Show Notes: AI – Erasing Society

Link Back to LIVE Stream

Michigan wants to adopt Productivity Credits for felons can get out sooner, so if we define down deviancy we can just claim victory.  Meanwhile, AI is changing how we look at history, literally.

Mich. prisoners could be freed earlier with ‘productivity credits’

https://www.corrections1.com/re-entry-and-recidivism/mich-prisoners-could-be-freed-earlier-with-productivity-credits

Prisoners can earn credits in a variety of ways; for example, earning a high school diploma or a high school equivalency certificate would earn a prisoner 120 days credit.

Lawmakers introduced a new bipartisan bill in the state Senate Tuesday, May 7, that would create “productivity credits” in the state prison system, allowing some prisoners a chance to earn days off their total sentence if they participate and successfully complete MDOC-approved educational and vocational programs.

This will cut short minimum terms served, which is required in the Truth In Sentencing:

https://www.michigan.gov/corrections/for-families/truth-in-sentencing-information

Truth in Sentencing is a 1998 state law which eliminates disciplinary credits, good time and corrections centers for certain offenders and requires offenders to serve the entire minimum sentence in prison prior to being considered for parole. It replaces disciplinary credits with “disciplinary time” which is days accumulated for incurring Class 1 misconducts while in prison.  Disciplinary time days are not to be formally added to the minimum sentence, but the Parole Board must consider the amount of time each prisoner has accumulated when it considers parole.  The law commonly referred to as Truth in Sentencing, applies to assaultive crimes committed on or after Dec. 15, 1998, and all other crimes committed on or after Dec. 15, 2000. An offender that committed their offense after those dates cannot receive credits or another form of education to the minimum sentence imposed by the court. The MDOC cannot parole an offender prior to the completion of the minimum sentence. 

There have been no changes with the Truth in Sentencing law. Citizens with an interest in the law should discuss the subject with their legislator. 

 

Change the Definitions to Create The Results You Want To See

https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2018-03-06/did-an-obama-era-school-discipline-policy-contribute-to-the-parkland-shooting

At issue is a “Dear Colleague” letter and guidance from the previous administration, issued in 2014, which aimed to stem the school-to-prison pipeline by prodding schools to reduce the number of suspensions and expulsions, especially for students of color and students with disabilities, both of whom receive disciplinary actions at disproportionately high rates.

According to the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, among the 2.6 million students suspended each year, black boys are three times more like than white boys to be suspended, black girls are six times more likely than white girls to be suspended, and students with disabilities are more than twice as likely as their peers to be suspended.

“Restorative Justice” was a concept that schools would not turn over violent teens to police, looking to create equity in discipline.  This was  an Obama policy and was hugely “popular”.

Broward County Public Schools in Florida, the sixth-largest school system in the country and home to Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where last month’s school shooting took place, was one of the first to embrace what’s known as “restorative justice” discipline programs and quickly became one of the Obama administration’s darlings for its efforts to focus on equity in discipline.

 

In fact, the superintendent of the Broward school, Robert Runcie, who worked alongside former Education Secretary Arne Duncan in the Chicago Public Schools, was the leading force behind instituting new practices within the district for handling student behavior issues without resorting to law enforcement involvement, which quickly became a national model for ending zero-tolerance policies in schools.

Darth Caught Doing Lawfare

AI is altering our perceptions, even of history.  This started when I was using Adobe Express, a web based graphics program which offers Firefly, an AI based text to image generation system.  I thought I could easily prompt it to create Fourth of July imagery of the American Revolution.

What was issued was astonishing bad.  I was looking abstract imagery, so nothing photorealistic, but at a minimum I thought I would be able to get AI to create something that had a tricorn hat and looked like the Founding Fathers.

“Create scene of American Revolutionary soldiers staring at fireworks at night, the glow of the fireworks is reflected on their faces.”  Yet I got Abe Lincoln like figures.

How Hard Is It To Create Tricorn Hats
I tried several times, and upload samples for Firefly to bases it results on.

I thought I would change tactics and ask Firefly to produce American Revolutionary soldiers, right at night.  I got British looking soldiers whose attire what they wore in Egypt a hundred years after the War For Independence.

In this version I uploaded an image of Washington on horseback. 
This was my source image

Asking For Someone Like Superman

Now I wanted to experiment, as I thought if I use contemporary concepts and images, I should have no problem getting an image which resembled Henry Cavill, the latest actor to portray Superman.  In the words of my 22 year old daughter, Cavill is a mega-chad, very masculine.  Hell, he’s Superman.

So I asked first to create a superhero like Henry Cavill.  Firefly’s idea of Alpha Male testosterone was NOT what I received.

 

Leave a Reply