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☆ Election campaigns are already using AI with some degree of success. Experts are concerned it will usher in a new era of disinformation.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Political campaigns are using AI to create election material, attack ads, and donation requests. —DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) June 5, 2023Campaigns, ranging from mayoral races to the 2024 presidential election, have already been using artificial intelligence to create election ads or outreach emails — with some reportedly seeing benefits in the tool. Beyond fake images, West wrote that artificial intelligence could also be used for "very precise audience targeting" to reach swing voters. During his first appearance before Congress in May, the CEO of OpenAI, which created ChatGPT, admitted his concerns about the use of artificial intelligence in elections as the tool advances. "This is a remarkable time to be working on artificial intelligence," he said.

Persons: —, Ron DeSantis's, Donald Trump, Anthony Fauci, ike, ake, ould Organizations: Service, National Institute of Allergy Locations: Florida

☆ A.I.’s Use in Elections Sets Off a Scramble for Guardrails
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Tiffany Hsu | Steven Lee Myers | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Increasingly, political consultants, election researchers and lawmakers say setting up new guardrails, such as legislation reining in synthetically generated ads, should be an urgent priority. The Republican National Committee released a video with artificially generated images of doomsday scenarios after President Biden announced his re-election bid, while Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida posted fake images of former President Donald J. Trump with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former health official. The Democratic Party experimented with fund-raising messages drafted by artificial intelligence in the spring — and found that they were often more effective at encouraging engagement and donations than copy written entirely by humans. The technology is already far more powerful than manual manipulation — not perfect, but fast improving and easy to learn.

Persons: Biden, Ron DeSantis, Donald J, Trump, Anthony Fauci, Sam Altman Organizations: Republican National Committee, Gov, Democratic Locations: Florida

☆ The cult of Emily Oster
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Sarah Todd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +30 min

Emily Oster is sitting in the back of a car, checking her Garmin watch as we lurch through rush-hour traffic toward the Holland Tunnel. A self-described expert in data, Oster uses her economics training to dig into studies on things like circumcision and screen time and translate them for popular consumption. There doesn't seem to be much of a gap between the way Oster presents herself in her books and newsletters and the way she conducts her life. Unsurprisingly, economics informs every aspect of the way Oster sees the world. When Oster was a toddler, her mother told a Yale colleague that Oster often talked to herself before falling asleep.

Persons: Emily Oster, doesn't, Oster, Taylor Swift, Spock, —, Mandy Moore, Emily DiDonato, Amy Schumer, " Oster, Emily, Aisha McAdams, Claudia Goldin, who's, Lori Feldman, " Feldman, Winter, It's, reopenings, Timothy Caulfield, Oster's Brown, OSTER, She's, Sheryl Sandberg's, Brown, Denis Tangney Jr, graham, Eminem, Sharon Oster, Ray Fair, Jesse Shapiro, Katherine Nelson, Carl, Choate Rosemary Hall, John F, Kennedy, Glenn Close, Ivanka Trump, Goldin, Steven Levitt —, Oster —, Paul Farmer, Steven Levitt, Oster's, Levitt, Robert Barro, demographer Monica Das Gupta, Joseph Delaney, she'd, I've, Matt Notowidigdo, Chicago Booth, hadn't, Udo Salters, Patrick McMullan, Shapiro, Jessica Calarco, Dr, Anthony Fauci, Donald Trump, Calarco, Rochelle Walensky, Delaney, University of Manitoba epidemiologist, Abigail Cartus, Justin Feldman, Delivette Castor, they're, COVID, Castor, Notowidigdo, Carter, you'd, she's, there's Organizations: Garmin, Brown University, New York Times, American Academy of Pediatrics, Yorker, Yale School of Management, Yale, Harvard, Connecticut, Choate, University of Chicago, Forbes, Wall, Publicly, University of Manitoba, Getty, Oster, Centers for Disease Control, Columbia University, Harvard Business School Locations: Holland, Montclair , New Jersey, Montclair, Harvard, Providence , Rhode Island, New Haven , Connecticut, China, Canada, Chicago, Ohio, New Jersey

☆ DeSantis' campaign apparently used AI-created fake images showing Trump and Fauci hugging and kissing
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Kelly Mclaughlin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

DeSantis' campaign shared images of Trump and Fauci hugging in a Twitter video on June 5. Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign appears to feature AI-generated fake images of former President Donald Trump and former White House chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci hugging and kissing. DeSantis, DeSantis' campaign, and Trump did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment. AI-generated images have circulated in the political sphere for months. In February, Trump shared a parody AI-generated video of DeSantis and Elon Musk speaking with Adolf Hitler.

