Latest news with #Tompkins
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Yahoo
Artificial intelligence is getting tougher to spot in Kentucky: Media studies expert helps tell the difference
LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) — Artificial intelligence continues to evolve rapidly, especially in the media space. While it may have been easier to spot AI-generated material in recent years, it's getting harder. 'The danger comes when we don't believe anything, when we go from skepticism to cynicism. And that's the real danger of AI,' Al Tompkins from the Poynter Institute for Media Studies told FOX 56 News. It's a technology that's evolved a lot in a short amount of time and begs the question, can we always believe what is seen? Search underway in Lexington for man accused of trafficking cocaine, fentanyl, marijuana 'All of those old, reliable detections. Like they've got too many fingers, or their eyes look weird or something, the depth of field in the photograph doesn't make sense. All of those are starting to fall by the wayside,' Tompkins said. 'Ask yourself, where did this come from? How did this start? Who's behind it? And the second thing I would say to you is, remember that disinformation mostly turns on emotion.' Tompkins has spent his career teaching journalists how to dig a little deeper and avoid being tricked when something appears real online. And there's a lot online that can easily trigger a firestorm of comments and shares, sometimes by design. 'We saw this, for example, with the California wildfires; we've certainly have seen it with the protests out in California, that sometimes we see images that align with what's actually going on but the images might be from some other place, or they might not be real at all,' Tompkins said, pointing out it's a lot easier to create deceptive material during breaking news situations or during conflicts like the Russia/Ukraine war and Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Tompkins noted that when you have high emotions, judgment is running low. Some readers might remember an AI-generated image of a young girl that went viral during Hurricane Helene last October; she's not real, but at first glance, it's easy to assume she is. Late last month, Google unveiled an update to its generative video model, Veo 3. The technology can now create short, high-quality videos with natural sounds that are entirely artificial. 'I think it's far more useful to educate people about how to use internet capacity, how to use artificial intelligence capacity. Education is the elixir for a lot of this. Not so much legislation,' Tompkins said, adding it's especially important for less tech-savvy generations to keep up. He said that artificial intelligence detector technology has been mostly able to keep up, but especially with audio and video, it's not quite foolproof. Funeral arrangements released for former Kentucky Rep. Charles Miller Artificial intelligence is getting tougher to spot in Kentucky: Media studies expert helps tell the difference Lexington man who escaped Lee County jail by imitating brother arrested And keep in mind there's the extreme possibility that something that appears to be AI-generated at first actually is real. 'There are extraordinary things that occur that just don't seem possible. You know, if we saw that video of the Hindenburg blowing up, I don't think any of us would believe it until we had some eyewitnesses that were truly believable,' he said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Irish Independent
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Wexford school's graduation is filled with pride and sense of achievement
Families, teachers, and students gathered on Thursday, May 22, to celebrate the years of hard work and growth the students recently completed. Speeches were made by their year head, Ms. Tompkins, Deputy Principal Mr. O'Toole and Principal Mr. Glynn. Some of the students reflected on their time in Creagh including Head Prefect Felicia Cojan and Deputy Head Prefect Andrew Smith. MCs for the evening were Kasandra Kozar and Luke Quinlan Johnson. Furthermore, the GP area in the college was decorated with flowers and student artwork. Each student was called up individually to receive their graduation certificate, with applause and cheers echoing around the room. Special awards were presented for achievements in academics, sports, and leadership. The evening featured musical performances by students which added added sentiment to the event. Refreshments were enjoyed by all at the end of the ceremony and the strong bonds between classmates and staff were evident throughout the evening. The event celebrated not just an ending, but new beginnings as students look forward to their next chapter. Student of the Year for the class of 2025 was awarded to Marcel Kupczak and the Spirit of Creagh Award went to Jennie Grimes.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
In case you missed it in The Sun the week of May 19, 2025
