Author: Alec MacMillen
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How Fake News Spreads on Twitter
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The 2016 presidential election was a watershed moment in American politics. Political polarization reached its highest ebb in decades, fueled in part by individuals’ self-guided consumption of media matched to their own political ideologies. During and after the election, there was public scrutiny of “fake news”—inaccurate information published and shared…
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Can an Algorithm Identify Repeat Offenders?
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Assessing the likelihood that a defendant will reoffend in the future is a vital task in the criminal justice system. Judges weigh the risk of recidivism when making decisions about bail and sentencing, and their conclusions can have a significant impact on defendants’ lives. In 1998, the software company Northpointe…
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A Data-Sharing Framework To Ensure Self-Driving Cars Are Road-Ready
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Rapid advances in technology have made autonomous vehicles (AVs)—once the realm of science-fiction—into an emerging reality. Auto industry newcomers such as Waymo and Tesla now compete with incumbent car manufacturing giants in a race to be the first to produce a commercially viable AV. In their haste to beat their…
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A Snapshot of Attitudes Toward Body-Worn Cameras
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Public discontent with police behavior has crested in the wake of recent high-profile civilian deaths due to the excessive use of force. To address this issue, some have advocated the adoption of body-worn cameras (BWC) that officers wear as part of their uniforms. These cameras capture audio and video of…