NPR’s Sam Gringlas on Ossoff Campaign Trail; Atlanta’s Disappearing Tree Canopy; AI platform sources Black history, culture

On today’s “Closer Look with Rose Scott,” we catch up with NPR Congressional Reporter and WABE alum Sam Gringlas. He’s currently following Democratic Incumbent Jon Ossoff and his effort to reclaim his U.S. Senate seat this November. Polling data currently has Ossoff leading his Republican opponent, Mike Collins, but there are still several miles on the campaign trail until the midterm election. Gringlas shares his firsthand look at how voters are reacting during Senator Ossoff’s campaign stops.   Atlanta is widely known as the city in a forest, but that forest is depleting. Of the city’s more than 84,000 acres, almost 40,000 acres are covered by its tree canopy. However, that latest assessment by Georgia Tech shows Atlanta has lost a quarter of an acre of trees every day between 2008 and 2023. The city had a goal of reaching 50% canopy coverage, but Atlanta moved further away from that goal in the latest assessment, now dropping to 45.7% tree coverage. Officials from Trees Atlanta and Georgia Tech provide more details on the data, and what’s leading to the disappearing canopy.   With the concern of mainstream AI systems disseminating misinformation, a new artificial intelligence platform is promising to provide accurate information. AiSHA pulls its information from Black History, culture, and trusted journalism sources to avoid biases. We speak to the founder and CEO of Onyx Impact, Esosa Osa, about how her new AI assistant and chatbot will provide something different, including most sustainability friendly usage.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.