The Daily Illini: Technograph Spring 2023

ISG senator resigns

By Piotr Fedczuk Staff Writer

Patrick Porter, senior in LAS, said he intended to rebrand ISG and create change. But now, Porter said he feels that ISG failed to adequately represent students.

“There were better avenues for me to actually advocate for the student body,” Porter said. “If anything, it was more of a hindrance than it was an asset at that point.”

According to Porter, ISG often fell short of its goals. Rather than advocating for students, Porter said many representatives pretend to be politicians and “don’t actually do the job.”

Although senators passed a resolution to go on the Main Quad and engage with students, no action has been taken. Porter said the lack of in-person com-

munication is “embarrassing” because it is the “bare minimum.” He noted that only a little over 3% of students voted in the elections last spring.

“You can’t scratch your head and wonder why students aren’t engaged when you aren’t really giving them anything to engage with,” Porter said. “You’re barely even advertising yourselves.”

In the last election, four graduate students ran for 11 graduate seats. Three people dropped out of the organization, leaving a single graduate student in the senate. Graduate students “ignored” ISG because they do not see any benefit in participating, according to Porter. For the people that ran, Porter said many lacked commitment to create change for students.

“At the end of the day, one person can only do so much,” Porter said. “It’s a failure, not so much on myself or any

one particular individual. It’s just an organizational issue.”

Garrett Forrest, president of ISG, agreed and said he focused on “burning down” previous systems in the organization this year. According to Forrest, people view the organization as a government with full autonomy because of its name, and the mentality the title brings is “so destructive” to its ability to create change.

Forrest changed the system to encourage students to talk with the University to see what work needs to be done. By setting clearer expectations, Forrest said senators can feel more confident in their roles and what they can change.

This semester, Forrest said his focus is to get an on-campus achievement for the organization.

“If we can see (our current projects) through, people won’t feel like their time is just getting sucked into this black hole where nothing comes out,” he said.

fedczuk2@daillyillini.com

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RSOs respond to Syria, Turkey earthquakes

By Mae Antar Staff Writer

With death tolls recently surpassing 50,000 in Syria and Turkey after the earthquakes earlier this month, the newly opened Salaam Middle East North African Cultural Center held one of its very first events on Feb. 23 to address it.

The event was organized by five RSOs: the Arab Student Association, the Muslim Student Association, Students for Justice in Palestine, Bar None and Underrepresented Muslim and Minority Advocates.

“(The) purpose of this event is to hold (a) space for students that this tragedy has impacted,” said Rifqa Falaneh,

president of Bar None. “It’s unfortunate we haven’t received support or a simple statement from the UIUC administration. We’re hoping this event will give … political context of what’s happening in Syria and how there are many vulnerable communities who haven’t been receiving aid.”

According to Tuna Tuncer, a Turkish Student Association board member, TSA was unable to take part in organizing this event. However, they were happy to attend and be a part of the event discussions.

“We just heard about (the cultural center),” Tuncer said. “We didn’t really have connections with the Arabian Student Association … They reached out to us about the event they are doing about

the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. So, we wanted to come and, of course, join.”

TSA has organized other events that helped raise awareness and money for the victims of the earthquakes.

The event started with a short presentation which addressed the following: why it happened, the U.S. response, what we can do to help, lack of media coverage and the recovery process.

After the short presentation, the tightly filled cultural center erupted in a lively discussion. Turkish, Lebanese and people of many other ethnicities chimed into the discussion by adding and correcting information and voicing their opinions, thoughts and feelings regarding the disasters in the Middle East.

Many expressed concern in the absence of coverage on the bombs Israel dropped on Syria during the aftermath of the earthquakes.

They thought it was important to discuss the bias in — not only media coverage — but in the reactions of their peers and even the University.

“I hope this event makes people feel that they aren’t ever alone when serious tragedies like this happen,” Falaneh said. “Even though mainstream news outlets or the administration won’t capture how we’re feeling or extending support, we’ll be here to create our own spaces to support each other through community.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF VOA / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

A collapsed building in Diyarbakır, Turkey, on Feb. 6 following the earthquakes.

UI study links social conflict, climate change

Paper proposes new way of looking at rising temperatures

By Kylie Corral buzz Editor

Climate change is everywhere, and how exactly the rise in temperature affects the world has been an international, pressing issue within political spheres. A recent paper co-authored by a UI professor proposes a new framework for exploring the relationship between climate change and social conflict.

The study’s results, co-written by Ujjal Kumar Mukherjee, Snigdhansu Chatterjee and Benjamin E. Bagozzi, suggest “nuanced relationships between temperature deviations and social conflicts.”

Mukherjee is a professor in Business with a joint appointment in the medical school at the University. The study, titled “A Bayesian framework for studying climate anomalies and social conflicts,” is openly available online. Mukherjee explained the thought process behind the study.

