David Cuillier, director of the  Brechner Freedom of Information Project, and Janet Coats, managing director of UF’s Consortium on Trust in Media and Technology, participated on panels for the virtual National Freedom of Information Coalition summit from Oct. 3-5.

Cuillier participated in two sessions. The first, “School Shootings and Public Records,” focused on how journalists are fighting for public records related to school shootings in Uvalde, Texas and Nashville. In the second session, Cuillier led a panel presenting the latest freedom of information research from the annual National Freedom of Information Coalition FOI research competition. This year’s winner is former Brechner Center Director Frank LoMonte for a study on how government agencies hide records by storing them on private Cloud portals. The paper will be published in UF’s Journal of Civic Information.

Coats led a panel discussion on “Putting the AI in FOIA (Freedom of Information Act).” Panel members discussed how AI (artificial intelligence) could help officials fulfill records requests, the potential problems it could create and what to expect from this technology.

In addition, Cuillier and Jane Bambauer, Brechner Eminent Scholar in Free Speech Law and the director of the Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project, will be on panels at the Yale University Law School Access and Accountability Conference in New Haven, Connecticut, from Oct. 13-14.

Cuillier will be part of “FOIA Meets AI,” a five-person panel focusing on the way algorithms and artificial intelligence can impact FOIA compliance and FOIA requesters. Bambauer will be one of four panelists for “Black Box Governance: Accountability in an Age of Algorithms.” They will explore the impact of algorithms and artificial intelligence on the public’s ability to know if government business is being conducted as intended and civil rights are being respected.

Posted: October 9, 2023
Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: artificial intelligence, David Cuillier, FOI, FOIA, Frank LoMonte, Jane Bambauer, Journal of Civic Information, NFOIC