Anne Pasek
@apasek.bsky.social
STS, cultural studies, media, environment, climate, energy
Bikes, cats, synths, barbells, good recipes
Bikes, cats, synths, barbells, good recipes
Reposted by Anne Pasek
In a literal way, the platforms are building a bespoke reality around you designed to maximize your misery, in which everything costs the absolute most you can afford.
They are taking the clarity of the price signal—the one virtue of the free market system—and replacing it with a hall of mirrors.
They are taking the clarity of the price signal—the one virtue of the free market system—and replacing it with a hall of mirrors.
(1/11) If you live in NY, you’ve probably started seeing a new warning: “THIS PRICE WAS SET BY AN ALGORITHM USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA.” This mandatory disclosure went into effect late last year, and it’s the first attempt by a US state to grapple with a new generation of surveillance pricing.
February 16, 2026 at 2:11 AM
In a literal way, the platforms are building a bespoke reality around you designed to maximize your misery, in which everything costs the absolute most you can afford.
They are taking the clarity of the price signal—the one virtue of the free market system—and replacing it with a hall of mirrors.
They are taking the clarity of the price signal—the one virtue of the free market system—and replacing it with a hall of mirrors.
I dream of a future where a subculture called 'Pat face' takes off (everyone gets surgically altered to look like the same person--Pat--in order to do the obfuscation trick of a group of people using the same loyalty card)
(5/11) Walmart, Whole Foods, and Kohls are switching to electronic shelf labels that can display dynamic prices. Kroger deployed them with Microsoft AI—a setup a 2024 Senate inquiry warned could enable “surge pricing” via facial recognition. (Kroger claims it will only lower prices.)
February 16, 2026 at 8:23 AM
I dream of a future where a subculture called 'Pat face' takes off (everyone gets surgically altered to look like the same person--Pat--in order to do the obfuscation trick of a group of people using the same loyalty card)
In case my thumbnailed Zoom facial expression failed to convey this on a recent panel, I would like to take the opportunity to express my great skepticism that we will solve our environmental problems by putting data centres in space or on the moon.
February 13, 2026 at 9:08 PM
In case my thumbnailed Zoom facial expression failed to convey this on a recent panel, I would like to take the opportunity to express my great skepticism that we will solve our environmental problems by putting data centres in space or on the moon.
Reposted by Anne Pasek
My new article on Canada's recent AI strategy consultation. Lightning-fast engagement, dubious data protection measures, black box analysis, & AI-generated summaries from made-in-USA LLMs are not a winning strategy for building public trust
betakit.com/canadas-new-...
betakit.com/canadas-new-...
Canada’s new AI strategy is off to a bad start | BetaKit
Canadians already have low trust in AI. Exclusionary and unclear public engagement methods aren’t helping.
betakit.com
February 9, 2026 at 9:32 PM
My new article on Canada's recent AI strategy consultation. Lightning-fast engagement, dubious data protection measures, black box analysis, & AI-generated summaries from made-in-USA LLMs are not a winning strategy for building public trust
betakit.com/canadas-new-...
betakit.com/canadas-new-...
Canada, on the Bad Bunny halftime show: It's an honour just to be considered.
February 10, 2026 at 9:12 AM
Canada, on the Bad Bunny halftime show: It's an honour just to be considered.
After extensive study and gay-hockey-drama-influencing, I have come to the well-formed opinion that Wolf Parade is a good band and I'll Believe Anything is a good song.
February 9, 2026 at 10:59 AM
After extensive study and gay-hockey-drama-influencing, I have come to the well-formed opinion that Wolf Parade is a good band and I'll Believe Anything is a good song.
Let's go Bryce!
AEW Referee Bryce Remsburg Deliberately Delayed Bell to Let “F*** ICE” Chant Echo During Dynamite Main Event www.ringsidenews.com/aew-referee-...
February 6, 2026 at 9:49 AM
Let's go Bryce!
Reposted by Anne Pasek
Canada did a consultation on a new national AI strategy, formed an expert task force to write 32 reports, then used AI to analyze the responses & reports. The result is a summary that strings together 100s of vague action items & flattens nuance and policy trade-offs into false consensus
February 4, 2026 at 7:37 PM
Canada did a consultation on a new national AI strategy, formed an expert task force to write 32 reports, then used AI to analyze the responses & reports. The result is a summary that strings together 100s of vague action items & flattens nuance and policy trade-offs into false consensus
One thing about moving from North America to Europe is that the bulk of my morning posts are my old friends and acquaintances demented night posts. Hello demented night friends! I think you should go to bed!
February 3, 2026 at 8:39 AM
One thing about moving from North America to Europe is that the bulk of my morning posts are my old friends and acquaintances demented night posts. Hello demented night friends! I think you should go to bed!
