How to vote on the AI questions, when they reach your ballot
The ballot questions are coming. Some towns already have them, restrictions on face recognition, rules for city departments using these systems, and the state and federal versions are being argued now, so eventually you and I will be asked to decide something with the letters AI in it, in a voting booth, in eleven seconds of confidence. A calm way to prepare, starting now. First, know what the technology actually does in each case, because the ads will not tell you. Face recognition at a distance is real, present, and imperfect in documented ways. The chat programs writing city letters is real and mostly boring. Voice cloning is real, as anyone with a phone scam story knows. Conflating these is the advertiser's favorite move, the miracle and the menace blended into one blurry noun. Second, use the machine to read the actual proposal. Paste the ballot language in and ask for the plainest possible version, who is restricted, who is exempt, what the penalty is, and, this is the important one, what would this proposal not change. Third, ask it to argue both sides, seriously, in the strongest form each side would use, then argue back. You are not letting it decide. You are sparring before the match, so the booth is not the first time you have heard the arguments. Democracies have survived new technologies before, television, automobiles, the internet, by citizens refusing to be either dazzled or terrified, and insisting on specifics. The specifics, this time, are one paste away.
Want the hands-on version? Come try it at a free class →
AI, in plain English three small answers, no jargon
AI and jobs
Predictions vary wildly, and honest ones admit the uncertainty. The pattern so far: AI absorbs tasks before whole jobs, and the people who learn the tools tend to do the absorbing.
AI in healthcare
AI already helps read scans, draft notes, and handle medical paperwork; the visit with an actual clinician is not going anywhere. Used well, it hands your doctor minutes back per patient.
AI as a midnight tutor
A patient tutor available at midnight is genuinely new. AI explains a concept five ways and quizzes you until it clicks; it can also be wrong, so keep asking how it knows.
DEC has also scheduled a public meeting on Thursday, September 10, 2026 at 5:30 PM at the Irvington Public Library, 12 South Astor Street, Irvington, NY 10533 to discuss the proposed cleanup and accept public comments. Please see fact sheet for details about the proposal, meeting, and comment period. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can go to the DEC website to download the program.
From the library's own site, source.
Visit or contact
- Address: 12 South Astor Street Irvington-on-Hudson, NY 10533
- Phone: 914-591-7840
- Website and hours: irvingtonlibrary.org
- System: Westchester Library System
Hours change with the season, so we link the library's own site instead of copying a schedule that could go stale.
Get an AI class here
Path one: ask the library directly. Patron requests carry real weight with program coordinators, and their website and phone number are linked above.
Path two: tell us you want a class at Irvington Public Library and we will count you in when we schedule one there.
What you’ll find there
- Museum passes
- Streaming movies (Kanopy)
- Kids and family programs
Collected from the library’s own website. Availability changes — confirm details on their site.
Two free AI classes for Irvington Public Library
Live, beginner-friendly, 90 minutes each. Your first two classes cost $0, including the presenter fee — bring us in, see how your community responds, then decide.
For library staff
Reply “send dates” to our email and we’ll send available times within a day. Or start here:
Email us for available dates →
No presenter fee. No contract. You provide the room, chairs and wifi — we bring everything else.
How booking works · browse all six class topics (no email needed)
I’m a patron of this library
Want a class here? Leave your email and we’ll tell you if one gets scheduled at Irvington Public Library — and pass the count to their program coordinator.
One email only when scheduling news exists. Or call the library and say you’d attend — patron requests carry real weight.
Heard about us from a neighbor? Forward this page to whoever books programs at your library.
Is this a sales pitch to our patrons?
No. Nothing is sold or pitched in the room, and patrons never pay to attend. Take-home materials are free.
What’s the catch on “two free classes”?
None, and here is the model: your first two classes cost you nothing, we collect attendance and feedback, and the next library books us because yours proved it works. Repeat classes after that are a modest honorarium sized to your budget.
What do we need to provide?
A room, chairs, and wifi. We bring the projector, adapters, a backup hotspot, printed handouts — every attendee leaves with a printed AI cheat sheet.
Library AI Courses teaches free, live, 90 minute AI classes at public libraries across the region. A listing here is a directory entry, not an endorsement by the library. Classes get scheduled when a library books one or enough patrons ask. Library staff: how booking works →