Crosscurrents

There’s a new teacher in San Francisco classrooms. And she’s an AI bot… but not everyone is on board. Today, we hear how this reading tool is working. Then, we explore the nation's first law to encourage and protect whistleblowers working with AI. And, from Uncuffed one tragic accident triggered a decades long struggle with addiction.

There’s a new instructor measuring how well San Francisco’s first and second graders can read. Her name is Amira and she’s an AI bot.

Teachers today are grappling with if and how to use AI in the classroom. When educators in the city went on strike last month, one of their demands was AI safety guards. But AI is already playing an important role in the classroom. KALW’s Education reporter, Julia Haney, wanted to understand how Amira works, so she went to see the program in action.

With Artificial intelligence increasingly becoming a part of our lives, comes the need to regulate it. California was the first state to draft laws regulating the internet and now it’s attempting to do the same with AI.

SB 53 is the State’s Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act. It’s a first-of-its-kind AI safety law and it was passed last year. A number of AI companies lobbied against the legislation. And internet freedom advocates argue the law is now so watered down, that it no longer effectively protects whistleblowers in the AI companies.

Jason Winshell reports on Silicon Valley for the San Francisco Public Press. He spoke to KALW News Editor Sunni Khalid to help us unpack the new law. 

Uncuffed producer Jorge Lopez on how one tragic accident can trigger a decades long struggle with addiction. A new story from Uncuffed about trauma, drugs, and the choice to change.

Finding housing in California is notoriously difficult. For unhoused people, the process can feel nearly impossible. Today, two women in Richmond take us into the challenges of their search for permanent housing.

Why is it so hard for people to move from homeless encampments to housing? California spends a lot of money trying to get people off the street — $27 billion since 2019. The state’s Encampment Resolution Fund in particular has invested over $700 million into moving people from encampments, to shelter, to permanent housing. There are still thousands of people living on the streets across the state, and in the Bay Area, it can feel like there’s little progress to show for it.

KALW’s homelessness reporter Alastair Boone takes us to Richmond, California to learn more about what it really takes to find permanent housing.

Today, we're kicking off Women’s History month. First, a local arts company is gathering women from across the Bay Area for an evening of resilience and performance. Then, we’ll hear the real history behind A LEGENDARY San Franciscan. Plus, poems from the next generation. 

Women’s History Month has begun and International Women’s Day is this Sunday. Women around the world will be celebrated and celebrating. The UN theme this year is “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls”

Here in the Bay Area, there is no shortage of events marking the day. One is the annual "What Do the Women Say?" An extravaganza of women’s performance held every year for the past 30 years by Golden Thread Productions that features Middle Eastern and North African artists.

They’re marking their 30th year with a show that has music, song, poetry and plays- and dedicating it to the women of Iran. To learn more about the event, Hana Baba, host of KALW's Crosscurrents, talked to their brand new artistic director Nabra Nelson, who is a playwright herself.

Today, a San Leandro council member has pleaded guilty to charges of corruption. Could there be more indictments ahead? Then, artists and activists are working to reopen the Mission Cultural Center after its sudden shutdown. Plus, the favorite songs of a KALW music programmer.

Last month, former San Leandro Councilman Bryan Azevedo pleaded guilty in a federal court to two counts of corruption in connection with accepting a bribe from local businessmen.

Azevedo has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in an ongoing federal corruption probe that has already led to indictments against former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, her partner, Andre Jones, and Andy and David Duong, the owners of California Waste Solutions -- Oakland's largest recycling contractor. Their trials are scheduled for the fall.

But Azevedo's plea has raised speculation about the nature of the ongoing probe and also raised the possibility that other current or former local elected officials are being investigated for possible wrongdoing.

Nathan Gartrell is an award-winning reporter for the East Bay Times, who covers state and federal courts in Northern California. He spoke with KALW news editor Sunni Khalid.