Category Archives: Antifa

A Texas Republican lawmaker said Tuesday on "Fox & Friends First"that a so-called "kid-friendly" drag show near Dallas-Fort Worth was totally inappropriate.

"It's shocking to a lot of Texans and we just need to stop it. We need to let children be children and protect them from any sexualization," State Rep. Bryan Slaton (R) told Ashley Strohmier and Todd Piro.

Masked, black-clad Antifa protesters showed up brandishing weapons at the Sunday morning "drag brunch" in Roanoke.

TEXAS LEGISLATOR TO INTRODUCE BILL BANNING CHILDREN FROM DRAG SHOWS AFTER DRAG THE KIDS TO PRIDE EVENT

A masked protester holds a sign that reads "Keep Roanoke Gay" outside Anderson Distillery & Grill in Roanoke, Texas. (@realKrisCruz/Twitter)

Police maintained a presence at the event, which took place at the Anderson Distillery and Grill in Roanoke, Texas, and led at times to tense stand-offs between protesters and counter-protesters.

Approximately 20 children and multiple self-proclaimed teachers attended the event where drag queens performed and collected dollar bills, according to footage of the event obtained by journalist Tayler Hansen

Armed protesters stand guard outside a drag show at Anderson Distillery & Grill in Roanoke, Texas. (Kelly Neidert)

In June, Slaton introduced legislation that would ban minors from attending drag shows in the state after footage went viral showing children attending a drag show at Mr. Misster, a gay bar in North Dallas.

Slaton said "kid-friendly drag shows" do not exist. He believes that children need to be protected and allowed to have a childhood and prevented from being sexualized at a young age.

"We have porn in our school libraries and there's pushback on removing those. There are the drag queen shows with children, and there's pushback on us for wanting to stop that. Then there's the gender modification of children. And the left is pushing back on that," he added.

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Slaton said it was "alarming" that Antifa members showed up with guns to protect "grown men wearing ladies' underwear that have to dance provocatively in front of children."

"They're protecting that and trying to intimidate those that were there to speak out against it and bring attention to it that way. But, yes, Antifa apparently is getting involved, and you've crossed the line if you want to protect children, and they want to intimidate you."

Slaton lamented a lack of action by law enforcement, including failing to shut down the event for being over capacity according to the local fire code.

Fox News' Jon Brown contributed to this report

Elizabeth Heckman is a digital production assistant with Fox News.

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Texas lawmaker on armed Antifa members showing up at 'kid-friendly ...

Petition calls on White House to label this far-left group terrorists

"Antifa" is commonly considered to be part of the far-left, a group Trump said was partially responsible for violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.Video provided by Newsy

Newslook

Since the killing of George Floyd sparked protests acrossthe U.S., the term "antifa" has been thrust back into the national conversation after multiple officials, including President Donald Trump, have blamed the groups for rioting and looting.

Antifa shortfor"anti-fascist" is the name for loosely affiliated, left-leaning, anti-racist groups that monitor and track the activities of local neo-Nazis. The movement has no unified structureor national leadershipbut has emerged in the form of local bodiesnationwide, particularly on theWest Coast.

Some of the groups, such as the 13-year-old Rose City Antifa in Portland, Oregon, the oldest in the U.S.,are particularly well-organized andactive online and onFacebook,while its members are individually anonymous.

On Sunday, Trump posted a message on Twitter, saying: "The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization." That came one day after he said "theviolence and vandalism is being led by antifa and other radical left-wing groups."

Attorney General William Barr on Sunday also blamed antifa and other similar groups over violent protests which eruptedafter Floyd, 46,died on Memorial Day when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes calling the acts "domestic terrorism."

The American Civil Liberties Union, however,saysTrump did not have the power to label domestic terror groups.

"Terrorism is an inherently political label, easily abused and misused," the organization said in a tweet. "Lets be clear: There is no legal authority for designating a domestic group. Any such designation would raise significant due process and First Amendment concerns."

Twitter suspended the account @ANTIFA_US after it said the accountviolated the company's platform manipulation and spam policy for a tweet posted Sunday that tried to incite violence, according to NBC.Twitter later said the account hadbeen linked to the white nationalist group Identity Evropa.

Donald Trump Jr. posted a screenshot of the tweet to his verified Instagram page to share it with his 2.9 million followers. Trump Jr. has since deleted the post after Twitter suspended the account.

This isn't the first time Trump has set his focus on antifa. In August2017, after violence blew upat protests in Charlottesville, Virginia,the president singled out the groups as part of what he calledthe alt-left in his initial claim that "many sides" were to blame for the violence, not justneo-Nazis, KKK and white nationalists.

"AN-tifa" with the emphasis on the first syllable, which sounds more like "on" in English than "an."

Anti-fascist groups, particularly in Europe, have been around for many decades, notably in Italy, against Mussolini, and in Germany, against Hitler. In the postwar period, antifa groups resurgedto fightneo-Nazi groups, particularly in Germany. In the U.S., the anti-fascist movements grew out ofleftist politics of the late '80s,primarily under theumbrellaof Anti-Racist Action.

Theprimary goal is to stopneo-Nazis and white supremacists fromgaining a platform rather than to promotea specific antifa agenda. The antifa groups aredecidedly anti-racist, anti-sexistand anti-homophobia, but also by and large socially leftistand anti-capitalist.

Mark Bray, a lecturer atDartmouth andauthor of the new book "Antifa: The Antifascist Handbook,"says the groups "organize educational campaigns, build community coalitions, monitor fascists, pressure venues to cancel their events, organize self-defense trainingsand physically confront the far right when necessary."

A main goal is to try to deny fascists a public forum, which is why they turn out in numbers to physically confrontneo-Nazis, the KKKand white supremacists atpublic demonstrations. They also step in to protect counterprotesters at such events.

In addition, antifa is particularly active in"doxxing," oridentifying neo-Nazis and like-minded individuals and disseminatingthat private information to the public and employers to discourage people from joining their ranks.

Memberspointedly do not eschew violencebut rather see themselves as engaging in "self-defense," protecting other protesters and primarily confronting neo-Nazis and white supremacists to deny them a platform to publicly spread their views.

"We are unapologetic about the reality that fighting fascism at points requires physical militancy, Rose City Antifas Facebook page reads. Anti-fascism is, by nature, a form of self-defense: the goal of fascism is to exterminate the vast majority of human beings.

