Over the last few months, users of Facebook and Instagram may have noticed a new avenue to interact with the platform: Meta AI. The AI tool, similar to language learning models like ChatGPT, X’s Grok, and Microsoft’s Co-Pilot, is able to carry forward advanced conversations with users and synthesize complex answers based on prompts. 

Meta has leveraged its AI model to create a wide array of chatbots. Some are officially sanctioned by Meta and feature the voices of celebrities like Kristin Bell and John Cena. Others are created and customized by users. 

Two weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal reported that they had had hundreds of test conversations with these chatbots over several months. They found that Meta had not prevented some of these chatbots from engaging in sexually explicit conversations with users, even with minor users. In addition, some of these chatbots were based on characters that are themselves minors. 

This does not appear to be an accident on the part of Meta. Guardrails appear to have been removed or never put in place, with the aim of making the chatbots as engaging and addictive as possible. 

This is just one example of the challenges that Big Tech and AI have placed before the American people. Here to talk about those challenges  is Wes Hodges, Acting Director of the Center for Technology and the Human Person at The Heritage Foundation. 

—

Follow Wes Hodges on X: https://x.com/wesghodges

WSJ Article on Meta AI Chatbots:

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/meta-ai-chatbots-sex-a25311bf

Have thoughts? Let us know at [email protected]

In honor of Small Business Week, we are pleased to bring you a conversation with Sue Malone a true titan in the world of small business. As the founder of Strategies for Small Business, Sue has been instrumental in helping over 30,000 entrepreneurs secure capital to start or expand their businesses.  

Paul Mullen guest hosts Heritage Explains this week in this conversation on entrepreneurship, what it means, and why it matters, as well as Sue’s advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.  

Get in touch with Sue:

[email protected]

925-381-8409 

Heritage's Wealth and Innnovation Project: https://www.heritage.org/wealth-and-innovation

Have thoughts? Let us know at [email protected]

Since RFK Jr., now the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, showed the nation the color difference between Canadian Froot Loops and U.S. Froot Loops, Americans are becoming more aware of what’s in the food we eat. And one of the major offenders? Food dyes. Some of the food dyes in everyday products like breakfast cereals and candy actually come from coal tar, petroleum, and other concerning origins. Even worse, these dyes add nothing to the flavor—their only purpose is better marketing for companies. So how did we end up in this situation? And what does the FDA’s recent announcement mean for these food dyes? 

Here to explain is Dr. David Gortler, a Senior Research Fellow for Public Health Policy and Regulation here at The Heritage Foundation. 

---- 

Dr. Gortler on FDA food dyes: https://www.heritage.org/health-care-reform/commentary/fda-gras-additives-and-artificial-food-coloring-banned-many-countries  

Dr. Gortler’s work at Heritage.org: https://www.heritage.org/staff/david-gortler-pharmd  

Have thoughts? Let us know at [email protected]

With the push for green energy, governments around the world have pushed for (and passed) subsidies for so-called “renewable” energy like wind and solar. The US passed large subsidies of this kind under the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, passed in 2022. But these policies do not have the effect of creating long-term stability in the American energy grid. Here to explain why is Mario Loyola, Senior Fellow in Law, Economics, and Technology, here at the Heritage Foundation. 

—

Follow Mario Loyola on X: https://x.com/mario_a_loyola?lang=en

More by Mario at Heritage.org: https://www.heritage.org/staff/mario-loyola

Mario Loyola in The Hill: https://thehill.com/opinion/5233595-inflation-reduction-act-energy-crisis/

Have thoughts? Let us know at [email protected]

In addition to Russia and North Korea, nuclear bad actors can also be found in Iran, where the regime has been plotting a nuclear buildup for decades. Now, the Trump Administration has initiated talks with the Iranians. Here to explain what we may expect from these negotiations is Rob Greenway, Director of the Allison Center for National Security, here at the Heritage Foundation.

—

Follow Rob Greenway on X: https://x.com/RC_Greenway

More by Rob at Heritage.org: http://heritage.org/staff/robert-greenway

Chinese Nuclear Deterrence Documentary: America Is on Track To Lose a Nuclear War With China

—

Have thoughts? Let us know at [email protected]

The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.

This is the beginning of Article III, section 1 of the US constitution, establishing the federal judiciary. Nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, and usually serving for life, federal judges serve a key role in the highest levels of the American justice system. 

The federal judiciary is designed to exert a check on the power of the legislative and the executive branches. 

Now that the Trump Administration is making sweeping changes to the way things are done in Washington, some federal judges are using this power to obstruct the President. But are they right to do so? 

Joining Heritage Explains today is Senior Legal Fellow Hans von Spakovsky. 

—

Follow Hans on X: https://twitter.com/HvonSpakovsky?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

More by Hans at Heritage.org: https://www.heritage.org/staff/hans-von-spakovsky

—

Have thoughts? Let us know at [email protected]

It’s clear that the Trump administration’s commitment to securing the southern border is working. But the question now is, how do we keep it working? What changes need to be made to the immigration system to keep us from heading back to the uncontrolled illegal migration of the Biden years?

One critical component, argues Heritage Immigration expert Lora Ries, is the reform of the asylum system, ensuring that people who are genuinely in danger have access, while discouraging fraudulent claims. 

—

Follow Lora Ries on X: https://x.com/lora_ries?lang=en

Lora’s report on Heritage.org: https://www.heritage.org/border-security/report/the-us-must-redesign-asylum-law-21st-century-reality-and-put-america-first

—

Have thoughts? Let us know at [email protected]

In the summer of 2020, with the George Floyd Riots in full swing, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser decided that 16th Avenue would gain a new status in American history. She designated the two block section of the Avenue closest to the white house as Black Lives Matter Plaza. The slogan was painted in 35-foot yellow letters on the street. Whether they wanted to or not, DC residents and visitors were forced to see them day in and day out. No doubt, the mayor and her allies believed they were symbolically staking the nation’s capitol as beholden to that morally questionable movement forever. But it was not to be forever. 

In March of this year, DC workers have been seen removing the letters from Black Lives Matter plaza. The street is being returned to a normal pedestrian and traffic thoroughfare, free from political sloganeering. How did this happen? 

To tell that story, I’m joined on the podcast by Heritage Senior Legal Fellow Zack Smith. 

—

Follow Zack Smith on X: https://x.com/tzsmith

Zack’s work at Heritage.org: https://www.heritage.org/staff/zack-smith

—

Have thoughts? Let us know at [email protected]

From the earliest times of the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Francis Collins, and apparently the entire scientific community insisted that the virus emerged from nature, jumping from an animal species to humans. 

Many pointed out the flaws in this reasoning, finding the possibility of COVID leaking from a laboratory much more likely. Scientific organizations, leftist politicians, and corporate media insisted that such an opinion was dangerous and should be suppressed. Here’s the problem: many of them were knowingly lying. 

Here to give the breakdown is Jeff Smith, Director of the Asian Studies Center, here at the Heritage Foundation. 

At the direction of President Trump, Education Secretary Linda McMahon is now preparing the Department of Education for what she refers to as its “final mission”: winding down the department itself. This will be a complicated process, but here to explain what it may look like is Lindsey Burke, Director of the Center for Education Policy here at the Heritage Foundation.  

—

Follow Lindsey Burke on X: https://x.com/lindseymburke

More by Lindsey at Heritage.org: https://www.heritage.org/staff/lindsey-burke-phd

—

Have thoughts? Let us know at [email protected]