b'Articial Intelligence, Real ApplicationsArtificial intelligence and machine learning are advancing rapidlyand they are already solving thorny problems. Meet two alumni working in the tech field and learn more about how artificial intelligence is leading to big changes for the better.k MEGAN MARRELLI 09Megan is a Senior Program Manager at Meedan, a non-profit organization that helps journalists investigate and disseminate critical information.Megan Marrelli has worked in several aspects of journalism, from writing for news websites to being an Associate News Producer on Patriot Act with Hasan Minaj. And as she moved through the industry, she began to feel like the business model for journalism is failing. We need to find new ways to engage with audiences, monetize subscriptions and report on things that are important, Megan says.This feeling is part of what attracted Megan to her current role as a Senior Program Manager at Meedan, a non-profit organization that helps journalists investigate and disseminate critical information during events like elections, wars and epidemics. Meedan builds software for newsrooms and designs programs with the goal of strengthening journalism and, critically, combating misinformation.The COVID-19 pandemic really drove home for Megan and her colleagues how much problematicMegan Marrelli 09 recently worked misinformation is out there. We set up a pop-up newsroom within Meedan that I ran, deliveringon a collaborative reporting project COVID-19 health content to users and newsrooms on demand, Megan says. I became veryon the midterm elections in the aware of all of the different narratives online, and some of them are just wild. United States using Meedans AI-powered software, Check; Check allows journalists to analyze closed One of the major challenges with online misinformation lies in where it is posted. Platformsmessaging spaces, hone in on like Facebook can take down false information because they can see it, Megan says. Closedmisinformation and respond efficiently messaging spaces are really hard to moderate, especially encrypted ones like WhatsApp, so its ato large volumes of false claims.lot easier for misinformation to swirl around in there.Meedans technology, Check, tackles this problem. Check is an AI-supported fact-checking program which allows journalists to analyze closed messaging spaces, hone in on misinformation and respond efficiently to large volumes of false claims. In 2022, Megan used Check as part of a collaborative reporting project with four media outlets, including Telemundo and Univision, to fight Spanish-language misinformation ahead of the midterm elections in the United States.I really recall being Check connects a newsrooms WhatsApp account to a database; users can then contact that account to check whether an article they have received is true or not. If the news outlet has anin classrooms at article debunking submitted information, the database will automatically send it to the user; if not, the database logs the submission. Reporters can then use the database to get a sense of theGreenwood and feeling misinformation out there and to decide what they need to debunk. that I could always Check allowed us to bring in audience questions and then deliver fact checks at scale, Megan says. The volume of requests the software can handle allows for more false information to betry out an idea, and debunked more quickly, which is critical to preventing misinformation from taking hold. Using AI also allows us to intercept information in that space in a way that other people cant, becauseit would be met with its encrypted, Megan says. appreciation and a Meedan works in partnership with newsrooms all over the world to cut through misinformation; Meedan will also sometimes partner directly with platforms on content moderation issues.response of okay, lets Its a really interesting and new way of looking at how we can iterate on the media industry,test that out.Megan says. The environment at Meedan supports collaboration and creativity. As a manager, Megan strives to create a feeling of psychological safety for her team. She wants them to know that their ideas and thoughts are valued and to feel safe sharing new ideas. That feeling of psychological safety is one of her standout memories from her time at Greenwood. I really recall being in classrooms at Greenwood and feeling that I could always try out an idea, and it would be met with appreciation and a response of okay, lets test that out, Megan says. Greenwood teachers really want to help you learn. My teachers were definitely role models for me in terms of the level of commitment I want to bring to everything I do.16 evergreen Dec. 2022GRWD211_Evergreen_2022 r4.indd 16 2023-01-12 11:51 AM'