Political activist and author Cornel West, speaking to Amy Goodman on the program "Democracy Now"about the clashes in Charlottesville, saidantifa intervened when the "neofascists" move against his group of protesters."We would havebeen crushed like cockroaches if it were not for the anarchistsand the anti-fascists," he said.

Bray says the riseof fascism in the 1930s demonstrates that it wasa mistake to allow such groups to air their views in hopes that public opinion would blunt their growth."We should be wary of those who are more distressed about alleged violations of the speech of fascists than the actual violence they perpetrate," he says.

Antifa forces, whose members often dress inblack and wearmasks, have confronted or clashed with far-right groups in such places as the University of California at Berkeley. Protests by West Coast antifa forces, some of whomsmashedwindows and setfires,forced the cancellation of aspeech by alt-right activistMilo Yiannopoulos and another by conservative commentator Ann Coulter in 2017.

In June of that year, antifa forces turned out to protest a pro-Trump free-speech in Portland. Some antifa counterprotestersbegan throwing objects at police, who responded with flash grenades and pepper balls, according toThe Oregonian.

Read more from the original source:

Antifa: What is it and what does the movement want? - USA TODAY

On the same day Newsweek ran a fake fact check of a study by MRC Free Speech America about Googles censorship of Republican campaigns, the outlet also ran a fact check Wednesday smearing Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), claiming he falsely claimed Antifa carried out a year of fiery, destructive protests across the U.S.

Cruzs comments came Monday on ABCs The View, when he countered co-host Whoopi Goldbergs attack on the right as violent: Did I miss an entire year of Antifa riots where cities across this country were burning and police cars were being firebombed?

Writer Tim Norton correctly noted Cruz was likely referring to the protests that followed the death of George Floyd in 2020, and the subsequent destruction of property in cities such as Minneapolis and then Washington D.C., St Louis, Kansas City, Oregon, Atlanta, Seattle and New York City.

He also correctly pointed out that protests (read: Antifa) continued for 100 days in Portland, Oregon, but things fell apart as he dismissed the demonstrations as not typified by fires or arson and therefore [t]he majority of the Floyd protests nationwide took place between late May and early June 2020.

Norton inadvertently undermined that claim by explaining other violent, fiery clashes at other protests against police violence and racial injustice between 2020 and 2021 such as September 2020 rioting in Louisville, Kentucky and Brooklyn Center, Minnesota in April 2021.

The whiplash continued as he insisted Cruz was significantly stretching the truth, even if taken figuratively even though many businesses were damaged or destroyed as a result of arson because Antifa is not a formalized group or association and Black Lives Matter inspired global calls to action for racial justice. Really.

In other words, Antifa isnt real and BLM protests made people feel special, so Cruz was...lying?

That seemed to have been what Norton was arguing as he said Cruz grossly mischaracterized both the nature, scope and length of time these protests took and that, while the shenanigans in Portland went on for 100 days, it is inaccurate to describe or imply that these happened across the country with each beset by arson.

In giving him a false rating, Norton explained (click expand):

The "Antifa riots" Cruz refers to are almost certainly the protests, which followed George Floyd's death. Most of these occurred between late May to early June 2020. Although many buildings were damaged or destroyed by fire during protests, this did not carry on throughout the year.

While protests did continue in Portland, Oregon for nearly a year, according to media reports, these were not all characterized by arson. Most other cities quietened down after June 2020.

Labeling the protests as "Antifa riots" is misleading too as there is no organization or group known as such.

Lets unpack this schizophrenic gobbledygook. First, it was interesting Norton said Antifa wasnt real seeing as how Newsweek tweeted this on November 2, 2020: Antifa plans wave of demonstrations on streets as U.S. election polls close.

And on April 24, 2021, Newsweek itself posted an article with the title: Antifa Activists Vow to Keep FightingEven as Terrorists.

And it wasnt just them. ABC News wrote in May 2021 about the constant barrage of left-wing violence in Portland, saying that residents have waning patience for antifa with [m]uch of the blame for the chaos, property damage and violence over the last year have landed on the self-described anti-racist, anti-facist far left organizers.

Californias Bay Area CW affiliate said on April 15, 2021 that there was a lot of cleanup underway in Walnut Creek after a band of protestors tagged 25 buildings with graffiti, including City Hall with police under the belief that Antifa was here.

Staying in the Golden State, the San Diego Union-Tribune covered December 2021 arrests of Antifa members who allegedly assaulted participants in a Patriot March in January of that year.

If Wikipedia floats your boat, they compiled a list of over 60 incidents having resulted from Floyds June 2020 murder.

If Norton wants to debate the facts, its best he do some research first.

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FAKE NEWS: Newsweek Claims Ted Cruz Lied About Antifa Burning Down ...

(CNN) -- A Minnesota man who claimed Antifa set fire to his camper during the political unrest of 2020 because he had displayed a Trump campaign flag admitted to staging the event and committing insurance fraud, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

Denis Molla, age 30, of Minneapolis suburb Brooklyn Center was indicted by a federal grand jury in July and pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud after being accused of defrauding and attempting to defraud an insurance agency and GoFundMe donors of more than $300,000 following the alleged incident, according to court records.

RELATED: Man pleads guilty to fraud after lighting his camper on fire, defacing own garage to appear targeted due to Trump flag

In September 2020, Molla had "falsely reported to law enforcement that someone had lit his camper on fire and that three unknown males were near his home when he heard an explosion," according to a DOJ news release. The Justice Department said Molla claimed his property was vandalized with graffiti referencing "Biden 2020," Black Lives Matter, and Antifa.

Molla falsely told CNN affiliate WCCO shortly after the fire that he believed someone set the blaze in response to Trump 2020 flags he had put in his yard. "These kind of stuff should not happen, especially over beliefs of some sort," he told WCCO.

"Mr. Molla was obviously remorseful during his federal plea hearing today," Ryan Garry, Molla's attorney, told CNN via email Tuesday. "It's easy for the general public to look down on him, without knowing what was going on in his life, and cast immediate judgement. Mr. Molla is a wonderful husband and father who made a mistake that he sincerely regrets. Unlike many others, he has accepted full responsibility for his actions and is sorry for what happened."

Federal guidelines call for Molla to receive a sentence of up to 51 months, plus a fine and restitution, but prosecutors did not immediately make a sentencing recommendation.

Judge David Doty released Molla on his own recognizance pending a sentencing hearing to be scheduled at a later date.

