Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Artificial Intelligence

The devil’s roadmap to destroy the next generation, revealed in a stark AI response
The Free Press, Approved, Commentary, National

The devil’s roadmap to destroy the next generation, revealed in a stark AI response

By Jonathan Haidt | Commentary, The Free Press I asked ChatGPT how it would destroy America’s youth. Its answers were unsettling—and all too familiar. Earlier this year, someone started a viral trend of asking ChatGPT this question: If you were the devil, how would you destroy the next generation, without them even knowing it? Chat’s responses were profound and unsettling: “I wouldn’t come with violence. I’d come with convenience.” “I’d keep them busy. Always distracted.” “I’d watch their minds rot slowly, sweetly, silently. And the best part is, they’d never know it was me. They’d call it freedom.” As a social psychologist who has been trying since 2015 to figure out what on earth was happening to Gen Z, I was stunned. Why? Because what the AI proposed doing is pretty m...
Two-Step Opt Out Needed to Block Google AI From Your Emails
Breitbart, Approved, National

Two-Step Opt Out Needed to Block Google AI From Your Emails

By: Lucas Nolan and Colin Madine | Breitbart Google has quietly started accessing Gmail users’ private emails and attachments to train its AI models, requiring manual opt-out to avoid participation. To make the process even trickier, Gmail users have to opt out in two separate places for the change to work. Follow these steps to protect your privacy from Google’s invasive AI endeavors. Malwarebytes reports that Google has recently implemented changes that enable Gmail to access all private messages and attachments for the purpose of training its AI models. This means that unless users take action to opt out, their emails could be analyzed to improve Google’s AI assistants, such as Smart Compose or AI-generated replies. The motivation behind this change is Google’s...
Gov. Polis Reassesses AI Regulations After Business Backlash
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Gov. Polis Reassesses AI Regulations After Business Backlash

By: Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics For the second time in as many years, Gov. Jared Polis has appointed a working group to address the issues around the state’s 2024 law on artificial intelligence. The law, which Polis signed despite major misgivings last year, is still not ready for prime time. The implementation date for the new law, as set by lawmakers in the August special session, was moved from Feb. 1, 2026, to June 30, 2026, providing a little more time for the tech industry and consumer groups that have been at odds over the law to come to a consensus. Whether that’s doable is another question, given that the first working group spent the last half of 2024 trying to work out differences. The working group’s final report indicated more areas of disagreem...
Budget cuts and bots: Denver shortens 311 hours and expands AI usage in city services
kdvr.com, Approved, Local

Budget cuts and bots: Denver shortens 311 hours and expands AI usage in city services

By: Jacob Factor | Fox31 DENVER (KDVR) — Facing major budget shortfalls, Denver is cutting back hours and staff for its call center that assists residents with city services and looking to leverage an artificial intelligence chatbot to pick up the slack. Denver in Mayor Mike Johnston’s proposed 2026 budget is looking to cut more than $1 million from the 311 City Services budget, most of which comes from cutting vacant call center agents positions in the Technology-Services-Department-run office. One employed call center agent was also among the cuts. The city and county’s X page on Monday announced the new hours for the 311 phone line: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. This is a reduction of two hours each day, as it was previously open until 7 p.m. ...
Trump Team Backs Coal With $625M Plan to Secure Cheap Reliable Power
Fox Business, Approved, National

Trump Team Backs Coal With $625M Plan to Secure Cheap Reliable Power

By Stephen Sorace | Fox Business Programs aim to modernize plants, bring cheaper power to rural communities and extend coal plant lifespans. The Trump administration announced on Monday a $625 million investment to boost America’s coal industry, a plan that aims to keep coal plants open, lower energy costs and enable the U.S. to win the global race for dominance in artificial intelligence. U.S. Energy Secretary Christopher Wright made the announcement of expanded programs to help the coal industry on FOX Business’ "Mornings with Maria," saying that the U.S. has "awesome coal reserves" that can be put to productive use. "We’re going to export more of that coal, we’re going to use it for American industry, particularly as we reindustrialize, and it’s going to continue to provide ...
Has AI Begun Transforming Employment in the Colorado Legal Services Industry?
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Has AI Begun Transforming Employment in the Colorado Legal Services Industry?

