The new year has begun, and that means its time for a fresh batch of Netflix thrillers to fill your days.Every month, we handpick a few of the best thrillers on Netflix that fit the current season. Sometimes they pair well with an upcoming release. Other titles might be new additions to the platform.This month, weve got an overlooked gem about Cold War spies with one of the most impressive casts ever assembled, a South Korean sci-fi thriller about a mysterious phone call, and a found-footage psychological thriller about the horrors of answering online ads.Editors pick: The Good Shepherd Director: Robert De NiroCast: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin If youre looking for a slow-burn drama about Cold War-era spycraft and professional backstabbing, Robert De Niros fictionalized take on the birth of the CIA is a must-watch. Loosely based on the life of counterintelligence operative James Jesus Angleton, The Good Shepherd stars Matt Damon as Edward Wilson, a Yale graduate who is recruited to work for the CIA to combat the Nazis and, eventually, the Soviets. As the years wear on, Edward is forced time and again to confront the contradictions between his heart and his mind, between his conscience and his occupation, and face the truths about himself and his country hed much rather leave buried. At a run time of nearly three hours, The Good Shepherd isnt exactly a brisk watch, but it is nonetheless a rewarding one. Toussaint EganThe Call Director: Lee Chung-hyunStars: Park Shin-hye, Jeon Jong-seo, Kim Sung-ryungOne of the twistiest thrillers in recent memory, The Call follows a young woman named Kim Seo-yeon who returns to her childhood home only to find a very strange phone that somehow connects her directly to the young woman who lived in the house 20 years earlier, Oh Young-sook. The two find theyre connected by more than the phone, however, discovering that certain parts of their lives have strange overlaps, including the difficult relationships both have with their mothers. But this exciting new connection quickly goes south when Seo-yeon discovers that Young-sook has a terrible secret and at least a few hidden agendas. This discovery leads the two on a bizarre game of cat and mouse that happens decades apart and across several different realities. Austen GoslinCreep Director: Patrick Brice Cast: Mark Duplass, Patrick BriceIs there anything as terrifying and unpredictable as answering an ad online? Director Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass 2014 found-footage horror film taps that fear to its core, delivering a cinematic experience thats one half My Dinner with Andre and the other half Misery. After responding to a Craigslist ad, Aaron (Brice) is recruited by Josef (Duplass) to help him film a goodbye letter to his unborn son. Ysee, Josef is dying or at least thats what he says. Its not long before this strange encounter takes a turn for the sinister, as Aaron discovers that both Josef and the circumstances behind his project are not what they seem. The success of Creep has spawned two follow-ups, a 2017 theatrical sequel and a spinoff TV series, with a potential third film currently in development. If youre looking for a surprising, offbeat psychological horror experience thatll stay with you long after the credits roll, you absolutely must try this film out. TE

TECHNOLOGY &CULTUREChallenges, strategies, & opportunities.Credit: MarketoonistThe explosion of AI over the past two years, particularly generative AI and large language models (LLMs), has reshaped much of how we work and think about technology. For user researcher and designers, AIs impact can be grouped into three broadareas:Generative AI product development: The topics and challenges explored in research and design projects as we seek to best implement AI into new products and services.Internal processes: Systems and workflows within the workplace leveraging AI to enhance efficiency and insight as we work together to build AI-leveraged products and services.Personal practices and training: Individual use of AI to augment skills and productivity.While AI offers immense potential to accelerate and enhance product design, its critical to approach it with a balanced perspective. Alongside its benefits, AI presents potential harms and negative impacts that demand careful consideration.As this transition is happening, many of us are asking ourselves how we can approach AI in a human-centered way. Some of the key questions to guide responsible AI integration include:How can organizations advocate for the development of AI technologies that prioritize human well-being in their products and services?What strategies ensure AI can be leveraged responsibly while centering human needs during research, analysis, design, and the software development process?How can authentic human experiences be validated within a landscape increasingly shaped by artificial content?What day-to-day practices can researchers and designers adopt to maintain a balanced, human-centered approach toAI?And most importantly:How can researchers and designers learn, grow, and adapt while AI technology is evolving faster andfaster?In this article, I will attempt to answer these questions by revisiting foundational concepts of human flourishing, reflecting on organizational values, and synthesizing diverse perspectives from professional communities and academic literature.The goal is to help us all develop best practices for AI use that align with both ethical standards and businessgoals.And keep the human centered in theloop.A human-first approachAdopting a human-first approach provides a strong foundation for ethical and effective AI use. At its core, this philosophy emphasizes serving and empowering people through empathy, authenticity, and a commitment to collective well-being.I think of Human-First as humans serving humans. Every decision, every interaction is grounded in empathy, authenticity, and the acknowledgment of our collective humanity. We take care of ourselves and keep the health of others in mind. We create space whenneeded.Taking the core concepts of human flourishing as identified by academics and applied practitioners, (See Appendix, below, for complete list of frameworks) practitioners and organizations that embrace a human-first mindset define their values around these core principles:Purpose and Contribution: Supporting work that feels meaningful and impactful.Personal Growth and Agency: Encouraging self-determination and skill development.Holistic Well-Being: Addressing physical, mental, social, and other dimensions ofhealth.Ethical Living: Ensuring actions align with moral values and promoteharmony.A holistic view of human flourishing considers the individual, structural, systemic, and environmental levels to create sustainable, people-centered solutions.Interdisciplinary and cross-cultural frameworks (e.g., the Social Ecological Framework, The Ecology of Wellbeing, & Measuring Flourishing | Harvard), can be applied to aide us in decision-making.By rooting AI practices in these values, researchers, designers, and organizations can better navigate challenges to human flourishing in research and design. This foundation sets the stage for addressing specific AI-related concerns while advancing the shared goal of creating technologies that truly serve humanity.It is in this context that we next identify AI-related challenges to human flourishing in the context of UX Research andDesign.AI challenges to human flourishing and lessonslearnedThe more I experiment with AI tools while also conducting research and consulting with companies building generative AI-based tools, the more I can see the limitations of how AI can detract from human flourishing.While societal concerns surrounding AI are vast and complex, (See AI Risks in Appendix, below), this discussion focuses on challenges most relevant to day-to-day experience of user experience (UX) and design researchwork.Through personal (and team) experience and reviewing articles and perspectives, we have identified four key characteristics of AI as particularly threatening to human flourishing:1. OversimplificationAIs limited ability to detect and adapt to complex, changing contexts can lead to oversimplification of human behavior and realities, culturally or situationally inappropriate insights and output, and perpetuation of systemic inequities and injustices.Frequent users of AI tools have likely had an experience with AI output that isnt quite what you were looking for. In those moments, it feels like AI isnt gleaning the intent behind your question. Sometimes even the most well-crafted prompt isnt enough to overcome thisbarrier.AI models often struggle to fully understand and