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DOJ: Minnesota man who claimed Antifa burned down his camper admits to ...

So, What is technology? Technology is the study of how people use scientific knowledge to solve practical problems. Technology can be anything from a simple tool or machine to complex computer hardware. The roots of technology can be traced back to ancient civilizations, with innovations like using waterwheels for grinding grain or creating looms to weave fabric. Today, technology has become an inseparable part of our daily lives. To know further about technologies keep reading this article.

Here is a quick index to navigate help you navigate this article well:

Communication

Transportation

Entertainment

Information and Education

The term technology stems from the Greek word techn, meaning art and craft, and the word logo, meaning word and speech. It began to refer to applied arts, but it is now used to describe advancements and changes which impact the environment around us.

Historians have not yet defined the specific point in human history at which the concept of technology emerged. Some ethnographers believe that early humans used tools as soon as they were able to control fire and invent primitive weapons. However, many others believe that technology emerged around the Industrial Revolution in 18th century England. Regardless of when it began, technology has played an important role in shaping human society for centuries.

Technologies are a significant part of daily life in the 21st century. It shapes everything from our social lives to our economic system. Technology has become the worlds uniting force, and it is critically important for businesses and individuals alike to understand its implications. To move forward as a country we must have a deep knowledge of what is technology and how important it is for us. The following are some examples of how technology impacts us on a day-to-day basis:

We use communication devices such as cell phones, computers, tablets, etc., every single day. These devices allow people to communicate with each other at any time or place. They also provide access to information that can be used by anyone who needs it. For example, if you need directions to your destination, you could simply look up directions online using Google Maps. If you want to know what the weather will be like in another city, you could check out Weather Underground. Technologies have made our lives easier and more convenient than ever before!

Cars have been around for hundreds of years but they werent very efficient until recently when we started making them smaller and lighter. Nowadays cars are much faster and safer than they were even a few decades ago. Weve come a long way from horses and buggies! Nowadays AI ( Artificial Intelligence ) has been used to make transportation safer, faster, and easier. The same can be said about airplanes as well. Theyre now so fast that people dont really think twice about flying anywhere on short notice. Its amazing how far technology has taken us over such a relatively small amount of time.

There is no shortage of entertainment options available today. You can watch movies at home or go see live shows in theaters. If you want to listen to music, there are many different ways to do it including CDs, MP3 players, iPods, etc. And if you like sports, the Internet makes watching games easy for everyone. So what else could we possibly need?

We have access to all kinds of knowledge through books, magazines, newspapers, television, radio, and even video games. But with this abundance of information comes an overload of choices.

A single piece of technology may frequently fall outside of a single category, but averagely there are six categories of technology: communication, electrical, energy, manufacturing, medical, and transportation.

Technology is a term that has been used for as long as humans have been able to create and produce anything. The advantages are as follows:

Disadvantages of Technologies are as follows:

Technology has changed our lives in many different ways and continues to evolve as we explore new innovations. It is important to understand how it affects the way we live and the impact it has on society. Technology has influenced the way we live. It has caused people to become more dependent on their smartphones, created social networks which have helped us find other people with similar interests, and made it possible for businesses to market their products worldwide through the internet. These are just a few examples of the ways in which technologies have changed our lives.

Technology can be used for good or bad depending on who uses it and what purpose it serves. For example:

Mobile phones are now so common that most people carry them around all day long. They allow us to communicate instantly with anyone at any time of the day or night. This allows us to stay connected even when away from home, work, school, etc. Habits including excessive mobile phone usage may cause complications, including physical pain, hearing loss, tinnitus, sleep problems, depression, anxiety, stress, and other psychological disorders. It is also possible that these devices could lead to addiction if they become a part of our daily lives.

Technology is an umbrella term for all man-made tools and machines that humans invent. It can be used to refer to any type of human invention, such as machines, inventions, and even social systems. It has its advantages and disadvantages. What will be the outcome of the technology really depends on how we use it.

We believe in this article you have found the answer to the question, what is technology. If you have further inquiries and thoughts to share please let us know in the comment section below.

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What is Technology: A Complete Overview - Tech Bubbles

Definition of Technology

What Is Technology? Technology is a body of knowledge devoted to creating tools, processing actions and the extracting of materials. The term Technology is wide, and everyone has their way of understanding its meaning. We use technology to accomplish various tasks in our daily lives, in brief; we can describe technology as products and processes used to simplify our daily lives. We use technology to extend our abilities, making people the most crucial part of any technological system.

Technology is also an application of science used to solve problems. But it is vital to know that technology and science are different subjects which work hand-in-hand to accomplish specific tasks or solve problems.

We apply technology in almost everything we do in our daily lives; we use technology at work, we use technology for communication, transportation, learning, manufacturing, securing data, scaling businesses and so much more. Technology is human knowledge which involves tools, materials, and systems. The application of technology typically results in products. If technology is well applied, it benefits humans, but the opposite is true, if usedfor malicious reasons.

Many businesses are using technology to stay competitive, they create new products and services using technology, and they also use technology to deliver those products and services to their customers on time and withinbudget. A good example is mobile phones companies like Apple & Samsung, these mobile empires, use high-end technology to create new smartphones and other electronic devices to stay competitive. This competitive edge is gained through employing advanced technology.

Lets look at a simple example of how people use technology on a daily basis.

Technology is dynamic; it keeps on improving because our needs and demands for technology keep on changing. We have moved from the industrial age (industrial revolution) to an information age. During the industrial age, companies with large sums of capital had the potential of employing expensive technological tools to gain the competitive advantage; small businesses had less potential because they could not afford expensive manufacturing or processing technology tools. However, advancement in technology has created a new economic environment which depends on information, and that is what we call the INFORMATION AGE.The information age provides a different work environment, and this has helped small businesses gain position in highly competitive markets.

Lets take a simple example and see how technology has advanced:

We use technology to accomplish various tasks, so technology comes in different forms. Below I have listed some of the different types of technology we use on a daily basis and in each kind of technology I have included an example of that particular technology.

This is a system that uses technical means to transmit information or data from one place to another or from one person to another. Communication is a daily essential for all; it is used to convey ideas, exchange information, and express emotions. Humans use communication technology tools like phones, computers, emails, fax or messaging tools to stay in touch with friends and family. Businesses use communication technology tools to facilitate the flow of information in a workplace, to help in decision making, to serve customers needs and requests, to promote new products or services to targeted consumers and so much more.

