Experts available: Trump-Harris debate expectations, AI and misinformation, salmonella outbreak, and more
The Virginia Tech media relations office has the following experts available for interviews this week surrounding issues in the news. To schedule an interview, please contact mediarelations@vt.edu.
Virginia Tech experts available to discuss headlines in the news
Trump, Harris square off for first and perhaps only debate
Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will share a stage in what may be the only presidential debate before the November election. Political scientist Karen Hult and media communications expert Cayce Myers can provide perspective on the stakes.
“As a woman and a person of Jamaican-Indian descent, Harris likely will be expected to be knowledgeable, calm, and decisive as well as appear able to work with and earn the respect of those in the military and in other countries,” Hult says. “Trump should expect some questions about the varying court cases in which he is a defendant.”
“Harris’ team likely wants Trump to come across as aggressive and bombastic, which may alienate voters,” Myers says. “Conversely, Trump's team is likely hoping Harris comes across as disorganized and nonspecific in her responses.”
AI chatbots answer election questions wrong
Anyone who uses artificial intelligence (AI)-driven chatbots for election information should know these tools might provide misleading or false information. As just one example, during a test, Google’s AI overview wrongly described Barack Obama as the first Muslim president. “Although we call them intelligent, AI tools don’t actually know the answers to our questions,” said Virginia Tech digital literacy expert Julia Feerrar. “Chatbots like ChatGPT or Gemini generate predictive text in response to our prompts, and their ability to do that is built on training data that includes a lot of biased, misleading, or even incorrect information.” Read her tips for avoiding and counteracting misinformation here.
Salmonella tied to eggs sickens dozens of people in 9 states
At least 65 people in nine states have gotten sick in connection to a salmonella outbreak linked to recalled eggs. Virginia Tech food safety experts are available to talk about the outbreak, what causes salmonella, its symptoms, and what people should do to avoid getting sick. States affected include Virginia, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, California, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, and Utah. According to the CDC, lab tests show the bacteria is resistant to the antibiotics nalidixic acid and ciprofloxacin, which could make it more difficult to treat.
Podcast: Mung bean as a way to reduce hunger
Ozzie Abaye joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to talk about her work using the mung bean to diversify the cropping system, empower farmers, and reduce hunger in Senegal, Africa. She explained why the mung bean is a good fit for that region, the process by which she began to share it with farmers, and the collaborations she’s utilized to expand it across the country. She also shared what some of the challenges were in developing recipes across cultural lines.
Abaye is a professor of crop and soil environmental sciences in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences and a Virginia Cooperative Extension specialist. Also the Thomas B. Hutcheson Jr. Professor of Agronomy, Abaye is known internationally for her extensive work to improve the livelihoods of farmers, women, and children in West Africa through sustainable agriculture.
