Irresponsible government? I’m shocked! Shocked I tell you.

https://www.databreaches.net/high-court-sides-with-medicaid-fraudster-in-identity-theft-case/

High court sides with Medicaid fraudster in identity theft case

Alexandra Jones reports:

The Supreme Court unanimously shot down the government’s broad reading of identity theft law Thursday in a decision that will shorten the prison sentence of an Austin psychologist who defrauded Medicaid.

“While the Government represents that prosecutors will act responsibly in charging defendants under its sweeping reading, this Court ‘cannot construe a criminal statute on the assumption that the Government will ‘use it responsibly,’’” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the court in the 21-page ruling.

Read more at Courthouse News.

So I hope some criminal defense attorneys blog about this decision and explain its implications for all the federal prosecutions of hackers where we often see aggravated identity theft charges tacked on, with mandatory two-year sentences to be served *consecutively* after other sentences.

And what will happen to all those defendants previously convicted and serving those sentences? Will this ruling make any difference or become grounds for a lot of appeals?

How refreshing! Quoting an AI to caution against AI.

https://reason.com/volokh/2023/06/08/another-judicial-order-related-to-lawyer-use-of-generative-ai/

Another Judicial Order Related to Lawyer Use of Generative AI

An order governing filings before Magistrate Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes (N.D. Ill.), adopted May 31 (paragraph breaks added):

The Court has adopted a new requirement in the fast-growing and fast-changing area of generative artificial intelligence ("AI") and its use in the practice of law. The requirement is as follows:

Any party using any generative AI tool in the preparation or drafting of documents for filing with the Court must disclose in the filing that AI was used and the specific AI tool that was used to conduct legal research and/or to draft the document.

Further, Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure continues to apply, and the Court will continue to construe all filings as a certification, by the person signing the filed document and after reasonable inquiry, of the matters set forth in the rule, including but not limited to those in Rule 11(b)(2). Parties should not assume that mere reliance on an AI tool will be presumed to constitute reasonable inquiry, because, to quote a phrase, "I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that …. This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it." 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (MetroGoldwyn-Mayer 1968).

I did not see this coming…

https://techcrunch.com/2023/06/08/mercedes-first-to-sell-vehicles-in-california-with-hands-free-eyes-off-automated-driving/

Mercedes first to sell vehicles in California with hands-free, eyes-off automated driving

Mercedes-Benz received a permit from California regulators that will allow the German automaker to sell or lease vehicles in the state equipped with a conditional automated driving system that allows for hands-off, eyes-off driving on certain highways.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles said Thursday it issued an autonomous vehicle deployment permit to Mercedes-Benz for its branded Drive Pilot system. The hands-off, eyes-off system can be used on designated California highways, including Interstate 15, under certain conditions without the active control of a human driver. This means drivers can watch videos, text or talk to a passenger (or even mess around with any number of third-party apps coming to new Mercedes models) without watching the road ahead or having their hands on the wheel.

Tools & Techniques.

https://www.bespacific.com/a-map-of-ai-for-education/

A Map of AI for Education

We introduce a new map of the current state-of-the-art: “One morning shortly after Thanksgiving, 2022, we woke up to discover that technological capability had advanced by five years while we were sleeping. It took another week or two for us to realize it, but that event, the launch of ChatGPT, may have a more far-reaching effect on K-12 education than on any other sector of life. In normal times, technology advances in step with its application, with the user experience, the interactions that unfold in and out of the classroom. Whiteboards become smart boards. But 2022–23 feels more like a dislocation. How will these remarkable advances emerge into the experience of students and teachers? We want to map that landscape in its earliest stage and watch how it evolves. Many of the possibilities we describe in more detail below are unexplored, while others have been substantially investigated by startups, researchers, and — as Ethan Mollick, a professor at Wharton, has emphasized — individual students and educators experimenting. It’s not easy to predict, but two paths seem possible. The first is what has almost always happened to new technology in the classroom: it rearranges the furniture. Laptops become expensive slide projectors. Personalized instruction winds up meaning worksheets with garish dashboards added. It was recently estimated that the average teacher uses 86 such tools regularly. The second path is that the inefficiency and dullness of the industrial way of schooling begin to disappear. Many of the teaching practices that learning science has shown to be most effective — such as active learning and frequent feedback — and most engaging for students — such as role play and project work — require significant time most teachers just don’t have. Could that change if every teacher had an assistant, a sort of copilot in the work of taking a class of students (with varying backgrounds, levels of engagement, and readiness-to-learn) from wherever they start to highly skilled, competent, and motivated young people? We will see.…”