Make AI tell on itself, because we can’t tell
Stamford, Conn.: I’m obviously not alone when I occasionally check my social media feeds. The quantity of content seems endless and is often entertaining and informative. However, as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly sophisticated, AI-generated clips, images and written content is making it impossible to distinguish fact from fiction.
AI websites can now create content that looks entirely professional and legitimate, yet is completely fabricated and contrived. This allows any user to spread material that is compelling and persuasive but false. All that’s needed is a creative prompt and the push of a button. It’s hard enough to distinguish between fake news and objective, fact-based reporting. So many so-called news outlets are ridiculously biased. Digging for truthful reporting is becoming a daunting investigative challenge.
The problem is compounded with AI-generated content. Now everyone has the power to create convincing content containing falsehoods and misleading material that can easily spread through the internet like wildfire. I’m not suggesting that we place unreasonable restrictions on internet content. However, a law should be promulgated requiring all AI-generated content to contain a watermark or similar warning alerting the consumer that a particular item is the product of AI.
The internet must not be an unchecked tool for deception and dishonesty. The consumer should have a way to decipher reality from the imaginary. By alerting all that a particular post is AI-generated, the social media community is at least given a fighting chance to tell the difference. Peter Janoff
False charges
Belle Harbor: A little public service announcement to all the E-ZPass holders out there: Check your account frequently, whether online or the mailed record. The sensors often do not read the unit, charging you the full toll by the license plate. Also, the regional discounts, like the ones here in Rockaway and in Staten Island, are not always applied. If you call customer service, they will correct your account, but if you don’t notice you’ve been wrongly charged, you’re out some cash. Happy motoring. Bobby Nelsen
Incentivize singles
Bronx: The Yankees should not trade Anthony Volpe. He’s too young and has skills to improve, but not without corrective action. Long-range, the Yankees should make Volpe play winter ball in the Caribbean to work on defense and then next year require him to hit for singles by benching him one game the day after he hits a home run, even if it wins the game. Then pledge to donate $1,000 to Volpe’s favorite charity each time he bunts successfully. Mike Yorio
Real rehabilitation
Bronx: Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice Director Deanna Logan (“NYC’s nonprofit housing for the justice-involved,” op-ed, Aug. 20) is right that stable housing is the foundation for successful reentry. At Fulton Community Reentry Center in the South Bronx, we’ve transformed a former prison into 140 transitional beds for older men returning from incarceration. This partnership between my organization, Osborne Association, and the NYC Department of Homeless Services demonstrates exactly what Logan advocates for: forward-thinking public investment in innovative community partners. Fulton offers support like housing assistance, workforce preparedness, connections to health care and more. Our peer mentors, many of whom have personal experience of incarceration, provide guidance as residents rebuild their lives. Logan calls for more neighborhoods to step up. The South Bronx community has shown this is possible by welcoming our residents as neighbors. When we invest in people rather than punishment, everyone benefits. Jonathan Monsalve
Behind the numbers
Hillsdale, N.Y.: To Voicer David J. Melvin: I respect your opinion regarding the crime statistics issue, however, I think Voicers Tom Archer and Dave Kalin, a former precinct crime analysis sergeant for the NYPD, have more value and come closer to what is occurring almost every day in NYC. Kalin says that figures lie and liars figure, while Archer says liberal prosecutors in major cities either plea bargain a felony down to a misdemeanor or drop the case entirely, allowing them to manipulate the crime numbers, and the sad part is that some people believe them. Just look at how bail reform is impacting NYC. Sorry, David, but your opinion falls into the category of still believing in Santa Claus. Phil Antico
Doublespeak
Astoria: For many of us, it feels as if we’ve entered a realm that exists beyond political satire and/or is an extended episode of “The Twilight Zone.” We have someone in the White House who is replacing the Constitution and its guiding principles with “The Art of the Deal.” He hugs flags and brags about putting more around the White House while systematically destroying much of what the flag has symbolized since the birth of this nation. This is infuriating and an example of doublespeak. He claims to be a patriot, but only those showing fealty to him are real Americans and the rest of us are suspect. This freedom of speech champion has fired, cancelled or publicly demeaned anyone who has concerns and asks for accountability for his actions. Karen N. Pearlman
Everything in reverse
Manhattan: We are really living in a perverted, upside down, topsy-turvy world where the Jan. 6 insurrectionists are pardoned and their crimes whitewashed while their prosecutors are investigated. What comes next? A world in which people fined for failing to pay their taxes are excused while IRS auditors who uncover tax fraud are fired? What else does madman President Trump have in store for us? Chana Schwartz
Major recognition
Brooklyn: My sister Diane, who is 61, will be featured in Times Square on the Jumbotron on Sept. 6. I am beyond ecstatic about this. She has overcome quite a bit, and was not privy to services like physical or speech therapy as a child. Not to mention that she is fairly old for someone with Down Syndrome. I would love for someone to do a story on her. Hazel Duke
On their own
Manhattan: Three letters from Voicers on Tuesday, all condemning Israel for defending itself, yet no mention of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, hostages still held or coffins paraded past adoring crowds. Film clips show no shortage of cell reception. Hamas vows to destroy Israel and kill Jews worldwide. Some people apparently long for the 1940s, when gentle Jews marched into gas chambers. Italy jumped into the fray and deported Italian Jews to death camps. Ireland accepted refugees from Germany but remained neutral in WWII. Both countries are pro-Palestine. Ask yourselves how so many Nazis made it to South America, and Google “ratline.” Israel will protect and defend itself and not worry about armchair psychologists citing PTSD. Robert J. Katz
Crime of crimes
Rockaway: I was watching a movie on television the other night that showed the cruelty perpetrated against the Jewish people by the Nazi regime in Germany during the 1930s and ’40s. It was terrible. One would think that because of such a history, those making decisions about military action by Israel against innocent Palestinian women and children, and now news reporters, would be more sensitive about committing genocide. It appears to me that maybe there is another objective than the return of the hostages. Shame on politicians here in America who do not speak out concerning this continued suffering. Anthony Johnson
No role model
Riverhead, L.I.: Re “Snoop Dogg: LGBTQ representation in Disney films ‘threw me for a loop’ ” (Aug. 25): Snoop didn’t care what children thought when he promoted vile gang culture at the 2022 Super Bowl, wearing a blue paisley jumpsuit, proudly throwing up “C’s” and leading a choreographed Crip Walk in front of millions of impressionable youths. He also didn’t care about the issues parents would have to deal with if their child copied his Crip Walk in the wrong neighborhood when he partnered with Fortnite to add it to the children’s game last year. He certainly doesn’t care about children or their parents while spouting thinly veiled homophobia while discussing a children’s movie. Anyone who truly cares about children and their parents knows we need to stop idolizing old men who never grew up and start giving the megaphone to allies and activists. There’s nothing cool about being a gang member or a bigot. John Di Leonardo
