today on getting answers, eating to live a study looking at 30 years worth of data found that eating ultra processed foods was associated with a 4% higher risk of death by any cause, but not all processed foods pose the

same risk. we'll get some advice from a researcher at harvard's t.h. chan school of public health. picture story a photographer joins us to discuss capturing the spirit and strength of aapi heritage month in pictures. but first, technical risk officials from the us and china are set tomorrow to have the first meeting of its kind to discuss ai safety. hi, everybody. thanks for joining us. you're watching, getting answers and i'm dionne lim. we begin now with that ai risk and safety meeting in geneva between high level envoys . so joining us live now is doctor nolan higdon professor of history and communication at cal state east bay. to tell us about the concerns that will be addressed. doctor, thank you for being with us. >> thank you so much for having me. >> now, one issue on the agenda for the meeting with china is these possible threats ai poses to our national security. tell us a little bit more about those possible threats. >> uh. yeah, absolutely. you know, the way we've sort of designed the internet there has

not been a lot of security and protection. basically everything we do online or everything we do with smart devices is documented. and if in the wrong hands, that information could be used against individuals or groups of individuals or potentially the entire nation. and so i think there's a fear, not just in the united states, but on nations around the globe about what if this data gets out there, what will happen to it, and what new opportunities is i offer to take some of these security risks and exploit them? >> yeah. and i think about fake news. i think about about artificial, you know, events that get created earlier in i guess last year we saw president biden meet with china's president xi during apec to talk about these ai risks. you know, the fact that this conversation is continuing to me signals that this is a very serious top of mind issue. >> yes, and it is. and i think, you know, part of the response is there's a general feeling amongst the public and leaders that uh- in the you know, 30

years ago, we sort of missed an opportunity to take the right steps proactively to minimize some of the potential harms of the internet. and i think there's a desire amongst leaders and users that this time we take a little more proactive action in dealing with it. now on the one hand, you know, these nations like china and the united states are competitors against one another. so it behooves them not to work together in this space. but on the other hand, you know, they're both leaders of countries, and they fear about the security of their country. they fear about their ability to control information. and so in that sense, they kind of have a joint interest as well. yeah. >> you'll have to forgive me, because i'm certainly not a techie, but when you said 30 years, do you mean ai has been in discussion and in the works for that long? >> oh, no. i'm sorry, i meant 30 years ago with the internet, and there's a feeling that we got it wrong with the internet, and now people don't want to get it wrong again with ai uh- i see. >> and speaking of ai, the

timely big announcement from san francisco based openai came out today that coincides with the safety talks. now, the company they're unveiling this new chat gpt model. can you tell us a little bit about what's new with it? >> i haven't really been exposed much to the new model, but what i think is fascinating about these announcements, it's illustrative of how fast this technology is changing. and as lawmakers, whether here in the united states or elsewhere, while they're trying to create laws to, you know, regulate this or keep ai as a positive innovation, then right around the corner, something else is changing. there's new innovation, new questions. so i think we're going to have to have these conversations on a regular basis in the united states. and i think regulators are going to be consistently pressured as every new technological advantage, emerges. >> yeah, innovation is the key once again, because last week we had apple unveiling the new ipad pro. and i think it was being touted as an outrageously powerful, ai powered chip. and

what people can do with that. so to me, that signals also rapid change. oh, absolutely. >> yeah. there's, things are changing, quite quickly, let's not forget, you know, we're just about a year or two past when people were just learning about what chatgpt might be able to do. and now so many people and companies have already integrated that technology, so these things are moving, quite quickly. and, you know, there's economic fears that are certainly there and there's national security fears. and i think that's what, china and the united states are responding to this week. >> yeah. and when you look at it, apple, speaking of their phones, they have their first batch of ai tools for the iphone, the ipad. they talked about this at their world developers conference. or they plan to at least in june. what can we expect in that vein? >> well, this this conferences are always sort of interesting because on the one hand, from a, you know, researcher of media, you get to learn a lot more about what the company is coming out with and what new gadgets

