It is not easy to stay on top of all the technology innovations, management model adaptations, and public policy changes that impact the arts. The following four highlight the news from the past month that we found compelling and all the likely players: AI, crypto, Google, and Privacy concerns.

The Debate of AI Sentience Rises Again: Blake Lemoine, engineer for Google, claims that the company’s AI LaMDA is sentient is deserves its own rights. The article contains a shortened interview transcript conducted by Wired staff with Lemoine discussing his thoughts on the entity, what makes it different from other trained AI, and why this is not considered a breach of company privacy or contract because LaMDA is not Google’s property. The discussion is fascinating and shows how AI research is excelling at levels that were thought to be impossible just a few short years ago.

Heightened Criminal Activity in Crypto: The crypo crash is well on its way. In recent weeks, the industry has been turned upside-down with value plummeting and continued issues of theft and fraud. Not only have people been losing life savings, but artists are experiencing theft and are having trouble, if any success, in recuperating their art. Legal entities have been trying to crack down on the crime, but have had varying success. The article explains the issues in-depth and provides a few recent cases in the news.

Google is Sharing Our Data More Than We’ve Ever Imagined: Data privacy and Google has ceased to be a groundbreaking subject these days. However, recent findings show just how much Google shares our data to third parties. The Irish Council of Civil Liberties has recently been able to put a figure to the common, yet vague knowledge, asserting that our location data and browsing habits are transmitted more than 70 billion times daily by Google. This does not include data collected by Meta or Amazon, meaning that overall, the number is much higher. The issue become more difficult, as governments have admitted to using available data to track phones without warrants, as well as private companies partaking in the same invasive habits.

The Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade: The June 24th decision ripped across the nation and has left the country in grief. With a basic human right stripped from women, more aggressively harming poor people and women of color, the decision deeply affects our communities. Additionally, it sparks worry about the privacy of users seeking care, such as browser searches and menstrual cycle tracking apps, and how tech companies will handle this type of data. It is our job as arts managers to adhere to the needs of our communities.