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Richard

@rwpickard.bsky.social

180 followers 220 following 1.3K posts

Reader, tree-hugger, teacher, preserver of foodstuffs. Canadian. Deleter of rwpickard from Twitter/X. http://boughtbooks.blogspot.com

boughtbooks.blogspot.com

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Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · Aug 30

Re-upping this post, just to make my feelings about AI unmistakeable. #noAI #againstAI
boughtbooks.blogspot.com/2025/05/neig...

Neighbourhood radical: A story about "AI"

Last night, at a kind neighbour's gentle garden party, I found myself calling for revolution and telling someone to choose which side they'd...

boughtbooks.blogspot.com

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Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 54m

Also: by definition, OpenAI cannot help Canada grow "homegrown AI." It doesn't grow, and it's a corrosive metaphor, plus OpenAI isn't Canadian (and at this point is basically one of the evil empires)

Reposted by Richard

Marv Beatty @marvbeatty.bsky.social · 1h

"... requiring roughly the same amount of electricity needed to power eight million to 10 million homes in Canada ... use up to a billion gallons of water per year to keep cool because they generate so much heat."

Don't allow this, @mark-carney.bsky.social.

www.cbc.ca/news/busines...

#againstAI

ANALYSIS | Why OpenAI wants to help Canada build homegrown artificial intelligence | CBC News

OpenAI wants to help Canada build a sovereign digital infrastructure for artificial intelligence, putting the country in a tough spot as it tries to distance itself from overreliance on U.S. tech comp...

www.cbc.ca

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Reposted by Richard

Matt Zoller Seitz @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social · 1d

"'You have to admit, AI is here to stay.' Well, no, I don’t. Not unless you say what you actually mean. What’s the claim you’re making? Herpes is here to stay too, but you probably wouldn’t brag about it."

Tyler @electriceden92.bsky.social · 1d

@davidgerard.co.uk already had the best piece on this pivot-to-ai.com/2025/07/10/a...

‘AI is here to stay’ — is it, though? What do you mean, ‘stay’?

When some huge and stupid public chatbot disaster hits the news, the AI pumpers will Kramer into the mentions to say stuff like “you have to admit, AI is here to stay.” Well, no, I don’t. Not unles…

pivot-to-ai.com

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Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 12h

Ok, it's almost certainly a waste of time, because the LLM/AI cadres will auto-respond in an attempt to outnumber the wise, but we can't cede the ground entirely. #againstAI

Ness 🎃🇨🇦 @vriccithode.bsky.social · 20h

hey canadian friends you can tell the govt what you think about AI (🚮)! survey closes at the end of the month. it's a tad long but worth it. #CanPoli
ised-isde.canada.ca/site/ised/en...

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 renew...

ised-isde.canada.ca

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Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 12h

This article is such a good, terrible read, but on the positive side, it's full of wisely critical comrades.

Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 23h

“Uncritical adoption of AI, will inevitably create people without critical thinking, and this may be a feature - not a bug, as it represents an attack on human agency itself.”

collectivefutures.blog/the-infrastr...

The infrastructure of meaninglessness

Listen, there are two realities that we should be aware of. AI exists to make your job obsolete because the alternative is that AI makes managers obsolete. Let me try to break down this theory, which...

collectivefutures.blog

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Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 13h

That's what I kept saying, but with different phrasing.

Reposted by Richard

Theresa Kishkan @fishgottaswim.bsky.social · 1d

theresakishkan.com/2025/10/10/r...

Alt text: two striped winter squash and an oyster shell on a chipped yellow plate, a flowered jug holding pink flowers alongside

redux: “five suns from a flying heaven”: Thanksgivings 1991 and 2020

Note: I posted this five years ago, remembering a Thanksgiving weekend nearly 30 years before that. Yesterday as I shopped for groceries, I realized that another Thanksgiving has come around. We we…

theresakishkan.com

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Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 21h

"post-collapse liveability": speaking my language!

Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 22h

Like, how can you POSSIBLY include this as a survey question when I'm 92% finished: "What are the emerging security risks associated with AI, and how can Canada proactively mitigate future threats?"

Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 22h

Me: Many responses will come from boosters "using AI to write and submit their responses. If you're incapable of recognizing this, and that's what happens, then AI-manipulated survey results will be what ensures the government develops a doomed strategy that'll fail this nation."

Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 22h

I did the Canadian government's AI survey this week: good times. My fave question (by which I mean the one that pushed me closest to the brink) was maybe "What are the key barriers to AI adoption, and how can government and industry work together to accelerate responsible uptake?" #againstAI

a cartoon character with an angry look on his face and the words freetopsticker below him

Alt: Anger, the cartoon character from the movie Inside Out, looking angry and then having flame shoot out from the top of his head while he screams in rage

media.tenor.com

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Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 23h

This is what I mean, a story that was released RIGHT before their higher-ed AI slidedeck/report started getting puffed. www.cantechletter.com/newswires/kp...

KPMG in Canada recognized as a leader in Canadian AI services by IDC MarketScape

TORONTO, Oct. 10, 2025 /CNW/ – KPMG in Canada has been recognized as a leader in the IDC MarketScape: Canadian AI Services 2025 Vendor Assessment*. The IDC MarketScape said “KPMG’s approaches to…

www.cantechletter.com

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Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 23h

I considered not linking at all to KPMG's 'splainer page and download. No one should read this stuff except to build a counter-argument. But for my comrades who want to do just that, maybe it's okay to bury a link this far down the thread. Stay strong, friends. 10/10 kpmg.com/ca/en/home/i...

Generative AI and the future of education

Why higher education leaders are leaning into technology to drive student and employee success to build stronger institutions

kpmg.com

Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 23h

All across this country, though, it'll be getting flagged for overwhelmed administrators. In the same way that I blame my students' AI use on billionaires hunger for cash, not my students, I blame consultants for this situation, not the too-busy staff. KPMG's "report" should be ignored. Period. 9/

Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 23h

... No one should act on such information without appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of the particular situation." Oh no, I was JUST about to trust my life to this slidedeck that so confidently extrapolates from answers by 423 randos! 8/

Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 23h

... Although we endeavour to provide accurate and timely information, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. ... /7

Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 23h

I love KPMG's caveat, too, on slide 19, that's long enough for 3 skeets here: "The information contained herein is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity.... 6/

Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 23h

If so, the 11% of employees who are allegedly using AI while "Drafting or editing a legal brief or legal opinion" or the 5% while "Drafting or editing a legal contract" should be traceable . Probably that'd be just a spellcheck fake-AI anyway, but argh. #saveClippy 5/

Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 23h

Also p.18: they surveyed 2,551 people, so at most 2,128 post-secondary employees. Notably the slidedeck does NOT provide a precise number for employees, and there's no sign it wasn't just a genpop survey. I'd guess it's a lot lower than 423. 4/

Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 23h

So: when KPMG says "7 in 10 students are saying they are turning to generative AI for help rather than their instructor," they mean that someone else's online survey tool identified fewer than 300 students who were saying this, fewer than 200 at universities. Journalists NEED to notice this! 3/

Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 23h

Methodology per the slidedeck, page 18: they surveyed 423 students, of which 67% were undergraduate and graduate university students; 20% college students; and 13% in technical, trade, vocational schools or high school.

At most 285 at universities, 85 at colleges, 55 elsewhere. 2/

Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 23h

Wondering about this piece, in relation to that KPMG report circulating yesterday on AI in Canada's post-secondary world. (The public-facing KPMG "report" is only a PPT slide deck, to be clear. I haven't seen the full report, which presumably I'd have to pay for.) pivot-to-ai.com/2025/10/07/d...

Deloitte Australia retracts ChatGPT report, refunds government

We noted in August how Deloitte Australia did a report for the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) that looked extremely chatbot. It was full of fake references, and some of the…

pivot-to-ai.com

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Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 1d

Anyone with notes on what to put in my 2-3 minutes of talking about AI during our upcoming department seminar? (I mean, I have thoughts, and it has to be under 3 minutes, but.) #againstAI

Cheerful poster announcing a six-presenter talk, including me, on the topic of generative AI and departments of English. I have cropped the names of the other presenters out of the image, in case they don't want to appear on social media

Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 1d

Kelly: no! Tho also kinda yes.

Katja: ok, but KPMG is less random than huge, with experience in vacuuming up cash previously necessary for institutions' core functions across many sectors. It's another long, slow, sectoral assault: blow up the schools, keep the cash. kpmg.com/ca/en/home/i...

The future of higher education

Insights on the changing landscape of the education sector

kpmg.com

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Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 1d

My students seem to appreciate that I think they're better than the LLM-style AI things being foisted onto them at every turn. Jameel et al. are on the wrong side here, even if for now it's a path to wealth.