OUR PICKSThe Southern Border & Terrorism Fears | The Mystery of AI Gunshot-Detection Accuracy | New Weapons Will Eclipse Atomic Bombs, and more
· The Southern Border, Terrorism Fears and the Arrests of 8 Tajik Men
The men were arrested after the F.B.I. quietly began an investigation that stretched across the country and involved scores of bureau personnel
· The Responsibility and Power of Platforms to Tackle Inauthentic Content
Lawmakers have yet to pursue an effective way to diminish the creation and spread of inauthentic content—mandating that platforms use prosocial interventions
· The Mystery of AI Gunshot-Detection Accuracy Is Finally Unraveling
How accurate are gunshot detection systems, really? For years, it’s been a secret, but new reports from San Jose and NYC show these systems have operated well below their advertised accuracy rates
· Three Ideas to Beat the Heat, and the People Who Made Them Happen
As temperatures soar around the world, practical experiments are emerging to protect people
· What Happened to Stanford Spells Trouble for the Election
The work of studying election delegitimization and supporting election officials is more important than ever
· New Weapons Will Eclipse Atomic Bombs. Their Builders Ask Themselves This Question.
Autonomous weapons will be built. The only questions are who will build them and for what purpose
The Southern Border, Terrorism Fears and the Arrests of 8 Tajik Men (Adam Goldman, Eric Schmitt and Hamed Aleaziz, New York Times)
When eight Tajik men sought asylum at the southwestern U.S. border months ago, federal authorities had no reason to doubt that they were desperate migrants fleeing a poor country in war-torn Central Asia.
But soon after they were admitted into the country, the F.B.I. learned they might have ties to the Islamic State and opened a counterterrorism investigation.
This was no ordinary inquiry. Dozens of personnel monitored the men closely as they made their way to different cities across the United States, officials said. The White House was updated regularly.
The bureau hoped to gather information about a broader terrorist network. But heightened concerns about an imminent attack in at least one location triggered the arrest of all eight men earlier this month on immigration charges, according to several U.S. officials speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive investigation. So far, the men have not been charged with any terrorism-related offenses.
The dramatic episode unfolded as anxiety has risen among U.S. officials, who have been warning for months that the conflict in Gaza and unrest in Central Asia could spill into the United States, most likely in the form of small radicalized groups acting on their own initiative or lone-wolf terrorists.
The new details about the F.B.I. investigation and the decision to arrest the men underscore the deluge of terrorism threats now inundating national security agencies, some emanating from well-known international actors, others from emerging hot spots like Tajikistan.
The Responsibility and Power of Platforms to Tackle Inauthentic Content (Kevin Frazier, Lawfare)
For a brief moment, Taylor Swift captured the attention of hundreds of lawmakers, when a Telegram group formed for the purpose of sharing “abusive images of women,” broadly disseminated fake, sexualized images of Swift online. The rapid spread of these images made politicians aware of the need for regulatory action. Specifically, lawmakers realized the need to limit the creation and circulation of inauthentic content via generative artificial intelligence (AI). (Cont.)
