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Police say an athletic director used artificial intelligence to frame the executive for making racist remarks in a fake audio recording

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Authorities said Thursday that a Maryland highschool athletic director has been charged with using artificial intelligence to impersonate the principal in an audio recording that included racist and anti-Semitic comments.

Authorities said the case appeared to be one in every of the first of its kind in the country and called for recent laws to protect against the technology. Experts also warned that artificial intelligence was becoming more powerful and the ability to detect it could possibly be delayed in the absence of more resources.

Baltimore County police said Dazhon Darien faked the vote of Pikesville High School’s principal in response to conversations the men had about Darien’s poor job performance and whether his contract could be renewed.

The concerns involved allegations that Darien paid his roommate $1,900 in school funds under the false pretense that he was the coach of the girls’ soccer team, police said.

As police wrote in charging documents, Darien faked an audio recording that showed the principal was frustrated with black students and their test-taking skills. They said the recording also allegedly captured the primary contemptuous Jews and two teachers.

Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough and other local officers speak at a news conference in Towson, Maryland, Thursday, April 25, 2024. (Kim Hairston/The Baltimore Sun via AP)

The video quickly spread on social media and had “profound repercussions,” court documents said, and the principal was placed on leave. Authorities said the recording put the principal and his family at “significant risk,” and police secured his home.

Police said the video also sparked a wave of hateful messages on social media and a flood of calls to the school. Operations were disrupted for a time period and a few employees felt unsafe.

“Teachers expressed concerns that recording devices may have been placed in various areas of the school,” charging documents read.

Court documents show Darien, 31, faces charges including theft, disrupting school activities, stalking and retaliating against a witness.

Scott Shellenberger, a Baltimore state attorney, said the case appears to be one in every of the first of its kind nationwide involving artificial intelligence that his office has gained access to. He said the Maryland Legislature might have to update state laws to meet up with the recent technology’s nefarious capabilities.

For example, a charge of disrupting school activities “only carries a six-month sentence,” Shellenberger said.

“But we also need to take a broader look at how this technology is used and abused to harm other people,” the prosecutor said.

This undated photo shows the Pikesville High School sign on the school grounds. (Lloyd Fox/The Baltimore Sun via AP)

According to the charges against him, Baltimore County detectives asked experts to analyze Darien’s recording.

A University of Colorado-Denver professor told police it “contained traces of AI-generated content that was edited by a human after the fact, which added background noises for added realism,” court records said.

A second opinion from a professor at the University of California, Berkley concluded that police “merged multiple recordings.”

A Baltimore County detective discovered that Darien was using multi-language models reminiscent of OpenAI and Bingchat, which “can inform users what steps should be taken to create synthetic media,” court documents say.

Online court records show Darien posted $5,000 bail on Thursday. There was no mention in the file of a lawyer who could act on his behalf.

Darien was arrested Wednesday evening before he was scheduled to board a plane at Thurgood Marshall International Airport in Baltimore/Washington, Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough said. According to McCullough, Darien was detained due to the way he packed the gun for the flight, which led officers to learn he had a warrant for his arrest.

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McCullough said authorities entered the warrant for Darien’s arrest into the system Wednesday evening and plan to serve it Thursday morning. The chief said he didn’t know why Darien was catching a plane to Houston and didn’t suggest he was trying to escape.

The Baltimore County school system is recommending Darien be fired, Superintendent Myriam Rogers said Thursday.

Meanwhile, artificial intelligence is becoming more powerful and yet “very easy to use,” said Siwei Lyu, director of the University at Buffalo’s media forensics lab.

“Basically, anyone’s voice can be uploaded to this platform,” Lyu told The Associated Press on Thursday. “And then you can text it and start creating that person’s voices.”

A recording of somebody speaking for a minute or two could be downloaded from social media and used to recreate someone’s voice, Lyu said, noting it is not all the time perfect.