Persons: DeSantis, Trump, —, Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, Anthony Fauci, Fauci, ake, hotos, Organizations: AFP, Service, Florida Gov, White House, Trump, DeSantis Locations: usk

The video does not disclose any potential AI use and the DeSantis campaign did not respond to a question about whether the images were fake or whether AI was used to create them. A person with knowledge of the DeSantis campaign operation said the Trump side had been "continuously posting fake images and false talking points to smear the governor." The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Drexel professor Stamm's forensics analysis tool suggests the images were made using an AI model called a diffusion model, which underpin popular AI image generation products like DALL-E and Stability AI. "At some point the AI systems will be outputting images that have no differences from real images," said James O'Brien, a professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley.

Persons: Donald Trump, Russell Cheyne, Anthony Fauci, Trump, Fauci, Ron DeSantis, Matthew Stamm, Hany Farid, DeSantis, Drexel, Biden, James O'Brien, Alexandra Ulmer, Anna Tong, Seana Davis, Rosalba O'Brien, Stephen Coates Organizations: U.S, Republican, Aberdeen International Airport, REUTERS, FRANCISCO, Republican White, Twitter, Trump, Drexel University, University of California, Republican National Committee, RNC, Thomson Locations: Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain, Florida, Berkeley, U.S, China, Taiwan, San Francisco

☆ With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. interview, Musk again uses Twitter to promote candidates aligned with his views
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

On Monday, Musk is set to share an audio chatroom with Robert Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine activist and Democratic candidate for president. Instagram’s parent, Meta, has also banned accounts belonging to Kennedy’s anti-vaccine advocacy group. But by putting Kennedy center stage on Twitter, Musk appears poised to promote these views further to his millions of followers. Ron DeSantis, who announced his White House bid with Musk during a Twitter Spaces event last month plagued by technical glitches. That could be the very thing that drives away more moderate candidates from accepting Musk’s “invitation” to appear alongside him.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Robert Kennedy Jr, Kennedy, Anthony Fauci, Instagram, “, Joe Biden, Williamson, Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, Musk’s Organizations: CNN, Twitter, Democratic, ”, Florida Republican Gov Locations: Nazi Germany, Washington, coronavirus

☆ Elon Musk is set to host anti-vax presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Twitter — weeks after Ron DeSantis' campaign launch flopped on the platform
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk is ready for another conversation with a presidential hopeful. On Monday the billionaire will host anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on a Twitter Spaces call. It comes just weeks after Republican candidate Ron DeSantis suffered an embarrassing campaign launch on Twitter. Elon Musk will host outspoken anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr in a virtual call on Twitter as he prepares to take-on President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination for the 2024 election — weeks after Ron DeSantis' catastrophic campaign launch on the platform. The billionaire Twitter owner will talk to Kennedy — nephew of late president John F. Kennedy — on Monday in a Twitter Spaces event titled "Reclaiming Democracy," marking his second conversation with a presidential candidate on the platform.

Persons: Elon Musk, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Ron DeSantis, Joe Biden, Kennedy —, John F, Anthony Fauci, Adolf Hitler, Kennedy, Jack Dorsey, Donald Trump, DeSantis, David Saacks Organizations: Republican, Twitter, Democratic, Fox, Florida Gov, Musk

☆ Jack Dorsey is backing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — an anti-vaxxer who called Anthony Fauci a fascist — for president
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Aditi Bharade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Twitter's co-founder Jack Dorsey has endorsed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for president. Dorsey tweeted that Kennedy "can and will" beat both Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis in the 2024 race. One Twitter user posted a comment asking whether Dorsey was endorsing Kennedy, or "just predicting." Kennedy, the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, filed his statement of candidacy on April 4, officially challenging President Joe Biden for the Democratic candidate nomination. Representatives of Kennedy and Dorsey did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.