might be available, but oftentimes those conferences are also an opportunity to try and sell a product. and sometimes, you know, silicon valley, shall we say, over promises and under delivers, that is like they, they like to make it sound like the technology can do more than maybe it can do, so you always have to sort of take whatever announcements are made there with a grain of salt. but i would anticipate that we're going to continue to see these these innovations come out, quite quickly by these companies. >> yeah. i suppose they are running a business, a for profit one at that. so outweigh being kind of that, plus the message and what they truly can do, you know, looking ahead, what do you think about regulation and the feasibility of it? because, i mean, everything is advancing so rapidly. how on earth are we going to get something in place? a system that's going to work for all parties? >> yeah, i think regulation, you know, can be really important, you know, we need to make sure that whatever regulations are put in place are good for the

citizenry, but i think one of the things that, makes a lot of lawmakers and even citizens reluctant to support regulation is that every time you know something new, the internet or ai emerges, we treat it like it's something totally different and there's no historical comparison. and so maybe we shouldn't use previous laws or regulations. and i think that's a mistake. i think one of the lessons we learned from the internet was that a lot of the, you know, companies that emerged in the internet economy pretty much were the same as all other companies. you know, they want to make profits, they had workers, you know, there was needs for certain regulation to protect workers and users and their products. so i hope that same tack will be taken against ai. i hope we won't throw out the whole regulatory framework because we think it's something new and different in those old rules don't apply. >> yeah. from an education standpoint, do you have your own concerns of what you've seen? i can do and some of the challenges. >> yeah, i've, i have some concerns. i mean, i'm far from an alarmist. you know, i think,

like anything that's ever created, it can be used for good or it can be used for bad. it depends on what we do with it. and i think there's a lot of great advantages that i see students already getting from, utilizing ai. but i'm also concerned about some of the ways it could undermine education. of course, cheating has drawn a lot of attention, but more so than that, i'm more concerned with things like bullying, you know, people five, six, seven, eight years old, able to make videos where they can bully other people of that age, we don't know what that can do to like, the psyche of individuals. and i think those are the issues that we really need to have some sophisticated conversations about. >> well, are you hearing that there are students already integrating that into their everyday lives, in terms of using it in the classroom, absolutely, this stuff is, is being done, you know, you can you can make, you know, hollywood style videos or advertisements quite quickly using ai as a student, and bring them into the classroom. and again, i think that's just going

to get better and better very quickly. i think even, you know, a year from now, the conversation you and i are having is going to be dramatically different because there'll be all sorts of new, innovative options that are put out there in the market. so i think this is something we need to consistently stay on top of and really think about, you know, what do we want this tech to do in terms of benefiting the larger population? yeah. >> not to mention i have a feeling we'll be talking definitely way before a year's time. at the rate things are going. >> absolutely, i would imagine so. >> all right, doctor higdon, we appreciate you being on our show and sharing your insights. thank you for being here. >> it was a pleasure. thank you. >> now coming up, not all ultra processed foods are created equal. a new study finds some pose a greater risk to our health than others. a researcher from harvard's t.h. chan school of public health joins us next. to break it all down

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s for short. a new study is getting a whole lot of attention that these foods are associated with an early risk of death. so joining me now to break this 30 year study down is doctor ming yong song, associate professor of clinical epidemiology and nutrition at harvard's t.h. chan school of public health. doctor thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> all right, let's start with the basics, because i still think people aren't sure what ultra processed foods are. can you break it down? >> sure. uh- ultra processed foods are defined as formulations of ingredients, mostly of exclusive industrial use, that result from a series of industrial processes. so the

key difference between ultra processed food and processed food is that the ultra processed food is not really modified food, but rather formulations of industry ingredients. >> okay, because obviously we think of things like hot dogs or maybe some processed meats, things like that. but i was really shocked to see things like bread be on that list. and maybe not the processed bread that you see in the shelf stable aisle of the bread department, but even fresh breads like a sourdough that you get at a farmer's market that counts, as well as ultra processed. >> and really it depends on how the bread was produced. so that's the kind of the tricky thing with studying ultra processed food, because it is a very mixed group of different foods. so that's why in the research we always look at individual subgroups of ultra processed food rather than just focusing on total ultra

