement on the Termination of Dr. Carla Hayden as Librarian of Congress

"The Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) expresses its profound shock, dismay, and concern at the abrupt termination of Dr. Carla Hayden from her position as the 14th Librarian of Congress.

Dr. Hayden’s tenure marked a historic chapter not only for the Library of Congress but also for the global library and information science (LIS) community. As the first woman and the first African American to hold this esteemed role, she was an international symbol of progress, equity, and the transformative power of open, democratic access to information. Her leadership consistently demonstrated a steadfast commitment to the modernization of information systems, the preservation of cultural heritage, and the championing of marginalized voices within the national and global record.

The removal of Dr. Hayden from office represents a significant and troubling moment for the LIS profession in the United States. It sends an unsettling message about the value placed on diverse leadership, the independence of cultural institutions, and the role of libraries as defenders of intellectual freedom and access to information in a democratic society. Her absence will leave a deep void in national policy conversations surrounding digital preservation, equitable access to information, and the future of public knowledge institutions.

Moreover, the repercussions of this decision are not confined to the United States. Dr. Hayden was a globally respected figure, fostering international collaborations, advancing digital initiatives that transcended national borders, and advocating for the preservation and accessibility of the world’s cultural memory. The termination of her leadership risks undermining critical global partnerships and weakening the collective efforts of the international information science community to build inclusive, forward-looking, and ethically grounded information infrastructures.

ASIS&T calls upon decision-makers to recognize the indispensable role of professional, independent, and visionary leadership in stewarding our most vital information institutions. We urge transparency in the processes surrounding this decision and reaffirm our solidarity with the broader LIS community in advocating for principles of equity, access, and the public good in all matters concerning information stewardship.

We extend our deepest appreciation to Dr. Carla Hayden for her exemplary service and leadership and commit ourselves to upholding the values she so powerfully embodied throughout her career."

We Study Fascism, and We’re Leaving the U.S.; The New York Times, May 14, 2025

Marci ShoreTimothy Snyder and Jason Stanley

Video by Francesca Trianni and James Robinson

, The New York Times; We Study Fascism, and We’re Leaving the U.S.

"Legal residents of the United States sent to foreign prisons without due process. Students detained after voicing their opinions. Federal judges threatened with impeachment for ruling against the administration’s priorities.

In the Opinion video above, Marci Shore, Timothy Snyder and Jason Stanley, all professors at Yale and experts in authoritarianism, explain why America is especially vulnerable to a democratic backsliding — and why they are leaving the United States to take up positions at the University of Toronto."

The Professors Are Using ChatGPT, and Some Students Aren’t Happy About It; The New York Times, May 14, 2025

Kashmir Hill , The New York Times; The Professors Are Using ChatGPT, and Some Students Aren’t Happy About It

"When ChatGPT was released at the end of 2022, it caused a panic at all levels of education because it made cheating incredibly easy. Students who were asked to write a history paper or literary analysis could have the tool do it in mere seconds. Some schools banned it while others deployed A.I. detection services, despite concerns about their accuracy.

But, oh, how the tables have turned. Now students are complaining on sites like Rate My Professors about their instructors’ overreliance on A.I. and scrutinizing course materials for words ChatGPT tends to overuse, like “crucial” and “delve.” In addition to calling out hypocrisy, they make a financial argument: They are paying, often quite a lot, to be taught by humans, not an algorithm that they, too, could consult for free."

Audible unveils plans to use AI voices to narrate audiobooks; The Guardian, May 13, 2025

Lucy Knight, The Guardian; Audible unveils plans to use AI voices to narrate audiobooks

"Audible has announced plans to use AI technology to narrate audiobooks, with AI translation to follow.

The Amazon-owned audiobook provider has said it will be making its AI production technology available to certain publishers via “select partnerships”."

Episcopal Church refuses to resettle white Afrikaners, citing moral opposition; NPR, May 12, 2025

Jack Jenkins , NPR; Episcopal Church refuses to resettle white Afrikaners, citing moral opposition

"In a striking move that ends a nearly four-decades-old relationship between the federal government and the Episcopal Church, the denomination announced on Monday that it is terminating its partnership with the government to resettle refugees, citing moral opposition to resettling white Afrikaners from South Africa who have been classified as refugees by President Trump's administration.

