Also on today’s menu:
Lawmakers Place Limits On AI-Generated Political Ads
Likely Israeli Strike Kills Seven Iranian Officers
Cody M. Yale, 27, is facing two counts of possessing a controlled substance and one count of receiving stolen property after Belmont police officers found him asleep behind the wheel of a Kia in the Planet Fitness parking lot on December 14.
Sergeant Christopher Rideout and Officer Luis Arias noticed that the license plates on the vehicle matched those of plates that had been reported stolen from a Mazda 6 in Tilton. The officers found Yale unconscious, according to the police affidavit, but upon managing to wake him, they noticed a small bag with a white or off-white powder in his lap. Yale was shaking, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was unable to maintain focus, but he admitted to ingesting the drugs intravenously. The officers also found another small bag containing white crystals.
Officer David Estes swore out affidavit on January 16, and a Belknap County Superior Court Grand Jury returned the indictments in March. In addition to allegedly possessing methamphetamine and heroin (or an analogue), along with receiving stolen property, Yale is facing charges relating to a January incident in which he allegedly fired a handgun in the parking lot of Joann Fabrics at Belknap Marketplace. Officers arrested Yale and his stepfather in the woods between the WOW Trail and Lake Winnisquam, finding the weapon buried in the snow near the town beach.
Discussion: An indictment is not a finding of guilt, but an independent jury’s decision, after hearing from prosecutors, that sufficient evidence exists to warrant a court trial. Yale is scheduled to appear in superior court on Tuesday, April 23.
Lawmakers Place Limits On AI-Generated Political Ads
The New Hampshire House has passed House Bill 1596, which would require that all political advertisements in the state appearing within 90 days of an election disclose whether “synthetic media” or artificial intelligence had been used. “Synthetic media” is defined as any image, audio recording, or video recording of an individual’s appearance, action, or speech, that appears realistic but is fake. The disclosure would have to be visible on a static or print advertisement, appear for the duration of a video advertisement, and be spoken clearly at two-minute intervals during an audio advertisement.
The bill would apply to people, corporations, and political committees, but news organizations would be allowed to replay AI-generated clips as part of a news report, as long as it is identified as false and AI-driven. The bill includes exemptions for satire and parodies.
The legislation is part of an effort by several states to protect against technology that could create fake statements by opposing candidates or aid in voter suppression schemes. During the New Hampshire Primary, AI was used to generate the voice of President Joe Biden Jr., urging Democrats to stay home, rather than to vote.
Discussion: Despite those opposed to the legislation saying that it would have a “chilling effect on freedom of expression” with candidates or campaigns self-censoring their ad content to avoid running afoul of the law, there is a realistic threat that AI can make people believe that a candidate has taken an unpopular stand or uttered something inflammatory when the candidate did no such thing. People already are having a hard time distinguishing between truth and lies, and AI can make it even harder to know what is true.
Likely Israeli Strike Kills Seven Iranian Officers
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claims that an Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate building in Damascus killed seven officers, including Brigadier-General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander of the elite Quds Force, and his deputy, Brigadier-General Mohammad Hadi Haji-Rahimi. While the Israeli military has not spoken of the strike, it has acknowledged carrying out hundreds of strikes on targets in Syria that it says are linked to Iran, and allied groups that are armed, funded, and trained by the Revolutionary Guards.
Both Iran’s and Syria’s governments condemned the attack, which destroyed a building next door to the Iranian embassy. Syrian air defenses said they shot down some of the missiles that Israeli aircraft fired at the Iranian consulate building, but others made it through and “destroyed the entire building, killing and injuring everyone inside”.
On April 1, Rear Admiral Daniel Haggard of the Israeli Defense Forces called an apparent drone attack on a naval base in the southern Israeli city of Eilat “a very serious incident” and said that the drone was “made and directed by Iran”. That may have been the provocation for the latest strike on Damascus, but the drone attack had followed suspected Israeli strikes on Damascus and Aleppo last week, which killed a reported 53 people, including 38 Syrian soldiers and seven members of Hezbollah.
Discussion: Observers have told the BBC that Israel may be testing the resolve of the Iranians and their allies.