The Porchlight

We're back at the Porchlight with more of your favorite blues, funk, and originals! Presented by Lightning in a Bottle Records, this band will make you have fun whether you want to or not! Come for some good food, beverages, music, and fun on a Saturday night!

Local Event: Sneakerwave at the Porchlight

Tillamook County

Tillamook

Oregon

Sneakerwave at the Porchlight

We're back at the Porchlight with more of your favorite blues, funk, and originals! Presented by Lightning in a Bottle Records,...

Tie Breaker

We're back for our monthly visit to the Tie Breaker, and we have some special guests joining us. Put on your dancing shoes and get ready to have a great Saturday night! Don't forget to stick around for Karaoke after we're done.

Local Event: N.E. Daynow at the Tie Breaker

N.E. Daynow at the Tie Breaker

We're back for our monthly visit to the Tie Breaker, and we have some special guests joining us. Put on your dancing shoes and...

It's our monthly visit to the Tie Breaker in Rockaway Beach! We'll entertain you from 7 - 9 pm, then you can entertain us with Karaoke from 9 - 12! This time of year it's dark and cold around here so come in and warm up with your favorite food, beverage, and local band! We love you!

It's our monthly visit to the Tie Breaker in Rockaway Beach! We'll entertain you from 7 - 9 pm, then you can entertain us with...

Doral Vance

Washington County

Portland (OR) Metropolitan Area

Hillsboro

Beaverton

Marion County

salem

Salem

Clackamas County

Wilsonville

Multnomah County

Portland

Lake Oswego

Oregon City

Gresham

Pierce County

Seattle Metropolitan Area

Lakewood-JBLM

Washington

University Place

888-339-VOTE (8683) OR 225 W Olive St #201, Newport, OR 97365

AI DECLARES WAR ON DISABILITY---"First It Came for the Data!"
Commentary: Emma Roshioru: AI’s impending war on disability
Opinion by Jacksonville Journal-Courier
Commentary: We have fallen victim to a narrative that claims artificial intelligence is the key to solving life’s dilemmas. (Westend61/Getty Images)&nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="https://ecp.yusercontent.com/mail?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg-s-msn-com.akamaized.net%2Ftenant%2Famp%2Fentityid%2FAA2egq3P.img%3Fw%3D768%26h%3D512%26m%3D6&amp;t=1792089487&amp;ymreqid=87a47ff4-4102-e618-1ce0-d301df01d000&amp;sig=NL2Zz4fAt8NqTrvqCFBMJw--~D" alt="Commentary: We have fallen victim to a narrative that claims artificial intelligence is the key to solving life’s dilemmas. (Westend61/Getty Images)">
First, it came for the data.
From planning vacations and tailoring job applications to navigating roadways and tracking Americans’ daily movement and health patterns, AI has become integrated into 99 percent of Americans’ lives, and yet two-thirds don’t even realize it.
With all that information, it needed more room, so it started after the land.
Surpassing apartment buildings and retail space in the real estate market, data centers account for 27% of the nation’s development this year, with land purchases up 79% from last year.
Even with all that land, no one seems to be asking whose life is on the other end.
With only 11% of Americans in support of constructing data centers, 42% live near one that is in operation or planned to be built, facing the brunt of the health and environmental risks these centers create. From noise, light and air pollution to water waste and externalized utility costs, data centers will be disabling the U.S. population at a rate greater than the nation is supporting its disabled citizens. With a projected increase of 600,000 cases of asthma symptoms and 1,300 premature deaths by 2028, the continued push for data center development launched by the AI frontier is expected to result in serious health implications, including increases in cancers and neurological disorders, accompanied by a reduction in fertility rates.