adapt to contextual nuances, particularly in complex or dynamic environments where human interpretation is key. It falls short in fully grasping the subtleties of human communication, including tone, cultural references, and implied meanings, as well as sussing out potential motivations or explanations for human behavior and phenomena, (What Are the Limitations of AI in Understanding Context in Text?Space Coast Daily & The Context Problem in Artificial IntelligenceCommunications of theACM).As it relies on predefined rules and training data, it can fail to factor in social, cultural, systemic, and environmental influences out ofpurview.These characteristics limit AIs responsible utilization in research across contexts, cultures, and in novel situations and when completing tasks that require high-stakes or creative problem-solving.Research and design often involve making sense of a complex interplay of user and contextual factors that combine to drive behavior or shape an experienceand it seems that AI tools are not yet advanced enough to appropriately capture and process this complexity.Not all generative AI tools are the same, and having awareness about each products context windows ensures were realistic about to what extent the tool can help us center humanness in research and design, (What is a context window?).2. Propensity to generalizeAIs tendency to summarize and generalize poses a risk to the representation of diverse human experiences and inclusivity. While AI excels at processing large datasets to identify common patterns and deliver efficient summaries, this strength can become a limitation when it oversimplifies nuanced perspectives or excludes less common experiences.For example, AI-powered search engines highlight the most popular answers but may exclude context-specific insights, leading to incomplete or biased conclusions, (The AI Summarization Dilemma: When Good Enough Isnt Enough: Center for Advancing Safety of Machine IntelligenceNorthwestern University & AIs dark secret: Its rolling back progress on equality | Context).Similarly, relying solely on AI for research analysis can result in a surface-level understanding of the average. AI analysis may lead to the full spectrum of participant responses not being considered, ignoring minority perspectives and creating exclusive products or experiences.There are times in analysis where you want to understand the broad themesbut there are also times where it's important to understand individual nuances.These limitations are particularly dangerous when researching diverse populations or designing solutions that require high degrees of sensitivity and nuance. Indeed, as weve experimented with AI tools for research and analysis, we have found outputs to be inadequate and potentially misleading, and we find ourselves needing to reintegrate human subtleties and dive deeper into oversimplified insights.3. Lack of transparencyAI tools lack of transparency and data privacy guardrails can infringe on our basic human right to privacy and decrease our sense of agency to choose our relationship with technology.Despite efforts to improve transparency and develop privacy-centric AI, using AI often still feels like working with a black boxwith users still missing deep understanding of how AI processes their data and clear, succinct explanations of privacy practices, (We Must Fix the Lack of Transparency Around the Data Used to Train Foundation Models Special Issue 5: Grappling With the Generative AI Revolution & Transparency is sorely lacking amid growing AI interest |ZDNET).This has implications as we use AI to collect and analyze data from people and as we try to develop AI-powered products that promote user consent, agency, and empowerment.As researchers and designers, we have a duty to protect personally identifiable information (PII) of research participants and the intellectual property of ourclients.We have a responsibility to ensure that our research participants have the power to consent to how their data is used and to our consumers to create products and experiences that do not lead to privacy breaches and data exploitation. In our experience, when using popular AI tools to their full functionality, we cannot guarantee those protections will beupheld.4. AI isn't aware of its' ownbiasAIs tendency to reproduce bias and generate inaccurate output can exacerbate existing social inequalities and creates threats to informed decision-making.For example, the UK passport photo checker showed bias towards women and darker-skinned people:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54349538.ampThe tendency for AI tools to perpetuate and exacerbate human biases present in their training data is probably the most commonly discussed threat of AI, so we wont discuss this issue in depth here, (Battling Bias inAI).Bias can lead to discriminatory experiences for research participants, skewed insights, narrowed scope of potential design directions, and designs that cater to hegemonic identities and majority usergroups.Hallucinations: Beyond biased output, there is the potential for hallucinations which produce nonexistent or inaccurate outputs, (When AI Gets It Wrong: Addressing AI Hallucinations and BiasMIT Sloan Teaching & Learning Technologies). This misinformation could affect research and product decisions in majorways.In another example, Air Canada's chatbot lied to a passenger about bereavement fares but the customer later won thecase:The passenger claimed to have been misled on the airlines rules for bereavement fares when the chatbot hallucinated an answer inconsistent with airline policy. The Tribunal in Canadas small claims court found the passenger was right and awarded them $812.02 in damages and court fees the court found Air Canada failed to explain why the passenger should not trust information provided on its website by its chatbot. Source:ForbesWhile being aware that generative AI products can produced biased or inaccurate information is a good first step, we feel there is still unmet need for transparency and diversification of training datasets and extensive training on critical evaluation of AI output. AI must be leveraged judiciously and always in service of human-centered needs.Addressing threats to human flourishingAs we advance our use of AI, we must remain committed to prioritizing the human experience and fostering the well-being of our colleagues, research participants, clients, and the customers who use the products we helpcreate.Technology should contribute to the well-being, growth, and fulfillment of people and their communities.Addressing the four challenges discussed above, here are four strategies to combat the limitations.Strategy #1: AI as a complement, not a replacementAI has proven to be a powerful tool in research, but its greatest potential lies in complementing, not replacing, human expertise. Understanding where AI excels and where humans bring unique value allows us to strike the rightbalance.Where AIshines:Processing large data sets: AIs computational power allows it to analyze vast amounts of data far faster than humans, making it an indispensable tool for pattern recognition and large-scale analysis.Generating initial ideas: AI is excellent at sparking brainstorming by presenting diverse, unbiased possibilities, which can help overcome creativeblocks.Recognizing patterns: AIs pattern-recognition capabilities are unmatched for identifying trends and correlations across datasets.Where humansshine:Empathy and connection: These are foundational to qualitative research. Building trust, reading body language, and engaging authentically are uniquely human abilities that technology cannot replicate.Understanding complex contexts: Humans excel at synthesizing subtle, multifaceted information that may not fit neatly into patterns.Ethical and contextual judgment: Humans bring cultural and moral considerations into decision-making, ensuring sensitivity and appropriateness.Unique insights: The creativity and contextual understanding required for truly novel insights remain human strengths.Striking the rightbalanceData collection: AI can enhance efficiency in data collection when used intentionally. For example, it can assist with participant screening during recruitment, but researcher oversight ensures quality and appropriateness. Human moderation remains indispensable for creating connection, fostering empathy, and understanding participants deeply.While AI moderation is effective for executing qualitative research quickly and at scale, (Accelerating Research with AI), it cannot replicate the depth of human engagement.Data analysis: In analysis, AI can be valuable for identifying major themes and aiding qualitative data