The Markup - All Articles

Illustration of an iceberg with a small figure standing at the top, gazing downward; the top half is in front of a ChatGPT input form; the bottom half is a collage featuring imagery of power plants, copyright symbols, a surveillance map, people crying, and downward arrows

Hello World

How I’m Trying to Use Generative AI as a Journalism Engineer — Ethically

Is it possible?

September 7, 2024 08:00 ET

A crowd of protesters hold Prop. 22 signs with their mouths open and fists in the air. One prominent sign reads, "Unconstitutional Prop 22, Bad for Workers, Bad for the Economy, Bad for California."

Working for an Algorithm

California Companies Wrote Their Own Gig Worker Law. Now No One Is Enforcing It

Prop. 22 promised improved pay and benefits for California gig workers. But when companies fail to deliver, the state isn’t doing much to help push back

September 4, 2024 08:35 ET

A national alert test displayed on a cellphone.

The Breakdown

How to Sign Up for Local Emergency Alerts Before Natural Disasters Strike

We know early warning systems save lives. Give yourself extra time when disasters come your way

August 30, 2024 08:00 ET

Chair of the Appropriations Committee, Buffy Wicks, speaks during the Suspense File hearing in the Capitol Annex Swing Space in Sacramento on Aug. 15, 2024.

News

California Tried To Make Google Pay News Outlets. The Company Cut a Deal that Includes Funding AI

State lawmakers give up on bills to force tech companies to pay media outlets for using news. Instead, they agree with Google on a program to help local newsrooms and to explore artificial intelligence

August 22, 2024 13:55 ET

Collage of the five stories from the Digital Book Banning series that won the 2024 ONA Excellence in Technology Reporting Award

Inside The Markup

The Markup’s “Clear and Beautiful” Reporting Wins Online Journalism Award

Series on digital book banning wins first place for technology reporting — the Markup’s second win in a row in that category.

August 17, 2024 08:00 ET

Illustration of a pixelated pizza with one slice being lifted, set against a background of pixelated circles and envelopes

Hello World

Rejecting Dogmas Around AI, User Privacy, and Tech Policy

A conversation with AI scientist Jonathan Frankle

August 17, 2024 08:00 ET

Sisi Wei (left) won the leadership in diversity and solidarity award and Lam Thuy Vo (right) won the inaugural AAJA-Medill innovator award

Inside The Markup

CalMatters/The Markup Honored for Leadership in Diversity and Solidarity, Community Innovation, by Asian American Journalists Association

The awards honor thoughtful reporting, thorough coverage and strong storytelling and celebrate stories that would have gone untold without the cultural competence that AAJA journalists bring to the profession

August 13, 2024 08:00 ET

Artificial Intelligence

Why Silicon Valley Is Trying So Hard to Kill This AI Bill in California

The sprawling California legislation offers protection to whistleblowers and citizens. The coming weeks could decide its fate

August 12, 2024 08:00 ET

A surveillance tower is seen through a hole on the US-Mexico border wall in Playas de Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico

Hello World

The ‘Unsettling,’ Nearly Normalized Surveillance Tech Monitoring the U.S.-Mexico Border

“At any given moment, there is something or someone watching you,” sociologist Francisco Lara-García tells The Markup

August 10, 2024 08:00 ET

Illustration of a chalkboard obscured by a purple cloud of abstract shapes, including a network of circles; a student is in the foreground looking confused

Artificial Intelligence

California’s Two Biggest School Districts Botched AI deals. Here Are Lessons From Their Mistakes

Educators can learn caution from AI mistakes in Los Angeles and San Diego. But they also face pressure to adopt the technology quickly

August 6, 2024 15:40 ET