Can AI copy a dance?

Can artificial intelligence reproduce one of the most complex human art forms – dance – and is it a threat to dancers and their profession?

CalMatters Reporters set out to answer these questions by first testing four commercially available AI video generation models: OpenAI’s Sora, Google’s Veo, MiniMax’s Hailou, and Kuaishou’s Kling. The models were prompted to depict people performing nine different dances, including bird dances as practiced by the Cahuilla Native American group, folklore and mashed potatoes since the 1960s.

All 36 videos failed to generate a video of a person performing the particular requested dance – although one did return a video of a person dancing.

Although these results, which the reporters published late last year, were unimpressive, they showed a significant improvement and generated fewer visual inconsistencies than the results that were originally tested in 2024.

AI’s ability to rapidly improve its photorealistic content and its implications for the dance industry highlight how the technology is affecting other creative fields and artists. In 2023 Hollywood writers and actors went on strike in part to address the use of AI replicating their work. Actors and voice actors in video games also quit his job last year to seek AI protection.

While dancers shouldn’t worry too much right now that AI will replace them, some dancers, CalMatters spoke with expressed concern about how their performance videos posted online are helping AI models train themselves without the dancers’ permission.

• Emma Anotherdance teacher and choreographer at Berklee: “My body and my dances are mine, and the idea that it can just be sucked through this process and then become part of an AI without my consent is something I don’t like.”

Read the full story hereand for more information on the methodology behind AI-generated dance videos, see our explainer.

As the Trump administration continues to threaten California over allegations of welfare fraud, Gov. Gavin Newsom touts that the state is reduced food theft and monetary benefitswrites Jeanne Kuang of CalMatters.

The governor said last week that the thefts amounted to more than $4 million a month last fall for the CalFresh food assistance program and CalWorks cash benefits. That’s $16 million less than two years ago, when it was reported that $20 million a month was stolen from welfare recipients in California.

The thefts cited by Newsom involved fraudsters using hidden devices to steal EBT card numbers. The cards are then duplicated and then siphoned off cash or used to make large purchases before cardholders are notified. When money is stolen from these cards, the state uses taxpayer dollars to reimburse victims.

Critics of Newsom’s statement said the number of threats reported by the state was likely an undercount.

Read more here.

From CalMatters homelessness reporter Marissa Kendall:

California counties are starting their homeless counts right now this week, which means volunteers will set out before dawn in an attempt to answer a crucial question: Is the state’s homelessness crisis getting better or worse?

The count is an effort to count every person sleeping outside or in a shelter bed overnight. While it’s imperfect—volunteers are likely to miss people, different counties use different methodology, and some numbers are estimates—the results influence county homelessness funding, policies and politics.

Alameda, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties are among those holding their counts this week, and Fresno County is counts next week. Not all California counties are doing it this year. The feds require each county to count every other year, so some won’t be counted again until 2027.

Typically, the federal government collects this data and publishes statewide and national totals in December. We’re still waiting on that 2025 report, but Governor Newsom recently said that California has seen 9% discount last year in the number of people sleeping on sidewalks and in other places that are not intended for habitation.

On Tuesday, US Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, both California Democrats, conducted an oversight visit to California City’s newest and largest immigration detention center. More than 1,400 people are held at the facility, which is run by a private, for-profit company. Read more by Wendy Fry of CalMatters.