The Morning Newsletter
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Morning again, Philly.
High school students in Philadelphia’s suburbs used artificial intelligence to create deepfakes of classmates. Parents say schools aren’t doing enough to stop it.
And one of the nation’s oldest hospitals will soon become one of the city’s newest museums.
— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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So-called AI deepfakes — pictures of a real person manipulated with technology, sometimes with “nudify” features that can turn clothed images pornographic — are prompting concern among parents in the Philly region.
📱 Deepfake incidents have been reported in recent months in the Main Line’s Radnor Township School District and in Bucks County’s Council Rock School District. Both led to criminal charges against students who made sexually explicit videos of their classmates.
📱 Schools say they are limited in their ability to police students off campus, and that they have no role in criminal investigations. But parents want them to do more to protect students who are targeted.
📱 Notable quote: “They kept saying, ‘This is off campus,’” the parent of a deepfake victim told The Inquirer. But “my daughter could not walk around without crying and feeling ashamed.”
Education reporter Maddie Hanna has the story.
At 275 years old, Pennsylvania Hospital’s Pine Building is the United States’ oldest chartered hospital — and older than the country itself.
The building at Eighth and Pine Streets is still in active use as a medical facility. Come this spring, its long history will be honored with a museum, too.
The Pennsylvania Hospital Museum will feature a restored medical library, surgical amphitheater, and apothecary, as well as archival objects describing the history of the hospital and the care it delivered.
Among the items on display: a “tonsil guillotine,” anatomical casts once used in place of cadavers, and a preserved tumor from 1805.
Kayla Yup and Bedatri D. Choudhury have more details.
In other cultural news: The Circle Theatre in Frankford, built in 1929 for what was once the largest movie theater chain in the country, is now officially recognized as historic.
What you should know today
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore the slavery exhibits that the National Park Service removed from the President’s House last month.
Police on Monday released images of a distinctive vehicle that left a 9-year-old boy injured in a hit-and-run that happened over the weekend in Southwest Philly.
The Philadelphia School District released details about $2.8 billion in modernization projects proposed for schools in each City Council district. Plus, the city’s teachers union has significant concerns with the district’s sweeping facilities plan, and has taken them to a Council committee.
A person infected with measles traveled through Philadelphia International Airport last week, city health officials are warning.
The University of Pennsylvania is getting $7.8 million over the next two years to study the lymphatic system, an overlooked aspect of human health.
Former Penn president Liz Magill has been named the head of Georgetown University’s law school.
La Salle University’s loyal baseball community restored the program after it was cut in 2021. Now they say it’s time to get the Explorers “back on the map.”
Frederick Wiseman, the documentarian behind the controversial, 1968 Northeast High-filmed High School, has died at 96.
Inquirer food reporter Hira Qureshi is fasting for Ramadan. See her guide to observing and celebrating in Philly.
🧠 Trivia time
Sixers forward Kelly Oubre Jr. on Monday released a new rap song, “Fast & Furious.” What is his stage name?
A) Jewels-40 Bars
B) The Philly Special
C) t$unami
D) Oubre
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re …
📺 Saving money on: YouTubeTV by way of this sports-specific plan.
🍸 Curious about: Why three Philly bars serve this rare Portuguese spirit.
🧁 Eager to try: Gluten-free bakery Flakely, now open in Bryn Mawr.
🍝 Visiting: The new Italian bar-restaurant at the Society Hill Hotel.
🎤 Considering: Bruce Springsteen’s long arc of protest.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: North Philly singer
COLT JILTS
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Christine Macdonald, who solved Monday’s anagram: Isabeau Levito. The 18-year-old South Jersey figure skater makes her Olympic debut today. Catch up on her homegrown lore and find out when to watch her skate.
Photo of the day
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