In a letter sent to members of the church, the Most Rev. Sean W. Rowe — the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church — said that two weeks ago, the government "informed Episcopal Migration Ministries that under the terms of our federal grant, we are expected to resettle white Afrikaners from South Africa whom the U.S. government has classified as refugees.""

Trump strikes a blow for AI – by firing the US copyright supremo; The Guardian, May 13, 2025

Blake Montgomery , The Guardian; Trump strikes a blow for AI – by firing the US copyright supremo

"Over the weekend, Donald Trump fired the head of the US copyright office, CBS News reported. Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, was sacked after she issued a report questioning AI companies’ growing need for more data and casting doubt on their expressed need to circumvent current copyright laws.

In a statement, New York Democratic representative Joe Morelle pointed specifically to Trump’s booster-in-chief Elon Musk as a motivator for Perlmutter’s firing: “Donald Trump’s termination of register of copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, is a brazen, unprecedented power grab with no legal basis. It is surely no coincidence he acted less than a day after she refused to rubber-stamp Elon Musk’s efforts to mine troves of copyrighted works to train AI models.”

Trump’s abrupt severing of the copyright chief from her job reminds me of the Gordian knot. Legend has it that Alexander the Great was presented with a knot in a rope tying a cart to a stake. So complex were its twistings that no man had been able to untie it of the hundreds who had tried. Alexander silently drew his sword and sliced the knot in two. The story is one of a great man demonstrating the ingenuity that would lead him to conquer the world. Alexander did solve the riddle. He also defeated its purpose. The cart is left with no anchor. Perhaps the riddle had taken on more significance than the original problem of keeping the cart in place, but that is a question for another day.

Trump may have cut through any thorny legal questions the copyright office had raised, but the vacuum at the head of the US’s copyright authority means that richer and better-connected players will run roughshod over copyright law in the course of their business. That may be what the president wants. The more powerful players in lawsuits over AI and copyright are undoubtedly the well capitalized AI companies, as much as I want artists to be paid in abundance for their creativity. These tech companies have cozied up to Trump in an effort to ensure a friendlier regulatory environment, which seems to be working if the firing of the copyright chief is any evidence. Lawsuits over how much AI companies owe artists and publishers for their surreptitious use of copyrighted material with an avowed lack of permission still abound, and both plaintiffs and defendants will be taking their cues from the US copyright office."

Trump Installs Top Justice Dept. Official at Library of Congress, Prompting a Standoff; The New York Times, May 12, 2025

Maya C. Miller and Devlin Barrett , The New York Times; Trump Installs Top Justice Dept. Official at Library of Congress, Prompting a Standoff

"Around 9 a.m., the two Justice Department officials arrived at the library’s James Madison Memorial Building and sought access to the U.S. Copyright Office, which is housed there. They brought a letter from the White House declaring that Mr. Blanche was the acting librarian and that he had selected the two men for top roles at the agency.

They were Paul Perkins, an associate deputy attorney general who the letter said would serve as the acting register of copyrights and the director of the Copyright Office, and Brian Nieves, a deputy chief of staff and senior policy counsel who had been designated as the acting deputy librarian. Mr. Trump also fired the previous director of the Copyright Office, Shira Perlmutter, over the weekend, one of the people said.

Staff members at the library balked and called the U.S. Capitol Police as well as their general counsel, Meg Williams, who told the two officials that they were not allowed access to the Copyright Office and asked them to leave, one of the people said.

Mr. Perkins and Mr. Nieves then left the building willingly, accompanied to the door by Ms. Williams. The library’s staff is recognizing Robert Newlen, the principal deputy librarian who was Dr. Hayden’s No. 2, as the acting librarian until it gets direction from Congress, one of the people familiar with the situation said.

In a brief email to the staff on Monday, Mr. Newlen noted that the White House had named a new acting librarian and suggested that the matter was still unresolved."

WATCH: Democracy is breaking. Do people care?; The Ink, May 12, 2025

 ANAND GIRIDHARADAS, RUTH BEN-GHIAT, AND ANDREW, The Ink; WATCH: Democracy is breaking. Do people care?