“We were talking about the effects of climate change, rising temperatures and the change in the pattern of precipitation, extreme climate events, for example, flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes or drought situations,” Mukherjee said. “How does it affect human life and society, especially when you have a globalized environment where all the supply chain is spread all across the globe?”

From that initial idea, Mukherjee said he and his colleagues began a stream of research to see how climate change might cause human conflict, especially in areas of the world where people are still dependent on agriculture production and raw material production such as coal and mineral mining.

“Whenever you have resource constraints, crime, as well as human conflict, increases,” Mukherjee said. “We try to quantify it at a global scale.”

Mukherjee said that while there have been smaller-scale studies, this study is on a much larger scale.

Chatterjee, a professor at the University of Minnesota, also worked on the paper. Chatterjee, however, warned readers to be wary of results.

“I would be cautious in interpret-

ing the results,” Chatterjee said. “So it says that given the data, this is what we are seeing in the data now. Things change, the climate is obviously changing, and political structures are undergoing changes. These are human beings, and these things keep morphing, and so it’s entirely possible that there may be increased violence, increased conflicts because of climate related issues. Or people may learn to adapt (and) learn to live together with each other.”

Chatterjee said the topic of forced migration plays a part in this discussion.

“Particular villages and community living spaces become unbearable because of temperature or lack of water or something else,” Chatterjee said. “They will be forced to migrate, and given how things are all over the world, where would they migrate to?”

Chatterjee said this is what the three researchers anticipate will be the primary cause of conflict.

Mukherjee added that because of all the variables that contribute to what consists of both climate change and civic, social and other conflicts, the data analysis can get complex. Conclusions cannot be readily made by looking at a single correlation between conflict and temperature.

Chatterjee said this data can be used by two types of people: researchers in the future and political actors.

“We propose this model, and this can be used by future researchers in this area,” Chatterjee said. “So in the long run, nations and governments and policymakers need to be aware of it and need to adopt policies that are more climate conducive, right?”

Both Mukherjee and Chatterjee are continuing their research in this field.

“We would like to involve more climate variables that involve more of a causal structure and then have more precise estimates,” Chatterjee said.

“So less uncertainty … a more narrow band of answers, especially as we project things into the future, that will be useful both for us, as well as for policymakers.”

ECEB reaches net-zero energy status

By Michael Bales Staff Writer

The Electrical and Computer Engineering building achieved “Zero Energy Certified” status this month — meaning it is generating renewable energy on site that is equal to or more than the amount it consumes. The building is the first of its kind at the University.

“This building is consuming very little and (is) generating renewable energy from two sources,” said Ehab Kamarah, associate vice chancellor and executive director of Facilities & Services.

The two renewable sources are the solar fields south of campus, as well as solar panels on the building’s roof. But much of the building’s ability to reach “zero energy” is in its ability to conserve the energy it does use.

Instead of traditional heating and cooling, the building uses a chilledbeam system, described by Kamarah

as “very sophisticated heating and ventilation systems that are very efficient” and “use a fraction of what the traditional systems are using.”

The energy conservation extends to the construction of the building itself with what Kamarah calls a “passive solar design system.”

“You optimize the orientation of the buildings, and you also maximize the glass or the glazing around the building so you capture more of the daylight, which reduces the demand on the energy,” Kamarah said about the system.

Along with position and window design, thermal mass — the ability of a building to store heat — is important to absorb heat on the building’s exterior. When the building was constructed in 2013, 70% of the exterior was covered by terracotta, which is known for its insulating properties and has been used to keep structures warm.

The newly zero-energy building is one

of many steps the University is taking to fulfill its ultimate commitment of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050.

“We’re building new facilities as efficient as it gets,” Kamarah said. “For example, the new business building is going to be also net zero, and the new Illini Hall is going to be LEED platinum.”

LEED is a system for rating green buildings, and platinum is the highest rating.

Newer constructions like the ECEB, as well as the Business Instructional Facility and Illini Hall’s replacement are able to implement energy conservation into their initial design. Kamarah acknowledged there may be different obstacles when conserving energy in the University’s older buildings.

“We are conserving as much energy as possible to do something we would call retro-commissioning,” Kamarah said.

The strategy consists of trying to opti-

mize heating and cooling in existing buildings as much as possible, which Kamarah said is “a bit more difficult,” compared to working with newer buildings.

Despite the challenge, Kamarah said “(the) 2050 commitment to reach carbon neutrality … The University is taking it very seriously.”

According to Kamarah, there are more upcoming energy projects that aim to fulfill this commitment, such as a new solar field and an increase in the University’s capacity for renewable energy.

“We have to walk the walk,” Kamarah said. “We want to give the model to our students that, you know, your institutions care about the environment and that you are living in an environment where it’s green, where it’s sustainable. So, that’s part of the goal for sure.” mcbales2@dailyillini.com

JACOB SLABOSZ THE DAILY ILLINI

The Electrical and Computer Engineering Building is located on the North Quad off of Wright Street. It is now the University’s first net-zero energy building on campus.

