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Reposted by Kara Patterson 🇨🇦

Kate Clancy @kateclancy.bsky.social · 4h

I am being asked to tell my department which pieces of lab equipment should be supported with backup power because they expect rolling blackouts and brownouts in 2026 due to increased energy demands from AI. In case you're wondering how my day is going.

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Reposted by Kara Patterson 🇨🇦

bleary @bleary.off-the-records.com · 1d

If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.

Did people really memorize phone numbers before cell phones, or is that just a movie thing?
2? Questions
I was watching some old shows from the 90s and noticed people would just dial numbers from memory - like they'd call their friends or family without looking anything up.
Made me wonder if that was actually normal back then? Did people genuinely have all their important numbers memorized, or did most folks keep a little address book or written list nearby?

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Jessica Kant @jessdkant.bsky.social · 1d

“These findings follow previous research which concluded that the more people learn about how AI works, the less they trust it. The opposite was also true — AI’s biggest fanboys tended to be those who understood the least about the tech.”

The More Scientists Work With AI, the Less They Trust It

A preliminary report shows that researchers' confidence in AI software dropped off a cliff over the last year.

futurism.com

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Izzy Jayasinghe @ijayas.bsky.social · 2d

🤖 If you use LinkedIn, please be aware that they automatically use your profile to train their GenAI. To turn off, go to Settings > Data Privacy > Data for Gen AI improvements.

Screenshot of LinkedIn’s menu: “How LinkedIn uses your data”. Near the bottom, is the option to turn off “Data for Generative AI improvement”, shown with a red arrow.

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Slurmsadako MacKenzie @slurmsmackenzie.bsky.social · 2d

GenAI truly was the worst technology to come along at this moment.

An energy and water guzzler when we most urgently need to take climate action.

A disinformation machine as our journalism fails.

A bias machine as fascism takes root.

A job killer in a cost of living crisis.

Bria "tries to write a book" Horses @thevoidencore.bsky.social · 7d

The "cognitive decline and brain damage from repeat COVID infections" and "easy to use robot that makes slop and melts your critical thinking skills" is a hell of a combo in a post-fact media ecosystem

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Gwen Snyder is undead @gwensnyder.bsky.social · 2d

Relatedly, one red flag I have learned to see lately is the person who *needs* to be the child whisperer.

Because that is a person whose ego is at odds with the child's ability to maintain healthy boundaries and make their own choices about who to trust

Gwen Snyder is undead @gwensnyder.bsky.social · 2d

One of the best phrases I've ever learned for working with kids is, "thank you for your no."

It gives me such happiness to see them make their own choices for their little bodies, and to be able to affirm that as a good thing

Chantal James @chantalalive.blacksky.app · 2d

Some little kids are not really shy, they just choose who they want to give their energy to & refuse to give it unless they want to. We could all learn from that boundary setting.

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Reposted by Kara Patterson 🇨🇦

Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 2d

“The big advantage of bikes is that they go directly from where you start to where you finish, when you need to go. The advantage over cars is that they need perhaps 1/10th of the amount of space. Roads that jam up quickly with cars can carry effectively unlimited numbers of people by bicycle.”

Why e-bikes are more important the EVs

Bikes can actually transform cities in the way driverless cars promise

danielknowles.substack.com

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Polling Canada @canadianpolling.bsky.social · 4d

"Donald Trump's comments about Canada becoming the US' 51st state have strengthened my Canadian pride and my belief that Canada must maintain its independence"

🟢 Agree: 72%
🟡 Neutral: 19%
⚫️ Disagree: 9%

Read it here: open.substack.com/pub/canadian...

Canadians Firmly Reject Idea of American Statehood

Support for American statehood remains low across all age groups, even in more conservative provinces like Alberta

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Kara Patterson 🇨🇦

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 4d

From the tech bro gospel: “someone was going to coarsen society and further immiserate people, it may as well be me.”

"We're already at the point where we can't tell what's real and what's not online, and OpenAI and other tech companies will have to solve around that," said the former OpenAI engineer, using tech lingo for finding a solution to a problem. "But that's not an argument for not trying to dominate this market. You can't stop progress. If OpenAI didn't release Sora, someone else would have."

In fact, Meta is also trying to, with its recent introduction of Vibes, a platform where people can make and share short AI-generated deepfakes. In July, Google introduced Veo 3, an AI video tool. But it wasn't until OpenAI's release of the Sora app that personalized AI slop really took off.

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Nicole Chung @nicolechung.bsky.social · 4d

I’m not autistic, just a parent to an autistic kid w/ fairly significant support needs, but I personally find it very frustrating to see so many people fixated on preventing, reducing, or “curing” autism and neurodiversity instead of talking about inclusion + getting folks whatever support they need

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Prof Anna Watts @profannawatts.bsky.social · 4d

Lol the Nobels can't even acknowledge women's contribution to discovery. But sure let's acknowledge The Machines.

Headline from an article in Nature this week that states "Prizes must recognize machine contributions to discovery. The future of science will be written by humans and machines together. Awards should reflect that reality."

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Kayla B @queenofthesouth.bsky.social · 5d

Needing multiple streams of income to stay afloat is a societal failure not a personal one. You should be able to afford a comfortable lifestyle with one job. You are not lazy.