coding, providing researchers with a head start. Transcriptions alone are a great start. When it comes to summaries, most tools I've tried are ok at this, but the future promise isthere.Examples of Transcription & Summaries from Dovetail. Source:NN/gHowever, interpreting participant behavior, understanding nuances in communication, and recognizing diverse perspectives still greatly rely on human expertise. AI serves as a tool for initial synthesis and as a point of comparison, but humans are indispensable in making sense of the human experience.Data generation: Using AI to generate qualitative data, such as having AI simulate human responses, can jeopardize the integrity of research by misrepresenting authentic experiences.That said, there are cases where AI-generated responses can enhance research outcomes. For instance, immersive AI avatars have been used effectively in healthcare provider (HCP) market research to elevate engagement and provide richer insights, offering a viable alternative in specific contexts, (How we elevated HCP market research engagement and insights using AI avatars for an immersive experienceResearch Partnership).https://medium.com/media/036b708af41108976a6f4b266f2e10f6/hrefBy leveraging AI as a complement to human expertise, we can enhance efficiency and scalability without compromising the depth and integrity of research. The key is intentionalityusing AI where it excels while relying on human strengths to truly understand and connect withpeople.Strategy #2: Contextually and culturally-aware implementationHuman diversity is central to effective cross-cultural research and design, and understanding the differences between individuals, their daily contexts, and broader sociocultural environments is key to generating meaningful insights. This same principle applies to the thoughtful integration of AI into practices and workflows.AI implementation should be deliberate and context-sensitive, with careful consideration of when and how AI is the right tool for the task. Context plays a pivotal role in determining whether AI enhances or detracts from the goals of a given project. Tailoring AI strategies to align with cultural nuances, environmental factors, and user needs ensures that technology complements, rather than complicates, the work at hand. Forexample:Building rapport: If establishing trust and encouraging participants to open up about sensitive topics is essential, AI may not be the bestfit.Anonymity preferences: In contrast, participants may prefer the perceived neutrality and anonymity of an AI moderator when discussing highly personal or taboo subjects.Cultural perceptions: In Western Europe, heightened concerns about AI and data privacy influence how AI is received and used, requiring careful consideration of tools and methods, (Will the EU AI Act work? Lessons learned from past legislative initiatives, future challenges | IAPP & How concerned are Europeans about their personal data online? | European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights).Social dynamics: In Brazil, where authentic social connections are highly valued, human-to-human interaction may be preferred for meaningful engagement, (How to Apply Cultural Knowledge in Your Brazilian Localization Strategy).Research goals: For tactical questions or high-level sentiment analysis, AI can effectively identify trends and major pain points. For deeper explorations of complex motivations or mental models, human-led research is often more appropriate.When implementing AI, its essential to stay well-informed about the tools capabilities and limitations, including its context windows and potential blind spots. Organizations designing AI products should prioritize localization and enhanced context sensitivity to ensure these tools address diverse human needs effectively.By thoughtfully balancing human expertise with AI-driven methods, its possible to create solutions that honor cultural uniqueness while leveraging technology to deepen understanding and foster meaningful connections.Strategy #3: Privacy and consent practicesEffective AI implementation requires balancing innovation with robust privacy and consent practices. Popular AI platforms often retain data input to train their tools, raising concerns about confidentiality and data security.Zoom subtly updated their terms of service in March, 2023, leading to a backlash and then backpedaling and clarification inAugust:Thread source onXTo address these risks, organizations should establish clear policies to safeguard sensitive information, including personally identifiable information (PII) and proprietary data, (Can GPT-4o Be Trusted With Your Private Data? | WIRED). These should be shared openly and in advance. Practices like anonymization and secure data storage can help minimize risks from the outset. For organizations seeking greater control, developing proprietary AI models is an option worth exploring.Transparency is a cornerstone of effective privacy and consent practices. Providing research participants with detailed information about AI use in consent forms and participation materials enables them to make fully informed decisions about how their data is handled. Encouraging team members to share questions or concerns about AI tools fosters a culture of open dialogue and ethical accountability, ensuring that privacy practices stay aligned with both internal values and external expectations.Additionally, applying user experience (UX) and human-centered design principles to AI technologies can make privacy and security features more transparent, accessible, and empowering. This ensures that consent goes beyond a checkbox to become a meaningful and informed part of the user experience, (The AI Consent Conundrum: Do We Truly Understand What We Agree To? | by Neria Sebastien, EdD |Medium).By adopting these strategies, organizations can align their AI practices with both ethical standards and user expectations, creating tools and systems that promote trust and human flourishing.Strategy #4: Ongoing AI training & discussionAs AI evolves rapidly, staying informed, critically evaluating its capabilities, and understanding its impact are essential for leveraging its full potential. A team-based approach to AI training encourages shared learning and open discussions about its possibilities and limitations. This not only helps refine policies and address concerns but also fosters innovation as the technology progresses.Effective AI strategies involve tackling key topics such as maintaining non-disclosure and data privacy requirements while using AI, reviewing outputs to identify and mitigate bias or misinformation, and finding ways to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. These conversations are vital for ensuring that AI is used responsibly and productively.A human-first philosophy should guide theseefforts.Organizations should regularly assess AIs impact not only on participants, consumers, and clients but also on internalteams.The aim is to ensure AI supports meaningful workallowing people to build new skills, refine creative and critical thinking, and stay engaged in tasks that are both purposeful and impactful. AI should empower teams to feel more efficient and effective while safeguarding their sense of purpose, (Finding Meaningful Work in the Age of AI | LinkedIn).AI training and policies must remain flexible and adaptable. As technology evolves or reveals limitations, organizations should be prepared to recalibrate their approach, ensuring that human values remain at the center of innovation. By embracing this mindset, businesses can harness AIs potential while ensuring it serves peoplefirst.AI and opportunities to promote flourishingWhile this article has primarily focused on the ways AI challenges human flourishing and the strategies we, as researchers and designers, use to mitigate these risks, its equally important to recognize AIs potential to promote flourishing.When developed and applied with the specific aim of enhancing human lives, AI can paradoxically address even those areas where it poses the greatest risks, transforming them into opportunities for growth and well-being. Here are a few ways were excited about AI contributing to human flourishing:Inclusive and accessible products: AI has the power to make products more inclusive and accessible by collaborating with diverse users and understanding their needs. When designed thoughtfully, AI can personalize experiences to adapt to individual abilities, preferences, and identities, (How Artificial General Intelligence Could Redefine Accessibility).For instance, AI-powered voice assistants can be trained to recognize diverse speech patterns, accents, and variations, breaking