(AI)llini initiatives

diqi, junior in Media, are pursuing their interest in AI by using it to solve problems they’ve encountered.

Siddiqi is a co-founder of Hatch, an AI recruitment startup that brings together engineers and companies.

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By Jessie Wang Staff Writer

From chatbots to self-driving cars, artificial intelligence has progressed exponentially in recent years. University students are at the forefront of such innovation, as research, RSOs and startups utilize the new technology and discover new capabilities in the field.

Ron Arel, sophomore in LAS, started an RSO called AI @ UIUC to expand the opportunities for undergraduate students to work with AI.

“We connect undergraduate students with faculty and grad students to work and publish within the field of AI,” Arel said. “We set up the runway (so) that students … have the support and guidance they need to publish a paper in the field.”

Last fall, Arel was inspired to start AI @ UIUC following his research internship. He hopes to connect students with technology that he believes will define the future.

“I think AI has the power to not only change the market for software engineers … but the world in general,” Arel said. “We are so lucky to be born in a time period where not only are we going to experience that, but (we also) have the chance to build the systems that will do that.”

This semester is the first official semester for the RSO, and Arel said the club is working on several projects in different fields of AI, including natural language processing, computer vision, federated learning and earth science.

Arel also cited the vast resources available at the University, including faculty, graduate students and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications as being advantageous for the new RSO.

“We have an amazing CS program here — we have an amazing grad school,” Arel said. “Being able to branch those resources from grads to help undergraduates learn more about AI and (be) published in AI research was a big goal.”

Other students, such as Faraz Sid -

“Hatch is an AI recruitment company that is redefining the internship search process by providing students a swipe-for-jobs platform that connects a network of software engineers across the country with companies,” Siddiqi said.

Hatch, which plans to launch in August, began when Siddiqi and the other co-founders were searching for internships their freshman year.

“The computer science application process takes a long time to actually get a job,” Siddiqi said. “We’re talking about months and months of applications just being sent out. I spent more effort applying than I did

actually preparing for interviews.” Siddiqi also said that for companies that receive applications, going through hundreds of applications for one position is extremely time consuming.

Hatch addresses these issues by using a series of models where data points in a resume are evaluated against characteristics that a company is looking for. The algorithm then recommends the best-fitting candidates to recruiters.

In the near future, Siddiqi believes AI will change the relationship between developers and how they solve problems.

“AI is redefining the way that we approach problems,” Siddiqi said. “In the next 5-10 years, I personally think that AI will be a prominent tool for developers specifically in the coding world … to build out their products.” jessiew4@dailyillini.com

Students, RSOs discuss how they use artificial intelligence

“I think AI has the power to not only change the market for so ware engineers … but the world in general.”

Ron Arel, member of AI @ UIUC

A pit stop in Illini Motorsports’ garage

By Azucena Gama Staff Writer

Every year, Illini Motorsports designs and builds a racecar to compete in Formula Society of Automotive Engineers, or Formula SAE, competitions. The team took home first place in the nation at last year’s competition, and it is seeking a repeat this year.

Hundreds of colleges from all over the world participate in Formula SAE. Participants create their own formula-style cars to compete in a variety of challenges throughout the event. The formula style the competition follows incorporates open-wheeled, single-seater vehicles. The competition takes place at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich.

This year, the competition begins right after the Spring 2023 Illinois Commencement.

Last summer, Illini Motorsports got first place overall, as well as first place in the endurance and design competitions and second place in terms of cost.

“We took on several pretty unique technical challenges this year, like a fully decoupled suspension, brand new frame design and all the integration that goes with that new suspension points,” said Blaine Hesler, senior in Engineering and team captain.

Throughout the Formula SAE competition, points are distributed across the many events held over several days. Teams get points for presentation, cost

reporting, design, fuel efficiency and endurance.

This year, the team is aiming to defend its title with a new vehicle. The team began working on a new car almost immediately after last year’s competition.

“At that point, we took about two weeks to kind of decide the direction of the vehicle and what we wanted to do,” Hesler said.

Illini Motorsports members are enjoying their hard-earned success, but it took a while for their hard work to pay off. Since being founded in 1979, Illini Motorsports saw an uptick in performance after reorganizing and revamping its approach.

“We stopped repeating the same mistakes every year,” Hesler said.

The University is now ranked third on the Formula Student World Ranking List. Their ranking is based on the points gained in every event the school has participated in, as well as the team’s competitiveness.

“It’s definitely a sacrifice,” said Sarah Landriau, senior in Engineering and drivetrain lead. “There are certain levels to being on the team, especially for leadership. You pass the 50/50 split between school and formula.”

On top of school work, members of the team can spend more than 40 hours a week in the shop. Kevin Xue, sophomore in Engineering and chassis lead, said teammates collaborate to help lighten the heavy load split between

classes and motorsports.

