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May 28, 2025

How Meta Thinks About Personalization and Privacy

Personalization, which tailors content based on user preference, has become widely used on virtually every social media platform. By providing users with relevant content that appeals to their unique interests, no two social media feeds are the same. Personalized social media posts can lead to a 50% increase in user engagement, as they resonate more…

May 27, 2025

Taking Institutional Neutrality Seriously on Campus

In 2024, Academic Freedom Alliance, Heterodox Academy, and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression called for colleges and universities to formally adopt institutional neutrality, defined as: “When a contested social issue arises that does not directly concern the academic mission of our college or university, institutional leadership will not issue a position statement on that issue. On…

May 27, 2025

Generative AI and Fabricated Judicial Opinions: A Slow Learning Curve for Some Attorneys

On the final day of my civil procedure course, Professor Brian Landsberg offered a piece of advice. At first blush, it seemingly had nothing to do with the myriad federal rules and landmark cases like Pennoyer v. Neff that we’d studied. Yet, it’s a pearl of wisdom I remember more than 35 years later: Never…

May 23, 2025

No More Tappers: Get Skin in the Game

Irony of ironies: Outrage around Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s book, Original Sin, is helping to sell more copies. The failure of a CNN anchor and an Axios reporter to cover President Joe Biden’s infirmities in a timely manner now delivers them free advertising for their book and a bigger haul. There is a partial…

May 23, 2025

Heavy Metal

More than 7,000 years ago, humans first began mining copper. Since then, humans have mined more than 700 million tonnes. According to a fascinating study of the metals requirements of a net zero energy transition, the world will need to produce another 700 million tonnes of copper over the next 22 years. The study, by Simon Michaux of the…

May 23, 2025

Regulating Complex and Uncertain AI Technologies

A common cognitive bias, in which decision-makers unconsciously substitute a complex problem with a simpler, related one, was first described in 2002 by Daniel Kahneman and Shane Frederick. The concept of attribute substitution explains that, when faced with a complex judgment (target attribute), some may replace it with a more accessible, simpler judgment (heuristic attribute)…

May 23, 2025

The House Should Act Quickly to Repeal the Illegal, Expensive E-Rate Expansion

Earlier this month, the Senate passed S.J.Res.7. The resolution, sponsored by Senator Ted Cruz, would repeal a Biden-era Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rule allowing E-Rate funds to subsidize Wi-Fi hotspot lending programs for off-campus use. This well-intentioned but misguided rule violates clear statutory limits on agency power and threatens an increasingly unstable Universal Service Fund…

May 22, 2025

The Evidence So Far: What Research Reveals About AI’s Real Impact on Jobs and Society

As organizations race to integrate new AI models into their workflows, everyone is wondering what the effects will be on industries, jobs, and society: Will these new technologies complement human capabilities, create new opportunities, or replace workers across various sectors? The following table compiles research on large language models (LLMs), chatbots, and AI systems published…

May 21, 2025

First Amendment Fundamentals for Lawmakers as Courts Block Efforts to Protect Minors on Social Media

Lawmakers considering bills to safeguard minors from ostensible harms linked to social media platforms should carefully review two recent federal court opinions declaring unconstitutional state laws imposing parental-consent, age-verification mandates. US District Judge Algenon Marbley’s April decision from Ohio in NetChoice v. Yost and US District Judge Timothy Brooks’ March ruling from Arkansas in NetChoice…

May 20, 2025

The Politicization of Intelligence

Last week, Tulsi Gabbard, appointed by President Trump as the Director of National Intelligence, fired the top two officials of the National Intelligence Council (NIC) after The Washington Post and the New York Times reported that the Trump Administration had ignored the findings of its NIC related to its deportation efforts. Today, I explain what is going on, setting the stage…