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, will participate on panels for the virtual National Freedom of Information Coalition summit from Oct. 3-5.

Cuillier will participate in two sessions. The first, “School Shootings and Public Records,” will focus on how journalists fought for public records related to school shootings in Uvalde, Texas and Nashville.  In the second session, Cuillier will lead 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 will lead the panel discussion on “Putting the AI in FOIA (Freedom of Information Act).” Panel members will look at 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.

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. 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.

Posted: October 3, 2023
Category: Brechner Center, College News, Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project News, Trust News
Tagged as: AI, Artificial Intelligence, Brechner Freedom of Information Project, Consortium on Trust in Media and Technology, David Cuillier, FOIA, Freedom of Information Act, Jane Bambauer, Janet Coats, Journal of Civic Information, Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project