Lyu’s research focuses on identifying voices and pictures generated by artificial intelligence. He said models have gotten more powerful and detection methods are attempting to catch up.

“It’s kind of like a constant game of cat and mouse,” Lyu said. “But if I predict the speed of development based on today’s situation, detection will lag because we have fewer resources and we are not paying as much attention as the generative side.”


This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Education

Mississippi College changes name and eliminates football program

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Mississippi College embraces its Christian ideology with a name change.


Mississippi College, a non-public institution, is changing its name to Mississippi Christian College. The decision was approved by the Mississippi Board of Supervisors on November 18.

The university can be eliminating its Division 1 football team in an effort to prioritize academic offerings. In an announcement, the university cited the upcoming bicentenary because the inspiration for the changes.

Mississippi Christian College wants to construct on its Christian ideology, in line with President Bake Thompson.

“These transformational and necessary changes are critically important to the future of this institution. As we look ahead to the institution’s bicentennial in 2026, we want to ensure that MC is a university recognized for academic excellence and commitment to Christ for another 200 years.”

The college is rededicated to making a space where Christian education stays a priority.

“The institution may even undergo restructuring. A brand new structure will likely be introduced, which can mix the College of Christianity and Art with the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the College of Pedagogy will change its name to the College of Pedagogy and Human Sciences. The chancellor was charged with evaluating the potential consolidation of a limited number of educational departments on campus.

Mississippi Christian Athletic Director Kenny Bizott reaffirmed his commitment to former student-athletes.

“We will support our current student-athletes who wish to continue their education at MC, as well as those who wish to transfer,” Bizott added.

Many may view these changes as extreme, but Mississippi Christian believes that every latest organizational change will help the institution fulfill its core functions.

Another Mississippi institution can be within the news for its failures on the legislative level. reported the Mississippi State Senate no payment Legislative Services Office (LSO) attorney Kristie Metcalfe is paid commensurate along with her peers.

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the Mississippi LSO on Metcalfe’s behalf. An office investigation found that Metcalfe was earning half the salary of white LSO lawyers. The investigation also found that Metcalfe is the one non-white worker employed within the office’s 34 years of operation. Race discrimination violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964.


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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Florida education officials report hundreds of books pulled from school libraries, including Toni Morrison, Richard Wright and Maya Angelou

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye.” “Forever” by Judi Blume. “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut.

According to the newest information, all of them have been withdrawn from the shelves of some Florida schools list developed by the Florida Department of Education and containing books removed by local school districts.

Recent changes in state law have made it possible for fogeys and residents to take this motion challenge books to school libraries and required districts to submit an annual report to the state detailing which books were restricted of their schools. Florida continues to steer the nation in withdrawing books from school libraries, in accordance with an evaluation by the American Library Association and the advocacy group PEN America.

“Restricting access means limiting the freedom to read,” said Kasey Meehan of PEN America. “Students are losing the opportunity to access books that reflect their own life experiences, to access books that help them learn and to empathize with people who… have different life experiences.”

The list, published for the 2023-2024 school yr, includes titles by American literary icons similar to Maya Angelou, Flannery O’Connor and Richard Wright, in addition to books which have turn into top targets for censorship across the country as a consequence of LGBTQ+ characters, discussions about gender and sexuality and descriptions of sexual encounters, e.g. “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George Johnson and “Gender Queer” by Maja Kobabe. Supporters of conservatism have described such content as “pornographic.”

The list of books removed from libraries also includes Holocaust accounts similar to “The Diary of Anne Frank: A Graphic Adaptation” and “Sophie’s Choice.” It’s an analogous story with the graphic novel, an adaptation of “1984,” George Orwell’s groundbreaking work on censorship and surveillance.

“Everywhere from Toni Morrison to Alice Walker to Slaughterhouse-Five to George Orwell,” said Stephana Farrell, co-founder of the Florida Freedom to Read Project, which tracks book challenges within the state. “If you take the time to look through this list, you will see that there is a problem with… this movement.”

