Sylvia Varnham O'Regan

At CES 2025, panel experts with backgrounds in law, government affairs, public policy and creative representation emphasized AI’s dual role as a powerful tool for enhancing creativity. But they also noted the potential threat to human authorship and consent, particularly in generative AI’s replication of voices and images. Dr. Moiya M., Lisa Oratz, Chad Hummel, Paul Lekas and Duncan Crabtree-Ireland all contributed important points on the importance of this topic.

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Editing pet peeve: the goofy obsession with the Oxford comma. Oxford enthusiasts—whom I often refer to as "Oxfordnistas"—insist that the serial comma is the ultimate arbiter of clarity and slayer of ambiguity. And they demonstrate this overstated power through a series of reductionist—albeit humorous—memes. Below on the left is one such example. Again, this meme assuredly suggests a moment where a lack of a serial comma may confuse readers. Rather than express a list of the three, the Oxford-less sentence seems to imply an appositive suggesting the exotic dancers are, in fact, Stalin and JFK. But what happens if you change strippers (plural) to stripper (singular). One good contrived strawman argument deserves another, right? On the right is the counterpoint. Here, the sentence with the Oxford comma introduces ambiguity. Is that JFK on stage three collecting singles, or is somebody else? The trick is simple: When in doubt, rewrite. "We invited JFK, Stalin and the strippers." See how this is clearly a list of three? See how I didn't need the comma to do so? Ultimately, the Oxford comma is a stylistic convention, so it is a matter of personal preference. You can also write, "We invited JFK, Stalin, and the strippers." That *also* works. Either way, stop pretending that your prescriptivist take on the Oxford comma is holy writ. #Oxfordcomma

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FOR TODAY'S VIDEO: Journalism lessons are figuratively written on the wall and literally written on the whiteboard. Fact-checking, censorship, gatekeeping, bias and other related issues. How can these concepts be best taught? https://lnkd.in/gWjYBBuk

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Here is a link to my latest post on Cultural Capital-Art, Politics, and Everything Else https://lnkd.in/eyxu7HJm

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These commentary on Robert Longo is my latest post on Cultural Capital-Art, Politics, and Everything Else https://lnkd.in/ezKYP5Nb

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Time for part 2️⃣ of my book chapter on investigative journalism and AI: this looks at the challenges — from accuracy and bias to resources and explainability. There's some practical stuff here on competing ideas of fairness, overfittings vs underfitting and feature engineering. #ddj #AI

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Writers often explore taboo subjects to challenge societal norms, provoke thought, or explore the darker aspects of human experience. They’re often avoided because they can be distressing, controversial, or offensive to readers, but... There are reasons we—if called to write about them—must write about them. In this video I talk about what taboo subjects are, why writers resist writing about them, and what to do about it. Stuck in your writing practice? Join my email list: https://lnkd.in/g9hJmZQv Get my COMPLIMENTARY "Alchemy of Writing—First Steps to Conjure and Nurture Your Writing Practice!": https://lnkd.in/gKkdfqwt... JOIN the Alchemy of Writing Membership Group - STILL at the Founding Member price - $18 - https://lnkd.in/gnWxSuv2 My website: https://lnkd.in/g9hJmZQv My blog: https://lnkd.in/g-6KuTkG Instagram: @johnniemazzocco Pinterest: @johnniemazzocco #writing #writinglife #writingpractice #astrology #astrologyandwriting #writingandastrology #writingsupport #writingtips #writinghelp #writingtips #taboo #taboosubjects #taboosubject

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Here is a link to "Images of Order," my latest post on Cultural Capital-Art, Politics, and Everything Else https://lnkd.in/er252s5J

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Fixing the Internet: Tackling Ad Tech and Hate Speech via https://keepgoingpod.com Join us in this eye-opening discussion on ad tech and information disorder! Claire Atkin passionately outlines the urgent need for changes in the internet business, tackling hate speech and financial implications while proposing ethical regulatory solutions. It's time to fix the internet—let's make it fairer together! #AdTech #InformationDisorder #InternetBusiness #HateSpeech #FinancialMarkets #PolicySolutions #FreeSpeech #DigitalEthics #RegulatoryReform #InternetFairness

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A robust guide to the language of journalism, from A1 to -30-

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Baltimore-area readers: SAVE THE DATE! July 6, 2024, from 6:30-8 pm, at Snug Books in Baltimore, author John Maly will read from his debut novel, JURIS EX MACHINA. Audience discussion about the implications of AI will follow. Register today for free tickets at www.snugbooks.com Here's a teaser: With a click, the bread fell into the toaster. One circuit fired the heating coils. Others monitored bread temperature and color. Yet another circuit was quite unlike all the rest- as exotic as it was sinister; when it activated, 368 people would die. In the 22nd century, the justice system is airtight in the domed city of Arcadia. Human error has been removed. Yet somehow, a well-intentioned young kleptomaniac named Rainville falls through the cracks and is wrongfully convicted of mass murder. He is exiled to Wychwood Prison, a crumbling necropolis beyond the dome where the dead outnumber the living, where the inmates are also the guards. News of the crime follows him, and he becomes a marked man. Rainville's only hope for survival is becoming the first inmate in history to escape Wychwood. Can he do it? The fate of Arcadia depends on it. Can't make the event? You can grab your copy today at https://lnkd.in/ewRP8SP4, which also benefits Snug Books, an independent, woman-owned bookstore. #whattoread #ai #artificialintelligence #scifinovel #cyberpunk

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For this podcast, the Confident Retirement, there's a twist: I was the one interviewed, not the one asking the questions. (I like it better the other way - but that was fun - thanks for inviting me on, Kristopher Flammang CRPC®AIF®BFA®) Oh - and I'm not retiring :) Some of the things we talked about: * My early journalism career change to being a juvenile probation office for three years; • Why and how the Business Observer has made a transtions to #digitalfirst — and why we keep the focus on that; and • The lessons I've learned from interviewing hundreds of entrepreneurs ands business owners Take a listen!

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I'm publishing two extracts from a draft forthcoming book chapter on investigative journalism and AI. The first part, mapping the various branches of #AI and how they've been used in investigations, is now live...

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As a journalist, this story irks me. It reads like a paid advertorial, and all the links throughout the piece are Skimlink-tagged URLs that pretty much take you to the Temu website. But there's no clear indication at the beginning that this is nothing more than a promotional advert for Temu, which is verified by the list of Black Friday specials at the end. Meanwhile, the author makes statements that cannot easily be verified - and that are clearly not authenticated in the piece. The truth is that we don't exactly know all the risks that Temu is facing in its supply chains. But after personally reading through many modern slavery statements from local brands and businesses - especially those that aim for a perfect ESG score - it's near impossible to claim that any business has no modern slavery in its supply chains. In its 2024 Sustainabilty Report, Super Retail Group confirmed they found a 15-year-old working on premises at one of its second-tier factories in China - this is below the legal working age in China. Super Retail has since dealt with the issue. And that's one of many issues found across just the fashion industry in Australia. Moreover, it is hard to ignore the multitude of reports of slave labour in China's cotton industry - even from official US government departments including the US Department of Labor: https://lnkd.in/gF29MAKD My hope is that more people in this world become sceptical. We clearly need to be questioning everything...

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