Persons: Twitter's, Jack Dorsey, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Dorsey, Kennedy, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Anthony Fauci, —, Harris Faulkner, John F, Joe Biden, Kennedy's, Anne Frank, Kerry Kennedy, Bobby, Insider's Alia Shoaib, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, PayPal's, Musk, Thiel, DeSantis Organizations: Service, Florida Gov, Fox News, Trump, DeSantis, Democratic, Center, Children's Health Defense, Facebook, National Institute of Allergy Locations: COVID, Washington, Hitler's Germany, Switzerland

☆ Iceland Is a Magnet for Tourists. Its First Lady Has Some Advice for Them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Paige Mcclanahan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Right after the volcanic eruption in 2010, there was the launch of the “Inspired by Iceland” campaign to promote tourism. There have been some genius campaigns, and a lot of them have important underlying messages about sustainability, like the Icelandic pledge, a commitment to responsible travel that anyone can take online. And the Icelandic pledge is a good way of reminding people to be kind to nature and make sure you have a travel plan in case something happens. And definitely here in Iceland, you go to a swimming pool, because that’s where you can meet people — morning, afternoon or evening. And we were just laughing that only in Iceland do we run into each other in an undergarment store.

Persons: “, ”, —, Anthony Fauci Organizations: Brit Locations: Ireland, Iceland

☆ Ron DeSantis praised Anthony Fauci for Covid response in spring 2020 for ‘really doing a good job’
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Andrew Kaczynski | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

And from Dr. Birx to Dr. Fauci to the vice president who’s worked very hard, the surgeon general, they’re really doing a good job. “Governor DeSantis would’ve fired Anthony Fauci.”In a news conference on Tuesday, DeSantis also acknowledged mistakes early in the pandemic. DeSantis, like Trump, later broke with Fauci over reopening Florida in July 2020, but he didn’t begin regularly harshly criticizing Fauci until spring 2021. Speaking at a news briefing on March 21, 2020, DeSantis made similar comments praising Fauci. “I would defer to people like Dr. Fauci,” DeSantis said on March 14, 2020.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, Anthony, Fauci, DeSantis, “, ”, they’re, ” DeSantis, Birx, who’s, Trump, Bryan Griffin, ” Griffin, DeSantis would’ve, Anthony Fauci, I’ve, retweeting, Dan Scavino, didn’t, reopenings, we’ve, they’ve, we’re Organizations: CNN, Republican, “, National Institute of Allergy, Diseases, Trump Locations: Florida, Fauci, Iowa

☆ Queer people in history: Figures to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Leah Asmelash | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

To commemorate the month, CNN is highlighting five major LGBTQ elders – some who have passed on, and some who haven’t – highlighting their achievements. From a drag king who fought discrimination on the streets of New York to a famous mathematician who stood up to adversity despite legal limitations, here are five LGBTQ figures to know. Miss Major Griffin-GracyMiss Major in the film "Major," a documentary about her life and campaigns. But a year after Stonewall, Miss Major was arrested for robbery, landing her with a five-year prison sentence. Decades after her release, Miss Major spent time as the executive director of the Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Project.

Persons: Bayard Rustin, Martin Luther King Jr, Patrick A, Burns, Rustin wasn’t, Rustin, King, Sen, Strom Thurmond, Gavin Newsom, Larry Kramer Larry Kramer, Catherine McGann, Larry Kramer, “, ”, Kramer, Anthony Fauci, Miss Major Griffin, Major, Marsha P, Johnson, Miss Major, Mama, Michelle V, Stormé DeLarverie, DeLarverie, White, “ That’s, Alan Turing, Alan Turing’s, Turing, it’s Organizations: CNN, New York Times Co, Getty, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, California Gov, Village Voice, AIDS, Centers for Disease Control, ACT UP, AIDS Coalition, National Institute of Allergy, Miss, Stonewall, New York Times, Physical Laboratory Locations: New York, India, Montgomery, Washington, Chicago, Greenwich, New Orleans, England

☆ Ron DeSantis accused Trump of 'going left' on fiscal and cultural issues and called the former president 'a different guy' compared to his 2016 run
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

DeSantis said Trump is running from the "left" as the Fla. governor has now entered the 2024 race. In a range of interviews, DeSantis sought to assert himself as the true conservative in the primary. Ron DeSantis of Florida on Thursday wasted little time going after former President Donald Trump after announcing his White House run, accusing the ex-commander-in-chief of "going left" on fiscal and cultural issues. Despite DeSantis' appeal among many conservatives looking to move past the Trump era, the former president remains the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination. As of May 27, the national polling average on FiveThirtyEight had Trump ahead of DeSantis 53.9%-20.4%.