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This is the study of advanced methods and equipment used to build basic and advanced structures. One type includes buildings and heavy engineering structures like bridges. Construction methods use various technological products to erect a structure. The use of construction technology tools like heavy tractors to prepare the land, computer-aided design software to create digital designs for structures in 2D and3D format. These tools along with many others help builders to efficiently complete a project on time, within budget and with minimum accidents.

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Equipped with the best of Milwaukees technology these tools are prepared for any job you can through at it. Supported by the best brushless motors available and a powerful M18 Battery Pack.

Assistivetechnology is used by people with disabilities to accomplish specific tasks that are difficult or impossible to perform. The term Assistive means helping or providing an extra hand. Assistive technology is being used in many ways, in schools it is used to help students with Autism to learn better, it is used to help people with disabled bodies move, additionally, with the use of speech recognition applications those who are unable to type are able to use a computer and so much more. Due to advancement in technology, we have a variety of assistive technologies that assist many to accomplish tasks that may otherwise be considered impossible.

Off-road Wheelchair

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This off-road wheelchair can assist people with disabilities to move comfortably.

This is the type of technology which is used to extend and improve human life. Medical technology reduces patients pain and cares for an injury. Developed countries have benefited from the use of medical technology in their healthcare systems, and this explains the reason why people in developed countries leave longer than people in developing countries. Medical technology is used to diagnose infections, treat diseases and to research diseases affecting humans, etc..

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Information Technology is a set of hardware and software tools used to store, transfer and process information. Information technology tools help in providing the right people with the right information at the right time. Knowledge workers in an organization use information technology to complete various tasks, and these can include; transferring of information which facilitates decision making within an organization, improve customer service, and so much more. In this information age, it is imperative to manage information systems to ensure accuracy and efficiency. Management information systems (MIS) involves planning for, development, management, and use of information technology tools to help knowledge workers and people perform all tasks related to information processing and management. Big financial institutions like banks use information technology to operate their entire businesses as well as serve their customers.

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This complete router features ultra Fast AC technology allowing forUp to 2.6Gbps of wireless speed. It houses a powerful Dual-core 1.7Ghz processor, a 4 port switch and 2 USB 3.0 slots. All you would ever need for information transfer at home.

This use of technology to create an entertainment experience. Since entertainment is too broad, everyone gets entertained in their way. Technology is used to create video games, to develop musical systems and so much more. Entertainment technology includes things like video, sound, animations, scenery fabrication, computer simulations, interactive environments and so much more.

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A DJ Console with all the bells and whistles. Everything you need to entertain!

This is technology used to run a business and enhance various business operations, it normally consists of a combination of software and hardware. Many businesses are using technology to scale its growth. Small businesses have used technology to create new ways of competing with well-established companies. To some extent, some business technologies can make a small company look like a big company, and this can help a small business gain position in a competitive market.

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This is an affordable 3D printer that allows designers to create advanced 3D objects. Its size and design are a perfect fit for every office desk space. With this 3D printer, you can create as many 3D models as you want. Use its software to generate thin, breakable support structures. Learn more about this FORM2 3D printer here.

Educationtechnology aims at improving a students performance by creating and managing various technological processes and resources in or out the classroom. It is an academic discipline which prepares individuals to acquire deeper understanding and knowledge. It helps them learn how to devise solutions to problems through research, design, evaluation, and utilization. Educational technology helps in improving the way we learn, some of the benefits ofeducational technology include:

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Teachers you can try this Paperless grading application for iPad. If you want to have a paperless classroom and your students have access to iPads, then this technology will be of great use to you and your students. Markup has completely changed the way teachers mark test and exam papers; students can submit electronic papers to be marked by their teachers electronically, this saves time and resources on both sides. Try out this Markup application for iPad from here (www.showme.com )

Technology is not applied science, both technology and science are closely related, but they are different in so many ways.

Technology develops and explains the human-made world; it involves development, processing, and management;

While

Science explains the natural world; science refers to systematic methodology used to gather accurate information about shared reality.

During the process of gathering this information, technological tools are used. For example, microscopes are biological tools which can be used to study specific facts about anything with life.

Scientific knowledge is gathered from detached observations. Scientists can use this gathered information using technological tools to explain why certain things happen and this all process can be described as research.

As humans, we use both technology and science together, that is why we confuse these two to be the same. Science is knowledge of the natural world while technology is human-made world determined by processing, development, and management.

For you to understand the difference between science and technology, see example in figure (3) below:

Figure (3)

Look closely at the image (a), it shows you a volcanic mountain erupting, this is a natural state of our world, and it is only science which explains how this volcanic activity happens based on extensive research and data gathered by the scientist. In the image (b), we see a scientist using a microscope to do research and gather data. A microscope is a human-made technology designed to help scientists do research. So that means that both concepts work hand in hand, but they are completely different. Humans have developed various technological tools to help us solve problems during our daily lives, but also this technology can affect the natural setup of our environment if misapplied.

Technology is good because it simplifies the way we do things in our daily lives, however, if the technology is wrongly applied, it can be harmful in so many ways. Technology is developed by humans, so we can use it to accomplish almost every task; it makes the impossible look possible. However, for you to understand the advantage and disadvantage of technology today, we can use an example in figure (4) below:

Figure (4)

As you can see in the photo above, if the technology is well implemented it can be of great use to humanity, but it can also cause harm. Below I have detailed points on the advantage and disadvantage of technology in business, classroom or education.

Technology is designed with a purpose of solving problems; it has to meet human needs and wants. We use technology in so many ways; at least everyone uses technology in one-way or another. A problem exists when we encounter difficulty; problem-solving is human behavior, though our approach varies from person-to-person. During the process of solving a problem, the following is taken into consideration;

Example

Look closely at the photo above, on the left we see the problem is the traffic jam in the city and on the right; you can see that one of the solutions of solving this traffic jam is by using high-speed electronic trains. The problem was identified, and technology was used to plan the solution and implement that solution in the city. The use of high-speed electronic trains has reduced traffic jam in big cities like Newyork. Below I have listed four basic phases you need to know about when solving problems with technology.

During this stage, you will need to define the problem by explaining the situation that needs a technological solution and establishing the criteria that technological system or device has to meet. Then you have to gather information needed to begin developing solutions for the problem or situation.

During this phase, you will need to develop possible solutions that can solve a given problem. You will test more than one solution until you refine the best solution to solve that problem permanently and meet the opportunity.