processed food. >> i see, and we're seeing pictures right now of things like pepperoni pizza, and we typically think of junk food, quote unquote, to be ultra processed. but you're saying that's not necessarily the case. i do want to talk about the study itself and what it entails, because the scope of it seems exceptionally large over the period of 30 years. why so long? >> that's a good question. so in our study, we leveraged the uh- data from the nurses health study health professional follow up study, which were established in 1970s 1980s. the reason why we needed such a long period of follow up time is because we need enough time to document uh- death is from the participants because when the participants joined the study, they were all generally healthy and in their mid 40s to 60s, and we followed them up where regular periodic questionnaires to document their

habitual diet and by collecting such rich information over a long period of time, we are able to link the how long term exposure to dietary habits may influence uh- uh- long term death outcomes. >> wow, this is a frightening statistic to see that the risk of death is higher. can you break down a little bit even more? why that is? is it because of high cholesterol, high sodium, etc. >> yeah, first of all, i want to mention that, for total mortality in relation to total ultra processed food, the risk increase is actually quite, moderate, we only found a 4% increase comparing individuals consuming the highest amount of ultra processed food to those consuming, the lowest amount, so for total mortality, the association was quite, moderate.

and when we look at the individual subgroups of ultra processed food, we do see, some, quite, like, stronger, most, stronger association, for example, like the processed meat, and, sugar and artificially sweetened beverage and the dairy based desserts, as they tend to be more strongly associated with mortality outcomes than other ultra processed foods. and in terms of the mechanisms, there have been several hypotheses, including, like you mentioned, the, the, adverse, unfavorable, nutrient profiles of this ultra processed food. they tend to have, have high salt, sugar and also, cholesterol and also, other mechanisms, include the, additives that are being, added to these foods during the processing, such as emulsifiers,

and, also sweeteners. so this, industrial ingredients have been shown to damage our, bacteria, living in our gut, that can cause, chronic inflammation and also can influence our body's metabolic regulation. so over long term period, they can increase chronic disease outcomes. >> i see, so part of it is those ingredients on the list that you can't pronounce or don't know what they are, those types of additives, i take it. >> yes. yeah. >> okay. so what are people supposed to do. because i think it's impossible for us to avoid all of these ultra processed foods in our modern diet. obviously. >> yeah, i completely agree. i don't think it's feasible, it's actually a rational, rationale to, to propose a complete ban on all ultra processed food, instead, what i would, propose

is a more tailored approach. so like, i think it would be wise to, reduce or even avoid, consumption of certain ultra processed food that, have been strongly associated with mortality and also chronic disease outcomes such as processed meat, sugar sweetened beverages. so this like, typical ultra processed food, have been linked to a variety of health outcomes. and for other ultra processed food, we still need more research and before we have more compelling data, i wouldn't , propose like, like, exclusive, first exclusions from our diet, but on the other hand, as we showed in our study, the overall dietary pattern is still the predominant, factor influencing longterm mortality, so, i it will be important for people to

maintain a generally healthy diet pattern. so if people can do that, consuming, some amount of ultra processed food wouldn't be that terrible. >> i have to ask you a personal question, because today for breakfast, i had a chicken burger that was already pre-made. it just needed to be heated up. it was organic, all natural, and i knew all the ingredients on the back, so i assumed that this was good for me. are you telling me that this is ultra processed and maybe something i should avoid because it's a processed meat? >> okay, so it depends on where you get the meat. like, if it was like, like you mentioned a ready to hit, products, then it is considered as ultra processed food and also considered in the category of processed meat. so, i would recommend, trying to reduce, even avoid these products and try to consume, other healthier protein, sources