Why worry about this when it has already taken over jobs?
While the idea that AI has contributed to rampant unemployment and massive layoffs isn’t entirely true, what is irrefutable is the potential costs of AI on jobs for people with disabilities.
Already, when the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is double the rate for those without, AI holds the capacity to improve workplace access through advantages delivered by assistive technologies; however, AI systems that have been trained using historical hiring practices end up closing more doors for people with disabilities as a result of replicated biases. Virtual interview tools may make hiring easier for employers, but they may discriminate against candidates with non-standardized speech, facial differences, hearing loss or other disabilities because of their rigid measurement scales. Even after employees with disabilities have made it through the door, jobs that are more physically intensive or repetitive, which people with disabilities frequently occupy, are found to be automated at higher rates.
Why stop there? Why not the next generation?
As AI algorithms become increasingly integrated into maternal healthcare, advances in fetal ultrasound imaging and prenatal testing like those done by BIOTICSai hold the potential for increases in selective abortion.
Reflecting the deep connection between eugenics and computing, Francis Galton, considered the founder of the eugenics movement, was a renowned statistician; however, his work has not been left to the past. Already in Iceland and Denmark, where prenatal screening and selective abortion are highly prevalent, only two to three children with Down syndrome are born each year.
Today, in the United States, 80% of physicians have integrated AI into their work, so the question is not whether people with disabilities will be screened out of the equation but how many more will be before some type of regulation is adopted.
We welcomed it into our homes, our phones, our schools and our workplaces. It learned our voices, habits and searches. Together, we have fallen victim to a narrative that claims artificial intelligence is the key to solving life’s dilemmas.
While AI has indeed supported many people with disabilities, from image narration tools to transcription, AI-powered wheelchairs, and even robotic guide dogs, technological advancements cannot be celebrated without ignoring a darker reality. A darker reality in which tech CEOs and members of Congress alike are neglecting to acknowledge in their debate over AI guardrails: that is, the same technologies that can help transform lives and build new avenues for independence are quietly reshaping whose land gets stomped on, who gets hired, who is worthy of being born, and ultimately whose lives society values.
Now is not the time to get sucked into another chatbot conversation, but the time to call for global regulation.
Emma Roshioru is a disability advocate and speaker. She wrote this for <a href="https://InsideSources.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">InsideSources.com</a>.
<a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/commentary-emma-roshioru-ai-s-impending-war-on-disability/ar-AA2ehc4r?ocid=msedgntp&amp;pc=DCTS&amp;cvid=6ad0ff74691b40e7a875f6f39c96c3bb&amp;ei=36" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/commentary-emma-roshioru-ai-s-impending-war-on-disability/ar-AA2ehc4r?ocid=msedgntp&amp;pc=DCTS&amp;cvid=6ad0ff74691b40e7a875f6f39c96c3bb&amp;ei=36</a><img src="https://us1-photo.nextdoor.com/post_photos/b4/84/b484e7fba7b8f6527279c6697f0fe1a7.png?request_version=v2&amp;quality=80&amp;output_type=jpeg&amp;sizing=linear&amp;clamp=large&amp;x_size=1&amp;y_size=1&amp;resize_type=crop" data-state-srcset="">InsideSources.com - One Network, Three Publicationsinsidesources.com<svg data-state="main" data-version="v2" width="24" height="24" fill="none" viewBox="0 0 24 24" data-icon="comment" data-block="16" aria-hidden="true" class="SvgIcon__7lpub83 v2__1a95w150"></svg><svg data-state="main" data-version="v2" width="24" height="24" fill="none" viewBox="0 0 24 24" data-icon="share" data-block="16" aria-hidden="true" class="SvgIcon__7lpub83 v2__1a95w150"></svg><svg data-state="main" data-version="v2" fill="none" viewBox="0 0 24 24" data-icon="chart" data-block="16" aria-hidden="true" class="SvgIcon__7lpub83 v2__1a95w150"></svg>Post Insights

Local Event: AI DECLARES WAR ON DISABILITY---"First It Came for the Data!"---VOTE As If Your Life Depended On It!

Lincoln County

Siletz

AI DECLARES WAR ON DISABILITY---"First It Came...

AI DECLARES WAR ON DISABILITY---"First It Came for the Data!"
Commentary: Emma Roshioru: AI’s impending war on...

AI DECLARES WAR ON DISABILITY---"First It Came for the Data!"---VOTE As If Your Life Depended On It!

Nearby Communities

State Edition

National Edition

Doral Vance, Neighbor

Posting Activity

Sneakerwave at the Porchlight

OCT

17

7:00 PM

The Porchlight, 36480 US-101, Nehalem, OR

N.E. Daynow at the Tie Breaker

OCT

24

7:00 PM

Tie Breaker, 194 US-101, Rockaway Beach, OR

N.E. Daynow at the Tie Breaker

NOV

14

7:00 PM

Tie Breaker, 194 US-101, Rockaway Beach, OR

Sneakerwave at the Porchlight

AI DECLARES WAR ON DISABILITY---"First It Came for the Data!"---VOTE As If Your Life Depended On It!