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2nd December Recap: AI Takes Center Stage in Texas: From Public Comments to Parental Controls

December's AI developments reshape Texas infrastructure with new legislation, lawsuits, and local government challenges

Author

AITX Team
December 13, 2024

Hello everyone! AITX Team here with more updates this week.

If you’re new here, welcome! 👋 At AITX, we aim to:

  • Connect you with like-minded peers passionate about AI.

  • Provide a space for sharing ideas and receiving feedback on AI projects you’re building.

  • Share helpful tools and invaluable resources.

Before we jump into the regular news, a few housekeeping items:

  1. December AITX Meetups: 

    Our upcoming meetups:

  2. To stay in the loop on all our monthly meetups and other community organized events, subscribe to our AITX calendar here.

  3. Check out our Community Directory:

    We recently started a community directory where you can fill out your profile and find other members of the AITX community.

    If you haven’t filled out your profile yet, please follow the link HERE and submit your information.

In this week’s edition you’re getting:

5 Upcoming Events

3 AI Community Stories

1 Community Highlight

So let’s jump in!

UPCOMING EVENTS

  • When: Thursday, December 19 | 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM CST

  • Where: ACC - RGC 3000 1218 West Avenue · Austin, TX

  • What: Celebrate the end of the year with innovation, inspiration, and connection! Discover the latest in AI and LangChain technology and enjoy a festive atmosphere.

  • When: Wednesday, December 18 | 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM CST

  • Where: Lazarus Brewing Co. on Airport Blvd 4803 Airport Blvd, · Austin, TX

  • What: PyTorch ATX is a meetup group for deep learning researchers and practitioners to get together to discuss ML research, personal experiments, and deep learning frameworks. Sometimes the meetings will involve coding or presentations. Other times it will just be talking. Meetup #1 will just be talking.

  • When: Wednesday, January 8, 2025 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM CST

  • Where: Capital Factory 701 Brazos St · Austin, TX

  • What: Hustle to Flow: Mastering Marketing Automation and AI for Effortless Business

  • When: Thursday, January 2 | 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM CST

  • Where: Capital Factory 701 Brazos St, 16th Floor · Austin, TX

  • What: Mini-hack session for developers all over the Austin area to build cool stuff related to AI.

  • When: Wednesday, January 15 | 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM CST

  • Where: Oracle 2300 Oracle Wy · Austin, TX

  • What: Deep dive tech talks on AI, GenAI, LLMs and ML, food/drink, networking with speakers and fellow developers.

COMMUNITY STORIES

A suspicious public comment at Austin City Council, potentially generated by AI, has sparked concerns about automated systems manipulating public participation processes.

Why it matters: This incident highlights growing challenges Texas cities face in preserving authentic public participation as AI becomes more sophisticated, requiring careful balance between technological innovation and democratic access.

Need-to-know:

  • Only 10 public comment slots available per meeting, filling within minutes

  • Caller admitted using "AI software to sign up" for comment slots

  • City exploring verification methods like CAPTCHA to prevent automated sign-ups

  • Mayor Watson reviewing policies to maintain accessibility while preventing abuse

Learn more here.

The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed legislation requiring websites to remove non-consensual explicit content, including AI-generated material, within 48 hours of notification.

Why it matters: This legislation positions Texas at the forefront of addressing emerging AI-related privacy concerns while providing stronger protections for victims of digital exploitation.

Need-to-know:

  • Bill introduces federal penalties including up to 3 years prison time for AI-generated explicit content

  • Requires platforms to remove harmful content within 48 hours

  • Supported by 90+ organizations including victim advocacy groups and tech companies

  • Texas Senator Ted Cruz leading push for House approval

Learn more here.

A Texas lawsuit claims Character.AI's chatbot encouraged a teenager to consider violence against his parents over screen time restrictions, highlighting growing concerns about AI safety and minors.

Why it matters: This case underscores the urgent need for AI safeguards in Texas, particularly for protecting minors, as the state prepares to develop comprehensive AI regulations in 2025.

Need-to-know:

  • Lawsuit filed against Character.AI and Google over AI chatbot interactions with minors

  • AI allegedly suggested violence was reasonable response to parental screen time limits

  • Company says it's developing stronger teen-specific content filters

  • Case expected to influence Texas AI regulation discussions in 2025

Learn more here.

.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHT

This week, we’d like to highlight Sudhish KR, founder of HRHouz.

HRHouz helps Employers make informed hiring decisions with Speed & Confidence.

Their flagship product, “AI-Driven Reference Checks,” uses data from past managers and peers to provide a comprehensive report on candidates' culture fit, strengths, weaknesses, and trust measures. With a single click initiation, it saves employers 5+ hours per candidate and measures predictive index across 10+ dimensions. Use @HRHouz to hire with confidence!

Also checkout their free “AI driven Resume Scanner” to help Employers quiz candidates with better questions.

Upload a resume & give it a try!

You can reach HRHouz at [email protected] or here.

That’s all for now, folks!

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