, ideally like, plant based protein, sources. oh, boy. >> well, i bought a pack of eight because this was at costco, so i better i better eat them and then buy some new chicken. next time i go doctor song, thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> well, coming up, a snapshot of cultural identity ahead. a photographer joins us to talk about her new book that highlights personal stories of people who are contributing to

projects by asian americans today. that includes a photo series by a korean american exploring asian heritage through cherished possessions. joining me now is ashley sarin, creator of the photo book show and tell portraits and stories of today's aapi creatives. thanks for joining us. >> hi. thank you for having me. >> all right, ashley, right off

the bat, what is the premise behind this book? because i know you have a lot of personal motivation behind it. >> yeah. so show and tell portraits and stories of today's aapi creatives is a photo book and series in honor of aapi heritage month, i did the book in collaboration with cape, the coalition of asian pacifics in entertainment. so we brought together an amazing group of ten inspiring aapi in music, entertainment, and sports, to have them tell their story behind a personal object. >> yeah. and what i like so much is that there's such a wide variety of backgrounds in the people that you feature in this book. who are they and how did you come to pick them? >> yeah, so i know the aanhpi community is so diverse, and i wanted to really highlight that, and also just highlight a range of people. so we have, actress meryl dandridge, she's the actor actress in hbo's the last of us. we have the, the ice skating

sibling duo maia and alex shibutani, we have actress karen fukuhara. she's the actress in amazon's the boys and just. yeah, a great, inspiring group of people. >> yeah. why? artifacts because i was reading about adoption papers, for example, holding so much significance for one person. can you give us some examples of these possessions and how they have this tie to our memory, to our cultural identity? >> yeah, i think, well, the whole reason i started this project was as a second generation korean american myself, i've always tried to navigate that balance of identity and of, cultural identity and just being myself as an individual. and i thought personal stories behind objects would be the perfect way to do that, one of my favorite objects and stories was merle dandridge's. she brought a cute

elephant statuette of a mom elephant and baby elephant. and basically the story behind that one is that her mom went to this mountain in korea to pray for her when she was pregnant with her, she was very nervous about having a mixed race kid in the 70s. merrill is half black and half korean, and she ended up going back there with her mother buying this elephant. and yeah, so every time she looks at it, she remembers that memory with her mother. >> oh, what a special memory tied to an object. >> while we're on the subject, what would your personal possession be, it's funny, because mine is a stuffed rabbit. when i was growing up, i always had, stuffed bunny rabbits and so i recently got one for myself, the past year. just as, like, a child, like, fun thing, and karen fukuhara, the actress on the boys, she brought her childhood stuffed

dalmatian dog, which was really cute. >> oh. that's great. the parallels between those two animals, you know, you mentioned earlier that you partnered with cape, the coalition of asian pacifics in entertainment on this project. what part of the book sales goes toward the organization? what else does the group do? >> yeah. so honestly, it's been so great to work with cape and to be connected with them. i think the work that they do in hollywood and just in the entertainment industry in general is so great. and yeah, their work in advancing aapi representation is super important. i know even in the past couple years, there have been so much change, positive change. and yeah, it's been so nice to see that even just working on this project in and of itself. yeah it's about elevating and amplifying these stories of asian americans all throughout the year, which is what your book is doing, not just this month. >> where can people find your book and also find you on social

media so they can see more images, learn more stories? >> yeah. so the book is available for purchase digitally worldwide and physically in the us on my website. ashley karen.com/show and tell. you can also see the full story on pinterest. they are featuring the project on its search page, which is been really exciting. there's a lot of behind the scenes content there. so yeah, if you have pinterest on your phone, you can just go to the search page and you'll see the feature right up at the top. >> yeah, nice to see you getting that type of recognition through pinterest. it'll be a great platform for the book. congratulations once again on this new endeavor. and thank you once again for being here as well. >> thank you so much for having me. >> well, remember abc seven news is streaming 24 hours, seven days a week. you too can get the abc7 bay area app and join us wherever you want, wherever you

world news tonight with david muir is next, followed by abc seven news at four. we leave you now with a live look outside. we'll see you on tv very shortly tonight, breaking news in donald trump's criminal trial. the key witness, michael cohen, on the stand, and what he re reveals. also breaking, the controlled explosion. a huge part of that baltimore bridge comes crashing down just moments ago. you'll see it. first tonight, the high stakes testimony in the criminal trial against donald trump. his former fixer michael