(rock music) - Coming up next on "NewsDepth."

AI is being used to impersonate and create celebrities.

Graffiti artists have covered an abandoned high-rise building in Los Angeles.

A stingray is expecting a miracle baby.

And Margaret speaks to a scientist about a mystery bird.

"NewsDepth" is now.

(rock music) Congress is ramping up the fight against artificial intelligence robocalls and online deepfakes.

Hello, everybody, I'm Gabriel Kramer.

Thank you for joining us.

Artificial intelligence has come a long way, and people are still discovering new ways to use the tool.

But one of the latest trends in AI is creating misinformation and targeting public figures.

Those are called deepfakes.

They are artificially created videos that look and sound just like celebrities and politicians.

These can easily spread through social media, but some lawmakers hope they can bring attention to a proposed bill to broaden regulations regarding artificial intelligence.

Laura Aguirre has more.

- [Laura] From the president, to pop stars, to Americans going about their everyday lives, anyone can be targeted by the misuse of artificial intelligence.

Over the weekend, X, formerly Twitter, temporarily displayed an error message on searches for some Taylor Swift images.

Several House Democrats are hopeful Swift's case will reenergize a stalled bill that's focused on regulating the use of AI.

- These defects are dangerous.

(cell phone ringing) - [Laura] The proposed Do Not Disturb Act overhauls federal rules regarding robocalls, like the one that falsely portrayed President Joe Biden sent to voters during the New Hampshire primary this month.

- [Biden AI] It's important that you save your vote for the November election.

Voting this Tuesday only enables the Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again.

- [Laura] A CNN review of the bill summary finds that it expands the definition of a robocall to include any call or text that uses AI or a prerecorded message.

Violators who use AI to impersonate someone in a robocall could face higher fines, and even authorized robocalls would have to disclose any use of artificial technology.

- It's gonna take the Congress, it's going to take our law enforcement agencies, and it is gonna take the private sector to build these safeguards, but then to make sure that they're enforced and that we protect people.

- Thank you, Laura.

One of the things we hope you all learn by watching "NewsDepth" is how our government works at every level, and we want you to know that you can be a part of your government even if you aren't an elected official.

We're proud to say that Rosie, a third grader at Evening Street Elementary in Worthington, is proof of just that, and she is the recipient of this week's A+ Award.

Not long ago, Rosie got to testify in the Ohio House of Representatives in support of House Bill 171.

That means she gave a speech to elected officials asking for support of House Bill 171.

That sounds nerve-wracking, I gotta say.

Rosie told us that House Bill 171, or HB 171, could add to what you all learn in Social Studies.

If passed, the bill would add the histories, cultures, and contributions of several different minority communities in Ohio and the United States to the state's Model Social Studies Curriculum, meaning teachers will have a lot more options to choose from when deciding what to teach.

Rosie told us that it's very important for people to know about the traditions and beliefs of other cultures because it helps us understand each other and makes a world a better place.

She told us that this is important to her because her grandparents immigrated to the United States from the Philippines, and they speak a Filipino language called Tagalog.

Hey, Rosie, my mom is also from the Philippines.

Mabuhay!

That's a common Filipino greeting.

Rosie told us that she felt kind of nervous at first, but once she started, she felt more comfortable.

After she finished her speech, the Representatives clapped for her, and a few even went out of their way to tell her what a great job she did.

I gotta say, Rosie, I'm impressed with your confidence.

Rosie's teacher, Ms. Rigali, told us that Rosie is a phenomenal student and works very hard.

She told us that Rosie is always very prepared for class and is a role model to her peers.

This week's A+ Award goes to Rosie for taking part in the legislative process.

Congratulations, Rosie.

You are making all of us Filipinos very proud.

If you're wondering, House Bill 171 is in Committee, which means a small group of Representatives are studying the proposed law and making revisions before the full House votes on it.

After that vote, it would go to the Ohio Senate.

And if it passes the Senate, it goes to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine for final approval.

Okay, I have one more story about AI for you, and you might especially wanna check this one out if you're a big fan of K-pop music.

In South Korea, the K-pop industry seems to be pushing the boundary between real and virtual entertainment.

Companies are slowly turning to AI-generated computer stars to create groups and engage with audiences.

A K-pop girl group called Eternity is made up of 11 members that were created using advanced deepfake technology.

Ivan Watson has more.

- [Ivan] A K-pop confection.

♪ Show me your best, double, triple ♪ ♪ Double, double, triple, triple ♪ - This video by girl group Eternity racked up 6.5 million views on YouTube in nine months.