At this stage, you will be modeling the best solution through testing and evaluating all proposed solutions by use of graphics, statistics, and mathematical modeling techniques. For you to select the best technological solution, you will need to compare the design solutions regarding economic, market, technical, production, and environmental criteria to determine the best solution to that particular problem.

Now that you have evaluated all solutions, it is time to communicate the final solution to your team through graphical drawings, reports, and mathematical means. If you agree with your team, you can now go ahead and present the solution for approval from the management or government.

Judging from the four steps of solving a problem using technology, you will see that the technology we are using started with an idea of solving a problem or meeting an opportunity. A person or a group of people saw the problem or the opportunity, and they designed solutions for meeting that problem or opportunity. Today we have various technologies which were designed to solve simple problems, for example, social networks like Facebook.com, twitter.com have solved communication and social interaction problem.

As I conclude this chapter of WHAT IS TECHNOLOGY? , I hope that you deeply understand the meaning of technology, types of technology being used today, the advantages and disadvantages of technology and how you can use technology to solve daily problems or meet opportunities

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What Is Technology Meaning of Technology and Its Use

One morning last year, around 60 sheriffs and deputies gathered outside Houston for a training that proved to be less about enforcing laws than about subverting them. After a prayer from a pastor dressed like George Washington (wig, frilly collar, musket), the crowd heard from Gary Heavin, the founder of the Curves International fitness chain, who called the 2020 presidential election of Joe Biden blatantly, in-our-faces stolen. Then he turned to the reporters in the room (propagandists) identifiable by our masks (diapers), and said, I dont know whether this is going to scare you or comfort you, but just about every person in this room is armed. The room erupted in cheers.

Heavin was helping the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association fund this training, but the dominant presence that day was the groups founder and director, Richard Mack. With his Reaganesque swoosh of dark hair and the cadence of a country preacher, he delivered his organizations central message: that sheriffs, within their counties, are more powerful than any state or federal authority, and that they can resist tyranny by refusing to enforce laws they believe violate the U.S. Constitution. This is a peaceful and effective process, la Martin Luther King, la Gandhi, la Rosa Parks, he said.

The Anti-Defamation League calls Macks organization an anti-government extremist group, while he prefers to invoke Barry Goldwaters 1964 battle cry: Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Since founding the group in 2011, Mack estimates it has trained at least 800 sheriffs. Agencies in several states, including Texas and Virginia, have allowed officers to use these events for professional education credits.

While Mack once focused on gun rights, now hes pushing sheriffs to investigate the 2020 election. One of his sheriff allies is facing a state investigation over his role in seizing a voting tabulator, while others are talking about boosting surveillance during future elections, raising concerns that they will try to intimidate voters. I dont think any sheriff is trying to intimidate people not to vote, Mack recently told The New York Times.

But how influential are Macks views? Very, as it turns out.

The Marshall Project collaborated with political scientists Emily Farris and Mirya Holman on a survey of Americas 3,000-plus sheriffs last year. More than 500 responded, and more than a dozen agreed to be interviewed after taking the survey. (Read about our methodology at the end of the accompanying story.) Though only a handful claimed membership in Macks group, more than 200 (nearly half of the respondents) agreed with him that their own authority, within their counties, supersedes that of the state or federal government. (Another 132 clicked neutral.) More than 300 which account for one-tenth of Americas roughly 3,000 sheriffs said they are willing to place themselves between a higher government authority and their constituents, an action they call interposition.

Macks group has successfully radicalized a generation of sheriffs to believe that the office has seemingly unlimited power and autonomy.

Political scientists Emily Farris and Mirya Holman

Mack was once a board member of the Oath Keepers, the militia group whose members are currently on trial for invading the U.S. Capitol. He said he left the group years ago, but some sheriffs have appeared on leaked member lists. Our survey demonstrates the groups wider popularity: 11% of responding sheriffs said they personally support the Oath Keeperss positions, though we did not ask for specifics. (More than a quarter said they didnt know the groups positions or had never heard of it.)

Macks group has successfully radicalized a generation of sheriffs to believe that the office has seemingly unlimited power and autonomy, Farris and Holman write in a forthcoming book on sheriffs that draws on this survey.

Certainly Mack sees the results as validating. I was surprised by some of that, and pleased, he told me. The people of the country are getting behind us.

How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

The sheriffs authority supersedes the federal or state government in my county.

440 respondents answered this question.

I am willing to interpose on behalf of county residents when I believe a state or federal law is unjust.

437 respondents answered this question.

Source: The Marshall Project with Emily Farris (Texas Christian University) and Mirya Holman (Tulane University), 2021

Over his long, peripatetic career, Mack has learned to persuade people: Hes been a car salesman, high school history teacher, reality show contestant (on the 2004 season of Showtimes American Candidate), recruiter (for Gun Owners of America) and unsuccessful entrant into Republican primaries for governor of Utah and congressperson from Texas. In the early 1980s, as a young police officer in Provo, Utah, he attended a training conducted by W. Cleon Skousen on the basics of the U.S. Constitution. (Skousen was known for saying the document had divine origins, but Mack didnt recall any religious content in the training he attended.)

Mack then moved back to his hometown in Graham County, a sparsely populated stretch of southeastern Arizona, where he was elected sheriff in 1988. Five years later, Congress passed the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, which temporarily required sheriffs and other local law enforcement officials to run background checks on people who wanted to buy guns. Mack and several of his peers mounted a lawsuit, with the help of the National Rifle Association, and the Supreme Court ruled in their favor, with Justice Antonin Scalia declaring that the provision violated state sovereignty.

Mack became a hero to Second Amendment activists. By then, a smaller cohort on the right had come to argue for sheriff supremacy, an idea that scholars trace back to the Posse Comitatus movement (power of the county, in Latin) a generation earlier. (The movements founder, William Potter Gale, argued the Constitution was divinely inspired to elevate White people above other racial groups, and some of his followers attacked government officials.) Mack regularly disavows racism and violence, and said he knows nothing about Gale. But the image of a county sheriff standing up to federal tyranny grew increasingly popular amid anger at how federal agents handled early 1990s sieges at the Branch Davidian compound, in Waco, Texas, and Ruby Ridge, in rural Idaho.

At Ruby Ridge, a white separatist named Randy Weaver faced arrest after having sold two sawed-off shotguns to a government informant. In the ensuing standoff, federal agents fatally shot his wife and son. Mack wrote a foreword to Weavers book about these events.

