While I focus on Technology, Innovation, and Publishing, because I have a platform, I also flag items that I think are important, which you might have missed, and try to include a bunch of resources & opportunities. I’d love to hear what you think of this newsletter.

Important Items

Massive Defeat For Anti-Trans And Anti-LGBTQ+ Riders In Spending Bill As Dems Hold Firm

MT @ErinInTheMorn Major news in the national fight for transgender rights. Democrats appear to have held firm on the national spending and appropriations bill, defeating major anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-trans riders, including book bans and trans care bans. Over 40 anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ riders were defeated during budget negotiations with Republicans. Previous reporting indicated that riders targeting trans people could be a red line for the party.

https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/massive-defeat-for-anti-trans-and

Innovation

Segway brings a sub-$1,000 smart robot mower to the US

The AI-powered Segway Navimow i Series robot lawn mower starts at $999 and can tackle yards up to a quarter of an acre in size without the need for boundary wires.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/19/24105936/segway-navimow-i-robot-mower-price-release-date-specs

Technology

Publishers: It’s Time to Talk About Your AI Strategy

Per @ThadMcIlroy, all publishers face two big challenges as they move forward with AI technologies. The first is to develop a company position about how to approach AI generally, and on how to incorporate AI into their workflows. The second is communicating that position, clearly and unambiguously, to their constituents. They must be brave in countering the many objections of most authors at this time of fear and doubt.

https://thefutureofpublishing.com/2024/03/publishers-its-time-to-talk-about-your-ai-strategy/

Authors push back on the growing number of AI ‘scam’ books on Amazon

ICYMI

https://www.npr.org/2024/03/13/1237888126/growing-number-ai-scam-books-amazon

Nvidia is sued by authors over AI use of copyrighted works

HT @inkbitspixels ICYMI

https://www.reuters.com/technology/nvidia-is-sued-by-authors-over-ai-use-copyrighted-works-2024-03-10/

Using Co-Intelligence How I used AI in my book about AI

HT @thecreativepenn Interesting post on how @emollick used AI to write his book, and is creating GPTs, to help people interrogate, apply, and interact with the book in new ways

https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/i-cyborg-using-co-intelligence

Financial Times tests an AI chatbot trained on decades of its own articles

Subscribers can use Ask FT to answer questions about recent events or broader topics covered by the Financial Times.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/23/24106296/ask-ft-generative-ai-chatbot-answers-tool

Here’s How Google’s Generative AI for Newsrooms Product Will Work

Google wants to help journalists write stories with generative AI. Will it succeed?

https://www.bigtechnology.com/p/heres-how-googles-generative-ai-for

Here’s Proof You Can Train an AI Model Without Slurping Copyrighted Content

OpenAI claimed it’s “impossible” to build good AI models without using copyrighted data. An “ethically created” LLM + a giant AI dataset of public domain text suggest otherwise

https://www.wired.com/story/proof-you-can-train-ai-without-slurping-copyrighted-content/

Apple’s AI ambitions could include Google or OpenAI

Apple is in ‘active’ talks to bring Gemini to the iPhone, and has also considered using ChatGPT.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/18/24104626/apple-license-google-gemini-generative-ai-openai-chatgpt

Google fined $272M by French government over AI use of news content

https://siliconangle.com/2024/03/20/google-fined-272m-french-government-ai-use-news-content/

World’s first major act to regulate AI passed by European lawmakers

Born in 2021, the EU AI Act divides the technology into categories of risk, ranging from “unacceptable” — which would see the technology banned — to high, medium and low hazard.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/13/european-lawmakers-endorse-worlds-first-major-act-to-regulate-ai.html

White House hails first UN AI resolution as “landmark achievement”

The U.N. General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution to promote the development of AI that is safe, reliable, & focused on human benefits.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4547924-white-house-hails-first-un-ai-resolution/

YouTube adds new AI-generated content labeling tool

Creators are required to disclose “altered or synthetic” content that seems realistic. (Not beauty filters, background blur, animation)

https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/18/24104743/youtube-ai-generated-content-disclosure-label

A month of Apple’s Vision Pro

A deep dive by ⁦@benedictevans

https://www.ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2024/3/17/a-month-of-the-vision-pro

Ubisoft let me actually speak with its new AI-powered video game NPCs

An interesting technology to watch.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/19/24105748/nvidia-neo-npc-prototypes-gdc-2024

