Rimshah notes that the student services staff at Bloustein— Dean Weston, Courtney, Greg, and Andrea— have been an incredible source of support. “From the very beginning, they welcomed me and guided me whenever I felt unsure. My advisor, Professor Clint, who invited me to his family picnic when he first met me with my kids, which meant so much. And my program director, Professor Jim Samuel, has always encouraged and appreciated me in ways that keep me motivated.”
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Dr. Rushing Talks About AI for Sickle Cell and Beyond
Dr. Melinda Rushing recently appeared on the podcast Zora Talks. In this podcast, Dr. Rushing breaks down what sickle cell really is, why it disproportionately affects people of color, and how her team is developing a new approach called Clinically Guided AI to transform how doctors predict and manage care.
NJ’s credit rating just improved again. Here’s why it matters
The rating upgrade announcement is “very reputational,” said Marc Pfeiffer, a senior policy fellow at Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, who studies local government in New Jersey.
New city chatbot makes information more accessible, mayor says
“For local governments, chatbots create exciting opportunities to improve customer service, automate tasks and cut costs,” according to Marc Pfeiffer. “Residents routinely need information on topics like garbage collection, parking permits, construction projects and event schedules. Chatbots can provide 24/7 automated self-service for these frequent citizen inquiries.”
TECH UPDATES: Technology Policies for Your Community
The key is to stay informed and use technology to better serve your residents. Regular assessment of technology needs and impacts will help you develop policies that truly benefit your community.
Samuel and Colleagues Examine the Rise of AI Phobia
Contemporary public discourse surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) often exhibits a disproportionate level of fear and confusion relative to AI’s factually documented capabilities and implications. This study examines how the systematic use of alarmist and fear-inducing language by news media outlets contributes to negative public perceptions of AI.
Stamato Commentary: Preparing for a New Age: Artificial Intelligence, the American Workforce and the G.I. Bill
“Modern manufacturing requires high technology, requiring different skills from those needed in the 20th century. We can innovate in pharmaceuticals, clean-energy technology, robotics and semiconductors, but those innovations will require “infrastructure” to support its development, education and workforce training, and, frankly, cooperative alliances with global partners.”
NJSPL: Chatbot for NJ SNAP Services
Built on OpenAI’s API and leveraging the Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) model, the chatbot bridges the gap between users and SNAP resources by delivering answers in English and Spanish (among other languages).
TECH UPDATES: “Hey AI, Write a Report on Innovation in Local Government”
A gamechanger for local governments, tasking an AI chatbot with research and writing projects saves you time and trouble, at least for the first draft.
MPI Grad Students Present MOMCare with AI
This paper presents MOMCare, a chatbot designed to support mothers navigating the challenges of PPD. MOMCare has a retrieval-augmented architecture with an end-to-end pipeline from data preprocessing to response generation. It employs hybrid classification, a dual embedding system, a dual verification guardrail, and a medical domain-specific reranking mechanism to generate empathetic and relevant PPD responses.