Reposted by Anne Pasek
say what you will about being compelled to take vows and join a monastic order it was a better way of dealing with disgraced powerful men than 100k-word substack posts
February 3, 2026 at 4:52 AM
say what you will about being compelled to take vows and join a monastic order it was a better way of dealing with disgraced powerful men than 100k-word substack posts
Reposted by Anne Pasek
Much of the talk of powering AI data centers with next-gen nuclear & fusion is misdirection.
The sector will be past its hype scaling phase by the time any of those are operating. In the meanwhile, they're largely being powered by new gas plants, which can easily continue operating well past 2050.
The sector will be past its hype scaling phase by the time any of those are operating. In the meanwhile, they're largely being powered by new gas plants, which can easily continue operating well past 2050.
i was actually shocked to see the numbers on new research from Global Energy Monitor on new gas projects in the US: nearly 100 gigawatts of power—enough to power tens of millions of homes—are currently in development explicitly to power data centers. At the end of 2023 that number was 4 gigawatts
Data Centers Are Driving a US Gas Boom
Gas projects in the US pipeline explicitly linked to data centers increased by almost 25 times over the past two years, according to new research from Global Energy Monitor.
www.wired.com
January 29, 2026 at 10:58 PM
Much of the talk of powering AI data centers with next-gen nuclear & fusion is misdirection.
The sector will be past its hype scaling phase by the time any of those are operating. In the meanwhile, they're largely being powered by new gas plants, which can easily continue operating well past 2050.
The sector will be past its hype scaling phase by the time any of those are operating. In the meanwhile, they're largely being powered by new gas plants, which can easily continue operating well past 2050.
Outrageously pleasant feature of my CAIS office:
There is always a puzzle in the kitchen you can pick contribute to when you need a little break/while waiting for your tea to steep
There is always a puzzle in the kitchen you can pick contribute to when you need a little break/while waiting for your tea to steep
January 28, 2026 at 10:57 AM
Outrageously pleasant feature of my CAIS office:
There is always a puzzle in the kitchen you can pick contribute to when you need a little break/while waiting for your tea to steep
There is always a puzzle in the kitchen you can pick contribute to when you need a little break/while waiting for your tea to steep
Reposted by Anne Pasek
new publication!
HOW #TRANSPARENCY WORKS
check out my chapter "transparency and the meaning of #sustainability" in an excellent collection of essays that take an anthropological approach to transparency, out now & #openaccess from @universitypress.cambridge.org
www.cambridge.org/core/books/h...
HOW #TRANSPARENCY WORKS
check out my chapter "transparency and the meaning of #sustainability" in an excellent collection of essays that take an anthropological approach to transparency, out now & #openaccess from @universitypress.cambridge.org
www.cambridge.org/core/books/h...
How Transparency Works
Cambridge Core - International Business - How Transparency Works
www.cambridge.org
January 28, 2026 at 9:15 AM
new publication!
HOW #TRANSPARENCY WORKS
check out my chapter "transparency and the meaning of #sustainability" in an excellent collection of essays that take an anthropological approach to transparency, out now & #openaccess from @universitypress.cambridge.org
www.cambridge.org/core/books/h...
HOW #TRANSPARENCY WORKS
check out my chapter "transparency and the meaning of #sustainability" in an excellent collection of essays that take an anthropological approach to transparency, out now & #openaccess from @universitypress.cambridge.org
www.cambridge.org/core/books/h...
This one is going to be an interestingly divergent set of perspectives!
January 28, 2026 at 8:25 AM
This one is going to be an interestingly divergent set of perspectives!
Reposted by Anne Pasek
Tomorrow's #LunchTimeTalk:
#CAISfellow Prof. Emily West (University of Massachusetts Amherst) explores how platforms like Google, Microsoft and Amazon act as climate governors in the age of generative AI.
🗓 Jan 28, 1:30-2:30 CET
Join us at CAIS & online
🔗 www.cais-research.de/en/event/lun...
#CAISfellow Prof. Emily West (University of Massachusetts Amherst) explores how platforms like Google, Microsoft and Amazon act as climate governors in the age of generative AI.
🗓 Jan 28, 1:30-2:30 CET
Join us at CAIS & online
🔗 www.cais-research.de/en/event/lun...
January 27, 2026 at 6:50 AM
Tomorrow's #LunchTimeTalk:
#CAISfellow Prof. Emily West (University of Massachusetts Amherst) explores how platforms like Google, Microsoft and Amazon act as climate governors in the age of generative AI.
🗓 Jan 28, 1:30-2:30 CET
Join us at CAIS & online
🔗 www.cais-research.de/en/event/lun...
#CAISfellow Prof. Emily West (University of Massachusetts Amherst) explores how platforms like Google, Microsoft and Amazon act as climate governors in the age of generative AI.
🗓 Jan 28, 1:30-2:30 CET
Join us at CAIS & online
🔗 www.cais-research.de/en/event/lun...