Nvidia is using AI to turn game characters into chatbots

Tech demos at GDC show how generative AI is being used to voice, animate, and write narratives for video game characters.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/19/24105681/nvidia-ai-ace-video-game-character-npc-covert-protocol

Anthropic’s Claude 3 causes stir by seeming to realize when it was being tested

Metacognition in AI is ability of AI model to monitor or regulate its own internal processes, similar to a form of self-awareness.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/03/claude-3-seems-to-detect-when-it-is-being-tested-sparking-ai-buzz-online/

Large Language Models’ Emergent Abilities Are a Mirage

A new study suggests that sudden jumps in LLMs’ abilities are neither surprising nor unpredictable, but are actually the consequence of how we measure ability in AI.

https://www.wired.com/story/how-quickly-do-large-language-models-learn-unexpected-skills/

Strategy In The Era Of AI: A Field Guide

HT @neilperkin A super presentation on using AI by @zoescaman

https://open.substack.com/pub/zoescaman/p/strategy-in-the-era-of-ai

Apple vs US antitrust lawsuit: Everything we know so far on the DOJ’s iPhone case

The DOJ is accusing Apple of operating like a monopoly, and the implications of the case stretch far beyond iOS and iPhones themselves

https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/22/apple-vs-us-antitrust-lawsuit-everything-we-know-so-far-on-the-dojs-iphone-case/

Over half of the U.S. population now pays for an audio subscription

ICYMI Half of U.S. consumers aged 13 years and older now pay for an audio subscription, according to data from music research firm MusicWatch.

https://musicwatchinc.com/blog/musicwatch-reports-results-of-2023-annual-music-study/

One Man’s Army of Streaming Bots Reveals a Whole Industry’s Problem

A rare case in Danish court shows how automated clicks and fake accounts can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars on Apple Music and Spotify. Experts say it’s the tip of the iceberg.

https://www.wired.com/story/streaming-bots-spotify/

Publishing & Media

The most innovative companies in media for 2024

#teamPRH

https://www.fastcompany.com/91041095/media-most-innovative-companies-2024

Lauren Groff Prepares to Open Her Bookstore—with a Little Help from Her Bookseller Friends

Fortified by advice and tips from her fellow authors-turned-booksellers Ann Patchett and Emma Straub, Lauren Groff will open her new bookstore, the Lynx, in Gainesville, Fla., this spring, spotlighting Floridian authors and titles banned in Florida.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/94521-lauren-groff-prepares-to-open-her-bookstore-with-a-little-help-from-her-bookseller-friends.html

Book boxes are the new “queenmakers” of the bestseller charts in the UK

Thousands of people are signing up to book subscription services like FairyLoot and Illumicrate. They are having a huge impact on the bestseller charts — and how we read.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/book-subscription-boxes-new-literary-queenmakers-5lkpzxtrw

Publishing accessible content

MT @wordisdiversity Publishing online soon? Check out these resources from the The National Center on Disability and Journalism site with pointers to ensure content is accessible to readers/viewers with certain disabilities.

https://ncdj.org/resources/publishing-accessible-content/

The Best Books of 2024 So Far

https://www.vogue.com/article/best-books-2024

You’re Wrong About These Common Myths About Book Bans

Per @veronikellymars, these just some of the myths:

Book bans make kids/teens hurry to read the books being banned
Authors benefit financially from book bans
Moms For Liberty is responsible for the swell of book bans – they’re not the only ones
Book bans are only happening in states like Florida, Texas, and Alabama – it’s your backyard too. Even—and especially—in progressive states.
Book bans only impact what’s in school classrooms and libraries – banners are trying to ban books in public libraries and bookstores too.

https://bookriot.com/common-myths-about-book-bans/

PRH, Hachette, S&S Flag ‘Trashed Books’ in New York

Publishers in New York City request action following what may be an incident of censorship at a school on Staten Island. The New York City’s Department of Education has opened an investigation into reports that hundreds of new books, “many that were about people of color and LGBTQ identities—were thrown into the trash at a Staten Island school

https://publishingperspectives.com/2024/03/prh-hachette-ss-others-flag-trashed-books-in-new-york/