May 24—The following stories from this week appeared on and in The Jamestown Sun. Students, faculty, staff and administrators of Victory Christian School as well as parents and Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce ambassadors marked the completion of the school's new addition on Friday, May 16, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. "It's going to benefit the church and benefit the community of Jamestown to have this space," said Mike Woodley, executive director of Victory Christian School. Beginning this fall, Victory Christian School will offer classes for students prekindergarten through ninth grade. The school offered classes for students prekindergarten through eighth grade this past school year. A new grade will be added each year with the addition of 12th grade in 2028. Victory Christian School launched its $5 million "Growing Together" capital campaign in April 2024 for the construction of the new addition with a goal of starting a high school. Woodley said $4.2 million has been raised of the $5 million goal. The Stutsman County Commission in a 4-0 vote on Tuesday, May 20, appointed Benjamin Tompkins to serve on the board. Tompkins was one of 11 applicants who applied to fill the vacant seat on the county commission."I'm very excited," Tompkins said. "I think that I can bring a lot of perspective that not everybody gets to see." The other applicants were George Barnes, John Baumgartner, Paul Belzer, Dernel Denning, Steven Gerszewski, John Grabinger, Daren Peterka, Trever Sahr, Taylor Vining and Alan Williams. Tompkins took the oath of office and filled the vacant seat after he was appointed on Tuesday. The vacancy was created after the death of Commissioner Jerry Bergquist on April 24. Bergquist was elected to the commission in November 2022. Tompkins will hold the office at least until the next general election. North Dakota Century Code 44-02-05 says the appointee holds office until the appointee's successor is elected at the next general election that occurs at least 95 days after the vacancy and the successor has qualified. The next general election cycle is in 2026. The Jamestown Building, Planning and Zoning Committee unanimously recommended approval on Tuesday, May 20, of a minor subdivision in northeast Jamestown . The final plat of the Buffalo Estates First Addition is a replat of a portion of Horizon Estates First Addition. Buffalo Estates First Addition is located east of the Two Rivers Activity Center between 25th and 27th Avenue Northeast and north of 5th Street Northeast. There is no street for 25th Avenue Northeast at the location. In related business, the Building, Planning and Zoning Committee unanimously recommended approval of the future land use plan amendment for Buffalo Estates First Addition from vacant/agricultural to a single-family residential district. The committee also unanimously recommended approval to introduce the first reading of an ordinance to amend and reenact ordinance No. 1556 of the city code by amending the district map to change the zoning of blocks one and two of the Buffalo Estates First Addition from a one-family residential district to a one-family residential and duplex or two-family residential district. The reason for the requests of the future land use plan and zoning map amendments is "to have the optimum ability to develop the area between single-family homes and single-family attached homes," according to the applications. The Jamestown chief of police says an ordinance is needed that would impose fees for repeat offenders of false burglar or fire alarms at businesses in Jamestown. Scott Edinger, chief of police, told the Jamestown Police and Fire Committee on Thursday, May 22, that the discussion for an ordinance is in the preliminary stages. He said the Jamestown Police Department has responded to an average of 218 false alarm calls per year for the past 10 years. In a letter to the Jamestown City Council, Edinger wrote that less than 0.25% of the alarms the Jamestown Police Department responds to have any actual emergency involved. Edinger said many of the false burglar alarm calls are at the same businesses. Fire Chief Jim Reuther said the Jamestown Fire Department is also experiencing a lot of false fire alarm calls. Mayor Dwaine Heinrich said city staff should research what can be put in an ordinance and present it to the City Council. Edinger said the ordinance should be in place starting on Jan. 1, 2026. "That gives us an opportunity to get this information out to the businesses," he said. No action was taken on the issue. The status of funding for Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center and other facilities operated by the U.S. Geological Survey through its Ecosystems Mission Area is still unclear even after the House of Representatives passed the Trump administration-sponsored budget bill on Thursday, May 22. Sen. John Hoeven's office replied in an email to a request for information before the budget bill passed the House of Representatives by saying, "We checked with the Department of the Interior regarding the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. DOI is evaluating their facility options and no budget decisions have been made at this point regarding staffing or funding." Rep. Julie Fedorchak's office did not provide information regarding the status of funding for the Ecosystems Mission Area the morning after the budget bill passed during the overnight hours. Various media outlets and national and regional wildlife and ecological organizations have reported that the Ecosystems Working Group and its laboratories around the country will be eliminated as part of budget cuts going into the next federal fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Benjamin Tompkins appointed to Stutsman County Commission
