It's feeling like I need a large language model brain to write about safety with large language models. [I certify that I only wish I had such a brain, and I am a human.] So let's freeze the film for a moment and see where we humans are with generative AI safety. First, so that we're all on the same page, a large language model is basically an algorithmic structure called a "neural … [Read more...] about Generative AI: July 2023 freeze frame
White House
‘State of the Union’ & the student part of student privacy protection
There's a lot of confusion in the air about student data privacy, and some widely quoted words about it from President Obama in his address Tuesday night didn't help (but I suspect his speechwriters were just looking for a spot to put a high-priority topic into "a simple, dramatic message about economic fairness," as the New York Times put it: "No foreign nation, no hacker should be able to … [Read more...] about ‘State of the Union’ & the student part of student privacy protection
Our kids’ privacy & a White House report on ‘big data’
Referring to a new report from the White House that she contributed to, social media scholar danah boyd points out how impossibly simplistic it is to view "big data" as either all good or all bad. I'm thankful for the balance it struck in its findings on big data in education between the tremendous opportunities it represents for students and educators and the risks to student privacy. It … [Read more...] about Our kids’ privacy & a White House report on ‘big data’
Takeaways from the bullying-prevention summit
It's highly likely that prevention of online and offline bullying took a major leap forward in the US today, thanks to the bright spotlight a White House event trained on this issue: the Bullying Prevention Summit. But even more important than massive awareness raising is the basing of all that attention on substantive, research-based messaging. It is truly heartening to watch a President, First … [Read more...] about Takeaways from the bullying-prevention summit
Bullying-prevention summit at the White House
President and Mrs. Obama are holding a bullying prevention summit at the White House tomorrow (March 10), and you are invited. Here's their video invitation to watch live (links to the live stream tomorrow at the bottom of this post). The President's schedule in WhiteHouse.gov says that he and the First Lady will deliver opening remarks at 10:35 ET. The White House says it will have "live video … [Read more...] about Bullying-prevention summit at the White House