Obscenity bill that could criminalize Nebraska librarians, teachers fails to advance

https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/03/20/obscenity-bill-that-could-criminalize-nebraska-librarians-teachers-fails-to-advance/

In Virginia, Censors Attempt to Axe ‘Wishtree’

Floyd County Public Schools suspended a community reading of Katherine Applegate’s 2017 novel following complaints that the novel depicts a monoecious red oak—a tree with both male and female reproductive parts

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/94637-in-virginia-censors-attempt-to-axe-wishtree.html

‘Don’t Display Gay’ and McCarthyism 2.0: Emerging Themes in K-12 Censorship

MT @PENamerica “The movement to stifle certain types of expression in K-12 schools is continuing to expand – and the laws go way beyond enabling book bans,” writes Madison Markham

https://pen.org/dont-display-gay-and-mccarthyism-2-0-emerging-themes-in-k-12-censorship/

Resources & Opportunities

WMG 50th Anniversary Gala Keynote Interview Announced!

I am SO EXCITED to announce that @gretchenrubin will be our Keynote Interview guest @WMG_NYC‘s 50th Anniversary Gala + I get to interview her! 3/25 from 6-9pm at the New-York Historical Society. Hope to see you there!

womensmediagroup.org/event-5571627

Last Chance to Bid at WMG’s 50th Anniversary Silent Auction!

There are almost 50 items to choose from, including a 5-night stay in Barbados, tickets for TOMMY on Broadway, artwork, consulting services, and lots more! Auction closes 3/25 at 7:30pm ET. Bid NOW!

https://wmg.betterworld.org/auctions/wmg-50

Zibby Owens and Estelle Erasmus Talk Publishing

Join publishing powerhouse Zibby Owens and author Estelle Erasmus for a fun and informative conversation about all things book publishing. 4/16 12-1pm ET via Zoom. Free for WMG members; $15 for non-members.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-5643789

Kweli’s Color of Children’s Literature Conference

MT @marcelalandres Highly recommended: Kweli Journal’s The Color of Children’s Literature Conference featuring top editors, agents, authors, and illustrators, 4/19-4/21 @kwelijournal

https://www.kwelijournal.org/2024-kweli-color-of-childrens-literature-conference-main-page

Trans Rights Readathon 2024

The Trans Rights Readathon, March 22-29, is an annual call to action to readers and book lovers in support of Trans Day of Visibility on March 31st.

https://transrightsreadathon.carrd.co

2024 Institute for Teachers Summer Seminars

MT @CullmanNYPL Announcing our 2024 Institute for Teachers Summer Seminars! Please share this with NYC teachers — this is a FREE opportunity for teachers to spend a week at @nypl learning and writing, with their own private office, meals included, and CTLE credit.

https://www.nypl.org/events/cullman-institute-teachers

National Library Week April 7-13

MT @JP_Books #NationalLibraryWeek is April 7-13. With libraries and librarians increasingly under attack, there’s no better time to celebrate them. Does your library have plans to celebrate? Find out more — & get great graphics and tools — on the @ALALibrary’s website. https://www.ala.org/conferencesevents/celebrationweeks/natlibraryweek

Disinformation, Deepfakes, Other AI-Generated Threats to Women & Democracy

Free at the Brooklyn Public Library 3/26 Join @WomeninAIEthics on 3/26 for a fireside chat with the Honorable Yvette D. Clarke, Member of Congress

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/disinformation-deepfakes-other-ai-generated-threats-to-women-democracy-tickets-838927864827

Building Ethical and Inclusive AI Futures

Join @PMINYC in-person at the March Chapter Meeting to celebrate Women’s History Month with a panel discussion on “Building Ethical and Inclusive AI Futures”! Limited Seats! Register by March 25th:

📅 March 27, 2024 🕒 5:30 PM 📍Arlo Hotel

https://pminyc.org/calendar?eventId=37569

BBC Sounds Audio Lab

Have you got a podcast idea that everyone needs to hear? Applications for BBC Sounds Audio Lab creator program are now open! BBC Sounds Audio Lab is an ‘accelerator’ program with one big ambition – to amplify next-generation podcasters and audio creatives. We support career development and encourage under-represented talent to transform their bold and fresh ideas into value-adding podcasts to better reflect the UK. Applications for the 2024 program are now open and close 4/2.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4jDscdTpsH3l8Bsl0C1R955/bbc-sounds-audio-lab

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