down communication barriers and fostering a sense of belonging for all users, (Voice-activated Devices: AIs Epic Role in Speech Recognition).Automating low-level tasks and assisting with complex ones: AI can strategically automate repetitive and unfulfilling tasks, freeing people to focus on creative, meaningful, or strategic activities. By reducing human error and alleviating mental and physical stress, AI helps protect our sense of purpose and enhances productivity, (The Ultimate Guide To Using (or Avoiding) AI AtWork).Conversely, AI can also act as a creative assistant for more complex, cognitively demanding tasks, such as brainstorming, design, writing, and art creation. By broadening our thinking and inspiring new possibilities, AI supports higher-level cognitive work and innovation, (Creativity was another of ChatGPTs conquests. Heres why its more computable than we think. | by Paul Pallaghy, PhD |Medium).Insights for positive behavior change: AI-powered analytics can identify patterns in behavior and generate actionable insights to encourage positive changes. For example, these insights can help improve products designed for health and education, empowering individuals to achieve their goals more effectively and efficiently.How are Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Used in Digital Behavior Change Interventions? A Scoping ReviewMayo Clinic Proceedings: DigitalHealthCSRWireA Bridge to Success: Using AI To Raise the Bar in Special EducationEnhanced data privacy and security: AI has the potential to improve data privacy and security through advanced capabilities such as anomaly detection, encryption, and access control management. Technologies like differential privacy and federated learning allow for valuable insights to be drawn from data while maintaining safeguards to protect sensitive information. These tools, when implemented conscientiously, can create systems that prioritize the privacy and security of research participants andclients.Generative AI & Data Security: 5 Ways to Boost Cybersecurity |BigIDAre Data Privacy And Generative AI Mutually Exclusive?What is federated learning?IBMResearchHowever, its important to acknowledge the inherent risks and challenges. The data-hungry nature of AI training often incentivizes excessive data collection, which can conflict with privacy objectives. Additionally, the complexity of AI systems sometimes makes it difficult to ensure that privacy protections are upheld consistently across applications. As a result, the risks associated with AIs use in privacy-sensitive contexts often outweigh the potential benefits unless organizations approach implementation with exceptional care and transparency.This dual perspective highlights the need for cautious optimism. While AI can enhance privacy in theory, realizing these benefits in practice requires prioritizing ethical design, robust regulation, and a commitment to limiting data use to what is strictly necessary. By balancing these considerations, organizations can mitigate risks and responsibly explore AIs potential for improving data security.Checking bias: AI can act as a gut check or an additional data point to help illuminate biases or blind spots in human decision-making when it is developed to be inclusive and address bias from the start. When trained on diverse datasets, AI tools can provide thoughtful recommendations, offering value in contexts ranging from product development to broader decision-making processes.Can the Bias in Algorithms Help Us See Our Own? | The Brink | Boston UniversityHow AI can end bias |SAPBridging cultural divides: While AI still has a long way to go in context sensitivity, its capabilities in real-time language translation and diverse content promotion are already helping bridge cultural and community barriers. For example, AI can enable more inclusive international research and create richer digital experiences that celebrate global diversity.By intentionally designing AI to prioritize accessibility, security, and cultural sensitivity, we can harness its immense potential to foster connection, creativity, and well-being, ultimately driving human flourishing in ways that mattermost.Bridging Cultural Divides: AI in Global Content Strategy | by Phan Nython |MediumThe Role of AI in Bridging Cultural Gaps within RemoteTeamsBuild Cross-Cultural Bridges, Not Barriers, WithAIConcluding thoughts & nextstepsAI is a moving target, evolving rapidly in ways that challenge and inspire. As researchers, designers, and technologists, we have a unique responsibility to approach AI criticallyassessing how it both promotes and threatens human flourishing. With regulation, governance, and accountability structures still taking shape, our vigilance and ethical commitment are more important thanever.To ensure AI enhances rather than detracts from human flourishing, here are a few actionable steps:Apply a human-first lens: Continuously evaluate how AI tools align with values like inclusivity, transparency, and ethical responsibility.Balance AI with human expertise: Leverage AIs strengths while retaining the depth, empathy, and nuance that only humans can bring. I like to think of this as keeping a, "Human in theloop."Foster open dialogue: Share learnings and raise concerns within your teams and professional communities to shape better practices collectively.Explore the resources and appendix: Dig deeper into the resources referenced throughout this article and the extensive Appendix that follows to expand your understanding and spark newideas.Advocate for responsible AI: Push for thoughtful regulation and design that centers human well-being at everylevel.Engage in conversation: Talk to your colleagues and friends. Talk to your manager. Talk to your clients. You can even talk to me. Whether youre seeking practical insights, curious about integrating these strategies, or just exploring the topic in a collaborative way conversing with others will bring these ideas to the forefront and keep us all moving forward in a human-centered way.As researchers and designers shaping the products billions of people use daily, we hold the power to keep humans at the heart of this technology.By being intentional, we can ensure AI evolves into a force that uplifts and empowers, rather than one that diminishes ordivides.Huge thank you to my colleagues Katie Trocin and LaToya Tufts for the lit review, content development, editing, and discussion that lead to the creation of thisarticle.Josh LaMar is the Co-Founder and CEO of Amplinate, an international agency focusing on cross-cultural Research & Design, based in the USA, France, Brazil, and India. As the Chief Strategy Officer of JoshLaMar Consult, he helps Entrepreneurs grow their business through ethical competitive advantage.Appendix: References and ResourcesHuman Flourishing FrameworksSocial Ecological FrameworkThe Ecology of WellbeingMeasuring Flourishing |HarvardAuthentic Happiness |PennPhilosophies of HappinessOn the promotion of human flourishing |PNASRethinking flourishing: Critical insights and qualitative perspectives from the U.S. MidwestPMC (nih.gov)Measures of Community Well-Being: a Template (springer.com)Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-beingRadically Human Technology: Enhancing Connection and Wellbeing (Or Finding your Ikigai Kairos ) | by Nichol Bradford | Transformative Technology |MediumTHE 17 GOALS | Sustainable Development (un.org)Universal Declaration of Human RightsAmnesty InternationalAyurvedas Edge Over Western Psychology (bwwellbeingworld.com)AI RisksAI Risks that Could Lead to Catastrophe | CAIS (safe.ai)The AI Risk Repository (mit.edu)Limitations ofAIWhat Are the Limitations of AI in Understanding Context in Text?Space CoastDailyThe Context Problem in Artificial IntelligenceCommunications of theACMWhat is a contextwindow?The AI Summarization Dilemma: When Good Enough Isnt Enough: Center for Advancing Safety of Machine IntelligenceNorthwestern UniversityAIs dark secret: Its rolling back progress on equality |ContextWe Must Fix the Lack of Transparency Around the Data Used to Train Foundation Models Special Issue 5: Grappling With the Generative AI RevolutionTransparency is sorely lacking amid growing AI interest |ZDNETBias inAIBattling Bias inAIWhen AI Gets It Wrong: Addressing AI Hallucinations and BiasMIT Sloan Teaching & Learning TechnologiesTheres More to AI Bias Than Biased Data, NIST Report Highlights |NISTEliminating Algorithmic Bias Is Just the Beginning of Equitable AI (hbr.org)Can the Bias in Algorithms Help Us See Our Own? | The Brink | Boston UniversityHow AI can end bias |SAPStrategy 1: ComplementAccelerating Research with AI |NN/gHow we elevated HCP market research engagement and