#technology is flawed

[beardedmrbean]

Two-thirds of Milwaukee's Common Council members say they are opposed to the police department's hopes to acquire facial recognition technology, citing concerns over potential bias and federal overreach concerns.

Eleven of 15 alderpersons signed onto a May 14 letter opposing use of the facial recognition technology by the Milwaukee Police Department, which does not currently have an agreement in place for use of the technology.

The letter, addressed to Police Chief Jeffrey Norman, follows department officials announcing at an April city meeting their previous testing of the technology, its possible benefits and the proposal for officially acquiring it: trading 2.5 million mugshots for free use.

"We write in strong opposition to the deployment of facial recognition technology by the Milwaukee Police Department," the letter reads. "While we understand the desire to enhance public safety and the promises people have made for this emerging technology, we believe these benefits are significantly outweighed by the risks."

Mayor Cavalier Johnson is supportive of the "thoughtful application" of facial recognition's use by law enforcement, spokesperson Jeff Fleming said in a May 16 email.

"Facial recognition, when used along with other investigative techniques, can make Milwaukee safer," he wrote.

Norman responded to the council members' letter, saying he understood residents and council members were concerned. He said the department and council members could have benefitted from "further conversation prior to the letter being sent."

"I do believe the acquisition of this technology would be a useful tool," Norman's May 16 letter said. "I also do believe it can be done with the appropriate parameters in place to ensure that the use will not violate individual civil rights."

In a statement, a Milwaukee Police Department spokesperson told the Journal Sentinel the department was still interested in obtaining the technology. The department previously said it intends to engage the public on it further, including at a future meeting of the city's Public Safety and Health Committee, before moving ahead with any agreement.

If acquired, the department would use the technology exclusively for violent crimes, the statement said. It said the urgency of those crimes and preventing additional victimization justified the use.

Police officials previously touted the benefits of the technology at an April 17 meeting of the Fire and Police Commission, the oversight body for the department.

Officials said it would work as a way to solve crimes faster. The officials presented examples of the department using it to assist with solving crimes in the past, through asking neighboring agencies to run photos of suspects. During that meeting they said the technology alone would not be used as probable cause to arrest someone and had never been before.

But that meeting was met with strong pushback from about 30 residents who attended it and gave nearly 90 minutes of pushback during public comment.

The council members' May 14 letter echoed many of those concerns.

The letter's concerns included potential overreach by the administration of President Donald Trump, and cited studies showing high misidentification rates for women, people of color, and other marginalized groups. Council members also worried the technology would put a "menacing face" on police by creating "the perception that the City is not concerned about eroding personal freedoms and chilling free expression."

In its statement and Norman's reply to the council members, the department said identification error rate bias wasn't inherent to the technology, but in its misuse. The department spokesperson also said anyone seeking access to its technology systems requires what's called Criminal Justice Information Systems clearance.

"This access is ultimately approved or denied by executive leadership," the spokesperson's email said.

If it were to move forward, council members asked the department to institute a "carefully-considered" policy governing its use and remain in communication with the Common Council on the technology.

Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic said the letter was spearheaded by her, Ald. JoCasta Zamarripa, and Ald. Alex Brower. Council members have had informal briefings with the department on the technology, and police indicated they weren't likely to acquire it soon, she said.

She reiterated concerns around error rates for Black and Brown people, and discomfort with the proposed trade of mugshots for access to the tech.

Dimitrijevic said acquiring the technology would be part of a broader increase of police surveillance following the Republican National Convention in 2024, citing the recent creation of a drone team as an example.

There wasn't enough information yet to support the police's efforts to acquire facial recognition, she said.

"It's not ready for showtime," Dimitrijevic said.

She was joined by 10 other council members: Zamarripa, Brower, Mark Chambers Jr., Sharlen Moore, Jose Perez, DiAndre Jackson, Larresa Taylor, Lamont Westmoreland, Russell W. Stamper, Milele A. Coggs.

The discussions around facial recognition technology prompted the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin to send a statement to the Milwaukee Common Council asking the body to adopt a two-year pause on any new surveillance technology. It also asked the council to incorporate community input through a public body called citizen control over police surveillance, or CCOPS for short.

The technology has proven controversial. Some cities, including Madison, have banned facial recognition's use by city agencies. Other cities which have implemented have run into controversy over its implementation.

In Detroit, the police department faced a federal lawsuit and subsequent settlement for $300,000 over its use leading to the wrongful arrest of a man in 2020. The department overhauled its policy dictating facial recognition's use as part of that settlement.

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 279

Now Danny didn’t mean to make a Bootube channel. He’d meant to send that sleep deprived ramble to Tucker, but he had clicked on the wrong app and yeah. Apparently people enjoy his space rambles- or it could have been the ghost blob-cats that had decided to flop onto him. (Honestly he wasn’t surprised they would start to mimic the shapes of things in their surroundings)

Tucker? Found it hilarious, as did Sam and Val and… um, okay this has become their shared channel now, nice. Though there are some strange comments on some of the videos. Really, what do they mean green sky and crazy tech???

