Latest news with #Fischl
Techday NZ
16-07-2025
- Business
- Techday NZ
AI Appreciation Day calls for ethical & human-centred innovation
The growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) across industries is the focus of this year's AI Appreciation Day, as leaders from technology, law, and cybersecurity sectors share insights on the achievements and challenges presented by rapid developments in AI. Laura Ellis, Vice President of Data & AI at Rapid7, highlights the transformative reach of AI in the business landscape. "AI has completely changed how businesses operate. It streamlines processes and helps teams make smarter decisions, leading to better outcomes for customers," she said. Ellis stressed the importance of recognising the human effort behind these advancements, remarking, "It is important that every day, not just on AI Appreciation Day, we honour the people who tirelessly dedicate their time, knowledge, and drive to building and leveraging these technologies." She called for a responsible approach, urging that technology remain "human-centric, transparent, and ethical, so it can continue to drive meaningful impact." The legal profession has not been immune to AI's influence, with substantial shifts in workflows and professional roles. David Fischl, a partner specialising in corporate and commercial law at Hicksons | Hunt & Hunt, noted that the sector is moving beyond generic AI-driven "chat-and-answer" tools towards highly tailored systems integrated into legal practice areas. At his firm, Fischl reports the adoption of specialised AI tools has transformed processes like document review and chronology creation, streamlining previously time-intensive tasks. This, he explained, allows junior lawyers to "spend more time on high-level legal reasoning earlier in their careers, building stronger lawyers faster" and has helped foster a new breed of hybrid professionals: "the 'AI strategy lawyer', a hybrid role of legal professionals who understand how to integrate AI into workflows to deliver real value without compromising on the legal expertise that clients trust." Clients, according to Fischl, are reaping tangible benefits from AI deployment in legal services, such as quicker turnaround, enhanced offerings, and greater pricing predictability. He encouraged continued curiosity and engagement with emerging AI technologies, cautioning that the "real power of AI lies in its ability to augment and not replace the unique skills and judgment lawyers bring to their clients." AI's dual edge is particularly sharp in the field of cybersecurity, where it is both a transformative tool for defenders and a potent asset for attackers. Fabio Fratucello, Field CTO World Wide at CrowdStrike, described how the proliferation of AI is enabling adversaries to "automate social engineering, misinformation campaigns, and credential harvesting at unprecedented speed and scale." He cited CrowdStrike's own research, which found sophisticated attackers using large language models to conduct highly convincing phishing and business email compromise campaigns. Yet, Fratucello remains optimistic about AI's potential to boost defensive capabilities. With teams overwhelmed by increasing alert volumes and a shortage of skilled analysts, "security teams must leverage AI to protect their organisations and move from reactive response to proactive threat disruption." He pointed to solutions like CrowdStrike's Charlotte AI Agentic Detection Triage, capable of autonomously validating and prioritising threats with a reported accuracy above 98%, freeing up analysts to focus on more complex threat detection and mitigation. Built with checks and balances, Charlotte AI "allows organisations to define how and when automated decisions are made, giving analysts full control to set thresholds, determine when human review is required, and maintain oversight." Fratucello suggested that AI Appreciation Day should inspire more organisations to embrace such technologies "to take back control, reduce burnout, and decisively shift the AI advantage back in their favour." Micah Heaton, Executive Director of Microsoft Product and Innovation Strategy at BlueVoyant, offered a philosophical perspective on the day's significance. "AI Appreciation Day isn't about machines. It's about us. It's about the choices we make at machine speed that still echo at human scale," he stated. Heaton underlined the ethical dimension of AI, insisting that responsibility "isn't a checkbox. It's the only thing standing between progress and catastrophe." He emphasised that the shaping of AI's trajectory is a collective responsibility, urging, "If we want AI to work in the right direction, we have to bring every voice to the table. We have to build with intention, wield it with moral clarity, and protect people with the same ferocity we protect their data." As AI embeds deeper into the fabric of modern life, the commentaries from industry leaders converge on a common theme: responsible innovation. While AI accelerates efficiencies and creates new opportunities, its broader success relies on a commitment to ethics, transparency, human oversight, and inclusivity. AI Appreciation Day thus becomes not only an occasion to acknowledge technological progress, but a call to action for conscientious stewardship of the technologies shaping society's future.