But not all is as it appears here.

My name is Ivan.

What's your name?

- My name is Jane.

- Can you tell me about your band?

(Jane speaking in Korean) "I'm from the world's first virtual K-pop girl group," she tells me.

Jane and the 10 other members of Eternity aren't real.

Tech-tainment company Pulse9 created these characters and face-swaps them over human actors using artificial intelligence.

I'm speaking to an AI pop star.

Is this the future of entertainment?

(Zae-In speaking in Korean) - [Interpreter] Of course, we cannot be seen in person, but if you have a device, you can communicate with us anywhere at any time.

As a virtual group, we are not limited by location.

We can broadcast anywhere.

The only thing we cannot do is sign an autograph.

- [Ivan] And Eternity isn't the only AI K-pop creation.

♪ Open the Pandora's box ♪ 'Bout to put the world in shock ♪ - [Ivan] Mave: is another virtual girl band with videos that have tens of millions of views.

- We captured humans' performance, and then turn it into 3D animation with AI.

- Kang Sung-Ku and Metaverse Entertainment created Mave:.

Designers say the goal isn't to try to replace human artists like BTS or Beyonce.

Instead, they want to create something like the next generation of Siri.

- [Siri] I'm Siri, your virtual assistant.

- But in this case, it would be an avatar that sings and dances that you actually want to talk to.

AI creations would theoretically develop a unique relationship with every user and be available around the clock on every device.

- [Tyra] Hi, everyone.

This is Tyra from Mave:.

- [Ivan] And not limited by language.

(Zena speaking in French) Designers are programming these AI pop stars to interact with fans.

The technology still has a long way to go and some programmers concede there may need to be laws to regulate these creations.

This may be a glimpse of entertainment in the not-too-distant future.

- Artificial intelligence can be very intimidating, and sometimes it's hard to define what is and what is not artificial intelligence.

For our Write To Us this week, we want you to send in everything you've ever wanted to know about AI.

And next week, we will have a professional answer some of them for our "Career Call" segment.

Last week, we asked if any of you have noticed any weathering, erosion, or deposition in your neighborhood.

Let's see what you discovered by opening our inbox.

(bright music) (message chimes) Ellyiot from Fairfax Elementary School in Cleveland Heights starts us off with, "Dear 'NewsDepth,' my answer is that I have seen erosion before near my house.

And why I think it happened is because there was this rock outside my house and it rained constantly and started to break apart.

I think the rain withered it away."

(message chimes) Cassidy from Copley-Fairlawn Middle School in Copley noticed erosion from cars.

"Dear 'NewsDepth,' I've seen erosion on my roads.

There have been many cars on the roads lately where I live, which causes roadside erosion.

I think this is caused by the pressure of the vehicle's weight, which wears down the road.

Sincerely, Cassidy."

(message chimes) Zane from Maddux Elementary School in Cincinnati Road.

"Dear 'NewsDepth,' I have recently noticed erosion in my neighborhood.

Recently, there has definitely been more erosion, possibly the change of weather.

In my neighborhood, there have been sewers that are rusting and the road has been starting to get bumpier.

Me and my class watch you every Friday.

Keep up the good work!"

Great insight, Zane, and thank you all for tuning in.

(message chimes) Lane from Kensington Intermediate School in Rocky River saw erosion on the beach.

"Yes, at my cottage in Canada, there was a big storm in 2019 and it blew away the stairs to get down and now there is only like 15 feet of sand.

Plus, it also blew away all of the rocks that we had to stop the erosion."

(message chimes) And Isaac from Ayer Elementary, also in Cincinnati, noticed erosion in their backyard.

"Dear 'NewsDepth,' I have noticed lots of erosion and weathering.

My backyard, for example, has a forest there, and an old tree house that is weathered to the point it's completely destroyed.

An example of erosion is a creek in the forest, the water has caused the rocks around it to erode.

Really, when you walk around anywhere, you can see erosion if you pay attention."

Thanks for writing in, everyone.

I can't wait to see what you have to say about AI next episode.

From environmental concerns, we're shifting to safety concerns.

The Los Angeles City Council is now looking for a solution to keep people out of a group of abandoned high-rises in Downtown LA.

These high-rises are being used as the canvas for graffiti artists.

Graffiti is writing or drawings in public spaces, but city leaders say the buildings pose a risk to public safety because the buildings are not to code.