“Some weeks are worse, some weeks are better,” Xue said. “Most of us are taking similar classes, (so) we help each other out with homework.”

A large portion of their time is devoted to making sure their cars uphold all SAE standards. These rules are strict and are connected to the point system. Some examples of these standards include certain parts of the car being prohibited from exceeding a certain height or width, being restricted from using more than the specified amount of voltage and keeping the car below a certain noise level.

Around this time of year, the team is in the process of finishing up designing and assembling and starting to test everything. Members work around the clock to get it done.

“The first time I’d ever designed a part, machined it myself and assembled it on the car, I got a call at three in the morning over spring break that they were going to test my part,” Landriau said. “So, I got out of bed and showed up to the parking lot in my pajamas to watch my part get tested. It passed.”

A team can be disqualified if it violates any of the SAE rules.

“(Competition) is a full week of pain and fixing the car,” Xue said. “Judges walking over and asking you questions is super stressful.”

Hesler said everything the team does must be tracked.

“One of our greatest skills is organization and knowledge transfer,” Hesler

said. “We have a Wikipedia of every single car we built, we have documentation on the design decisions that were made and the nitty gritty of everything along with manufacturing processes and timelines.”

Formula SAE can get expensive as well, which is why cost reporting is a part of the judging process. Budgeting, production methods and product efficiency are all under this category.

Illini Motorsports is sponsored by several companies to offset these costs. Some of their partners include companies like Siemens, 3M, Bosch, Ford and PTC.

In addition to corporate support, Illini Motorsports is supported by the University’s Mechanical Science & Engineering Department. The team also works out of the Engineering Student Project Laboratory. Within the space, they have equipment, storage and meeting areas.

“We have a couple of companies that have worked with us for 10 years at this point,” Landriau said. “A big advantage for them is the engineers — they get access to come to the shop and recruit right from our team.”

The SAE experience has helped pave the way for what members want to do professionally.

“There’s a lot of people on the team that choose to go down the motorsports path,” Hesler said. “We have alumni who work at NASCAR, IndyCar and Ford.”

gama3@dailyillini.com

JACOB SLABOSZ THE DAILY ILLINI

Last year’s car, named Sherman, placed

first overall at the national competition in Michigan

and was

ranked third overall globally by the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers.

JACOB SLABOSZ THE DAILY ILLINI Vedant Thakar, sophomore in Engineering, machines a bracket for the corner assembly — which connects the suspension to the wheels — of this year’s car. Illini Motorsports primarily works out of the Engineering Student Project Laboratory in Urbana.

AI use in journalism presents ethical, employment concerns

By Faith Allendorf Managing Editor for Reporting

A few years ago, a reporter from The Washington Post accomplished a journalistic feat that not many writers have done before. In 2016, within only their first year of writing for The Post, the reporter, pen name Heliograf, wrote and published 850 articles.

Heliograf was a multi-interest reporter who was interested in both sports and politics, and nearly all 850 of their articles came from just those two topics. They wrote 300 short reports and alerts about the Rio Olympics and 500 articles about congressional and gubernatorial races on Election Day.

Heliograf isn’t a real person — it is The Post’s in-house automated storyteller technology, just one of many artificial intelligence programs implemented in an increasing number of news outlets.

From using code that identifies trends in a labyrinth of data to developing technology that generates stories about the Olympics, the use of AI in journalism is becoming a key aspect of a news outlet’s operation. Even though AI can make a reporter’s job easier in certain ways, journalists are debating whether or not the technologies can be ethically implemented in a field that is so heavily human.

How is AI being used in newsrooms?

Dr. Andrea L. Guzman, associate professor in the Department of Communication at Northern Illinois University, researches human-machine communication, which is how “we communicate with technology and how it affects communication with other people.” Guzman said there are two ways AI is being used by journalists: workflow automation, which is more common, and content creation.

Regarding workflow automation, newsrooms use AI to sift through heaps of information. For example, Reuters uses Lynx Insights to find trends, facts and anomalies within a lot of data. Other outlets like the Associated Press employ social media-powered alerts to analyze media feeds and detect breaking news.

Another use of AI in workflows includes transcribing interview audio with platforms like Otter.ai. Some journalists also use AI to scrape data from

HUMAN ARTIST

A quick experiment

We presented the following prompt to a human artist and DALL-E 2, an AI image generator:

“A robot sitting, typing at a typewriter. The robot is wearing stereotypical journalist attire, including a goofy press hat. The robot is wearing a blue buttonup shirt with a tie. He is smoking a big cigar.”

Our staffer did not see any of the generated art, and the AI only had the text prompt. The resulting art is astoundingly similar.

Notice both the human artist and DALL-E 2 added glasses to the robot and used a similar composition.

AI ARTIST

websites, digitize archives and fact check.

