4 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY MAY 23-29, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com THE BUZZ FREE SPEECH As newsrooms shrink and reporters are asked to do more with less, many are turning to artificial intelligence to help boost their productivity. An April report by the Associated Press found that nearly 70 percent of the 300 journalists and newsroom leaders surveyed used AI in some capacity, whether it was to craft headlines or compose article drafts. Gannett, which owns hundreds of newspapers across the country, including the Salinas Californian, is rolling out a program that adds AI-generated bullet points at the top of its online stories. The dangers of AI, however, have been well-documented, and not only have journalists been worrying if they will be replaced by robots, but they must also fact-check the oft-unreliable information drafted by AI. While the Society of Professional Journalists doesn’t see a need to ban AI in journalism, it does call for its use to be limited. At the Weekly, editorial staff occasionally use Otter.ai to transcribe audio interviews, which is used as a tool to organize notes. Good: Salinas City Elementary School District unveiled 10 new electric school buses on Wednesday, May 15, giving students a smoother and much cleaner ride. The wheelchair-accessible vehicles will mostly be used to transport students with special needs. SCESD also installed chargers for each bus, allowing them to fully juice up in four-and-a-half hours. The buses will take over two routes that cover 14,400 miles per year, and another eight routes that run 8,100 miles. The district estimates the buses will save more than 17,143 gallons of diesel fuel per year, and offset 100 metric tons of CO2 annually, or the equivalent of taking 24 gas-powered vehicles off the road. There’s other health benefits as well: The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine estimates that children who ride electric school buses are 8-percent less likely to develop pediatric asthma that requires hospitalization. GREAT: For many families earning a low income, affording the basic necessities is a challenge, let alone paying for museum admission. But a growing federal program aims to help more people to explore the wonders of museums by eliminating that barrier, and it’s now expanded its local reach. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is the latest to join the more than 1,300 museums across the country in the Museums for All initiative. Beginning Monday, May 27, anyone enrolled in federal food assistance benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will receive free admission to the Aquarium for up to four people by showing their SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer card and photo ID at the door. “Joining Museums for All supports our vision of a future where the ocean flourishes and people thrive in a just and equitable world,” Aquarium Executive Director Julie Packard said. GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK THE WEEKLY TALLY The amount visitors to California spent in 2023, surpassing $144.9 billion spent in 2019, overcoming losses endured during the pandemic. Monterey County has not fully recovered: Last year travel spending was at $3 billion, a 0.4-percent increase over 2022 but 8.6-percent below 2019. Sources: Visit California and See Monterey $150.4 QUOTE OF THE WEEK “If you don’t have a good selection of burgers, you can’t call yourself an American restaurant.” -Gina Phinny, owner of restaurants in Carmel Valley and Monterey, speaking about the staple dishes of summer holidays (see story, page 36). billion SCAN ME Take a brief survey to share your thoughts on visitors and other tourism related issues in Monterey County. TOURISM MATTERS TO MONTEREY COUNTY AND SO DOES YOUR OPINION Dr. Brynie Kaplan Dau, MS, DVM Compassionate Care with exCeptional mediCine. 1023 Austin Avenue, Pacific Grove • 831-318-0306 www.pacificgroveanimalhospital.com VOTED MONTEREY COUNTY’S BEST VETERINARIAN THREE YEARS IN A ROW! ’23 ’22 ’21 SURGERY DERMATOLOGY FELINE & CANINE MEDICINE PET BOARDING PREVENTATIVE CARE REGENERATIVE MEDICINE PRP (PLATELET-RICH PLASMA) LASER THERAPY EXOTICS AND MUCH MORE
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