Washington, D.C

D.C. wants to lead the fight against AI bias

Published

2 years ago

October 6, 2022

D.C. wants to lead the fight against AI bias

There’s a rising motion to stamp out bias in synthetic intelligence programs, and D.C. Lawyer Basic Karl Racine desires the District to be on the forefront.

Why it issues: Automated programs can affect and even decide vital points of People’ lives, together with healthcare, employment, housing, and training, Axios’ Margaret Harding McGill and Ina Fried report.

Within the U.S., authorities laws overlaying the brand new expertise stay minimal or nonexistent.

Catch-up fast: Final December, Racine proposed a first-in-the-nation invoice to ban the usage of algorithms to discriminate towards residents for alternatives similar to jobs and housing.

The invoice goals to strengthen civil rights protections within the metropolis. It noticed a listening to on Sept. 22, however its possibilities of advancing are unclear.

Driving the information: This week, the White Home launched a “Blueprint for an AI Invoice of Rights,” calling for automated programs to incorporate built-in protections.

The doc describes 5 rules that ought to be included into AI programs to make sure their security and transparency, restrict the impression of algorithmic discrimination, and provides customers management over knowledge.

The report particulars real-world penalties of failures to place such rules into observe.

As an example, a hiring instrument that “discovered” workers had been predominantly males rejected ladies candidates with résumés that had language like “ladies’s chess membership captain.”

Final month throughout a White Home listening session, Racine advocated for federal motion to cease AI bias.

“Collectively, we will replace our nation’s civil rights legal guidelines by guaranteeing they stop discrimination by way of instruments that would not have been predicted practically 50 years in the past when these legal guidelines had been enacted,” Racine mentioned Tuesday in an announcement.

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Washington, D.C

‘A slap in the face’: Two competing airlines challenge San Antonio’s bid for direct flight to Washington, DC

Published

6 hours ago

July 27, 2024

Press Room

‘A slap in the face’: Two competing airlines challenge San Antonio’s bid for direct flight to Washington, DC

SAN ANTONIO – The fight for a direct flight from San Antonio to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. has intensified.

Several airlines, including American Airlines, are trying to secure one of five nonstop routes.

San Antonio leaders have pushed to secure a spot for years.

“We’re still having conversations,” said Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican congressman representing Texas’ 21st Congressional District. Roy is part of a group of bipartisan lawmakers making the push.

Leaders, including Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce president Jeff Webster, have been making yearly trips to the nation’s capital to gain support.

“For 25, 30 years, this has been a priority for us,” Webster said. “We’ve worked extremely hard. Not because it’s just a dream, but because we need it.”

Webster said securing this flight to Reagan would not only help with tourism but also business and the military community.

“We are the seventh largest city,” Webster said. “One of the largest insurers of military staff and personnel is USAA, headquartered right here in San Antonio. You better believe we deserve that flight.”

American Airlines isn’t the only airport fighting for a spot.

United Airlines is trying to land a flight to either San Francisco or Los Angeles.

In comments filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation, United Airlines said San Antonio is a smaller metropolitan area than others trying to get a nonstop flight to Washington.

“Yeah, it’s absolutely absurd,” Roy said. “It’s a slap in the face, and it’s even worse to try to diminish the size and the importance of San Antonio as United is done by saying, ‘Oh, it’s just a small city, really.’ Why don’t you come down and explain that to the people of the seventh-largest city?”

JetBlue Airlines, which is also pining for a flight from D.C. to Puerto Rico, said in its comments that “people in San Antonio can drive to Austin for the existing non-stop service to DCA.”

“What Austin is not is Military City, USA,” Webster said. “What Austin is not is the largest Hispanic community in Texas that oftentimes needs to travel for a variety of reasons.”

More San Antonio-to-Washington D.C. related coverage on KSAT:

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Washington, D.C

D.C.’s Friday weather seemed special for being ordinary

Published

14 hours ago

July 26, 2024

Press Room

D.C.’s Friday weather seemed special for being ordinary

D.C. may take pride in its reputation for sultry summertime swelter, but Friday seemed the sort of day for wondering what all the fuss was about and whether the reputation was deserved.

It was true that Friday seemed obviously a summer day. Its high temperature of 85 degrees seemed clearly consistent with general expectations of summertime.

But Friday failed to inflict on the District the harsh meteorological extremism of many days earlier this month — including the four with temperatures above 100 degrees.

However, if averages mean much, they may suggest that days such as Friday cannot readily be relied on to appear here always or often in July.

The average temperature in Washington on Friday’s date now stands at 90 degrees. So it would seem that part of Friday’s allure lay in the five-degree gap between its temperature and the District’s average July 26 temperature.

Possibly Friday’s sense that summer had a benign side, might have been earned physiologically. The many days of extreme and above average temperatures this summer have likely caused acclimatization and a process of adjustment.

But cloudy skies also played an obvious part in moderating Friday’s conditions.

For much of the day, clouds shielded the city from the wilting effects of the summertime sun. It is just a little more than five weeks since the sun was at its absolute annual acme.

Feeling its full late-July strength for protracted periods in the glare of streets without shade, with solar rays reflected from concrete and marble would have made Friday seem far less comfortable than it did.

A major contributor to Friday’s welcome as a well-behaved emissary of summer was the humidity. Or the relative absence thereof.

When summer seems to be at its most intolerable it is ascribed to the joint effect of severe heat and oppressive humidity. Friday was neither too hot nor too humid.

To know the absolute temperature was to know the “feels-like” temperature. Through the day, they were close to identical, meaning that humidity declined to make an 85-degree day seem worse than it was.

This was reflected in the day’s dew points, which were confined to the 50s, a location regarded as comfortable.

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Washington, D.C

D.C. Bars and Restaurants Getting Into the Olympic Spirit

Published

21 hours ago

July 26, 2024

Press Room

D.C. Bars and Restaurants Getting Into the Olympic Spirit

Astro Doughnuts just unleashed adorably chic sweets decorated with Olympic rings and medals.

Scott Suchman

During the last Summer Olympics in Tokyo, we were just emerging from the pandemic and the competition was played in front of a mostly empty audience. Fast forward a few years, and Paris is the backdrop for sport’s biggest stage and millions are expected to descend upon the City of Lights to watch their country hopefully bring home a medal.

For those opting to remain stateside, there are plenty of restaurants in our nation’s capital getting into the Olympic spirit. Think fabulous French bites, themed beverages, and live broadcasts of select events. There are enough participating spots to visit a different one every day of the Games (July 26-August 11). Eater just obtained D.C.’s list of 74 bars that got the okay to stay open around the clock — and serve alcohol from 6 a.m. to 4 a.m. — during the duration of the Olympics, which includes well-known names like Service Bar, Vera, Mission, Capo Deli, and Midlands.

Scroll on to find out where to cheer on Team USA’s athletes while partaking in limited-edition food and drinks.

Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process.

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