Although he lost his campaign for a third term as sheriff, Mack traveled around the country as a public speaker and author. He worked closely with the family of Ammon Bundy during a 2014 armed confrontation with agents from the federal Bureau of Land Management over unpaid fees and cattle grazing rights. We were actually strategizing to put all the women up at the front, Mack told Fox News at the time, according to The Blaze. If they are going to start shooting, its going to be women that are going to be televised all across the world getting shot by these rogue federal officers. (He later backtracked, telling Talking Points Memo that this wasnt an explicit strategy and the women did this on their own, despite his misgivings.)

In a 2019 study, political scientist Zoe Nemerever found that the presence of a sheriff with Constitutionalist views was associated with a higher likelihood of violent confrontation between their constituents and federal Bureau of Land Management employees. Who has been violent in our country? Mack told me. The federal government has, quite often.

Many of the sheriffs I interviewed after they took our survey said they have a fine working relationship with state and federal law enforcement. But others complained about them, particularly in Western states with lots of federal land. My backyard is a national forest, said Sheriff Cameron Noel of Beaver County, Utah (population 7,250). Wed have forest rangers that would come in. They dont live here and if a guy is up there with his family to recreate, if hes got a taillight out, theyre going to write him a federal violation.

The Constitutional sheriff movement gave such conflicts over authority a more right-wing cast, according to Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow with Anti-Defamation Leagues Center on Extremism. Mack is successful in part because he plays to conceptions sheriffs have of themselves already, but with an ideological twist, he said.

Who has been violent in our country? The federal government has, quite often.

Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association founder Richard Mack

Macks early focus on gun rights proved prescient. Following the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress began discussing background checks and bans on assault weapons. My phone [started] ringing off the hook, recalled Sheriff Brad DeLay of Lawrence County, Missouri (population. 38,300). People [were coming] to me and [saying], Hey, Obama says hes going to take away our guns.

Some sheriffs said they learned about Macks movement from constituents. Ive been asked Are you a Sheriff Mack follower? said Noel.

Mack went on to compile the names of nearly 500 sheriffs who rejected gun control measures and encouraged others to join them. He had hit the right issue for the right audience. According to our survey, sheriffs as a whole tend to be skeptical of gun laws: 79% said they should be less strict than they are today. (21% said they should be more strict.)

Please tell us if you would favor or oppose the following policies related to firearms:

A requirement that your office confiscates firearms from people flagged as a danger to themselves or others.

427 respondents answered this question.

Allowing people to open carry firearms in government buildings in your county.

426 respondents answered this question.

A government database that requires your participation as sheriff in maintaining a gun registry and performing background checks.

426 respondents answered this question.

A national ban on assault-style weapons.

426 respondents answered this question.

Source: The Marshall Project with Emily Farris (Texas Christian University) and Mirya Holman (Tulane University), 2021

After a mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert in 2017, Nevada lawmakers created a process to take guns from people who threatened themselves or others, and some sheriffs in the state refused to participate. In Germany prior to WWII we saw Hitler place restrictions on the publics right to bear arms, wrote Sheriff Sharon Wehrly of Nye County (population 53,500), a member of Macks group, in a viral letter to the governor.

Many Constitutional sheriffs got their first taste of fame in early 2020, defiantly promising via viral Facebook posts and Fox News appearances to ignore statewide COVID-19 lockdown orders. (At the time, we found statements from 60 sheriffs across the country.) In an April 2020 Facebook post, at least one invoked Nazism again. Others spoke of budgets and staffing. In our survey, almost one-third of sheriffs said they chose not to enforce mask mandates, and some said this was because they didnt have the resources to do so, regardless of their political views.

Since then, such rhetoric has continued to grow beyond Macks group. Sheriff Mark Lamb of Pinal County, Arizona (population 449,600), a conservative media star who is not officially a member, often uses similar language: Our County Sheriffs are the last bastion of freedom against government overreach on a local and federal level, reads the description of his 2020 book, American Sheriff: Traditional Values in a Modern World.

A lot of [Constitutional sheriff] talking points are squarely among the center of the Republican party now, said Jessica Pishko, a former researcher at the University of South Carolina Law School and author of The Highest Law in the Land, a forthcoming book on sheriffs. She argued that Mack focuses on issues that are already popular on the right, rather than driving the agenda.

Although Mack maintains the group is non-partisan, his views have occasionally been a litmus test: In Colorado Springs this January, a moderators first question to Republican sheriff candidates was whether they were members of Macks group, and two of the five candidates said they were.

Like many Americans on the political right, some sheriffs also appear to be comfortable with violent political dissent. Nearly 30% of sheriffs who responded to us also clicked agree when confronted with a statement written by the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute: The traditional American way of life is disappearing so fast that we may have to use force to save it. This is less than the total for the country as whole (36%), but these are law enforcement leaders who have the legal authority to use force themselves.

How much do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

The traditional American way of life is disappearing so fast that we may have to use force to save it.

364 respondents answered this question. Source: The Marshall Project with Emily Farris (Texas Christian University) and Mirya Holman (Tulane University), 2021

At the same time, a libertarian streak in the Constitutional sheriff movement sometimes cuts against the law enforcement mainstream, and even brings them into common cause with progressives. This is clearest in the realm of civil asset forfeiture. In recent years, the National Sheriffs Association a trade group of more than 14,000 members has supported efforts to make it easier for officers to seize money, drugs, guns and other items from suspects, even enlisting President Donald Trump in this effort. But Mack frequently criticizes the practice, and in our survey, almost half of the sheriffs who responded were critical of efforts to seize assets before someone has been convicted of a crime. Half also said peoples assets should only be forfeited after theyve been convicted.

Mack frequently faces the accusation that he promotes racist extremism. Among the speakers I saw at his groups training last year was Michael Peroutka, a lawyer and activist who once called Dixie the national anthem at a League of the South event, according to The Washington Post. Peroutka didnt discuss race but said our government exists to preserve our God-given rights and, If laws violate the 10 Commandments, theyre not law. The Anti-Defamation League has documented Macks own appearances alongside white supremacists, but chalks them up to his incessant need for an audience.

Farris and Holman have used the word nativism to describe statements on Macks organizations website that immigrants are not assimilating into our culture as they once did, resulting in devastating consequences culturally and economically.