Guzman said using AI for these “mundane tasks” lets the reporter focus on more important responsibilities while still producing content. AI also gets more done in a short amount of time than a human journalist can.

“(AI) is assisting human journalists in doing their jobs because what AI can process and the information it can provide is at a larger scale than what would have taken months, if even possible, for a human journalist to do,” Guzman said.

Regarding content creation, Guzman said some outlets are using AI to write basic, “data-driven” reports on topics such as stocks, earnings and sports games. For these reports, human programmers generate templates, and the AI fills in the data. These are the types of stories that AI like Heliograf are writing.

“Think of it similar to Mad Libs,” Guzman said. “There is a templating

process, and there are certain parts left empty that are filled in by current data.”

Not all news outlets are able to use AI in the same capacity. Guzman said that because of limited budgets, local and/ or small newsrooms aren’t using AI as much as large newsrooms.

“The degree to which news outlets are experimenting with AI and using AI really hinges on the news outlet’s budget as well as output,” Guzman said. “If you’re someone like the AP that needs to pump out a lot of content, but you’re also really large and have a lot of resources, you have more space to experiment with these types of technologies.”

That doesn’t stop them from trying.

Brant Houston, professor in Media, oversees the University’s online newsroom, CU-CitizenAccess.org. Houston said his newsroom is working toward automating the download and organiza-

tion of board, city council and government agency agendas. He also wants AI to identify key phrases within the downloaded content.

“That then frees up the journalist to focus on the really important stuff, because there’s not enough of us to do what we need to do,” Houston said.

Where problems arise: accuracy

In January, tech newsroom CNET began issuing lengthy corrections to some of its articles. Furthermore, a sister publication, Bankrate, disclosed concerns about the accuracy of articles it has published since November.

In both publications, the articles that required corrections were AI-generated.

With the introduction of free-to-use generative text programs like ChatGPT, journalists are now able to write entire

stories using AI. Rather than using a system of templates, these stories are put together by an AI that draws from a massive, continuously learning database.

But like all automation, type programs are flawed. ChatGPT’s database, for example, doesn’t include any information after 2021. This means there’s a chance the AI could use old, incorrect data.

According to Guzman, AI accuracy depends on three factors: how the programming was put together, the accuracy of the information the AI is pulling from and the bias of its creators. When the programming is flawed and the database is old, inaccurate or biased, AI models can produce stories with false or misrepresented information.

“It shows that (newsrooms) do not understand the way these technologies work, or that they’re completely disregarding how they work, and potentially putting out misinformation without

guard rails in place,” Guzman said. “We already have enough problems with misinformation.”

So, when an AI-generated story contains errors, who is held accountable?

Houston said to prevent accuracy and bias issues, humans must be involved in everything created by AI in the newsroom. Ultimately, humans are still responsible for the programs they are creating.

“You should never let the machine do everything,” Houston said. “We have an ethical responsibility to make sure that it’s not misleading people, and it’s not introducing bias into whatever it’s doing.”

Guzman said that when designing AI programs, developers need to consider what journalism is really about.

“Journalists work with the designers to think about what are the values of journalism, what is valued in journalism, what is seen as ethical and think

obituaries?

“Some people I talked to said obits are fine, but others … they wouldn’t want AI to write about death because computers themselves can’t die,” Guzman said.

Some journalists, like Victoria Olaleye, sophomore in Media, think that using AI takes away from what it means to be a journalist. She refers specifically to doing workflow tasks.

“I think that it’s part of the job to go through all of the public records and everything that we have to investigate,” Olaleye said. “I know that we’re in a place where we’re looking to make our lives easier with technology, but I also think it kind of takes away from our purpose.”

Elizabeth Kelly, junior in Media, said she is worried about AI taking away the “human connection” of the craft. To her, AI will never be able to replicate that.

“We’re able to interview people and convey their emotions through telling their stories,” Kelly said. “That’s something, at least to my knowledge, that AI can’t do.”

In the future Technology will never stop evolving, and there are growing concerns of AI taking over human jobs. Guzman is all too familiar with the question of whether or not technology like The Post’s Heliograf will replace human journalists.

Olaleye said she is “absolutely” concerned about this question. She pointed to the fact that journalism is already in an unsteady position.

about how those get put into the design of the technology,” Guzman said.

Other ethical issues

Besides accuracy, Guzman said there are other ethical questions regarding the use of AI in journalism. For example, should newsrooms be transparent about their use of AI to produce content? Right now, “there’s no standard within journalism” that gives an answer.

But Guzman said she thinks there needs to be transparency.

“I can tell you my research has shown that yes, the audience wants to know where their information is coming from,” Guzman said. “If it’s a story created by AI, it has to be bylined as such.”

Guzman also asked if there’s a limit to the types of stories that can be written by AI. Should journalists automate stories about murder? What about

“Especially in media, jobs are already becoming less and less available, even with print dying out,” Olaleye said. “I feel like adding another aspect like AI would be damaging to something that’s already being broken.”

