Portage County Legal News

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AI has passed the aesthetic Turing Test − and it's changing our relationship with art

(THE CONVERSATION) Pick up an August 2025 issue of Vogue and you'll come across an advertisement for the brand Guess featuring a stunning model. Yet tucked away in small print is a startling admission: She isn't real. She was generated entirely by AI.
For decades, fashion images have been retouched. But this isn't airbrushing a ... (full story)

'These people do it naturally': Trump's views on immigrant farmworkers reflect a long history of how farming has been idealized and practiced in America

(THE CONVERSATION) The Trump administration's mass deportation campaign has not spared the U.S. agricultural industry, with agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement frequently raiding farms across the country in search of undocumented workers.
Now, farmers are facing a crisis the administration has helped create: not enou ... (full story)

The Conversation: Why America still needs public schools

(THE CONVERSATION) While the White House's fight with elite universities such as Columbia and Harvard has recently dominated the headlines, the feud overshadows the broader and more far-reaching assault on K-12 public education by the Trump administration and many states.
The Trump administration has gutted the Department of Edu ... (full story)

At one elite college, 80% of students now use AI – but not all about outsourcing

(THE CONVERSATION) Over 80% of Middlebury College students use generative AI for coursework, according to a recent survey I conducted with my colleague and fellow economist Zara Contractor. This is one of the fastest technology adoption rates on record, far outpacing the 40% adoption rate among U.S. adults, and it happened in less t ... (full story)

Reverse discrimination? In spite of the MAGA bluster over DEI, data shows white Americans are still advantaged

(THE CONVERSATION) Two big assumptions underlie President Donald Trump's attack on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. The first is that discrimination against people of color is a thing of the past. The second is that DEI policies and practices discriminate against white people – especially white men – in what's s ... (full story)