"Donald Trump is waging war on the American republic. Why don’t more people care? 

Today I had a conversation I won’t easily forget that sought answers to this question.

Are we living through the familiar, well-worn descent into authoritarianism? Or are we witnessing a new phenomenon, specific to modern life, in which people have enough of a subjective feeling of freedom in their personal lives that they are willing to carve out political freedoms they tell themselves they don’t need? Years ago, I found this attitude reporting in China. I asked my guests if it was now happening here.

What is freedom, really? Does a world of broad consumer choices and job options and infinite scrolling somehow cause people not to recognize they’re in a slow-motion emergency? And what does this mean for how defenders of democracy should make their case? I talked about all of this and more with the scholar of fascism Ruth Ben-Ghiat of Lucid and journalist Andrew Marantz, who has a great piece in The New Yorker about the parallels between Hungary and what the U.S. is headed towards."

US Copyright Office found AI companies sometimes breach copyright. Next day its boss was fired; The Register, May 12, 2025

 Simon Sherwood, The Register; US Copyright Office found AI companies sometimes breach copyright. Next day its boss was fired

"The head of the US Copyright Office has reportedly been fired, the day after agency concluded that builders of AI models use of copyrighted material went beyond existing doctrines of fair use.

The office’s opinion on fair use came in a draft of the third part of its report on copyright and artificial intelligence. The first part considered digital replicas and the second tackled whether it is possible to copyright the output of generative AI.

The office published the draft [PDF] of Part 3, which addresses the use of copyrighted works in the development of generative AI systems, on May 9th.

The draft notes that generative AI systems “draw on massive troves of data, including copyrighted works” and asks: “Do any of the acts involved require the copyright owners’ consent or compensation?”"

The hidden ways Trump, DOGE are shutting down parts of the U.S. government; The Washington Post, May 11, 2025

Hannah Natanson

 and 

Maxine Joselow

, The Washington Post ; The hidden ways Trump, DOGE are shutting down parts of the U.S. government

[Kip Currier: Billionaires and millionaires doing everything they can to intentionally break our federal government is unconscionably amoral and appalling.

Think about all of the people being hurt by these actions, as highlighted in this Washington Post article. While the richest man in the world gaslights people that this will benefit them.

Now imagine all of the millions and millions of people being hurt by Trump 2.0 whose stories we don't know.]

[Excerpt]

"Across the federal government, Trump officials are halting a wide range of operations by declining to approve key funds. This unofficial hold on many activities has incapacitated many agencies’ divisions, even though they remain technically intact...

Elon Musk, who is preparing to step back from his work leading DOGE, recently told reporters at the White House that his team had remade the government in a way that would benefit Americans.

“In the grand scheme of things, I think we’ve been effective,” he said. “Not as effective as I’d like. I think we could be more effective. But we’ve made progress.”

However, Donald Moynihan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, said the Trump administration and DOGE appear to be “deliberately embedding red tape into government” by instituting “needless additional reviews of already-approved grants.”

“This makes sense if you assume that the purpose of DOGE is not to make government work better,” Moynihan said in an email, “but to stop government from working at all.”"

Trump fires Copyright Office director after report raises questions about AI training; TechCrunch, May 11, 2025

 Anthony Ha , TechCrunch; Trump fires Copyright Office director after report raises questions about AI training

"As for how this ties into Musk (a Trump ally) and AI, Morelle linked to a pre-publication version of a U.S. Copyright Office report released this week that focuses on copyright and artificial intelligence. (In fact, it’s actually part three of a longer report.)

In it, the Copyright Office says that while it’s “not possible to prejudge” the outcome of individual cases, there are limitations on how much AI companies can count on “fair use” as a defense when they train their models on copyrighted content. For example, the report says research and analysis would probably be allowed.

“But making commercial use of vast troves of copyrighted works to produce expressive content that competes with them in existing markets, especially where this is accomplished through illegal access, goes beyond established fair use boundaries,” it continues.

The Copyright Office goes on to suggest that government intervention “would be premature at this time,” but it expresses hope that “licensing markets” where AI companies pay copyright holders for access to their content “should continue to develop,” adding that “alternative approaches such as extended collective licensing should be considered to address any market failure.”