☆ FDA grants full approval to Pfizer Covid treatment Paxlovid for high-risk adults
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday granted full approval to Pfizer's Covid antiviral pill, Paxlovid, for adults who are at high risk of getting severely sick with the virus. The FDA first made Paxlovid available in December 2021 under emergency use authorization for high-risk individuals ages 12 and up. Both Pfizer and the FDA view the treatment as an important complementary tool to vaccination that can help high-risk Americans manage their Covid infections and ultimately save lives. For some doctors, another area of concern is Paxlovid "rebound cases." That's when patients who take the treatment see their Covid symptoms return or test positive shortly after they initially recover.

☆ Trump says he's 'pleased' to see Vivek Ramaswamy was even with Pence and ahead of Haley in a recent poll
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The former president said he was "pleased" to see entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy doing so well. A political newcomer, Ramaswamy performed very well in a recent poll. "I am pleased to see that Vivek Ramaswamy is doing so well in the most recent Republican Primary Poll, CBS YouGov," Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social. RealClearPolitics' more raw average has Ramaswamy in fifth behind DeSantis, Pence, and Haley respectively. In response to Trump's praise, Ramaswamy senior adviser Tricia McLaughlin told Insider, "We're 10 weeks in and just getting warmed up."

"The end of the COVID-19 public health emergency marks a tremendous transition for our country, for public health, and in my tenure as CDC Director," Walensky wrote to President Joe Biden in her resignation letter. "We have all benefited from her service and dedication to public health, and I wish her the best in her next chapter," Biden said in a statement. "For 75 years, CDC and public health have been preparing for COVID-19, and in our big moment, our performance did not reliably meet expectations," she told CDC staff last summer. Public health experts said Walensky wrestled with political and technical challenges during her tenure. "Dr. Walensky was put into place at the CDC at a time when the agency was basically captive to politicians which clearly hampered her ability to lead," he said.

☆ Opinion | Who’s to Blame for a Million Deaths?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( David Wallace-Wells | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“Something clearly went wrong,” Anthony Fauci told me, reflecting on the long pandemic, in an interview for The New York Times Magazine. It was those who forced essential workers to stay on the job and those who kept ordering delivery from them. It was those who cut the line to get vaccinated, then those who didn’t get vaccinated, then those who stopped wearing masks once they did. It was the unvaccinated and it was Joe Biden saying “pandemic of the unvaccinated.” It was the C.D.C. And it was those people who kept annoyingly insisting that the pandemic wasn’t over, when, in truth, well, it both was and wasn’t.

☆ Dr. Fauci Looks Back: ‘Something Clearly Went Wrong’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( David Wallace-Wells | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +55 min

Dr. Fauci Looks Back: ‘Something Clearly Went Wrong’ In his most extensive interview yet, Anthony Fauci wrestles with the hard lessons of the pandemic — and the decisions that will define his legacy. But when people say, “Fauci shut down the economy” — it wasn’t Fauci. But somehow or other, the general public didn’t get that feeling that the vulnerable are really, really heavily weighted toward the elderly. We also had a public-health system that we thought was really, really good. But it was really, really antiquated.

CNN —Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine activist and environmental lawyer, described himself as a truth-teller who will “end the division” as he launched his bid for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination on Wednesday in Boston. Some Kennedy family members have denounced his views on vaccines. Kennedy lives in Los Angeles, but he chose Boston as a nod to his family’s deep political roots in the city, even though his father, Robert F. Kennedy, declared his presidential ambitions in the Senate Caucus Room on Capitol Hill in 1968, the same place his uncle, John F. Kennedy, launched his presidential campaign in 1960. “I’m a lifelong Democrat, but I will not be voting for Robert Kennedy Jr. because I cannot stomach the anti-vaccine thing,” said Tyson Humble of Portland, Oregon, who was visiting the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of former President Kennedy, is currently the US ambassador to Australia.

