Things To Do In SW Florida

Artificial intelligence has generated an avalanche of interest, ranging from dramatic and dire warnings to exuberant optimism in the 13 months since ChatGPT was launched, sparking conversations and uncertainty from dining room tables to corporate boardrooms to the corridors of government.

Everyone, it seems, has a theory about what AI can do, should do, might do or shouldn’t do.

• U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., has warned about the potential for “grave threats” to children from unfettered access to AI.
• The University of Florida started exploring how AI could enhance agriculture.
• U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Parkland, has sounded the alarm of the prospect of wrongdoers using AI to mass produce guns.

AI is creeping into the political world, with more to come. 

Never Back Down, the super political action committee supporting Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign, used AI to generate a voice that sounded like former President Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner — and used it in an ad.

Never Back Down had reportedly earlier used AI to superimpose video of fighter jets to make it appear as if they’d flown overhead during a DeSantis speech.

Separately, Kevin Aslett, who studies AI at the University of Central Florida, said it could be used to create and rapidly spread disinformation during the 2024 election season. read more

Grabbing a latte, a bagel or an empanada at Circle House Coffee in Fort Lauderdale requires a credit or debit card or smartphone payment app.

Cash isn’t accepted.

The same is true, starting Jan. 1, for tickets, a drink or snack at the Arts Garage visual and performing arts venue in Delray Beach.

The county-owned arena in Sunrise, home to the Florida Panthers hockey team and venue for events ranging from a Drake concert to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus is a cashless building — even though naming rights are currently held by Amerant, “the largest community bank headquartered in Florida.”

The Amerant Bank Arena website advises patrons there aren’t any ATMs inside the building, which can accommodate 20,000 people.

Cashless trend

A growing number of businesses of all sizes are going cashless, requiring patrons to use credit or debit cards, or smartphone apps, to pay for their purchases.

The trend is an inconvenience for people who prefer to use cash.

It’s a big problem for others, including lower-income people who don’t have access to non-cash payments and some older people who aren’t proficient with app-based payments. read more

The world’s largest cruise ship headlines a big comeback year for major hardware arriving to Florida.

Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas will make a sizable splash when it arrives to Miami in January having taken over the title from what are now its little Oasis-class sisters.

But what will now be the second-largest cruise ship, Utopia of the Seas, the last of six Oasis-class behemoths, is also Florida-bound, arriving to Port Canaveral in July for its debut.

The Sunshine State will also see the newest Disney Cruise Line vessel with Disney Treasure’s arrival in December, on top of DCL’s opening of its new Bahamas destination Lighthouse Point that will pull in ship visits from both Port Canaveral and Disney’s new second Florida home in Port Everglades.

Port Everglades will also feature its own sizable debut when Princess Cruises’ new Sphere class vessel the Sun Princess arrives in October.

First up, though, is Royal Caribbean’s new flagship for its new class.

Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas read more