Also, there are videos circulating of people performing dangerous stunts from the tops of the high-rises.

Amanda Starrantino has the latest.

- [Amanda] More than 30 stories above Downtown LA, adrenaline junkies take to the sky in these now-viral videos.

Just look at the dramatic video.

People parachuting off the unfinished Oceanwide Plaza right across from Crypto.com Arena.

- People are jumping off of parachutes.

Like, that's crazy.

- [Amanda] The neglected construction site has sat in the state since 2019 when its Beijing-based developer ran out of money for the project.

Some of these videos of the jumpers were posted in January, but it was not until early February when the building was tagged covered top to bottom in graffiti.

- Just a few weeks ago, we had over 100 people inside this building tagging, vandalizing, trespassing.

- [Amanda] LAPD now has extra patrols surrounding the three buildings.

- We're pulling resources from the entire city currently to make sure that we have accurate staffing here.

- The city has spent more than 3,000 hours surrounding this issue, and now council member Kevin de Leon is asking for $1.1 million in taxpayer money to fund a barricade to get around this property.

The search is on for a possible buyer, but making sure it's safe in the meantime is the first priority.

- I think somebody's gonna lose their life.

You're doing some daredevil stunt trying to get on social media.

- Thank you, Amanda.

Now let's talk about some graffiti in Ohio.

As a kid in Cleveland, Ayumi Chisolm, also known as Sano, loved to draw and paint, but he didn't think he could be a professional artist until he started using spray paint.

In the 1980s, he began painting murals on abandoned buildings and under bridges around the city.

Sano became a mentor to a group of young graffiti artists called the Cleveland Skribe Tribe.

Let's meet them.

They are the featured artists in this week's "Sketchbook."

(paper rustling) (pencil scratching) - There are a couple generations on here.

Judging from the condition of it, it is definitely over a decade old.

I'm a painter.

The thing I gravitated toward were the vibrant, big, colorful, intricate illustrations, and that's what I always strove for.

- Well, this not a silver spoon kind of art.

Our art came from struggle.

Our whole crew have a backstory, you know?

- As a child growing up in the inner city, we have all these circles of influence that we can fall into.

This one was that one alternative that I had buy-in value into because I had something to bring to the table.

And through that, we nurtured a brotherhood that has been like 25 years plus.

(upbeat music) - [Naijal] We used to ride the Red Line to look at some of the guys that influenced us, and we wanted to be like this.

- [Kevin] That was our connection to art locally.

That was our art gallery, or our art museum, so to speak, because you saw that one Sano tag, and then you anticipate, "When is the next one going up?"

(spray hissing) - It's an acronym, it means various things.

It probably started off, like Sinister Artists Notorious Outlaw.

But now, it's more like Sunny And Nice Outside and Simple Art, Nice Outlines.

I think my thing was just to produce and just really, I guess, vibe out with folks that dig what I'm doing.

(upbeat music) I kind of made a painting along the Red Line popular, so that was my thing because it was like East side to West side and everybody would see it.

(upbeat music) - There are literally buildings in the city of Cleveland that have been dilapidated for generations.

Like, a child has grown up, gone to college, and may have grandkids, and it's our right to go in and go paint on them.

- The city was falling apart, so I chose to do my art on that.

I used to sometimes just stand around and see how many people look at it, and catch their attention that sometimes you get people to stop and look and go about their business.

And sometimes, it's just that it motivated me to be better.

(upbeat music) It also taught me... Sano told me how to be an entrepreneur.

- What that gave us was a direction in terms of how to monetize our talent.

So you're talking about just airbrushing T-shirts and jackets in high school and learning how to turn that into a business.

- Graffiti kind of taught me a little bit about community and sharing, and it was like, "Hey, these are some cool camps in my area that I should be sharing with, so let me give and show them my books and show them what I'm doing."

And that was, that's, like I said, that was the learning process.

- It gave me that brotherhood structure, it gave me a foundation, it gave me a direction, it kept me out of trouble, a lot of trouble.

This is not just a...

It is just happy days in Cleveland.

And for our mentor to bring it all together and push out something great, you can't buy that.

- And it's very important to say that this person that found us had one of the most volatile backgrounds.

Like he really wasn't in a space to be taking on all these kids because as an artist, you weird, period.

And I can work it like that, too.

Yeah, I can.

- We keep in touch, we call each other, we check up on each other.

And of course, through the miracles social media, we like each other's work and see what we're doing and stay so inspired by each other.

- Wherever we are, the value that we are as artists in those spaces just started with that one person.