insights using AI avatars for an immersive experienceResearch PartnershipStrategy 2: Contextually AwareWill the EU AI Act work? Lessons learned from past legislative initiatives, future challenges |IAPPHow concerned are Europeans about their personal data online? | European Union Agency for Fundamental RightsHow to Apply Cultural Knowledge in Your Brazilian Localization StrategyStrategy 3: Privacy &ConsentCan GPT-4o Be Trusted With Your Private Data? |WIREDThe AI Consent Conundrum: Do We Truly Understand What We Agree To? | by Neria Sebastien, EdD |MediumStrategy 4: OngoingTrainingFinding Meaningful Work in the Age of AI |LinkedInOpportunitiesHow Artificial General Intelligence Could Redefine AccessibilityVoice-activated Devices: AIs Epic Role in Speech RecognitionThe Ultimate Guide To Using (or Avoiding) AI AtWorkCreativity was another of ChatGPTs conquests. Heres why its more computable than we think. | by Paul Pallaghy, PhD |MediumHow are Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Used in Digital Behavior Change Interventions? A Scoping ReviewMayo Clinic Proceedings: DigitalHealthCSRWireA Bridge to Success: Using AI To Raise the Bar in Special EducationGenerative AI & Data Security: 5 Ways to Boost Cybersecurity |BigIDAre Data Privacy And Generative AI Mutually Exclusive?What is federated learning?IBMResearchCan the Bias in Algorithms Help Us See Our Own? | The Brink | Boston UniversityHow AI can end bias |SAPBridging Cultural Divides: AI in Global Content Strategy | by Phan Nython |MediumThe Role of AI in Bridging Cultural Gaps within RemoteTeamsBuild Cross-Cultural Bridges, Not Barriers, WithAIAI Failures9 AI fails (and how they could have been prevented)12 famous AI disasters16 biggest AIFails17 Screenshots Of AI Fails That Range From Hilarious To Mildly Terrifyingr/aifails |RedditHuman flourishing in the Age of AI was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

There are endless crafty ways to keep plants watered while youre away from home: You can wick water from jugs, upend wine bottles into your planters, or simply pay the neighbors kid to come by. The problem is that all of these methods are imperfect, and all too often, you come home to plants that are over-watered, under-watered or neglected completely. This week at CES, LeafyPod introduced smart planters that dont simply hold onto a months worth of waterthey promise to take better care of your plants than a plant sitter.Self-watering planters have been helping plants the last few years by keeping water in a reservoir at the bottom of the planter, allowing the plant to intake what it needs, but this is also limitedyou usually get just a few weeks of watering. LeafyPods can hold a month of water, and rather than allowing the plant to slowly intake water on its own, the planters use sensors that monitor humidity, light, and temperature and then apply water to your plantonly as much as it needs. If youre worried about cords, the LeafyPod is wireless and cordless. The battery promises to last for six months, and is recharged via USB-C. Credit: LeafyPod LeafyPod uses AI (of course it does), and will spend a few weeks learning your plants habits and needs, and then will take over. When home, you work in tandem with LeafyPod. The app will identify the type of plant, and then make specialized recommendations to you specifically for that plant, whether it needs more light or humidity, or is too cold.Every single plant in my stewardship has specific needs, and theyre used to how I water. I know the signs of trouble for each of them, and Ive never been able to find a plant sitter that replaced me. I always assume Im coming home to a few dead plants, and Im rarely wrong, no matter how well meaning people are. For me, LeafyPod has a lot of potential. It also has some obvious limitations.First, theres the price. Each LeafyPod is about $75, and youll need a LeafyPod Bridge (also around $75) for your flock of pods. Second, the planters only come in one size: small. The internal dimensions of LeafyPod are 5.1 inches by 4.1 inches, which means even medium-sized plants are out of luck. Lastly, LeafyPod is decidedly modern looking, so youll need to make these all white planters work with your aesthetic. Still, I can see the upside of trusting LeafyPod with particularly spendy houseplants, rather than risking it with a housesitter. Even if youre home, I like the idea of something monitoring my plants and catching things I dont, like lighting needs and temperature issues.LeafyPod is on pre-order sale, with plans to ship in April 2025. One planter plus the bridge is $148, two planters and the bridge is $228, and three planters plus a bridge is $308.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.If you're looking for a new show to watch this week, I got your back. I've scoured the schedules of Netflix, Prime, Max, Hulu, and other streaming platforms to bring you the best and most notable shows streaming this week. While there's a slew of high-profile, scripted series premiering this week, my gotta-see-it pick is Sons of Ecstasy, a documentary series about raves and organized crime in 1990s Arizona. There's something so regressive about a medical drama (The Pitt), a Tim Allen sitcom (Shifting Gears), a police procedural (On Call ) and a western (American Primeval) all premiering in the same week that it makes me want to see something, anything, different. What year is it, anyway?Sons of Ecstasy This documentary examines the rivalry between English stockbroker Shaun Attwood and Gerard Gravano, son of notorious New York mobster Salvatore Sammy the Bull'' Gravano. The conflict played out in the 1990s against the backdrop of the ecstasy boom in Arizona, with both men fighting for control of a desert drug empire built on the rave scene's insatiable appetite for Molly. That's what I call a good subject for a documentary series!Where to stream: MaxThe Pitt HBO Originals medical series The Pitt was created by ER producer R. Scott Gemmill. The tense, realistic drama takes viewers into the charged emergency room of the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital. Each of The Pitt's 15 episodes is presented in real time: One episode is one hour of the same shift at the E.R. Noah Wyle stars as Dr. Michael Robby Robinavitch, chief attending physician, who's having trouble dealing with the stress and trauma of his position. He's not alone: The Pitt delves into its characters' personal lives as well as the life-or-death decisions and day-to-day drama of the emergency room. Where to stream: MaxShifting Gears Tim Allen returns to TV with Shifting Gears, a throwback sitcom that's rife with snappy wisecracks and a laugh track from a live studio audience. I didn't think they made shows like this anymore. Allen plays Matt, the wisecracking owner of a classic car restoration shop. Kat Dennings plays his wisecracking, estranged daughter who moves back to Matt's home with her wisecracking children in tow. Where to stream: HuluOn Call Police procedural series have been a staple of television since Dragnet premiered in 1951 for good reason: What's more dramatic than good guys chasing bad guys? On Call makes a classic cop show set-up (a veteran Long Beach, Calif. police officer teams up with an idealistic, wet-behind-the-ears rookie) more visceral and immediate by presenting the action through footage shot on dashcams, bodycams, smartphones, and security cameras. Joe Friday probably wouldn't approve of On Call's vrit style, but it's an interesting new wrinkle in the genre.Where to stream: PrimeDoc The "doc" at the center of this medical series is Dr. Amy Larsen. Played by Molly Parker, Larsen is the chief of internal medicine at Minneapolis's Westside Hospital. The twist that separates Doc from other doctor shows is that Larsen was in a traumatic car accident that wiped her memory of the last eight years. She's still a good doctor, though, and continues treating patients while trying to piece her lost years back together. It's an intriguing concept, and medical shows are TV staples for a reason, so this one deserves a watch. Where to stream: HuluAmerican Primeval This limited series takes viewers back to an 1857, and explores the explosive collision of culture, religion, and community that gave birth the American West. American Primeval doesn't shy away from the darkness and despair of history as its characters fight for survival and control in a lawless, brutal frontier. The cast includes Taylor Kitsch as Isaac Reed, a broken man intent on self-destruction, and Kim Coates as Mormon leader Brigham Young, who uses his personal army, the Nauvoo Legion, to keep his followers alive at any cost. Where to stream: NetflixLast week's picksGoing Dutch In this