Twice a year, recent law school graduates nationwide prepare for the bar examination, the biggest test of would-be attorneys' lives. "Bar prep," the shorthand for the two months of exhausting 12-hour days of study, costs upward of $3,000 and culminates in thousands of applicants filing into convention and conference centers in major cities for two days. The spread of COVID-19 has made this traditional arrangement unsafe and, frankly, unethical. Nonetheless, 23 states are still opting for in-person bar exams next week, placing applicants at risk for contracting COVID-19 while mandating that applicants sign liability waivers releasing state bars of all legal culpability should the applicant become ill as a result of an in-person exam. The sad reality is that many will need to risk their lives to take an exam that some have called "an unpredictable and unacceptable impediment for accessibility to the legal profession" that does nothing to protect the public.

The New York Legislature has passed a two-year moratorium on the use of facial recognition in schools. The ban approved by the House and Senate on Wednesday follows an upstate district's adoption of the technology as part of its security plans and a lawsuit from civil rights advocates challenging that move. The legislation would prohibit the use of biometric identifying technology in schools until at least July 1, 2022, and direct the state's education commissioner to issue a report examining its potential impact on student and staff privacy and recommending guidelines. The Lockport Central School District activated its system in January after meeting conditions set by state education officials, including that no students be entered into the database of potential threats. Schools have been closed since mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In 2016, the World Economic Forum claimed we are experiencing the fourth wave of the Industrial Revolution: automation using cyber-physical systems. Key elements of this wave include machine intelligence, blockchain-based decentralized governance, and genome editing. As has been the case with previous waves, these technologies reduce the need for human labor but pose new ethical challenges, especially for artificial intelligence development companies and their clients. The purpose of this article is to review recent ideas on detecting and mitigating unwanted bias in machine learning models. We will discuss recently created guidelines around trustworthy AI, review examples of AI bias arising from both model choice and underlying societal bias, suggest business and technical practices to detect and mitigate biased AI, and discuss legal obligations as they currently exist under the GDPR and where they might develop in the future. All models are made by humans and reflect human biases.

An online app called Amica is now using artificial intelligence to help separating couples make parenting arrangements and divide their assets. For many people, the coronavirus pandemic has put even the strongest of relationships to the test. A May survey conducted by Relationships Australia found 42% of 739 respondents experienced a negative change in their relationship with their partner under lockdown restrictions. There has also been a surge in the number of couples seeking separation advice. The Australian government has backed the use of Amica for those in such circumstances.

Facebook will now hand over a total of $650 million to settle a lawsuit over the company's use of facial recognition technology. The social network added $100 million to its initial $550 million settlement, Facebook revealed in court documents reported by Fortune. The lawsuit dates back to 2015, when the company was hit with a class action lawsuit saying Facebook violated an Illinois privacy law that required companies obtain "explicit consent" before collecting biometric data from users. At issue was Facebook's "tag suggestions" feature, which used facial recognition to scan photos and automatically suggest tags when users uploaded new images. The new $650 million settlement comes as officials around the country have pushed for facial recognition bans.

The isolated Twin Lake beach outside of Minneapolis is known as a haven for freewheeling summer behavior, a place where sunbathers feel comfortable socializing, drinking, and occasionally taking their tops off. According to local authorities, the beach has also been the site of sexual assaults, drownings, drunk driving, and other illicit behavior, drawing regular complaints from nearby homeowners. On July 10, police decided to take action. But instead of sending on-foot officers to the scene to hunt for rule-breakers, they flew their zoom camera–equipped DJI Matrice drone over the beach, in hope of catching them in the act. Police reasoned that the drone could help them deescalate things by avoiding unnecessary personal interaction, in light of the pandemic and the police brutality protests that had ignited over the death of George Floyd at the hands of an officer in late May, in nearby Minneapolis.

The Principles of Artificial Intelligence Ethics for the Intelligence Community are intended to guide personnel on whether and how to develop and use AI, to include machine learning, in furtherance of the IC's mission. To assist with the implementation of these Principles, the IC has also created an AI Ethics Framework to guide personnel who are determining whether and how to procure, design, build, use, protect, consume, and manage AI and other advanced analytics. We will employ AI in a manner that respects human dignity, rights, and freedoms. Our use of AI will fully comply with applicable legal authorities and with policies and procedures that protect privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties. We will provide appropriate transparency to the public and our customers regarding our AI methods, applications, and uses within the bounds of security, technology, and releasability by law and policy, and consistent with the Principles of Intelligence Transparency for the IC.

Bureaucrats -- particularly those from the European Union (EU) -- rarely get the praise they deserve. By their nature, they are reserved, so they do not draw attention to themselves when things go well. When things go poorly, though, they make for a convenient target. So when the EU does something bold, we should give it its due. The EU's boldness in addressing a host of environmental problems head-on is unmatched.

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The New York legislature today passed a moratorium banning the use of facial recognition and other forms of biometric identification in schools until 2022. The bill, which has yet to be signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, comes in response to the planned launch of facial recognition by the Lockport City School District and appears to be the first in the nation to explicitly regulate the use of the technology in schools. In January, Lockport Schools became one of the only U.S. school districts to adopt facial recognition in all of its K-12 buildings, which serve about 5,000 students. Proponents argued the $1.4 million system could keep students safe by enforcing watchlists and sending alerts when it detected someone dangerous (or otherwise unwanted). But critics said it could be used to surveil students and build a database of sensitive information about people's faces, which the school district then might struggle to keep secure.