Black and Queer AI groups say they will reject Google Funding
Focused on three groups in terms of increasing diversity in the year Artificial intelligence say they won’t fund it anymore Google. In a joint statement released Monday, Black in AI, Queer in AI and Widening NLP said they had protested against Google’s treatment of the former. Timnit Gebru, head of the AI ethics team and Margaret Mitchell, as well as former contractor April Christina Curley, a black woman who is black.
“The potential of AI technologies to cause special harm to members of our communities weighs heavily on our organizations,” the document says. “Google’s actions in recent months have caused tremendous damage to our entire community. Not only have they caused damage, they have set a dangerous precedent for finding out what kind of research, defense and revenge are allowed in our community.”
AN ACTIVIST S DIARY,
Saturday May 01, 2021 - 11:26:00 AM Where I grew up, May 1 was a celebration of spring with leaving surprise baskets of candy on doorsteps and then running away. I didn’t learn about May 1 as International Worker’s Day until years later after I left that little town in Minnesota. May 1 is also the birthday of a friend who caught COVID-19 in January 2021 and is still struggling with what we call “long haulers syndrome.” An attendant for her daughter went partying over New Years and brought it in. I am sharing the story of my friend as the COVID-19 pandemic is not over even as the incidence of new cases in the US is dropping and California is looking good. For some like my friend COVID may never be over. Please do all you can to persuade unvaccinated 16 year olds and older in your circle of friends to get their COVID-19 vaccines and complete the two shot regimen.
Community doubts remain despite Police Accountability Board transition
Theo Wyss-Flamm/File
The city of Berkeley’s Police Review Commission was created in 1973 to provide civilian oversight for Berkeley Police Department. In November 2020, local voters approved a charter amendment to replace the commission with the Police Accountability Board.
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As the city of Berkeley looks to implement the Police Accountability Board, or PAB, this summer to increase policing transparency and public trust, the community remains both doubtful and hopeful.
With the creation of the Police Review Commission, or PRC, in 1973, nine Berkeley residents were appointed by the mayor and City Council to provide civilian oversight for Berkeley Police Department by investigating complaints and advising legislative policies. In November 2020, Berkeley voters approved a charter amendment that would replace the PRC with the PAB.
The supercentenarian died on Tuesday, March 2, according to longtime friend Sharon Miller.
Goodwill was a resident of Advantage Living Center in Battle Creek and was Michigan s oldest resident and the third oldest person living in the United States, as verified by the Gerontology Research Group. She s been a lady of grace, knowledge, and has been a blessing to all, Miller said. Normally people don t live past 100, and God had her here for a reason.
Researchers estimate that one in every 8 million people in the U.S. live to become a supercentenarian. The current average life expectancy in the U.S. is 78.6 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The year Goodwill was born, the life expectancy of women in the U.S. was 49.9 years, according to the Berkeley Department of Demography.
In July 2020, as part of the reimagining public safety omnibus, Berkeley City Council referred to the city manager the creation of a new Berkeley Department of Transportation (BerkDOT), in part to eliminate or reduce pretextual traffic stops. Their referral suggests combining within BerkDOT transportation planning and engineering, as well as unarmed, non-police equitable traffic enforcement. As a coalition of community members with expertise spanning transportation, criminology, public policy, urban design, public health, and law, we hope to use this two-part op-ed to contextualize this effort. The first part, presented below, provides context and data behind the issue. Part 2 will outline potential solutions and our vision for BerkDOT’s role in those solutions.