AI companies including OpenAI currently face a number of lawsuits accusing them of copyright infringement, and OpenAI has also called for the U.S. government to codify a copyright strategy that gives AI companies leeway through fair use.

Musk, meanwhile, is both a co-founder of OpenAI and of a competing startup, xAI (which is merging with the former Twitter). He recently expressed support for Square founder Jack Dorsey’s call to “delete all IP law.”"

Copyright and Artificial Intelligence Part 3: Generative AI Training, Pre-Publication; U.S. Copyright Office, May 2025

 U.S. Copyright Office; Copyright and Artificial Intelligence Part 3: Generative AI Training, Pre-Publication

Trump fires top US copyright official; Politico, May 10, 2025

KATHERINE TULLY-MCMANUS , Politico; Trump fires top US copyright official

[Kip Currier: If the allegation below is correct -- that Musk or anyone could gain and/or be granted access to the copyrighted works that federal copyright filers are required to provide for deposit to the U.S. Copyright Office (i.e. the U.S. federal government), as a condition of receiving a federal copyright, and that Musk or anyone could then use these federally-deposited copyrighted works to train proprietary AI models without permission or payment to the owners of those federally-deposited copyrighted works -- this is a matter that must be reported on more widely and investigated by the U.S. Congress.]

[Excerpt]

"Rep. Joe Morelle, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee which oversees the Library of Congress and U.S. Copyright Office, is alleging it is “no coincidence [Trump] acted less than a day after [Perlmutter] refused to rubber-stamp Elon Musk’s efforts to mine troves of copyrighted works to train AI models.”

Perlmutter and her office issued a lengthy report about artificial intelligence that included some questions and concerns about the usage of copyrighted materials by AI technology, an industry which Musk is heavily involved in.

“This action once again tramples on Congress’s Article One authority and throws a trillion-dollar industry into chaos,” Morelle continued in a statement. “When will my Republican colleagues decide enough is enough?”"

Trump Is Poised to Accept a Luxury 747 From Qatar for Use as Air Force One; The New York Times, May 11, 2025

 Maggie HabermanEric Schmitt and Glenn Thrush, The New York Times; Trump Is Poised to Accept a Luxury 747 From Qatar for Use as Air Force One

"The Trump administration plans to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 plane as a donation from the Qatari royal family that will be upgraded to serve as Air Force One, which would make it one of the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the U.S. government, several American officials with knowledge of the matter said.

The plane would then be donated to President Trump’s presidential library when he leaves office, two senior officials said. Such a gift raises the possibility that Mr. Trump would have use of the plane even after his presidency ends.

While a Qatari official described the proposal as still under discussion and the White House said that gifts it accepted would be done in full compliance with the law, Democratic lawmakers and good government groups expressed outrage over the substantial ethical issues the plan presented. They cited the intersection of Mr. Trump’s official duties with his business interests in the Middle East, the immense value of the lavishly appointed plane and the assumption that Mr. Trump would have use of it after leaving office. Sold new, a commercial Boeing 747-8 costs in the range of $400 million."

Pentagon directs military to pull library books that address diversity, anti-racism, gender issues; Associated Press (AP), May 9, 2025

 LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press (AP); Pentagon directs military to pull library books that address diversity, anti-racism, gender issues

"The Pentagon has ordered all military leaders and commands to pull and review all of their library books that address diversity, anti-racism or gender issues by May 21, according to a memo issued to the force on Friday.

It is the broadest and most detailed directive so far on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s campaign to rid the military of diversity and equity programs, policies and instructional materials. And it follows similar efforts to remove hundreds of books from the libraries at the military academies."

West Point Is Supposed to Educate, Not Indoctrinate; The New York Times, May 8, 2025

Graham Parsons. Dr. Parsons is a professor of philosophy at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he studies and teaches military ethics., The New York Times; West Point Is Supposed to Educate, Not Indoctrinate

"It turned out to be easy to undermine West Point. All it took was an executive order from President Trump and a memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dictating what could and couldn’t be taught in the military and its educational institutions.