clash-of-military-cultures comedy series from Fox, Denis Leary stars as Patrick Quinn, an outspoken, by-the-books colonel banished to a chaotic, unimportant military base in the Netherlands and asked to bring discipline back to the installation. The show also stars Danny Pudi as Quinn's righthand man and Taylor Misiak as his estranged daughter. If you're looking for an update of Gomer Pyle, USMC, this might be the show for you. Where to stream: HuluMissing You Missing You is a mystery/thriller from novelist Harlan Coben, so expect plot twists that will leave you saying "whoa." Rosalind Eleazar plays detective Kat Donovan whose fianc Josh, played by Ashley Walters, disappeared years before. When she sees his face on a dating app, Donovan tries to get to the bottom of a mystery that spins in wildly unexpected directions. If you're looking for a potboiler-mystery series, check out Missing You. Where to stream: NetflixLockerbie: A Search for Truth Based on real events surrounding the explosion of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988, Peacock's original limited series Lockerbie: A Search for Truth tells the story of Dr. Jim Swire (Colin Firth) whose daughter was among the 259 dead on the flight. After being nominated spokesperson for the UK victims families, Swire sets off on a quest for truth and justice, but his journey upends his family and leads to a quagmire of political issues that shake Swire's faith in the justice system.Where to stream: Peacock

We may earn a commission from links on this page.Looking to settle in with a good movie? Me too. That's why I've pored over release schedules to bring you the best original and new-to-streaming movies you can watch on Netflix, Prime, Max, Hulu, and other streaming platforms this week.The best new movie that came out this week is Flow, a universally beloved movie that is guaranteed to make you cry. It's so good, you should pay to rent it; it's VOD-only for now. If sensitive French animation isn't your jam, you might enjoy Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action, a documentary about The Jerry Springer Show. Different strokes, as they say. Flow (2024) If you're anything like me, you missed French film Flow at Cannes and during its limited theatrical run in 2024. We should both be ashamed of ourselves. This breathtakingly beautiful animated adventure story about animals who must work together is exactly the kind of movie we both like. We're not alone, either: Flow earned a 97% positive critical rating and 99% positive audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. So let's treat ourselves better in the future, and start with watching Flow, all right?Where to stream: VODJerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action If you wanted to pinpoint the moment Western Culture fell off the cliff that led to (gesturing vaguely at everything) this, the popularity of The Jerry Springer Show is a solid contender. Through interviews with the people responsible and plenty of footage from the show, Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action takes viewers behind-the-scenes of the Chicago-based talk show that built an empire on fistfights and scandals, both in front of and behind the camera. Where to stream: NetflixStopmotion (2023) A tortured artist whose most disturbing creations become real isn't the most original plot in horror movie history, but if it ain't broke, why fix it? The art in this case is stop-motion animation, the creepiest kind of animation, and the creation that comes to life, The Ash Man, is a stop motion figure made of raw steak and roadkill, so it's going to get grisly. Stopmotion was written and directed by acclaimed stop motion animator Robert Morgan, so the details are spot-on. Where to stream: HuluLook Into My Eyes I'm inclined to think of "psychics" as cynical ghouls who exploit grief for profit, but Look into My Eyes' director Lana Wilson has a more nuanced view of the craft. Her documentary examines the relationship between small-time, New York psychics and their clients without weighing in on whether the mediums' claims are true. Instead of exploitation, Wilson finds healing, faith, and human connection. No matter how skeptical you are, it's a fascinating take on the subject. Where to stream: MaxLast week's picks Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl The beloved stop-motion characters created by Aardman Animations are back in Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, in which Gromit (he's the dog) becomes concerned with his master's overreliance on technology. Wallace has invented a high-tech garden gnome, but it turns evil, forcing an absurd showdown. The roller coaster pace and precise comic timing raise the chaos high enough to earn Vengeance Most Fowl a rare 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Where to stream: NetflixCunk on Life Cunk on Life (an offshoot of the "documentary" series Cunk on Earth) illustrates what would happen if the BBC hired the dumbest person on Earth to host a sweeping documentary that examines the meaning of life. Philomena Cunk, played by comedian Diane Morgan, travels the world to interview real academics, philosophers, and other very smart people, ostensibly to ask big, important questions, but really to test their patience with her deadpan, stupid persona. If you like comedy that's actually funny, don't miss Cunk on Life. Where to stream: NetflixThe Rig The Rig has a perfect set up for a horror-thriller: A mysterious fog rolls over an offshore oil rig, cutting off all communication. Paranoia, claustrophobia, and terror rise as the tension becomes unbearable. Then the crew learns that the fog besetting the oil rig leads to something unnatural and unspeakable, forcing desperate men to work together to survive. Where to stream: PrimeInterstellar (2014) Christopher Nolan directed this science fiction story about a group of astronauts who fly through a wormhole in search of a new home planet for humans to crap up. With a cast that includes Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, and Michael Caine, thoughtful ideas about down-to-earth values, and a heavy dose of Nolan's unique cinematic style, Interstellar is required viewing. After an IMAX rerelease earlier this year, people who missed it the first time around are finally appreciating it as a new sci-fi classic.Where to stream: NetflixA Quiet Place: Day One (2024) This prequel to A Quiet Place brings us back to the start of the series, the day the blind, noise-averse aliens invaded earth and killed almost everyone in the world. Lupita Nyong'o stars as Sammy, a terminally ill woman whose journey to New York City for a slice of pizza is interrupted by the end of the world. A film thats equal parts horror and character study, A Quiet Place: Day One is a great choice for fans of horror movies with a sci-fi bent.Where to stream: PrimePaddington (2014) Universally admired family flick Paddington proves that CGI characters can be lovable and memorable and that children's movies can be emotionally affecting without being mawkish and sentimental. Nailing the tone in a movie about a bear in a red hat in the modern world is a hell of a balancing act, but Paddington pulls it off without seeming to break a sweat. A true classic you should revisit before the three-quel arrives in theaters in February.Where to stream: HuluDon't Die: the Man Who Wants to Live Forever Sorry for spoiling this Netflix original documentary, but its subject, entrepreneur Bryan Johnson, is not going to live forever. He's not going to achieve his more modest goal of living to 200 either. That foreknowledge adds to the poignancy and ridiculousness of Johnson's pursuitdude is spending millions per year to forestall Death, and Death just does not care. While you and I are probably not going to that level, we're all doing something (even if it's just fretting) and Don't Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever asks some interesting questions about our relationship to the end of life. Where to stream: NetflixSorry to Bother You (2018) Rapper Boots Riley's cinema debut is a fearless provocation that's hilarious, surreal, and crammed with pointed social commentary. Atlanta's Lakeith Stanfield plays Cassius Cash Green, a telemarketer who's stuck in the boiler room until he learns to "talk white." Cash's new vocals (provided by a voiceover from comedian David Cross) open up a new world of money and power that only costs your soul to enter. Where to stream: HuluThe Front Room The directorial debut of Max and Sam Eggers, half-brothers of Nosferatu director Robert Eggers, The Front Room is a surrealist domestic horror story in which the worst mother-in-law imaginable moves in