Mack himself is adamant about his opposition to racism. My mother did not raise racists or bigots in her home, he told me. In addition to extolling Rosa Parks he says an officer should have stepped in to protect her from racist policies he has criticized sheriffs like Jim Clark of Alabama for attacking civil rights marches in the 1960s.

At the same time, Mack does admit to using race as a tool. At the Texas training, Mack led a round of applause for Larvita McFarquhar, a modern day Rosa Parks who refused to close her Minnesota restaurant in the early days of the pandemic. You saw me use the Black lady as a prop, he said later by phone.

Lately, Mack has reserved his ire for the FBI. When we spoke, he blamed the agency for a 1998 raid on his office, connected with a company he briefly worked for. He said the ensuing publicity derailed one of his political campaigns. (According to the Deseret News, he was not charged and the raid was likely connected to an associates activities.) In a CNN interview in August, he compared agents pursuing the Jan. 6 cases to Nazis. Mack later told me he was referring to the post-World War II Nuremberg trials where officers defended their actions as a matter of following orders. Still, he has distanced himself from the events at the Capitol that day. I told our people not to go to the rally on Jan. 6, he said.

The sheriffs we surveyed were more likely to blame the events of Jan. 6 on antifa, as well as social media companies, than on Trump or Congressional Republicans.

Do you think the following individuals or groups are responsible for the violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6?

Respondents could choose more than one response.

303 respondents answered this question. Source: The Marshall Project with Emily Farris (Texas Christian University) and Mirya Holman (Tulane University), 2021

Much of the debate around law enforcement and extremism centers on a single word with a long, fraught history: interpose. The word traces back to James Madisons writings in the 1790s, but is largely tied to Southern states efforts to shield their schools from desegregation, in the wake of the Supreme Courts 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education. (The court rejected these efforts in 1958.)

Mack uses the term to describe any scenario in which sheriffs step between their constituents and another law enforcement agency, and he framed it as an effort to de-escalate and reduce the risk of violence between law enforcement and civilians. If we had officers who interposed, George Floyd would still be alive, he said. Interposition creates peace, it doesnt create violence.

Not every sheriff agrees with Macks vision. Bill Benedict of Clallam County, Washington (population 78,200), called Mack a snake oil salesman. You dont come with special powers to ignore the governor or the laws that the legislature passes, he said. Sheriff Kim Stewart of Doa Ana County, New Mexico (population 221,500), pointed out that many of her fellow sheriffs ask for money from the federal government for various initiatives while also espousing anti-federal rhetoric. Its Whine, whine, whine, youre not helping me, but [also] Stay out of my backyard! she said. Sorry, but no one gets it both ways. Not even sheriffs.

Law professors have said Macks vision of the sheriffs power has a weak basis in Constitutional law, and can make it harder for legislatures and citizens to hold sheriffs accountable. It creates a climate of entitlement, of being above the law, that can cause patterns of misconduct, said Christy Lopez, a Georgetown University law professor.

Its Whine, whine, whine, youre not helping me, but [also] Stay out of my backyard! Sorry, but no one gets it both ways. Not even sheriffs.

Sheriff Kim Stewart of Doa Ana County, New Mexico

Lopez previously worked at the Department of Justice under the Obama administration, investigating abuses by law enforcement, and said over time she noticed sheriffs growing less willing to voluntarily cooperate with her team to improve jail conditions. She argued that sheriffs used Macks rhetoric to convince Virginia lawmakers in 2020 to carve them out of a bill that would have increased civilian oversight of their departments.

And while Mack himself repeatedly disclaims violence, not all sheriffs believe the final implications of interposition will be peaceful, particularly when it comes to the Second Amendment. Is it going to come down to my men facing off with a federal agency at gunpoint? asked Sheriff Chuck Jenkins of Frederick County, Maryland (population 279,800). I hope not.

*Due to a photo agency error, an earlier version of this story misidentified Orange County, Vermont, Sheriff Sam Frank, who was pictured standing in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Edited by Akiba Solomon. Design by Bo-Won Keum. Development by Katie Park. Data graphics by Anastasia Valeeva, David Eads, and Katie Park. Photo research and editing by Celina Fang, Marci Suela, and Bo-Won Keum.

See the original post:

Does Your Sheriff Think He's More Powerful Than the President? - The Marshall Project

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) A former Wyoming man who climbed through a broken window at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection has been sentenced to 30 days in jail and ordered to pay $1,500 in fines and restitution.

Andrew Galloway, 34, pleaded guilty in March to a misdemeanor charge of parading, demonstrating or picketing inside the Capitol for entering the Capitol about 11 minutes after supporters of then-President Donald Trump were able to overpower Capitol police and break into the building.

Galloway spent about 10 minutes inside, according to prosecutors and his attorney.

He was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Washington.

Galloway followed a crowd to the Capitol with no intention of doing anything but having his voice join those of thousands of other peaceful protesters, attorney Allen Orenberg wrote in requesting a probationary sentence. Galloway regrets his role in the events, his attorney wrote.

The FBI received a tip about Galloways participation in the breach, which happened as Congress was certifying the Electoral College votes that showed Joe Biden won the November 2020 presidential election over Trump. Investigators obtained a video that showed Galloway saying: Yeah, that was us today; no that wasnt Antifa, court documents state.

Galloway, who previously lived in Cody, Wyoming, now lives in Nashville, Tennessee. He will be allowed to self-report to serve his jail time.

About 900 people have been arrested for their roles in the breach of the U.S. Capitol. More than 400 people have pleaded guilty to federal charges, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Read the original here:

Former Wyoming man gets 30 days for role in Capitol breach - The Associated Press - en Espaol

As the coronavirus pandemic was upending daily life across the globe in early 2020, government officials challenged scientists to swiftly develop accurate and easy-to-use tests for COVID-19.

It was a break in the traditional slog from idea to marketable medical tool. The effort, which included funding and support, proved so successful that its now a format for a new initiative funded by the National Institutes of Health. This time, its focused on tests and treatments for neurological disorders such as Alzheimers and Parkinsons diseases and migraines.

NIH chose the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Howard University in Washington to lead a new incubator where scientific innovators can receive funding and mentoring from a diverse set of expert scientists and engineers for ideas that are at such an early stage that the government wouldnt normally take the risk.

The center, called NeuroTech Harbor, solicited the first pitches at the end of September. The university experts will select the innovators from a broad pool of applicants to the incubator and polish their projects to present to NIH, which will ultimately choose those getting ongoing funding, said Sri Sarma, executive director of the new center and associate professor of biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins.