In a matter of days, the United States Military Academy at West Point abandoned its core principles. Once a school that strove to give cadets the broad-based, critical-minded, nonpartisan education they need for careers as Army officers, it was suddenly eliminating courses, modifying syllabuses and censoring arguments to comport with the ideological tastes of the Trump administration.

I will be resigning after this semester from my tenured position at West Point after 13 years on the faculty. I cannot tolerate these changes, which prevent me from doing my job responsibly. I am ashamed to be associated with the academy in its current form."

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden is fired by Trump; Politico, May 8, 2025

NICHOLAS WU, LISA KASHINSKY and KATHERINE TULLY-MCMANUS, Politico; Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden is fired by Trump

[Kip Currier: I saw this story at 4:11 AM EDT via Library Link of the Day. I'd had an inkling this might be coming after seeing a 4/30/25 Daily Mail story ("Trump urged to fire 'deep state librarians' as he continues massive government purge") about the American Accountability Foundation targeting the Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and the Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter; that latter office reports to the Librarian of Congress. Dr. Hayden's bio (excerpted in part) states that:

Carla Hayden was sworn in as the 14th Librarian of Congress on September 14, 2016. Dr. Hayden, the first woman and the first African American to lead the national library, was nominated to the position by President Barack Obama on February 24, 2016, and her nomination was confirmed by the U.S. Senate later that year on July 13.

Her vision for America’s national library, connecting all Americans to the Library of Congress, has redefined and modernized the Library’s mission: to engage, inspire and inform Congress and the American people with a universal and enduring source of knowledge and creativity.

During her tenure, Dr. Hayden has prioritized efforts to make the Library and its unparalleled collections more accessible to the public. Through her social media presence, events and activities, she has introduced new audiences to many of the Library’s treasures – from Frederick Douglass’ papers, to the contents of President Abraham Lincoln’s pockets on the night of his assassination, to James Madison’s crystal flute made famous by Lizzo.

https://www.loc.gov/about/about-the-librarian/

 

This is the first firing of a Librarian of Congress since that office was first filled in 1802 by an appointee (John James Buckley) of America's 3rd President Thomas Jefferson. All prior Librarians of Congress retired or passed away while serving in the position.

The Library of Congress was established in 1800 in Washington, D.C. It is the world's largest library and functions as the de facto national library of the United States. See Welcome message below, as of 5/9/25 6:55 AM EDT, on Library of Congress website:

Welcome Message from Carla Hayden, 14th Librarian of Congress

The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, with millions of books, films and video, audio recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps and manuscripts in its collections. The Library is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office.

The Library preserves and provides access to a rich, diverse and enduring source of knowledge to inform, inspire and engage you in your intellectual and creative endeavors. Whether you are new to the Library of Congress or an experienced researcher, we have a world-class staff ready to assist you online and in person.

I encourage you to visit the Library of Congress in person in Washington, D.C., explore the Library online from wherever you are and connect with us on social media.

Sincerely,

Carla Hayden

Librarian of Congress"

https://www.loc.gov/about/]

[Excerpt]

"President Donald Trump fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden Thursday, according to a library spokesperson and an email obtained by POLITICO.

“Carla, On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” wrote Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel Trent Morse in an email to Hayden sent at 6:56 p.m."

No One Has Ever Defeated Autocracy From the Sidelines; The New York Times, May 8, 2025

 

Steven Levitsky, Lucan Way and Daniel Ziblatt

The authors are political scientists who study how democracies come to an end., The New York Times; No One Has Ever Defeated Autocracy From the Sidelines

"Americans are living under a new regime. The question now is whether we will allow it to take root.

So far, American society’s response to this authoritarian offensive has been underwhelming — alarmingly so. Civic leaders confront a difficult collective action problem. A vast majority of American politicians, chief executives, law partners, newspaper editors and university presidents prefer to live in a democracy and want to end this abuse. But as individuals confronting government threats, they have incentives to appease, rather than oppose, the Trump administration...

Chief executives, law firms, universities, media outlets and Democratic politicians, as well as more traditional Republicans, have a common interest in preserving our constitutional democracy. When organizations work together and commit to a collective defense of democratic principles, they share the costs of defiance. The government cannot attack everyone all at once. When the costs of defiance are shared, they become easier for individuals to bear...