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 5d

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

nyti.ms

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Mariah McCourt @monsterteatime.bsky.social · 5d

When I struggled with something writing-wise I take a walk. And 100% of the time I end up figuring out the solution. I would never, ever, ever, ask a machine to do that for me. Wtf.

ouinne @ouinne.bsky.social · 5d

The only correct take on a fundamentally anti-human technology.

Screenshot of David Simon interview
SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

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Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 5d

A new study shows that receiving an updated COVID vaccine reduced people’s risk of severe disease and death in all age groups, regardless of immunity from prior infection or vaccination

Annual COVID Vaccines Save Lives, New Study Shows

A new study shows that receiving an updated COVID vaccine reduced people’s risk of severe disease and death in all age groups, regardless of immunity from prior infection or vaccination

www.scientificamerican.com

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Pride in Patient Engagement in Research @piper-uhn.bsky.social · 5d

Our Keynote Panel - moderated by Angela M. Cheung with panelists Alexandra Rendely, Rebecca Lewkowicz, and Susie Goulding explored "The Important Role of People with Lived Experience in Long-COVID Care and Research".

#PiPERResearchDay2025

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Reposted by Kara Patterson 🇨🇦

ashley scarebanks 💀🕯️ @ziibiing.com · 6d

-my followers paid for my dad’s cancer treatment and gave him the funds he needed to take time off during chemo and radiation

-i got a book deal with Penguin Random House and they gave me another

-i’ve raised over $200,000 for direct actions, Indigenous orgs, arts orgs i care about

-i have a job?

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 6d

Has anything great happened in your life because of social media?

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Nico Mara-McKay 🦇 (they/iel) @nicomaramckay.com · 6d

Canadians: The federal government is seeking public input on how AI should be developed and used in business, research, and the military.

If this scares the shit out of you, please let them know:

Help define the next chapter of Canada's AI leadership

Current status: Open from October 1 to October 31, 2025 Canada helped invent modern AI. To stay a leader—and protect our digital sovereignty—we're running a 30-day national sprint to shape a renewed...

ised-isde.canada.ca

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Kara Patterson 🇨🇦 @karakpatterson.bsky.social · 6d

A great and informative video from @kurzgesagt.org

The term “confidently incorrect” sums up the problem with AI slop nicely.

I also like the position that AI can be a useful tool but the “integrity and creativity is still ours”

Christopher Mims @mims.bsky.social · 6d

This is a REALLY good video that gets into the *specifics* of how AI is degrading our information environment and putting truth further out of reach for the average person / the population as a whole

🎃 🧟 Prof. Dr Beth Singler 👻 🎃 @bvlsingler.bsky.social · 6d

I walked into the lounge last night to find my teenage son watching this. We have long admired @kurzgesagt.org and found their videos to be extremely illuminating. But this one in particular I think is so important right now!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zfN...

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 6d

So the business model is dependent on theft.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Jennifer Kretchmer @dreamwisp.bsky.social · 6d

Because it feels relevant as we continue to evaluate the media and our representatives’ statements, my favorite way to identify the active vs. passive voice.

A post by Rebecca Johnson:
“I finally learned how to teach my guys to ID the passive voice. If you can insert "by zombies" after the verb, you have passive voice.”

A tumblr respond from mightymur:
“The final, brilliant word on passive voice.
"She was killed [by zombies.]"<--passive
"Zombies killed [by zombies] her." <-- active”

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pieist.xenoplasm.com @pieist.xenoplasm.com · 7d

Why bother to read something nobody could be bothered to write?

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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.bsky.social · 7d

ideally, the only places i want to be in AI are spaces for resistance, refusal and community organising

in reality, i find myself in spaces where AI governance, regulatory or institutional/scientific decisions are made where either i my input is paid lip service or entirely ignored

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David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 7d

This is true for students too. Yes there are many factors impacting student reading, but working 30+ hours a week to be able to afford college is definitely one of them.

Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 7d

I see pieces like this a lot, often w/ a spin of lamenting cultural degeneration, but reading is a LABOR issue, it’s declined because so many people are working overtime or two jobs & employers expect after hours work. France has Earth’s highest reading rate b/c long lunch breaks & labor protections

After Dinner Conversation® @afterdinnerconversation.com · 7d

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Kara Patterson 🇨🇦 @karakpatterson.bsky.social · 7d

This piece makes several excellent points but this quote summed it up very well …

“You’re not making art, you’re making disgusting, over-processed hotdogs out of the lives of human beings, out of the history of art and music…”

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 7d

Robin Williams’ daughter Zelda hits out at AI-generated videos of her dead father: ‘Stop doing this to him’

Film-maker tells the public to stop sending her videos, saying: ‘You’re not making art, you’re making disgusting, over-processed hotdogs out of the lives of human beings’ Zelda Williams, the daughter of the late actor and comedian Robin Williams, has spoken out against AI-generated content featuring her father. “Please, just stop sending me AI videos of Dad,” Zelda wrote in an Instagram story on Monday. “Stop believing I wanna see it or that I’ll understand, I don’t and I won’t. If you’re just trying to troll me, I’ve seen way worse, I’ll restrict and move on. But please, if you’ve got any decency, just stop doing this to him and to me, to everyone even, full stop. It’s dumb, it’s a waste of time and energy, and believe me, it’s NOT what he’d want. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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