Boston Globe
10-06-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
‘Sicker, weaker and less competitive': NIH chief to face Senate questions on budget cuts that threaten Mass.
The hearing comes at a pivotal moment for Bhattacharya and the NIH. On Monday, more than 300 NIH workers signed a letter to him decrying grant cuts, job terminations, and what they described as alarming politicization at an agency with a record of nonpartisan support for scientific research. The proposed cut, which would reduce the NIH budget to $27.5 billion, would be devastating for science and for Massachusetts' economy, said Bruce Fischl, a Harvard professor and neuroscientist at Massachusetts General Hospital. 'I don't think there's a state in the country that's going to be impacted more than Massachusetts,' Fischl said. Advertisement The The NIH workers' An agency spokesperson on Monday described the grant cuts as an effort to remove ideological influence from the work NIH supports. 'We are ending wasteful practices focusing on DEI, gender ideology and focusing on NIH's mission of only impactful science,' according to the budget proposal. The NIH workers who crafted the letter to Bhattacharya see things differently. 'What we've been asked to do seems illegal,' said Sylvia Chou, an NIH program officer and one of the letter's signers, in an interview Monday. 'It's not just a matter of morality or ethics.' While it is unclear how such a massive cut would be implemented, Chou said one possibility she has heard discussed was to stop issuing new grants altogether. Advertisement Massachusetts received NIH grant cuts, which face court challenges, reached $8.7 billion nationally as of Monday, and are still growing. Massachusetts has been particularly hard hit, with $2.4 billion in lost grant money so far this year. That accounts for all but $126 million of the grants affected throughout New England. 'President Trump's NIH cuts will halt research into lifesaving cures for cancer, Alzheimer's, ALS — diseases that impact everybody,' Governor Maura Healey said in a statement Monday. 'The President is making our country sicker, weaker and less competitive." The grants cut so far have targeted specific topics, such as research that touches on LGBTQ+ issues, or institutions, such as Harvard, which has lost $2.2 billion in NIH funding. As devastating as they have been, their harms pale in comparison to what a 40 percent budget cut would do, Fischl said. 'The 40 percent budget cut would destroy science in America,' Fischl said. He is unsure whether he would be able to continue his own research that explores how AI could evaluate brain imaging to identify the impacts of conditions like Alzheimer's and evaluate the effectiveness of treatments. The HHS budget document stated NIH is 'committed to gold-standard science and the restoration of scientific integrity and transparency.' Advertisement That promise is hard to reconcile with the impact of the agency's policies, Fischl said. 'The only thing that's consistent with the pattern of actions that's been taken is the radical downsizing of science in America,' he said. Chou, the NIH worker, plans to tune in to the Senate hearing, she said. She hopes senators ask about the harms already caused by halted research. She expects Bhattacharya to discuss academic freedom and his dislike of intellectual censorship. 'Those are words that ring hollow right now,' she said. 'I really wish he would commit to listening to us.' Jason Laughlin can be reached at
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wasabi worries and truffle troubles: Tariffs threaten crops that U.S. farmers struggle to grow
Tibor Fischl has been growing goji berries in Sonoma, California, and Washington's Yakima Valley since 2013. 'I don't recommend it,' he said. The nutrient-packed East Asian fruit, which is typically sold dried and blitzed into smoothies or sprinkled over granola, is among the many specialty foods that consumers in the United States rely on foreign growers to provide. A handful of American farmers grow small volumes of those ingredients domestically, from truffles and lavender to wasabi. Many say it's tough going, and warn there's no way they could satisfy U.S. demand at reasonable prices if shifting trade policies were to make their products' foreign-grown counterparts pricier or harder to get. Many specialty crops mature slowly and require hefty upfront investments, which is why they tend to be heritage industries in their home countries — often places where stronger local demand, lower labor and shipping costs, and deep cultivation expertise make these items relatively more affordable. Chinese farmers have grown goji berries for centuries, and they can be bought online for about $20-$30 per pound in the U.S., said Fischl, the CEO of Goji Farm USA. He sells his own for $224 per pound to a dedicated clientele that pays a premium for homegrown health foods. But his price point means President Donald Trump's new 10% tariffs on China, which took effect last week and drew swift retaliation from Beijing, won't make his berries more competitive. 