Yeah.

(upbeat music) (graphic whooshing) - Thank you to Ideastream's David C. Barnett for that story.

Well, what do you think?

For our poll this week, we wanna know: Do you like graffiti?

Jump over to our poll page to vote.

You can choose between yes, it's art or no, it's vandalism.

Last week, we talked about some inspiring Black women from Ohio, and we asked you to pick your favorite.

Let's check out the results of the poll.

Wow, I am not surprised 70% of you think actress Halle Berry is inspiring.

She's one of my favorite actresses.

16% of you voted for Ohio Supreme Court Justice Yvette McGee Brown.

And another 14% of you said you look up to elocutionist Hallie Quinn Brown.

What do you get when you combine a stingray and a shark?

A North Carolina aquarium and shark lab noticed one of their female stingrays is pregnant.

But get this.

She hasn't been around any male stingrays in her tank.

Some speculate the father could be a shark, and others say that the real answer could be even more rare than that.

The stingray is practically creating clones.

Justin Berger explains how all of this could be possible.

- [Brenda] One in a million!

- [Justin] Charlotte, the 12 to 14-year-old stingray, is pregnant in a tank with no male stingrays.

At first, Brenda Ramer, the founder of Team ECCO, didn't believe it.

- People have written and said, "Well, they can hold male sperm for years," and I'm like, "She's never been around a male until we put those two little boys in here."

- [Justin] That's when she noticed the bite marks on Charlotte's body, a habit of mating sharks.

Meet Moe and Larry, one of whom could be the father of Charlotte's pups.

- [Brenda] Do you want the net or you just wanna... - I can just- - [Brenda] Just bring them up.

- Bring them up.

- [Brenda] Okay.

- [Justin] Moe and Larry were thought to be too young to be able to reproduce.

We'll soon find out if that's true.

- [Brenda] She's the girl you want.

(Brenda laughing) She's the girl you want.

- [Justin] The other explanation and the more likely scenario, Charlotte is going through a very rare process called parthenogenesis, in which the eggs develop on their own without fertilization and create a clone of their mother.

- And with our bamboo shark up in the other corner, we've had experience with parthenogenesis with her 14 different times.

We had one that baby that lived 30 days outside of the egg.

- [Justin] Ramer says they've studied that process in sharks, but says it doesn't happen much in rays in captivity.

The last full study, she says, took place a quarter of a century ago.

- [Nats] Kingsley's the best.

She has come a long, long way.

- We want people to come and see her and talk to us about her.

- [Justin] Ramer says she is working to set up a live stream of the tank, so as many people as possible can see the pups as many as four when they are born.

- [Brenda] There's our girl.

She says, "Hello, Mom."

- [Justin] Ramer says, if they are born alive, she hopes to keep the family together, but we'll have to get a tank almost double the size of Charlotte's current home.

- Thank you, Justin.

In Ohio, we have a mystery animal of our own.

Scientists at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History found a hybrid bird that had characteristics of two different species.

In this week's "Spot on Science," Margaret speaks with ornithologist Dr. Andy Jones.

Ornithology is the scientific study of birds, so an ornithologist is basically a bird expert.

Using genetic research, Dr. Jones and his colleagues were able to discover the family roots of this mystery bird.

(bouncy music) - So, don't laugh, but this is a baby picture of me.

Pretty cute, right?

And not surprising, I look a bit like my mom and dad, and that's because our genes are passed to us from our parents.

And guess what?

It's the same for every other animal, including birds.

But birds never take family photos like we do, so it's up to scientists to figure out their family relationships.

And would you believe it?

I happen to know a scientist who studies at very topic.

No, not bird family photos.

Dr. Andy Jones is a Curator of Ornithology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

He studies bird genetics.

So I called him on up and started asking him about his career.

Take a look.

(rocket graphic whooshing) - So my job at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History is a Curator of Ornithology.

So that means I curate a collection of bird specimens.

And this is really work that's behind the scenes.

When you come visit the Natural History Museum, you see birds that are on exhibit.

And that's not actually what I do.

Behind the scenes, we have another 35,000 bird specimens.

And my job is to take care of that collection, make sure it's in good condition, make sure it's accessible to other researchers.

And it's also for my own research.

So I do work with the museum specimens, I do work with DNA samples that come from them, and try and answer all sorts of questions in ornithology.

- So when it comes to DNA and genetics, can you talk a little bit about your work with that?

- Yeah, so it's important that DNA is inherited.

