civicwhitaker

civicwhitaker, 9 days ago to random

If the meetings are trivial enough to send an AI clone, then it may be time to rethink that meeting entirely https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/3/24168733/zoom-ceo-ai-clones-digital-twins-videoconferencing-decoder-interview

civicwhitaker, 1 month ago to random

I've seen enough AI generated imagery on LinkedIn that I've become pretty good at spotting it on the fly.

It's as if a big chunk of people just swapped out the usual 'high tech blue touchscreen cover art' for 'ai generated content' with about the same effect

civicwhitaker, 2 months ago to random

Please, on behalf of everyone who handles family tech support on older machines, please don’t

Microsoft Is Testing Ads in the Windows 11 Start Menu
https://daringfireball.net/linked/2024/04/12/msft-ads-start-menu

civicwhitaker, 2 months ago to random

I'm just going to leave this here:

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/03/irs-direct-file/677818/?gift=oD9H0fUgsyMEe3j4CtemRp-4tC1idIluG8aTJQHg7Xs&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

Just kidding, I'm going to blast that good news everywhere #civictech

civicwhitaker, 3 months ago to random

Bad: An airline replaces a human with a LLM who hallucinates a wrong answer on a bereavement policy.

Worse: Same thing, but with taxes!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/03/04/ai-taxes-turbotax-hrblock-chatbot/

civicwhitaker, 5 months ago to random

All these tech firms laying off a bunch of staff then posting AI roles has big ‘pivot to video’ vibes

civicwhitaker, 5 months ago to random

OK! Two things

1. Can we stop saying disrupt government? There are real serious recent things that disrupt government (like a funding shutdown or a bomb threat at a state capitol) and let's not conflate the two shall we:?

2. Unless it's pointing to an exact problem that will be solved using AI, this is all marketing fluff.

https://www.govtech.com/biz/the-hype-is-real-ai-poised-to-disrupt-the-gov-tech-market

civicwhitaker, 5 months ago to random

I've been thinking a lot about this piece from @anildash about the resurgent human web & how that's reflected in #civictech

What resonates with me is the resurgence of local tech communities. While national incumbent orgs have backed away from supporting local volunteers, the more established groups never left. For the majority of their lifetimes, local civic tech orgs have been locally funded allowing them to set their own agendas. They've always been a little wild

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-commentary/internet-future-about-to-get-weird-1234938403/

civicwhitaker, 6 months ago to random

Yesterday was my last day at Columbia College Chicago. I was originally hired to develop a civic tech course, but they didn’t offer that class this semester so I was teaching a data storytelling course instead.

As some of you know, the union that represents the part-time faculty went on strike and as a member of that union I wasn’t prepared to cross a picket line. I said as much when asked for my ‘availability to return.’ Yesterday, I was informed that my class had been reassigned.

civicwhitaker, 10 months ago to random

At last, I am on mastodon.publicinterest.town -- which means another #introduction round

Hi, I'm Christopher - A bureaucracy hacker and civic tech organizer. I'm currently serving as a product manager at the United States Digital Service (usds.gov) and am one of the co-founders of the Alliance of Civic Technologists (https://www.civictechnologists.org/)

I teach #civictech and data storytelling at Columbia College Chicago.

I have a Masters of Public Admin from DePaul and served in the Army

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