'The good news is people have proven that they will show up and pay the prices needed for us to have an existence here,' Fischl said. His business isn't exactly booming, he said, but 'it's too late for regret.' In just a few weeks in office, Trump has introduced steeper trade barriers and threats that have triggered uncertainty among allies and rivals alike. His moves have rattled the agricultural sector, even though some farmers expect the policy changes to entice more professional and amateur growers to try planting foreign ingredients that fetch high prices. The American Farm Bureau said last week that its members 'support the goals of security and ensuring fair trade with our North American neighbors and China, but, unfortunately, we know from experience that farmers and rural communities will bear the brunt of retaliation.' Trump imposed 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico that could take effect next month if diplomacy doesn't forestall them — or the countermeasures both countries have vowed in response. Trump has also threatened the European Union with steeper import taxes and campaigned on 'universal' tariffs of up to 20% on every foreign product, fees economists expect consumers to pay. Niche produce farmers in the U.S. are poised to benefit from some of these trade policies, at least in theory, and some have already succeeded in cornering a market for popular high-end ingredients with few domestic suppliers. Shannon Maas was a collegiate track coach before becoming a wasabi farmer. He didn't even know the pungent Japanese root could be cultivated in the U.S. until 2019, when he saw a social media video about it. After growing three test plants at home in Northern California, he cashed a Covid-19 stimulus check to buy a thousand more. The gamble paid off, Maas said, and he's now among the few domestic wasabi growers in the country. He sells his crops to some of San Francisco's top restaurants for around $115-$150 per pound and collects a healthy profit, 'although most of my money goes back into growing the farm or my mother's Venezuelan family, who need the money more than we do,' he said. 'I'm trying to just make something out of nothing,' Maas added. 'It's the American dream.' But Maas knows he's an outlier, having figured out how to capitalize on a microclimate similar to regions of Japan that have long produced wasabi. The reason the authentic product is imported is because it's so hard to grow outside its native environment without producing a bitter taste. In fact, most of what's sold as wasabi to U.S. sushi eaters is a horseradish-based substitute, Maas said. Jeff Roller, who runs Half Moon Bay Wasabi some 30 miles south of San Francisco, agreed that high price tags can make niche farming seem enticing. 'They see the dollar signs,' he said of prospective growers, but creating a clientele of consumers and chefs for uncommon ingredients can be just as hard as cultivating them. Matthew Rendine, the director of merchandising for Baldor Specialty Foods, a major restaurant distributor in the Northeast, is optimistic about these domestic alternatives, which bypass expensive air freight costs and can sometimes be cheaper than importing. 'If we can offer our chefs the same quality and flavor and consistency of an item, and have it be grown in California, I'd rather give our chefs that product versus something that's 8,000 miles away,' he said. Rendine works with many small farms that have diversified their crops by adding niche produce to their lineups. But while these items can be lucrative for dedicated growers, many farmers and hobbyists struggle. A lot of agriculture is trial and error, he cautioned. 'Everybody fails at certain things.' Megan Shanley has had her share of successes and failures. She took over her Morro Bay, California, family farm from her father, who tried a myriad of specialty crops. After goji berries and organic figs were a bust, she has moved on to finger limes. The Australian fruit is dubbed 'citrus caviar' for the small pearl-like vesicles inside. Outside of high-end restaurants and her son's school playground — where Shanley said the kids have grown to love them — finger limes aren't widely eaten in the U.S. Her business is buoyed for now on passionfruit and avocados, and the jury's still out on whether finger limes will land in the win column. 'If the finger limes take off and we earn what we can potentially earn, I can't just walk away from that at this point,' Shanley said. Patience is key, said Pat Martin. She started a truffle farm in Rixeyville, Virginia, in 2007 that didn't produce its first mature truffle until 2018. 'We are harvesting, so that's good, but we are not at full harvest potential yet,' she said. 