to "help" her pregnant daughter-in-law and her son. Despite the seriousness of the trailer, The Front Room is leavened by dark humor throughout. Solange, played by Kathryn Hunter, is a true nightmare, and will do anything to drive a wedge between her son Norman, played by Andrew Burnap, and his wife Belinda, played by Brandy Norwood. Where to stream: Max2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction CeremonyThis year's winners of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Musical Excellence Award were Jimmy Buffett and The MC5, and inductees included A Tribe Called Quest and Ozzy Osbourne, proving that the words "rock and roll" don't actually describe anything. But whatever; it's still cool to see performances from the likes of Cher and Dua Lipa, who perform a duet of Cher's "Believe"; The Roots backing up Robert Kool Bell for a medley of Kool and the Gang classics; and Demi Lovato and Slash playing classic rock from Foreigner. Where to stream: HuluThe Leopard Man (1943) Just as Leopard Man producer Val Lewton's most famous film, Cat People, didn't have any cat people in it, Leopard Man is not about a leopard man. Lewton spent most of his career as the head of B-movie production company RKO's horror department, where studio heads dictated their movie's titles, but let Lewton actually film whatever he wanted. Lewton chose to make Leopard Man an atmospheric, creepy, surprisingly progressive examination of misogyny and violence, rather than a cheesy monster flick. Leopard Man is arguably the first movie about a serial killer, and remains among of the best examples of the genre ever made. Where to stream: Max

The Adata XPG SE940 is the smallest USB 4 portable SSD, delivering up to 4,000 MB/s read and write speeds.

TikToks office is closed due to power outages, but its still expecting employees to WFH amid raging wildfires.

This week's streaming suggestions list is full of new TV shows and the odd movie recommendation.

For a reporter covering CES, the booth for Samsung Display can seem like a pure distillation of what the tech trade show is all about.CES has always been a celebration of screens, and every year Samsungs Display division, which manufactures screens for the entire industry, uses the show to flex its muscles. Visitors are practically guaranteed to see some astounding new display tech, with screens that bend, roll, or foldpossibly at the same timelong before they wind up in real products.So it was a bit jarring when Samsung Display declared that its focus for this years booth would be on AI instead, with Every DAI, OLED-AI as its official slogan. Chirag Shah, Samsung Displays senior director of marketing business development, told reporters that the combination of OLED displays and AI was akin to Penn and Teller or peanut butter and jelly.In real estate, the three most important words are, location, location, location, Shah said. I think its fair to say that today, in consumer electronics, the three most important words are AI, AI, and AI.Its an eye-roller, but heres the strangest part: The actual booth tour had nothing to do with AI. While Samsung showed off advancements in display brightness, durability, and flexibility, plus a wild new stretchable display that poked outward from the wall, AI wasnt involved with any of it. Samsung was merely making the tenuous argument that machine-generated content looks better on OLED screens, just as human-generated content would.This turned out to be a distillation of CES 2025 after all. Throughout the week, companies contorted themselves into promoting AI angles that were exaggerated, tangential to their core products, orin Samsung Displays casenonexistent. The effect was like gaslighting, with an endless repetition of AI aimed at making it seem inevitable even when the actual offerings felt empty.Reinventing the wheelTV makers, always searching for the next new gimmick, have naturally glommed onto AI as well, using it as a catch-all for anything that involves content recognition or predictive algorithms. The result is that AI now describes things that have existed in various forms for years now.Samsung, for instance, showed off how its TVs can understand what youre watching and suggest similar content, as if Automatic Content Recognition isnt already fueling the multibillion-dollar TV ad tech business. It also demonstrated an AI feature that tells you the names of actors on screen, 13 years after Amazon came out with X-Ray for its streaming video catalog.Meanwhile, LG is rebranding the remote on its 2025 TVs as an AI Remote, with an AI Concierge button that leads to personalized recommendations based on your watch and search historynot a new concept for anyone whos visited the home screen on a Google TV, Fire TV, or Apple TV streaming device. Holding the button down activates an AI Voice ID that tailors the recommendations to whoevers speaking, which again is something Apple TV devices started doing in 2022 (albeit without any AI branding).Some of these features could potentially be useful, but they arent entirely new inventions and they have little to do with the large language models that are responsible for all the AI hype today.AI PCs spin their wheelsAt last years CES, Intel made a big to-do about AI PCs, and began equipping its best laptop and desktop chips with neural processing units to handle offline AI tasks. It had a large showcase that demoed current and potential AI applications, and the company said it was working with more than 100 companies to develop new software.One year later, Intel is still shouting in press releases about the next era of AI computingreflecting similar messaging from AMD and Qualcommbut when I visited its 2025 CES showcase looking for examples on-device AI, I was told that it remains early days for the entire concept, and the demos on display were focused on basic text and image generation.Thats not stopping laptop makers from tossing the word AI into their product names, with models like the Acer Aspire 14 AI and MSI Stealth 18 HX AI (or, stranger still, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ handheld gaming device). What kinds of breakthrough features justify such naming? You can ask MSIs chatbot to optimize your games graphics settingssomething that graphics card software does alreadyor use Acers chat interface to navigate the instruction manual. For the most part these are just regular laptops with fancier names.Put a llama on itEven when companies had tangle examples of generative AI in their products, they often had a tacked-on quality, as if AI hardware requires nothing more than stuffing a generic large language model inside a menu somewhere.That was especially evident in smart glasses, which were inescapable on the show floor and in various press events. I wore several sets of these shades that promised to put an AI assistant in front of your eyes, but when I asked things like Where are the best tacos in Las Vegas, they only responded with bland disclaimers about how everyones tastes are subjective. (The answer, by the way, is Tacos El Gordo.)Delivering actual intelligence is harder, and is something even Google is struggling with as it fuses its action-oriented Google Assistant with the more conversational Gemini AI. A lot of the companies promising AI gadgets were doing just the bare minimum.Its a distractionAll this AI puffery may stem from a fundamental conflict within CES: Its a hardware show in a software world.Hardware makers want to demonstrate that theyre part of the AI revolution, but they dont make the AI themselves and are bound by the limits of what large language models can do (which is still far apart from what weve been promised they can do). Outside of a few stray announcements, like Nvidias $3,000 desktop AI computer for programmers, much of what happened at CES will have little direct bearing on where AI goes from here.All of which means that if you really want to understand whats happening at CES, you have to look past the AI stuff. Samsung is doing amazing things in its Display division, and the Electronics groups Frame Pro TVs are a big step forward in a growing product category. The three-way PC chip battle between Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm is delivering much slicker laptops with better battery life. I tried on several sets of glasses that do nothing but place a giant entertainment screen in front of your face, and found myself finally wanting one after years of sampling lesser versions.Device makers, in other words, are trying to take credit for the wrong thing. I left CES feeling upbeat about the state of consumer electronics, but with a strange feeling that I had to ignore a vast amount of its messaging to get there.

