CSU students and faculty get access to ChatGPT. Not everyone’s happy
Starting this year, all California State University students and faculty will have access to OpenAI’s ChatGPT Edu, a bespoke version of one of the world’s leading chatbots. Some educators have welcomed the university system’s pivot to artificial intelligence. Earlier this year, the system put out a call for proposals, asking faculty to come up with strategies to integrate AI literacy into the curricula. By May, the CSU received more than 400 proposals. Ultimately, 63 of them were awarded up to $60,000 in grants. But the system’s investment in AI has not been universally embraced. The California Faculty Association, which represents 29,000 CSU professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors, and coaches, denounced the move over concerns about faculty job security. Faculty also expressed concern about AI’s toll on the environment; mounting surveillance; language learning models with built-in racial and gender biases; and other related issues. Joining to discuss is LAist higher education reporter, Julia Barajas, CSU’s chief information officer, Ed Clark, and an associate vice president for lecturers at the California Faculty Association, Elaine Bernal.
With files from LAist. Read the full story here.
Are American women getting too many C-sections?
For nearly two decades now, over thirty-percent of births in the U-S are performed via c-section. That figure is a magnitude greater than the world health organization’s “ideal” rate, which hovers between 10% and 15%. This large jump has made c-sections the most common inpatient surgery in America. But some 50 years ago, only about 5% of babies were delivered by c-section. A new article by Business Insider senior investigations editor Hannah Beckler explores the financial incentives that could explain the rise. Today on AirTalk, she joins Josie Huang to share her findings.
San & Wolves Bakeshop: a twist on traditional Filipino baked goods
Having originally started as a pop-up in 2017 in New York, San & Wolves has made a name for itself with traditional Filipino baked goods, with a twist — being both nut and soy-free. The pop-up, started by Kym Estrada and Arvin Torres, eventually made its way across the coast in Los Angeles. Having grown in interest, the bakery opened its first brick-and-mortar in Long Beach this year! For this week’s Food Friday, we’re joined in-studio by Kym Estrada, lead pastry chef, and Arvin Torres, operations manager for the Filipino bakery San & Wolves.
FilmWeek: ‘Caught Stealing,’ ‘The Roses,’ ‘Sign ‘o’ the Times,’ and more!
Larry Mantle and LAist film critics Beandrea July and Claudia Puig review this weekend’s latest movie releases in theaters and on streaming platforms.
Films:
Caught Stealing, Wide Release
The Roses, In Select Theaters
The Thursday Murder Club, Streaming on Netflix
Sign ‘o’ the Times, In Select IMAX Theaters
A Little Prayer, Laemmle Royal [West LA] & Laemmle Town Center [Encino]
Clearing the Air: The War on Smog, Streaming on PBS
Griffin in Summer, Lumiere Cinema [Beverly Hills]
Vice is Broke, Streaming on Mubi
Feature: How A24 became the major movie studio for indie filmmakers
A24 has solidified itself as the "indie darling" of film studios, gaining a sizable cohort of devotees (many of them young) who rep the studio's merch like fans of a rock band. Started in 2012, A24 made a name itself by releasing smaller art-house and art-house adjacent films in a time when the mid-size movie was quickly being shuffled from theaters to streaming. Some of the studio's early successes include Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers, Barry Jenkins' Moonlight, and Robert Eggers’ The Witch. The latter being a prime example of A24's unique business model: mid-budget movie gets a mid-size release with some edgy, digital-first marketing to turn a mid-size profit. But, as A24 has grown, so has its movies' budgets. We probably won't see an A24 Superman anytime soon, but the studio’s more recent in-house productions and festival acquisitions show a trend away from the indie films that helped set it apart. Today on FilmWeek, Larry speaks with culture editor for the New Yorker, Alex Barasch, about the rise and evolution of A24.
