Community Corner
🌱 Appeasing Nurses + Education Department Bans AI Writing Tool
The quickest way to get caught up on the most important things happening today in Brooklyn.
Hello, neighbors. Carlie Houser here with your fresh copy of the Brooklyn Daily, filled with all the things you need to know about what's happening in town. Including updates on:
- Hospitals in three boroughs field promises to beat back wave of striking nurses
- NYC schools ban ChatGPT amidst cheating concerns and threats to learning
- A new performance piece imagines the world without Ben Shapiro
But first, today's weather:
🌤 Times of clouds and sun. High: 39 Low: 36.
Are you a local business struggling to stand out in your community? Our newsletter sponsorships can help boost your visibility and attract new customers. Click here to learn more.
Here are the top stories today in Brooklyn:
1. Attempting to avoid a nurses strike, The Brooklyn Hospital Center (BHC) and others made deals Friday night to appease their workforce. According to Nancy Hagans, president of New York State Nurse Association (NYSNA), BHC was joined by Flushing Hospital Medical Center in Queens and the Bronx's BronxCare in promising to increase staffing ratios and enforcement, improve nurse salaries with a three year contract and preserve the staff's health benefits. However, some 8,000 nurses are still fighting for better working conditions. Private-sector nurses at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Williamsburg, delivered a notice to strike starting Jan. 17 if an agreement cannot be reached. Bargaining is also in progress at two One Brooklyn Health locations: Interfaith Medical Center and Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center.
2. The NYC Department of Education has taken a stand against AI—the popular artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT has reportedly been banned in NYC schools amid fears of new cheating threats. Like other highly skilled creative AI tools, ChatGPT is a controversial free writing tool that can generate paragraphs of human-like text. Education Department spokesperson Jenna Lyle expressed concern about the negative effect that ChatGPT and other similar tools can have on kids' education, as well as concerns about the safety and accuracy of the content produced: "While the tool may be able to provide quick and easy answers to questions, it does not build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, which are essential for academic and lifelong success," she told Chalkbeat. Millions have used ChatGPT over the last month or so, and as a learning machine, the AI has only gotten 'smarter,' or more fine-tuned to accuracy, with the input of so much data.
3. 'The Ben Shapiro Project' is a new theatre performance debuting in Brooklyn that envisions the world without its title political pundit. Written and co-directed by Ella Lee Davidson, The Ben Shapiro Project is a 30-minute political comedy featuring Ella as herself—a young black socialist—and Christopher DeSantis as Ben Shapiro. The piece will debut January 16-21 at The Brick Theatre on Metropolitan Avenue in Brooklyn as part of The Exponential Festival, a month-long January festival dedicated to New York City-based emerging artists working in experimental performance. According to Broadway World, "the participants in this multi-artist, multi-venue festival are committed to ecstatic creativity in the face of commercialism."
Today in Brooklyn:
- Family Bowl, Brooklyn Bowl, Today @ 12:30 p.m. | Details
- Shook Sunday: Nightmare AFTER Christmas [Drag Brunch], Farewell Bar, Today @ 2:30 p.m. | Details
- Jeff Lampert & Friends, Skinny Dennis, Today @ 4 p.m. | Details
- Sunday Supper Comedy, The Tiny Cupboard, Today @ 5 p.m. | Details
- Free Standup Comedy With Charlie & Amelia, Easy Lover, Today @ 6 p.m. | Details
- Vulputate Commodo Ligula, Secret Project Robot, Today | Details
More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!
Featured businesses:
- Cool Hand Movers — (Visit website)
- Add your business here
Events:
- Open House this Sunday 1/8/2023 11am-1:00pm! (January 8)
- High School Information Session (January 9)
- Berkeley College Honors Program Information Session (January 18)
- Add your event
You're officially in the loop for today! I'll see you back in your inbox tomorrow with a new update.
— Carlie Houser
About me: I'm a recent grad based in Brooklyn, NY. I love to write, run, read, and find new restaurants and venues around the city.
Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Brooklyn Daily? Contact me at brooklyn@patch.com