Guzman does not have a solid answer to that question. To her, it’s up to humanity to decide whether technology will replace human journalists.

“This is not a technology question — this is a human question,” Guzman said. “That is a decision for humans to make.”

While the idea of AI like a technological reporter that can write 850 articles in a year can be scary to some, Guzman encouraged journalists to be open to its advantages.

“What I encourage people to do is not to fear it, but to better understand its benefits and challenges and really learn about the ethical implications,” Guzman said. “Think about ethics to continue to make sure we’re making better decisions.”

IMAGE GENERATED WITH DALL-E 2

UI Chats(GPT) about future of AI

By Marta Narag Staff Writer

Launched in November 2022, Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer, or ChatGPT, has increased the potential of technology and the way students are learning.

ChatGPT is a free-to-use AI chatbot from OpenAI that allows users to ask for just about anything, from Shakespearean sonnets about coconut water to help with debugging code.

According to the OpenAI blog, the conversational format allows for ChatGPT to answer follow-up questions about the original topic. It also has the ability to admit mistakes and reject inappropriate requests.

This sort of technology would predictably raise alarm for how curriculum is structured. Departments have been meeting to unify their approach to a potential threat of academic integrity.

To Dr. Kristi McDuffie, director of rhetoric in the Department of English, ChatGPT seemed more or less inevitable.

“I have been trying to calm people down,” McDuffie said. “ChatGPT is one writing technology in our society’s history of writing technologies, and change is inevitable.”

She hopes that instead of focusing on catching students cheating, departments can find a way to evolve with this technology.

“I advocate for a response to this writing technology that does not embrace a distrust of students,” McDuffie said.

Dave Morris, co-director of the Program of Professional Writing, had similar thoughts.

“ChatGPT and similar tools definitely require us to rethink how we do some things,” Morris said. “But I think it’s worth mentioning that in writing instruction and in writingfocused activities across disciplines, we’ve been down this road.”

He stated that technologies like Google, Wikipedia and even the calculator were once thought of as threats, but they are now used as

starting points that students still have to build on.

Vikram Adve, professor in Engineering, said ChatGPT offers multiple positives and negatives.

“We are in such an early stage,” Adve said. “It’s really premature to hit the panic button. I think that the important thing that (people) need to do right now is to think hard about how to leverage the strengths of ChatGPT and put it to good use while circumventing some of the negatives.”

Adve recognized the other similar technologies that have their own set of different strengths and weaknesses. Things like “DALL-E,” an imaging AI technology, and Microsoft’s “Bing” add another layer to the story and, in certain situations, could even be better than ChatGPT.

Students are astonished by this new

technology. Some classrooms have used it as an activity in class, and students are increasingly shocked by how much it can do.

“I’m impressed by its capabilities,” said Shardul Parthasarathy, freshman in Engineering. “It does have its limitations, but with time, I can only see the technology improving and being used in all kinds of fields.”

Parthasarathy believes that while ChatGPT could be a great learning tool for students, he thinks that a strong teacher is the key to a wellrounded education.

“If an application like ChatGPT can emulate that sort of (classroom) interaction, then it’ll be a game changer for a lot of kids who may not be able to digest information when it comes to textbooks or in-class environments,” Parthasarathy said.

Shaunak Talapatra, junior in LAS, said that while this technology still has room for improvement, there are many meritable traits.

“The most impressive aspects of ChatGPT are its ability to remember previous conversations and filter potentially harmful comments,” Talapatra said.

Throughout campus, conversations speculating the capacity of ChatGPT and other AI chatbox technologies have quickly emerged.

“I am confident in the strong quality of education here at UIUC,” McDuffie said. “Factors that have always affected the quality of education — things like strong curriculum and student engagement — will continue to impact student experiences.”

Early conversational sites used for writing, answering questions and cheating

MATT NOVELLI THE DAILY ILLINI

HackIllinois celebrates 10th anniversary

By Layli Nazarova Staff Writer

From Feb. 24 to Feb. 26, HackIllinois welcomed all people interested in computer science and coding to the Campus Instructional Facility and the Thomas M. Siebel Center for Computer Science to celebrate its 10th anniversary, learn and compete.

It’s the first in-person Hackathon since 2020, and this is what makes it “special,” according to Jonathan Gao, co-director of HackIllinois.

“It’s our first in-person event in three years, and it’s our anniversary all together, which is super exciting and makes it even more special,” Gao said.

HackIllinois welcomes people with all levels of programming skills, starting with beginners.

“(HackIllinois) is beginner friendly,” Gao said. “I think it’s really special to see a lot of people who are kind of new to computer science and the ones who have a ton of experience coming together and learning a lot, getting to meet people from companies at their very first time programming.”

According to the participants, joining the hackathon as a beginner opens new opportunities for networking and skill development.