There are signs of an awakening. Harvard has refused to acquiesce to administration demands that would undermine academic freedom, Microsoft dropped a law firm that settled with the administration and hired one that defied it, and a new law firm based in Washington, D.C., announced plans to represent those wrongfully targeted by the government. When the most influential members of civil society fight back, it provides political cover for others. It also galvanizes ordinary citizens to join the fight.

America’s slide into authoritarianism is reversible. But no one has ever defeated autocracy from the sidelines."

Bill Gates announces end of Gates Foundation and decries Elon Musk for Doge cuts; The Guardian, May 8, 2025

Anna Betts , The Guardian; Bill Gates announces end of Gates Foundation and decries Elon Musk for Doge cuts

"“The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one,” Gates said."

Former Secretary of State Fagan Seeks to Settle With the Ethics Commission; Willamette Week, May 6, 2025

Sophie Peel , Willamette Week; Former Secretary of State Fagan Seeks to Settle With the Ethics Commission

"Former Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, who resigned in May 2023 after WW revealed she’d signed a $10,000 monthly consulting contract with two of her top campaign donors, is seeking to settle twin cases with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission.

As first reported by the Salem Statesman-Journal, Fagan agreed last week to pay a $1,600 fine stemming from two incidents that resulted in complaints filed with the OGEC: her consulting agreement with the co-owners of cannabis chain La Mota, and her seeking state reimbursement for some expenses incurred on work-related trips with her children and dog that the commission deemed had “provided a financial benefit to herself.”

The commission concluded, according to its proposed settlement order, that Fagan had violated state ethics laws by “using her position to obtain private employment” with Aaron Mitchell and Rosa Cazares, the principals of the troubled cannabis outfit La Mota and the principals of the LLC with which Fagan signed the contract, Veriede Holding."

AI of dead Arizona road rage victim addresses killer in court; The Guardian, May 6, 2025

Cy Neff, The Guardian; AI of dead Arizona road rage victim addresses killer in court

"Pelkey’s appearance from beyond the grave was made possible by artificial intelligence in what could be the first use of AI to deliver a victim impact statement. Stacey Wales, Pelkey’s sister, told local outlet ABC-15 that she had a recurring thought when gathering more than 40 impact statements from Chris’s family and friends.

“All I kept coming back to was, what would Chris say?” Wales said.

As AI spreads across society and enters the courtroom, the US judicial conference advisory committee has announced that it will begin seeking public comment as part of determining how to regulate the use of AI-generated evidence at trial."

Meta lawsuit poses first big test of AI copyright battle; Financial Times, May 1, 2025

 Cristina Criddle and Hannah Murphy, Financial Times; Meta lawsuit poses first big test of AI copyright battle

 "The case, which has been brought by about a dozen authors including Ta-Nehisi Coates and Richard Kadrey, is centred on the $1.4tn social media giant’s use of LibGen, a so-called shadow library of millions of books, academic articles and comics, to train its Llama AI models. The ruling will have wide-reaching implications in the fierce copyright battle between artists and AI groups and is one of several lawsuits around the world that allege technology groups are using content without permission."

AI Ethics Lab Explores Impacts of the Technology’s Rapid Growth; Rutgers-Camden, March 17, 2025

Christina Lynn, Rutgers-Camden; AI Ethics Lab Explores Impacts of the Technology’s Rapid Growth

"A global research initiative has emerged at Rutgers–Camden to tackle the pressing ethical challenges and opportunities posed by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence, or AI. 

Launched last fall, the AI Ethics Lab, housed in the Digital Studies Center under the Department of English and Communication, examines artificial intelligence’s ethical and legal implications across the AI life cycle, from what kind of data is collected to the monitoring of this emerging technology. 

Leading the charge is Lecturer of Philosophy and Religion Nathan C. Walker, a First Amendment and human-rights expert with an international AI research pedigree and experience working with one of the world’s leading AI platforms. 

“Studying civil liberties and human rights uniquely positions me to identify where AI can go wrong,” Walker said. “If we go back to the basics—our core principles and our core values—we can actually remind humanity that eight decades of human-rights law have prepared us for this moment."