[ajastu]

i find it really funny when people complain about like...'oh, they have [insert thing here] in the game that is set in medieval times when IN THE REAL WORLD that thing hasnt been invented yet in that time period!!!'

its like. well. you see. we are playing pretend in a fantasy world. there are dragons. i dont think it's meant to mirror real life development stages. its tuoys. were playing tuoys.

Like, no harm done here! but maybe you need to relax a little...

[the-star-and-the-smols]

The dad from the movie Epic is autistic as FUCK just LOOK at the guy. The leafmen and other forest tinies are his hyperfixation. I can't blame him for getting so excited about an advanced civilization of tiny people living in the woods. I AM that person. What the hell.

[moscovium291]

its always so funny seeing feedees specifically as like The First Thing in someone's dni table. like its funny, feeders are invoked as like, the evil spectre of fat fetishism whenever the Morality Of Kink discussions happen, but the thing that Actually makes people the Most uncomfortable is the idea of people who Want to be fat on purpose. maybe work on unpacking those feelings a bit everybody 👍

[decayflux-protocol]

Unpopular Opinion Time: AI gets treated like 2010's Wikipedia but with less Standards

In the early 2000's, Wikipedia was the bane of every academic's existence. They taught students from a very young age to never cite Wikipedia as a source, and to never even glance at it when doing research about any topic you could even think of.

It was "too unreliable" because "anybody could just edit it and write down bs."

Now, whenever somebody is consulting AI (whether that be ChatGPT or another AI), it's suddenly bad and shouldn't be taken for bare gold. In fact, better don't use it at all! But Wikipedia is the new scientific standard and so well researched because it gets monitored by real people?

When have we started demonising technology rather than setting actual standards for research and fact checking?

Don't get me wrong. You shouldn't take everything ChatGPT says as a hard truth and it has its flaws. It's way too agreeing with the user, it doesn't always cite the right sources, and it certainly should never be used for any form of generative work such as papers, empathetic work, image generation, or profit oriented labour.

But come on, guys! When did we start losing our fucking common sense?

If you don't like AI, don't use it.

If you don't trust AI's sources, fact check and research for yourself.

You cannot excuse people literally not using common sense and things that are taught in fourth to seventh grade as an excuse for bad AI. If you value human participation so much, especially in terms of Wikipedia's concept, then do the same for AI users. Hold them accountable and try to make things better. Use your brain.

-Fiona

[fleurpuppet]

🌈"selfcest is alright because you cannot do it in real life" (sobbing hysterically) do not remind me !!!

[impossible-rat-babies]

okay one thing I’ve really enjoyed w veilguard in the companion quests (and quests in general) is how close the characters will stand to each other. how they interact in these subtle ways. A reassuring touch to the arm, or a gentle grab of the arm to pull someone away. or the lapel touch from the lucanis romance scene. idk it’s nice that these subtle touches exist—it kinda makes the friendships feel that much more realistic

[smile-files]

obviously i haven't been on character.ai in a billion years but the fact that i've ever used it at all makes me worried that people have made chatbots of henry that horribly mischaracterize him

[canonkiller]

POISON BY HAND AND LOVE A LITTLE

[jrueships]

zesty lowkey just another way for str8 ppl to say faggot / faggy and get away with it

[kunosoura]

i'm kind of stupid and an idiot tbh on one hand I generally recognize the principle that some people are dangerous and people at risk may need to be warned but on the other I don't see any way to work that sort of warning system in a way that doesn't leave it vulnerable to abuse especially to the detriment of people considered socially undesirable. and I have no notion how to reconcile those ideas.

[tortoisesshells]

Going to pull the same thing I asked Merc and do the last song on my Spotify for the fake fic ask- "Beginnings" ? (Please and thank you)

Friend, this caused me a minor crisis in which I realized I almost always avoid writing about the start of things.

I think this is a prequel to 1899, about the process of getting the Kerberos ready for sea, and how much work goes into the start (or beginning, as you say) to a transatlantic voyage: how many tons of coal, how long to get the boilers up and generating steam, how to get the new technological "improvements" from the Company to work and how should they comport themselves now that they know they do not, how many tons ice, and food, and frills - things that the crew and officers of the Kerberos are pretty well acquainted with, doing it multiple times a month for years. Eyk Larsen, of course, cannot remember the beginning of this trip exactly - probably the drinking (it's not the drinking. he wishes it were the drinking and not the nature of reality in the time loop/simulation) - but he is sure that it is just like any other of the dozens of trips to New York he has made before.

He is telling himself he is sure, anyway.

send me an ask with a fake title, and I'll tell you what I would write to go with it!

[impossible-rat-babies]

me gripping the omega raids like a squeaky toy I can be normal about these raids I promise

[malakkc-poetry]

Accolade for my Haiku poem, Harmony

[mixed-biscuits]

i took off my glasses to clean them and thought like wow. i’m literally Disabled ™️. Like i will not go around calling myself disabled because I still understand why that would be a societal taboo, but I am not different at all from people who are “disabled.” Without my glasses i can’t see shit. if i was around when i would have needed to hunt and gather for my food, i would have starved because of my disability. i cant drive without them. i wish all folks who need accommodations to eventually have the same level of normalized accommodations that i have.