As multiple wildfires rage across Los Angeles, causing unprecedented levels of destruction, the citys budget has come under scrutiny. Its an example of misinformation that has spread during the crisisand a sign of the increasingly complicated calculations cities will have to make to address the realities of climate change.A number of articles criticized Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for cutting the fire departments budget by some $23 million (while funneling more money to police), but that assessment isnt completely accurate. Though the 2024-25 budget that was approved did show a deficit, it doesnt reflect a Memoranda of Understanding that was finalized in November, giving the Los Angeles Fire Department an additional $76 million, council member Bob Blumenfields office confirmed, resulting in a $53 million budget increase compared to the previous year.Still, the LAFD is underfunded in relation to what the city needs. And long before these January fires, officials were saying that the city had outgrown its fire department. Its understandable that the public would be concerned about resources as greater Los Angeles deals with incredibly damaging, and difficult to contain, fires. But experts say that narrow scope doesnt capture the full, complicated picture of city budgets, or the resources needed to combat climate changeand the extreme weather it worsensin a meaningful way.Multiple jurisdictions at playLocal governments are seeing greater impacts of climate change, and though most have emergency management departments, its hard to prepare for something that has never happened beforewhether its a hurricane that hits the mountains of North Carolina or a wildfire that breaks out during record drought and winds.For an area like Los Angeles thats close to so many other cities, its not only L.A.s budget in play. Some of the jurisdictions affected by the fires, like Malibu and Santa Monica, have their own emergency management departments, as well as mutual aid agreements in which neighboring municipalities pledge to help each other out, says Carlos Martn, an architect and engineer who works on housing and disaster preparedness.All that to say, its a wide range of jurisdictions and government levels playing a role here, he says (though he notes that most of them are underfunded, which is a broad issue). Cities also rely on counties for funding, and counties then ask state or federal governments for disaster support. More and more, cities are relying on the federal government, Martn says, because the resources just arent there locally, and the damages are way more than anybody ever anticipated.(And how much federal funding will be available under incoming President Donald Trump remains to be seen; during Californias deadly 2018 wildfires, he initially withheld disaster aid until he saw that many affected residents voted for him. Hes since reiterated threats to withhold aid in the future.)Looking beyond budget numbersJust comparing budget totals doesnt show the whole picture of what a city is investing in. Simply cutting a budget or adding to a budget doesnt mean thats going to have the [right] impact, says Jason Grant, director of the International City/County Management Agency (ICMA), a national association of more than 13,000 local government employees. What are we trying to address? he asks. That needs to be the focus.If a fire departments budget was cut and that meant it couldnt increase capacity or purchase necessary equipment, thats one thing. If a budget increased because everyone got a raise but no staff was added, would it have made a difference in response? The focus needs to be, What is it we are funding and not funding, Grant says, and how will that help us address the concerns were facing here in our community.The LAFD does need more funding; cuts to things like overtime have already created operational challenges, the department chief has said. But some of the recent cuts eliminated vacant positions, freeing up money for new classes and gear. And its hard to know how much changing the 2024-25 budget would have helped a situation as devastating as thisin which hydrants were tapped in an effort to put out hundreds of house fires, compared to the typical one or two theyre designed for; amid record-high winds that grounded water-dropping aircraft while fanning flames and carrying embers far and wide; and in which a series of climate events coalesced to set up the perfect conditions for disaster. Our infrastructure is not set up well for this, Martn says.There are ways that increasing the budget could have helped, surely, for specific equipment or additional resources. But again, its hard to prepare for an unprecedented event.Preparing for future disastersEven if the fire department had a larger budget, it wouldnt necessarily mean that L.A.or any other citywould be prepared for the next disaster. And allocating funds to emergency response deals with just one aspect of the challenge. Cities also need to invest more money in climate adaptation and mitigation. Studies have found that every $1 invested in disaster mitigation saves up to $13 in disaster losses. Its like taking a pill to prevent the disease versus getting the disease treated afterwards, Martn says. Thats the way we have to start thinking about these events: What we used to think of as individual crises [are now] chronic things.Its difficult to turn the conversation about these fires toward that bigger picture when people are suffering now, homes and lives have been lost, and entire neighborhoods have been destroyed. In fact, the fires are still burning, so its understandable to focus on the efforts to put them out, and to help people recover. Making sure residents are safe obviously takes precedence at this moment, Martn says. But if we cant also begin to consider mitigation and prevention strategies, then when are we going to have that conversation? he asks.Within a month of Hurricane Harveys landfall in Texas in 2017considered the wettest tropical cyclone on record for the U.S.officials proposed a major flood control bond measure. Though it wasnt passed until a year later, the fact that legislators thought about it while Texas was still recovering is notable. Its also a sign, though, of how we tend to prepare for disasters only in the aftermath of one. Martn hopes others can learn from the L.A. fires to better prepare now, instead of waiting for their own tragedies.Its a difficult balance, especially for cities with limited budgets. And its a learning process. Climate investments can be a matter of trial and error; they also require long-term thinking that goes well beyond a budgets framing of one fiscal year. Cities may increase renewable energy and switch school bus fleets to electric as part of their mitigation efforts, but that likely wont stop a natural disaster from happening the next year. The climate impact of those changes (and the funding they receive) arent immediate.Cities have to balance all these questions: how to prepare, how to mitigate, how to ensure theyre able to respond when something happens, and how to prioritize competing needs. Those conversations are more important, says the ICMAs Grant says, than Monday-morning quarterbacking budget line items while entire neighborhoods burn. The reality is, we are here. How do we prevent these fires from spreading? How do we make sure this doesnt happen again?As L.A. begins recovering and rebuilding, ideally, the fires will become a milestone event that other cities across the country learn from. Those lessons could inform not only future fire department budgets but also mitigation efforts, building codes and housing laws, insurance policies, and so on. Martn reflects on the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and how its historic devastation led to modern building codes and insurance requirements.Its this complex picture of adaptation, mitigation, response, and recovery that city officials must learn to juggle. The last thing I want to see is people investing so much in their emergency management and first responders, Martn says, and not thinking about the long-term planning and equity issues.