A new local book combines the art world with language and the intricacies of establishing a voice for oneself, even when that voice is subsumed in someone else’s story. “Bird Girl” is a new novel from author Duston Spear centering an artist who is forced to confront a pivotal moment of her youth as it’s revisited in a podcast. We speak with her about the impetus for the work, the many mediums it connects, and where in the area you can meet her and her work in person on Sep. 24.
As everyone turns their eyes towards the world of AI, a new lawsuit is looking at how their language models learn. Local independent news outlet The Shoestring finds itself as one of the plaintiffs of this lawsuit seeking recognition and remuneration for the many articles of theirs that they’ve found have been used to train AI models. Managing Editor Brian Zayatz explains the reasoning behind the suit and how it could be a much bigger problem than their or any local news company alone.
And Mr. Universe, Salman Hameed of UMass Amherst and Kainaat Studios, knows of the words we put in place to keep the cosmos as neutral as possible, but the skies have been getting heated ever since the president’s first term in office. We hear about the issues new and old that arise when talking about weaponizing space.