May 20—JAMESTOWN — The Stutsman County Commission in a 4-0 vote on Tuesday, May 20, appointed Benjamin Tompkins to serve on the board. Tompkins was one of 11 applicants who applied to fill the vacant seat on the county commission. "I'm very excited," Tompkins said. "I think that I can bring a lot of perspective that not everybody gets to see." The other applicants were George Barnes, John Baumgartner, Paul Belzer, Dernel Denning, Steven Gerszewski, John Grabinger, Daren Peterka, Trever Sahr, Taylor Vining and Alan Williams. Tompkins took the oath of office and filled the vacant seat after he was appointed on Tuesday. Earlier at a special meeting, the county commission voted to narrow the field to one. The commission recommended appointing Tompkins at the special meeting. County Commissioner Levi Taylor said the commission appreciates having a wide range of applicants to choose from. "Competition is a good thing for our county," he said. "I would encourage you all to stay involved and continue to engage if you can." The vacancy was created after the death of Commissioner Jerry Bergquist on April 24. Bergquist was elected to the commission in November 2022. Tompkins will hold the office at least until the next general election. North Dakota Century Code 44-02-05 says the appointee holds office until the appointee's successor is elected at the next general election that occurs at least 95 days after the vacancy and the successor has qualified. The next general election cycle is in 2026. The commission narrowed the field of 11 to five with the first round of voting on a paper ballot. Peterka got four votes, Tompkins received three and Grabinger got two. Stutsman County Sheriff Chad Kaiser was called to be the fifth member to decide on two of the three final applicants for the top five between Baumgartner, Denning and Vining, who each received one vote. Kaiser voted for Vining and Denning. The final five applicants each spoke in front of the commission for about a minute before the commission narrowed the field to the final three. The commission chose Peterka and Tompkins, each with three votes, and there was a tie for the final applicant between Denning and Grabinger with one vote each. Kaiser chose Grabinger as the final applicant to break the tie with Denning. Tompkins received three votes and Peterka got one for the final vote. Tompkins resides in rural Pingree, North Dakota. He farms from Buchanan to northeast Stutsman County. Tompkins said he has lived in a rural area his entire life and understands what the gravel roads look like in rural Stutsman County. He said county roads need to be safe for motorists. "(I) want everybody to have good access to all the wonderful things that Stutsman County has to offer," he said. Tompkins said he wants to help find solutions to any issues in Stutsman County. "If there's any problems, I feel like I'm good at finding solutions for them," he said. Tompkins said he's willing to listen to his constituents in the county. "I'm easy to get a hold of," he said. "If anybody has any concerns or questions, feel free to call."
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Prominent Falls plumber Henry 'Hank' Bryk passes away at 80
'Old school, not many like him around anymore.' That was how friends and former workers of H.W. Bryk & Sons Inc. were remembering the company's founder, Henry 'Hank' W. Bryk, on Friday night. Bryk, 80, of Youngstown, passed away earlier in the day surrounded by family at Niagara Hospice House. 'He was a good man, a very good man,' former Niagara Falls City Council Member Kenny Tompkins recalled. Born in the Falls, Bryk graduated from Niagara Falls High School before serving in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. He learned the plumbing trade during his years of service and when he returned home in 1965, he went to work at Edwards Plumbing. In 1988, Bryk founded his own business in the Falls, specializing in residential and commercial plumbing, heating, and cooling. For more than 37 years, he and his family have operated out of their Military Road headquarters. 'Mr. Bryk was the kind of guy you could do business with on a handshake,' said Tompkins, who worked for him for a decade. 'He was old school and cared for his workers and his customers. He never cut corners and was as honest as the day is long.' Tompkins recalled summer and Christmas parties that Bryk would hold for his employees at his Youngstown home. He also remembered monthly gifts of vitamins to workers, courtesy of the 50-year ownership of Bryk and his wife, Ingrid of Shaklee Distributors, a supplier of natural vitamins, supplements, and eco-friendly home products. Bryk was known to be fond of working outdoors, tending to his gardens, and listening to music. He was described as 'devoted' to his family, especially his grandchildren. He was also known for his philanthropy and support for countless local charities and not-for-profits.