“I just think it is like a good opportunity, especially as a beginner to just broaden my skills and meet more people,” said Samantha Martinez, HackIllinois participant and computer science beginner.

HackIllinois provides opportunities

to acquire more knowledge and skills through workshops provided by sponsors and Hackathon’s team.

“It is a great way to learn about CS in such a short timeline, we have a variety of workshops,” said Deeya Bodas, codirector of HackIllinois. “If you want to learn about GitHub, you can do that so easily here instead of sitting through like, six hours of YouTube tutorials.”

This year, the HackIllinois team cre-

ated an app which facilitates the process of navigation and communication during the event and allows users to see the leaderboard in real time.

The whole event was prepared and organized by students with the participation of sponsors, including John Deere, Caterpillar, Cardano and more.

“It’s made by students for students,” Bodas said. “We’re (a) 52-person staff, and this is as much their event as it is mine and Jonathan’s. They’ve put in so much work and effort into making this event really shine, and I think it’s really going to do that this weekend.”

The HackIllinois team hopes this landmark event will continue the legacy and bring even more opportunities for students.

“There’s a decade’s worth of legacy here, and it is really inspiring to see how Hack has lived on so long, and it’s just only going forward,” Bodas said. “I think we’re gonna get another year of great projects, another year of people really getting a chance to connect with others.”

laylin2@dailyillini.com

LAYLI NAZAROVA THE DAILY ILLINI Participants of HackIllinois watch the introductory presentation on Friday.

Edited by Patti Varol and Joyce Nichols Lewis

Question the future of microchips

By Maggie Knutte Senior Columnist

Dystopian novels might have predicted the future.

Flesh-embedded microchips have been used for years on pets and livestock for tracking and identification purposes. There’s a common misconception that these microchips are used for monitoring a location in realtime, but they work differently from the GPS system present in cars and phones.

Animal microchips usually use radiofrequency identification, or RFID, which relies on electromagnetic waves to determine its position. It has a much smaller range than GPS and is detected with a specialized RFID reader.

As this technology is being explored for mainstream human use, the dystopian pipe dream of embedded microchips is uncertain.

In recent years, thousands in Sweden have given microchips a try. RFID chips are inserted in thumbs, serving as apartment keys, train passes and other contactless read-only data.

Imagine your wallet being inside your thumb.

However, there is always the risk of hacking when it comes to new technologies. Microchips make this much more personal, as hackers must be in close proximity to intercept data from embedded microchips.

Some have expressed concerns about embedded microchips in the workplace. A tech company in Sweden implemented flesh-embedded microchips in their office, using them to unlock doors and access the printer. If microchips have the same functionality as keys, then intercepting their data could pose huge security risks for companies.

Of course, one of the most desirable aspects of microchipping is convenience. Never having to worry about forgetting your keys or wallet because they are permanently attached to you entices many.

With new technology, there is always something up and coming. We need the latest version of this and that to make society function faster and more efficiently.

Yet, there can be consequences to these actions. Do the benefits of convenience outweigh the impending selfdestruction of our society?

Stepping back, there is the very prevalent idea of companies stealing data. We have all seen the lawsuits against big social media names like Facebook over privacy breaches involving their users.

Companies are constantly looking

for ways to buy their customers, even if that means tapping into private data. If you are not paying for the product, then you are the product.

Inserting a chip with personal data inside you connects you to a database that is managed by a company. They have access to your information, and doesn’t that give them control over you?

Will the government one day require us to all be microchipped? The oppressive society created in those teen dystopian novels is not far from ours. With the exponential rate at which human technology advances, it would not be outlandish to assume microchips could be a common sight for people in the distant future.

We have the technology, but it comes down to what we choose to do with it. Are cell phones not enough for us? When will we stop looking for ways to modernize? When do humans cross the line into becoming robots?

Maggie is a sophomore in Media. mknutte2@dailyillini.com

ANGIE ORDONEZ DAILY ILLINI

Who’s the coolest McCool in the gym?

By Matthew Sinele Staff Writer

Standing out in a Division I program’s history is impressive. But writing yourself into the history books of a program with such a plethora of accolades? Now that’s cool.

During his four years at Illinois, senior Connor McCool has developed into a pivotal part of Illinois men’s gymnastics program history. His 11th event title at Ohio State on Feb. 11 moved him into the Top-10 All-Time Titles list at Illinois.

“(It’s) such an honor,” McCool said. “It wasn’t really ever something I thought about doing until this year was going really well, and I got myself into the top 10, and I’ve got a little bit of time to keep moving up that list.”

With a unique routine that currently sits McCool at second in the nation in the floor exercise, he is in a great position to improve his position in Illinois’ list of greats.

Because of the ever-changing rules of the gymnastics scene, McCool has had to get ‘down and dirty’ in search-

ing the rule book to find a creative routine that utilizes his distinct skill set. His first pass is something that no other individual currently performs in the NCAA, further characterizing his creativity in finding ways to overcome these types of obstacles. He carries that same intuition and love for the sport into his role as team captain.