'It's certainly not making a profit.' Over 75% of U.S. truffle imports come from Italy, worth some $16.4 million in 2022, according to data from CEPII, a French government economics institute. Selling her winter black truffles at $85 per ounce, Martin said her prices generally compete with Italian cultivators'. It's a key reason she said she's seen strong interest from restaurants, but she doesn't produce enough to promise a consistent supply. 'The demand for truffles is high, and I think it would take us a long time, if ever, to flood the market,' she said. Sierra Reece started a small farm in Rockford, Michigan, in 2023 that grows lavender, which isn't as rare a domestic crop as truffles or finger limes. American-grown lavender notched over $16 million in U.S. sales in 2019, federal data shows. But Reece grows a culinary-grade variety, which is less common and comes mainly from France and Bulgaria. After investing in 6,000 plants across two acres, Reese said she's now turning a profit, which smells of victory after years of brushing off doubters. 'That was kind of my competitive edge,' she said: ''Let me prove you wrong.''This article was originally published on
NBC News
10-02-2025
- Business
- NBC News
Wasabi worries and truffle troubles: Tariffs threaten crops that U.S. farmers struggle to grow
Tibor Fischl has been growing goji berries in Sonoma, California, and Washington's Yakima Valley since 2013. 'I don't recommend it,' he said. The nutrient-packed East Asian fruit, which is typically sold dried and blitzed into smoothies or sprinkled over granola, is among the many specialty foods that consumers in the United States rely on foreign growers to provide. A handful of American farmers grow small volumes of those ingredients domestically, from truffles and lavender to wasabi. Many say it's tough going, and warn there's no way they could satisfy U.S. demand at reasonable prices if shifting trade policies were to make their products' foreign-grown counterparts pricier or harder to get. Many specialty crops mature slowly and require hefty upfront investments, which is why they tend to be heritage industries in their home countries — often places where stronger local demand, lower labor and shipping costs, and deep cultivation expertise make these items relatively more affordable. Chinese farmers have grown goji berries for centuries, and they can be bought online for about $20-$30 per pound in the U.S., said Fischl, the CEO of Goji Farm USA. He sells his own for $224 per pound to a dedicated clientele that pays a premium for homegrown health foods. But his price point means President Donald Trump's new 10% tariffs on China, which took effect last week and drew swift retaliation from Beijing, won't make his berries more competitive. 'The good news is people have proven that they will show up and pay the prices needed for us to have an existence here,' Fischl said. His business isn't exactly booming, he said, but 'it's too late for regret.' In just a few weeks in office, Trump has introduced steeper trade barriers and threats that have triggered uncertainty among allies and rivals alike. His moves have rattled the agricultural sector, even though some farmers expect the policy changes to entice more professional and amateur growers to try planting foreign ingredients that fetch high prices. The American Farm Bureau said last week that its members 'support the goals of security and ensuring fair trade with our North American neighbors and China, but, unfortunately, we know from experience that farmers and rural communities will bear the brunt of retaliation.' Trump imposed 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico that could take effect next month if diplomacy doesn't forestall them — or the countermeasures both countries have vowed in response. Trump has also threatened the European Union with steeper import taxes and campaigned on 'universal' tariffs of up to 20% on every foreign product, fees economists expect consumers to pay. Niche produce farmers in the U.S. are poised to benefit from some of these trade policies, at least in theory, and some have already succeeded in cornering a market for popular high-end ingredients with few domestic suppliers. Shannon Maas was a collegiate track coach before becoming a wasabi farmer. He didn't even know the pungent Japanese root could be cultivated in the U.S. until 2019, when he saw a social media video about it. After growing three test plants at home in Northern California, he cashed a Covid-19 stimulus check to buy a thousand more. The gamble paid off, Maas said, and he's now among the few domestic wasabi growers in the country. He sells his crops to some of San Francisco's top restaurants for around $115-$150 per pound and collects a healthy profit, 'although most of my money goes back into growing the farm or my mother's Venezuelan family, who need the money more than we do,' he said. 'I'm trying to just make something out of nothing,' Maas added. 'It's the American dream.'