☆ Fact Check-New COVID sublineages identified since Fauci’s retirement
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Reuters reported on Jan. 5, 2023, (here) that the Omicron sublineage XBB.1.5, the most transmissible one to date, was already spreading rapidly in the U.S. in December 2022. PANGO’s website (here) shows multiple new lineages identified from virus samples deposited around the world, and given names, in 2023. These include: XBB.1.24 and XBB.1.22.2 first spotted on Feb. 2, XBB.2.3.1 first seen on Jan. 29 and XBB.2.3.2 first identified on Jan. 18. The claims allude to the theory that the COVID-19 virus or its variants were planned or fabricated by the government or by Fauci. More than one new Omicron sublineage of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been identified since Anthony Fauci’s retirement.

☆ DeSantis implies Trump is a loser by suggesting the former president give him a new nickname: 'Winner'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

DeSantis hit back at Trump in the New York Post after he made salacious insinuations on Truth Social. DeSantis' comments to the Post mark an escalation against Trump, who the Florida governor could challenge for the GOP nomination for president. All weekend, DeSantis had stayed silent on Trump, only to dig at him Monday over his alleged affair. Trump was president when the federal government fast-tracked the vaccine and conservative voters have been more likely to reject boosters. "The approach to Covid was different," DeSantis told the New York Post.

☆ FDA staff report says data shows Pfizer's Covid treatment Paxlovid is effective in high-risk adults
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

More than 12 million courses of Paxlovid have been delivered to pharmacies across the U.S., according to federal data. The FDA staff reviewed Pfizer's mid-to-late stage clinical trials of Paxlovid. In one trial called EPIC-HR, Paxlovid showed an 86% reduction in the risk of hospitalization or death in high-risk adults who hadn't received a Covid vaccine. Paxlovid has been plagued by reports of "rebound" Covid infections, where patients see their Covid symptoms or a positive test return after finishing a five-day course of the oral drug. That was also regardless of patients' risk of severe disease, or whether Covid's omicron variant or an earlier strain was dominant, according to the staff.

The Food and Drug Administration made its assessment in briefing documents ahead of a meeting of the agency's external advisers on Thursday to discuss full approval to use Pfizer's oral pill for high-risk COVID-19 patients exhibiting mild to moderate symptoms. Paxlovid has been authorized for emergency use since late 2021, and a full approval is likely to allow Pfizer to expand its advertising campaign for the drug. Over 12 million courses have been delivered to pharmacies, and patients have used over 8 million courses of the treatment, according to Federal data. Paxlovid has shown reduction in risk of hospitalization or death by 86% in non-hospitalized, high-risk adult patients in Pfizer' study, which did not include vaccinated participants. Reporting by Leroy Leo and Khushi Mandowara in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Shinjini GanguliOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fauci hits back at critics like Elon Musk, who have called for his prosecution, saying 'I wish I could figure out what the heck they're talking about'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Dr. Anthony Fauci has responded to critics such as Elon Musk over his pandemic response. What are they talking about," Fauci said. Acosta had read Fauci a tweet from Elon Musk suggesting Fauci should be prosecuted. I wish I could figure out what the heck they're talking about. Representatives for Musk and Fauci did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside normal working hours.

☆ Congress sends bill to Biden requiring his administration to declassify intelligence on COVID-19's origins
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The House passed a bipartisan bill that would require the Biden administration to declassify information related to COVID-19's origins. The origins of COVID-19 have long been debated and theorized. The House of Representatives unanimously approved the bill, titled the COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023, in a 419-0 vote on Friday. The bill comes after the US Energy Department recently concluded with "low confidence" that the pandemic was likely the result of a lab leak. Indeed, lawmakers could likely override a potential veto with a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate.

☆ Fact Check-Mother Theresa and Anthony Fauci are not related, and there is no evidence she trafficked children
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Claims that Anthony Fauci is the son of Mother Theresa are false, contrary to some posts on social media. Similarly, there is no evidence to support online suggestions that Mother Theresa was a child trafficker. Reuters, however, found no reports supporting the claim that she sold babies or was involved in child trafficking (bit.ly/3xuRIWY). Fauci did not respond to a request for comment when claims about his supposed relation to Mother Theresa were first debunked by Reuters in 2021. Claims that Anthony Fauci is the son of Mother Theresa, or that Mother Theresa was a child trafficker, are false.

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