Posted on 08/01/2026 2:22:17 AM PDT by fruser1

REUTERS — A US government map of Africa mislabeled every country during a State Department presentation at a global conference taking place in Brazil this week, causing a stir among attendees who took screenshots and posted them online.
A Reuters analysis found the image of the map included in the presentation contained an artificial intelligence watermark that signals it was made with OpenAI tools. The company said it was investigating the report.
The State Department said it took “full responsibility” for the confusion caused and that the map had been produced by a team member who hastily changed the slide deck before the event.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesofisrael.com ...
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“...State Department presentation at a global conference...”
Seems like a great time to dump another 5,000 unneeded fed employees at the State Dept.
As I predicted. AI will be the Great New Blanket Excuse.
It was the AI’s fault!
When you keep passing out diplomas to people who can’t find anything on a map, it shouldn’t surprise anyone.
Try this test.If you have an AI program on your computer, ask it to draw a map of Africa then place 10 countries on the map. See how well it does. I’d be shocked if it didn’t get all 10 correct. Blaming AI is probably an excuse so we don’t learn who the idiots were.
GIGO
Map, government, public schools
Nigeria got moved into middle of the Sahara desert.
LOL
Interesting- evidently brazil is fine with American diplomats showing up for an AIDS conference , but they block American diplomats on other big issues:
Brazil Denies Visas to U.S. Officials Over Election-Interference Fears
The Wall Street Journal ^ | July 25, 2026 5:55 pm ET | Samantha Pearson
Posted on 7/25/2026, 8:51:43 PM by E. Pluribus Unum
Move comes amid concerns that Trump delegation could help Bolsonaro family cast doubt on electronic voting ahead of October’s presidential election
SÃO PAULO—Brazil has denied visas to two senior Trump administration officials who were planning to travel to the country, amid concerns that they sought to undermine confidence in the electronic-voting system before October’s presidential election.
The move comes as fears deepen in Brazil that the Bolsonaro family is working with President Trump and his allies to unseat leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and help return the Brazilian right to power.
Former president Jair Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year prison sentence at home for plotting a coup ahead of the last presidential election. His eldest son, Flávio, was formally nominated as the right-wing candidate on Saturday at a party convention attended by Argentine President Javier Milei, an ideological ally.
Brazil’s foreign ministry said Saturday it had denied visas for Riley M. Barnes, assistant secretary from the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, and Samuel Samson, a deputy assistant secretary of state.
Brazil’s government believes the planned delegation is part of a concerted effort by Jair Bolsonaro’s sons—including his son Eduardo, who lives in the U.S.—to discredit the elections in case Flávio Bolsonaro loses in October, said people close to da Silva.
The U.S. State Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Brazilian officials said alarm bells went off in the capital city of Brasília earlier this week when Flávio Bolsonaro told diplomats that the country’s electronic-voting machines were produced by the Venezuelan company Smartmatic, insinuating they were vulnerable to fraud.
Brazil’s election court has rejected those claims, saying that Smartmatic has never supplied voting machines used in Brazilian elections and that international observers have consistently found the country’s system to be secure.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
So no one from the State Dept noticed ?
Noticed and did not care ?
That graph represents only $500-600 Million in grants to local warlords and NGOs. For such a trivial amount, no one will bother with the details. /s
The real issue is that no one validates how the money is used — and that is by design.
It reminds me of Hillary’s “Reset” button!
Notice the chart uses the word “opportunities”.
What I see is “opportunities” to rip off the taxpayer.
This entire group of State Department employees should be fired—and not replaced.
That is an “opportunity” for sure!
Obscurity of monetary activity is the favorite environment of the corrupt.
Yup—and last I heard the Secretary of State is being considered as a 2028 presidential candidate.
He needs to start paying attention to his own shop—boring and difficult work, but needs to be done.
If he can’t stand up to the scammers in his own Department he will get scammed for sure by international adversaries and allies alike.
Right on! They better start giving a little more serious thought about using AI. If the American citizen has to do all the thinking for our government on stuff like this, then why are they being paid? A heck of a way to run a railroad as the old sying goes. The guys that are paid to figure this stuff out better start doing their job...or make the citizen aware of who the person(s) ar who are making these mistakes so they can be fired or voted out at the next election.
Just label the places as black holes where money disappears.
Even AI can’t keep track of how often Africa changes country names.
What difference does it make anyway
And this is why I find AI laughable.
Pretty much like the AI crap that is overtaking you tube videos.
Cote D’Ivoire is not even on a coast.
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