So it tells us about these sorts of relationships from parents to offspring.

And a graduate student that I'm working with was doing field work in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

He was tasked with doing a survey of cerulean warblers.

And while he was out there, he got to know that species really well.

And then he heard one that sounded kind of weird.

And so he took a look at that bird, and from below, you would see a white bird white on the belly with kind of a blue bar across the chest.

And he looked up and he saw a bird that had a very thin blue bar across the chest, but then yellow on the belly.

So he knew something was odd, but it still sounded kind of like a cerulean.

Well, because he's a researcher, he also had permits to catch birds so he could take a feather sample and a blood sample and take photos of this odd bird.

So he sent these samples to me and I worked with one of my colleagues in the museum, in the lab, and we confirmed this was a hybrid between a cerulean warbler and a northern parula, which is another kind of warbler.

- Wow, and so it seems like really cool work to be able to look at these different characteristics through DNA and to find hybrid birds.

But what is so important about locating these hybrid birds?

- I mean, there's just very basic natural history interest when we find hybrids.

It's just interesting, and it kind of challenges the way we think about what a species is in the first place.

So there's that kind of basic level of interest here, but also there's a conservation aspect to this.

So northern parulas are doing pretty well.

They're actually expanding their range coming from Southern Ohio and moving North.

And then cerulean warbler is, I would say it's still fairly common, but their numbers are going down every single year.

We have fewer and fewer.

So we're worried about the species already.

But if you add a further complication of them hybridizing with the different species, if that becomes more and more frequent, then we're actually losing the genes of cerulean warbler, and we might actually see that species start losing out against northern parula.

So we're not saying that's definitely happening, but we are sort of sounding a small alarm saying they do hybridize.

It's time to pay very careful attention to make sure this is not a more widespread issue.

- Right, take a look at it now before it becomes a question of extinction.

- Yeah.

- And I wonder.

What got you interested in birds?

- So I was a natural history nerd as a kid.

I really got interested in seeing what was in my yard and in the creek around my house.

I have field notes from when I was age five, I was counting the number of toads in my front yard.

I was encouraged by my dad to write things down.

He knew it was important if you're thinking about science at all, to write down notes.

And then it's decades later and I still do that.

Every day, actually.

And so I got sort of bitten by this nature bug early, and then I was encouraged by people to stick with it.

- Wow, so it sounds like if you just follow your curiosity with science, you could end up with a really cool career.

- Yeah, I think if you have a passion for something, even if it's not the most common thing, if all of your friends are not following the same thing, that's fine.

It may not be clear exactly where your career's gonna go, but the fact that you're passionate about it is really important.

And you just need to find the people who help encourage that and help you along your way towards whatever that might become.

It might be a big hobby, it might be a career.

You never know.

- Definitely, well, thank you so much for sharing with us.

It's been fun.

- Yeah.

Thanks for the conversation.

(graphic whooshing) - Hey, white and yellow?

Me and that bird kind of match.

Thank you, Margaret.

Okay, I think NewsHound said he found another story about another rare animal for us.

Let's see what he has for this week's "Petting Zoo."

(upbeat music) (animal hooting) (NewsHound barking) Hey, NewsHound.

We've gotten a lot of questions for you.

Our viewers want to get to know you.

So tell us, what is your favorite hobby?

NewsHound says he loves going out for walks and sniffing everything and finding animal stories for us.

What'd you find this week?

(keyboard clacking) Oh, a story about a rare albino squirrel in Arkansas?

To learn more about that furry friend, you can watch the full video on our website and on the "NewsDepth" YouTube channel.

(graphic whooshing) Thanks as always, NewsHound.

Now, before you go, check out this NewsPenguin that our last A+ Award winner Gemma sent us.

She was so excited about being featured on one of our episodes that she names her toy penguin in our honor, NewsPenguin.

Isn't that awesome?

Okay, that's all the time we have today, but you can keep this conversation going, and there are plenty of ways for you to stay in touch with us.

You can write to us.

We're at 1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.

Our ZIP code here is 44115.

You can email us at newsdepth@ideastream.org.

Plus, you can catch all of our special segments on YouTube.

Hit subscribe if you're old enough so you don't miss out on any of our new videos.

Thanks for watching.

I'm Gabriel Kramer, we'll see you right back here next week.

(bright upbeat music) - [Announcer] "NewsDepth" is made possible by a grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation.

Career callouts featured in "NewsDepth" are funded by the Ohio Broadcast Media Commission.

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