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The two biggest ongoing threats to democracy in Colorado are the less-than-competent Secretary of State, Jena Griswold, and Colorado’s Supreme Court. You will recall that last year both blocked the inclusion of Donald Trump’s name on the November 2024 presidential ballot in Colorado only to have the nation’s Supreme Court definitively overrule both. I didn’t notice anyone getting into trouble or apologizing for those blatant attacks on democracy but it managed to get me thinking (no mean feat) about the legal profession in general and whether it was changing in Colorado in the face of artificial intelligence (AI). Admittedly, I’m personally not a big fan of AI because, just like history, it is crafted by the victors / the ...
Colorado Senate Committee Advances Costly AI Regulation Bill Amid Concerns
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Senate Committee Advances Costly AI Regulation Bill Amid Concerns

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette The Senate Appropriations Committee on Sunday handed Senate Bill 4, the artificial intelligence bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez, a 4-3 win and moved it on to the full Senate. Whether the measure has the votes to get out of the Senate is another matter entirely. Much of the discussion was around the bill's cost. As introduced, it was estimated at $4.4 million, largely expenses for the governor's Office of Information Technology, which handles IT issues for most state departments, and the judicial department. Rodriguez had pushed for an amendment when the bill was in the Senate Business Affairs and Labor Committee, to shift some of the bill's disclosure requirements for public entities to open records requests. H...
Local leaders warn new AI law could harm Colorado innovation
The Gazette, Approved, State

Local leaders warn new AI law could harm Colorado innovation

By Seth Klamann | The Gazette While filling the $800 million gap in the state budget is a significant part of the special session set to go underway this morning at the state Capitol, the battle over artificial intelligence regulations is quickly taking center stage, with mayors from three major cities weighing in. In a letter, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade and Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman called on state legislators to intervene and stop Senate Bill 205 from going into effect as planned on Feb. 1, 2026, arguing they fear it would deter companies and jobs from coming to Colorado, not to mention millions of dollars in implementation expenses.  “As mayors of the three largest cities in Colorado, with different political affiliations, we are ...
Polis signs AI bill he admits could crush innovation
Colorado Politics, Approved, Commentary, State

Polis signs AI bill he admits could crush innovation

By Jon Caldara | Commentary, Colorado Politics Disclosure: Gov. Jared Polis wrote much of this column. The epitaph on Jared Polis’ gubernatorial gravestone will simply read, “He knew better, but would not stand up to his own party.” For seven years, our hyper-progressive legislature has sent him one industry-killing bill after another. And he kept signing them, even when he knows they are bad policy, economically devastating, and even if they go against his strongest-held convictions. One such strongly held conviction is his faith in technology. In the tech world, the man’s no slouch. As much as I’d like to tease Jared for just being a rich kid who got richer putting his momma’s greeting-card company online, the fact is he made fortunes many times over in varied tech ventur...
New state law underpins Xcel’s $4.9B grid plan: Bills projected to rise
denvergazette.com, Approved, State

New state law underpins Xcel’s $4.9B grid plan: Bills projected to rise

By Scott Weiser | Denver Gazette $8.71 per month estimated cost for residential ratepayers Colorado's largest utility company is proposing a $4.9 billion plan to modernize the power grid, accommodating vehicle and building electrification, as well as distributed electric generation and storage. The goal, Xcel Energy added, includes enhancing reliability, resiliency, and safety benefits, as required by a recently adopted state law. The five-year plan is expected to cost Colorado residential ratepayers approximately $8.71 more per month, while business customers will pay about $10.24 more per month by 2029. The grid modernization plan includes adding 3.1 gigawatts of new capacity to the distribution system, which the company said would be enough to serve nearly 500,000 ho...