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In an announcement to the Associated Press, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Education maintained that no books have been banned in Florida and defended the state’s efforts to remove “sexually explicit material” from schools.

“Once again, far-left activists are promoting the book ban scam to Floridians. “The better question is why these activists continue to fight to expose children to sexually explicit material,” spokeswoman Sydney Booker said.

The list shows that the number of book withdrawals varies widely across the state, with some districts reporting no restrictions and others reporting hundreds of titles pulled from shelves. Farrell of the Florida Freedom to Read Project said that based on the group’s evaluation of public records, the department’s report is an undercount since it doesn’t include books removed in consequence of an internal staff review, only those withdrawn in consequence of a grievance filed by a parent or resident.

Farrell believes that almost all Florida parents want their children to have broad access to literature.

“We live in a country where parental rights should be recognized, heard and taken into account,” Farrell said. “We are asking for accountability and an accurate record of the impact of these laws on our children and what is available to them.”

Schools have restricted access to dozens of books by Stephen King, a master of the horror genre known for bestsellers similar to “It” and “Pet Sematary.” Clay County officials also found his book, “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft,” inappropriate for college kids.

King, who spends part of the yr in Florida, talked about attempting to get his books out of students’ hands, urging readers to run to the closest library or bookstore.

“What the hell?” In August, King posted on social media reacting to the choice of some Florida schools to drag his books from shelves.

Multiple school districts in Florida have filed legal challenges for restricting students’ access to books, including Escambia County, which is being sued by PEN America and Random penguin housethe biggest publisher within the country.

Nassau County School District in September settled lawsuit brought by the authors of “And Tango Makes Three,” an image book based on the true story of two male penguins who raised a chick together at New York’s Central Park Zoo. Under the terms of the settlement, the district needed to return three dozen books to the shelves.

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Issa Rae meets with Georgia law students

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Issa Rae, georgia state university

Rae will speak to students about legal issues related to her success.


Georgia State University College of Law announced that Issa Rae will meet with students to debate the legal elements of her successful profession as a part of the course “The Legal Life of Issa Rae.”

On November 7, the producer-actress will hold a hearing at Rialto Art Center. The visit is the culmination of a course exploring Rae’s decades-long profession within the entertainment industry. Rae’s profession provides a wealth of legal diversity to explore as her profession extends beyond visual entertainment.

The classes are held as a part of the “Legal Life…” series. The series was created by George State University law professor Moraima “Mo” Ivory.

As a professor at Georgia State College of Law, Ivory curated a series that examined the legality of maintaining a prestigious profession. As reported, Rae is a course subject this semester BLACK ENTERPRISES.

The creator’s team worked with Ivory to take an in depth take a look at the contracts that helped Rae secure her deals.

“With the support of her team, we will also have the unique opportunity to analyze her real-world deals and discuss how her approach to deals is shaping today’s entertainment landscape. We are incredibly fortunate to have this opportunity,” Ivory told .

It was classy access for 10 years value of contractual agreements to be analyzed.

“This is the first class where every contract was an actual contract with the artist,” Ivory said. “Students can see how real deals actually happen and what real entertainment lawyer Issa Rae has been doing over the last 10 years.”

Ivory, a professor and Fulton County commissioner, believes that the language of the law is vital and that the power to see the language in connection with a noteworthy product allows students to beat the barrier of unfamiliarity.

“You have to look at what people are actually doing and what is happening at the moment. The more familiar they become with the language, the faster they will be able to master it and start representing clients.”

According to Ivory, Rae’s family and business partners were instrumental in checking out the complicated details of her business. The course was attended by “Rae’s mother, siblings, network executives and members of her staff.”

The longtime artist began her profession on YouTube with “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.” The show’s success led to a collaboration with host Larry Wilmore and a multi-show deal with HBO. Outside of television, Rae is a successful actress and producer of many shows including (2022). She also created her own media company HooRae media and music label Raedio.


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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