“I’m trying to find the best routine and skillset for everybody,” McCool said. “I think that’s where I really pose my greatest benefit to the guys — I’m just a student of the game for myself, but also I’m trying to expand that to everybody else on my team.”

McCool has been able to extend this to the other members in more ways than just advice. During his time at the University, he has also led by example in the academic field, being named to the Academic All-Big Ten Team the past two seasons and finishing last semester with a 4.0 GPA.

“We hold ourselves to a higher standard than other sports because we’re really invested in the longevity of our sport,” McCool said. “We want to do everything we can to make sure that

we’re shedding Illinois men’s gymnastics in the best light.”

His focus on optimizing and elevating his and his team’s performance inside and outside of the classroom is what makes him unique to the program. This skill set was also a major help to his teammates this past offseason in a time of uncertainty for Illinois gymnastics.

In his first year as head coach, Daniel Ribeiro had duties during the offseason to coach overseas, leaving the team to

assistant Don Osborn to act as interim head coach. For team members entering a new season, and even more so for recruits, having a well-established coach is vital in the preparation for a successful regular season; however, given the circumstances, this wasn’t in the cards for Illinois.

“I had to learn a lot about myself and my strengths as a leader to keep the team grounded when we had so much uncertainty,” McCool said. “It gave me a lot of confidence in my leadership style, and it gave me a lot of confidence in Don with the way he was able to handle the team despite being overseas.”

While this is a bright spot on what has already been an exceptional season so far for McCool, his current focus is to continue to build upon the team’s success.

“We want to come home with some hardware this year,” McCool said. “The Big Ten is wide open this year. We really believe that we’re the number one contender and we’re looking for redemption.”

msinele2@dailyillini.com

JACOB SLABOSZ THE DAILY ILLINI

Senior Connor McCool flips during his first-place floor routine on Feb. 4, scoring 14.400 points.

New food pantry serves without barriers

By Kylie Corral buzz Editor

Uniting Pride, an LGBTQ+ organization that serves Champaign County and beyond, offers plentiful resources, programs and events to educate and advocate. Recently, UP opened a food pantry.

Nicole Frydman, director of operations at UP, said the food pantry is one of few that isn’t supported by a faithbased organization.

“While we have really lovely, affirming faith-based organizations, unfortunately, members of the LGBTQ+ community can have past religious trauma,” Frydman said. “And because of that, they may not feel comfortable getting services through faith-based organizations, even when those faith-based organizations are positive, affirming organizations.”

Frydman said UP has partnered with Eastern Illinois Foodbank, where they can get food at either a low cost or no charge at all. That food is then distributed to the UP office at the University YMCA, where it can be easily accessible to people with food insecurity needs.

UP has standard office hours that can be utilized by people who want to come in and visit the food pantry. There is also an option to email the organization to set up an appointment after those hours.

“There is no proof of need, and there’s no application process,” Frydman said.

“Someone just needs to self identify as having a food need. They come into our space and they’re able to take as much as they feel will meet their needs from the stock that we have in the office.” Although the pantry is fairly new, Frydman said people have already found solace and food security in the program.

“The great thing about being a partner with Eastern Illinois Foodbank is that we are able to place orders as much as we need them,” Frydman said. “And so the more usage that our pantry gets, the more we’re able to restock more quickly and meet the increased need. So, we’re hoping to serve as many people as have need.”

Frydman talked about the queer community’s ability to make their own homes.

“Sadly, because ... young queer folks

can sometimes be rejected by their families of origin, we make our own families, we make our own households, we build community and home and family in our own way,” Frydman said. “It’s really rewarding to be able to feel like we can serve a household or a family that maybe doesn’t look the way other food pantries expect a family or household to look.”

Frydman said they’ve tried to remove barriers in accessing these services.

“Whatever situation they might be in, whatever relationship they have to people, we don’t put up any barriers or any blocks to be able to meet the needs of your household or your family, whatever that looks like,” Frydman said.

They also said that whether you don’t take anything one day, or you take a whole lot, come on in and get acquainted with UP and the food pantry.

“Please tell your friends, tell anyone and everyone you know ... We’ve got food, we’re ready to serve the community, and we’d love to see more smiling, happy, wonderful, lovely faces,” Frydman said. “Come on in our doors and utilize this service!”

Frydman said they are excited for these services to be utilized.

“We’re just happy that we’re able to provide this in this community, and we’re excited for more folks to hear about it and be able to come in and make use of it,” Frydman said.

Uniting Pride can be contacted for food pantry appointments at unitingpride.org and by email at info@unitingpride.org.

kyliemc2@dailyillini.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF NICOLE FRYDMAN

The Uniting Pride food pantry, located inside of the University YMCA, is open Monday through