Potentially lifesaving and life-changing solutions addressing neurological conditions are out there, but the pace of their development is slow, Sarma said.

Many of the most promising concepts often languish due to a lack of resources and the high risks associated with early development phases, she said. NeuroTech Harbors approach will overcome those barriers, helping to fast-track solutions to conditions that affect 1 in 6 people around the globe.

This is the administration building on the Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus in 2020. (Barbara Haddock Taylor / Baltimore Sun)

Diagnostic tools and treatments vary for the neurological disorders: Alzheimers, migraines and Parkinsons, as well as multiple sclerosis and strokes. Together they affect more than a billion people worldwide.

NeuroTech Harbor expects hundreds of applications over five years, and the winners will get up to $500,000 a year for three to four years. Up to eight teams could be chosen this year.

The funding comes from the National Institutes of Healths Blueprint MedTech: Incubator Hubs program, which works to accelerate development of medical devices for nervous system disorders. The NIH neurological program is also funding another incubator led by Boston-area medical and academic institutions, which previously headed COVID-19 test development.

[Johns Hopkins launches major effort to make aging a whole lot less achy]

The Hopkins-Howard team believes it was added because of its commitment to diversity among innovators, which aims not only to widen the pool of scientists and ideas, but to reduce disparities in treatment for neurological disorders.

There are innovators across all populations, people who have ideas to solve problems and expand the reach of products to communities that are disadvantaged, said Dr. Evaristus Nwulia, a professor of neuroscience and director of the Translational Neuroscience Laboratory in the Howard University College of Medicine.

A lot of people are underrepresented on the research side, including minorities, but this also includes women, he said. They have limited access to resources to help them develop effective products to address these problems and move their ideas out into society. And on the other side, some cant access the products or they dont work for them. These underserved populations include people in rural areas.

Nwulia said Howard, a historically Black research university, also will work to expand the pipeline of new ideas and new innovators with programs that go beyond the contours of the NIH program because they lack enough basic research or have another missing piece. A seedling program will offer some funding and mentorship to those projects so they can resolve the weakness and remain viable. Another program headed at Howard will mentor a diverse corps of young people as a pipeline for future researchers.

Diversity unlocks innovation, thinking outside the box and makes the broadest impact, Nwulia said.

In this 2021 photo with the Founders Library in the background, people walk along the Howard University campus in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

There is a lot riding on such efforts, with uneven development of diagnostics and therapies for the diseases. Sarma said scientists, for example, dont really understand the mechanism behind migraines. More is understood about Parkinsons, and when drugs fail, patients have gotten relief from symptoms like tremors through deep brain stimulation. Thats the use of implanted electrodes to provide electrical stimulation to disrupt abnormal electrical signals in the brain associated with movement disorders.

Alzheimers drug development may be among the most disappointing over time with drug failures in clinical trials and even questions about the path researchers have taken to remove proteins called amyloids that form plaque in patients brains. This plaque has long been a hallmark of the disease, though researchers dont fully understand its role.

[With encore, Baltimore singer becomes Alzheimers inspiration at age 91]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved one drug called aducanumab over objections from outside advisers. Aducanumab removes the plaque with the aim of slowing cognitive decline in patients with early onset Alzheimers, but the drug requires high doses that can cause side effects and is costly.

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The outside experts were more hopeful about another drug, lecanemab, which showed a 27% decrease in cognitive decline in its latest trial. But they also questioned whether the benefit was enough and worth the potential side effects and cost.

Nwulia added that the benefits of this and other drugs may vary among populations because of age, race or ethnicity or other factors that have not yet been determined.

The exterior of Davidge Hall at the University of Maryland, Baltimore is shown in this file photo. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun )

The pharmaceutical industry, as well as other government, private and academic institutions continue to explore ways of addressing all the neurological disorders.

In the Baltimore region, others taking up research include the Kennedy Krieger Institute and the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Maryland is in the final stage of plans for an institute that aims to facilitate collaborative research across the campus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore. It will focus on neuroinflammation and injury, neurodevelopment and autism, and the aging brain. The aging category includes neurodegeneration and dementia.

Our institution has tremendous strengths around neuroscience, and now is the ideal time to create interdisciplinary teams in a new institute to accelerate the discovery and translation of novel therapies and offer new hope for patients, said Dr. Mark T. Gladwin, the new dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

There is an urgent need to better understand how the brain develops and ages and responds to inflammatory and traumatic injury, he said. Alzheimers disease and related dementias currently afflict more than 5 million Americans and represent one of our great generational challenges associated with the aging of the worlds populations.

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NIH expands faster path used to develop COVID-19 screening to tests, therapies for Alzheimer's and other neurological disorders - Baltimore Sun

Some technologists hope that one day we will develop a superintelligent AI system that people will be able to have conversations with. Ask it a question, and it will offer an answer that sounds like something composed by a human expert. You could use it to ask for medical advice, or to help plan a holiday. Well, that's the idea, at least.

In reality, were still a long way away from that. Even the most sophisticated systems of today are pretty dumb. I once got Metas AI chatbot BlenderBot to tell me that a prominent Dutch politician was aterrorist. Inexperimentswhere AI-powered chatbots were used to offer medical advice, they told pretend patients to kill themselves. Doesnt fill you with a lot of optimism, does it?

Thats why AI labs are working hard to make their conversational AIs safer and more helpful before turning them loose in the real world. I justpublished a storyabout Alphabet-owned AI lab DeepMinds latest effort: a new chatbot called Sparrow.

DeepMinds new trick to making a good AI-powered chatbot was to have humans tell it how to behaveand force it to back up its claims using Google search. Human participants were then asked to evaluate how plausible the AI systems answers were. The idea is to keep training the AI using dialogue between humans and machines.

In reporting the story, I spoke to Sara Hooker, who leads Cohere for AI, a nonprofit AI research lab.

She told me that one of the biggest hurdles in safely deploying conversational AI systems is their brittleness, meaning they perform brilliantly until they are taken to unfamiliar territory, which makes them behave unpredictably.

It is also a difficult problem to solve because any two people might disagree on whether a conversation is inappropriate. And even if we agree that something is appropriate right now, this may change over time, or rely on shared context that can be subjective, Hooker says.

Despite that, DeepMinds findings underline that AI safety is not just a technical fix. You need humans in the loop.

More here:

How DeepMind thinks it can make chatbots safer - MIT Technology Review