Reposted by Anne Pasek
‘But what stood out to me as I listened to the recorded conversation between Nadella [CEO Microsoft] and Fink [CEO Blackrock] is that they have largely given up on organic adoption by consumers. They have moved on to a new dream of forced adoption mandated by government and managerial coercion.'
Interesting and terrifying read on the convergence of US tech monopolies and authoritarianism - the former requires the latter to effectively force the adoption of AI technologies via Government mandate and managerial coercion.
theamericanvandal.substack.com/p/you-have-t...
theamericanvandal.substack.com/p/you-have-t...
"You have to use it. You have to trust it.": Forced Adoption of AI is The Subtext of Davos
Authoritarianism is the AI Bailout; But If AI Doesn't Need a Bailout, Does it Need Authoritarianism?
theamericanvandal.substack.com
January 26, 2026 at 4:01 PM
‘But what stood out to me as I listened to the recorded conversation between Nadella [CEO Microsoft] and Fink [CEO Blackrock] is that they have largely given up on organic adoption by consumers. They have moved on to a new dream of forced adoption mandated by government and managerial coercion.'
Reposted by Anne Pasek
I really like the new Anna Högberg Attack. Adding heavy guitar to free jazz squaks is a exactly my thing.
I really hope I can somehow catch her + her band in Stockholm?
annahogberg.bandcamp.com/album/ensams...
I really hope I can somehow catch her + her band in Stockholm?
annahogberg.bandcamp.com/album/ensams...
Ensamseglaren, by Anna Högberg Attack
2 track album
annahogberg.bandcamp.com
January 20, 2026 at 5:37 AM
I really like the new Anna Högberg Attack. Adding heavy guitar to free jazz squaks is a exactly my thing.
I really hope I can somehow catch her + her band in Stockholm?
annahogberg.bandcamp.com/album/ensams...
I really hope I can somehow catch her + her band in Stockholm?
annahogberg.bandcamp.com/album/ensams...
Couple'a thoughts on the staging of public history in Berlin and whether immersion is the best thing to aim for in a museum: sabbatical-ing.blogspot.com/2026/01/publ...
Public Memory in Berlin
A woman I met at a bar asked me what I thought about Berlin. Then, interrupting my own answer, she offered her own emphatic one: "I hate all...
sabbatical-ing.blogspot.com
January 19, 2026 at 9:47 PM
Couple'a thoughts on the staging of public history in Berlin and whether immersion is the best thing to aim for in a museum: sabbatical-ing.blogspot.com/2026/01/publ...
Reminder to self: When you say, nah I'll just write a new talk about that, you are conservatively committing to writing about 6,000 words...
January 19, 2026 at 1:43 PM
Reminder to self: When you say, nah I'll just write a new talk about that, you are conservatively committing to writing about 6,000 words...
I had a lovely time watching a 4 hour documentary on the history of (mostly subsea) telegraph cables, analogized through the 90s sitcom Home Improvement www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmyB...
The birth of the internet, according to Jon Bois
YouTube video by Secret Base
www.youtube.com
January 17, 2026 at 9:14 PM
I had a lovely time watching a 4 hour documentary on the history of (mostly subsea) telegraph cables, analogized through the 90s sitcom Home Improvement www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmyB...
Reposted by Anne Pasek
"A US regulator ruled on Thursday that Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company had acted illegally by using dozens of methane gas turbines to power massive data centers in Tennessee." - @darakerr.bsky.social
Elon Musk’s xAI datacenter generating extra electricity illegally, regulator rules
Win for Memphis activists who say ‘Colossus’ facilities add extra pollution to already overburdened communities
www.theguardian.com
January 16, 2026 at 12:22 PM
"A US regulator ruled on Thursday that Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company had acted illegally by using dozens of methane gas turbines to power massive data centers in Tennessee." - @darakerr.bsky.social
I'm going to Cables of Resistance, a movement conference for anti-fascist/anti-climate delay tech activism in Berlin in April. Anyone else I know planning on being there? cableresist.de#overview
Cables of Resistance -- A movement conference
Cables of Resistance is organised by movements and anti-capitalist activists who practise various forms of resistance against big tech. It will be held April 10-12, 2026, in Berlin, Germany.
cableresist.de
January 16, 2026 at 9:59 AM
I'm going to Cables of Resistance, a movement conference for anti-fascist/anti-climate delay tech activism in Berlin in April. Anyone else I know planning on being there? cableresist.de#overview
Reposted by Anne Pasek
🎤 Join us for our first #LunchtimeTalk of 2026!
Prof. Dr. Anne Pasek, newly started CAIS Fellow, will talk about "Examining the role of the digital sector in shaping climate policy".
📅 January 14, 2026 | 1:30 PM
📍 At CAIS in Bochum & online
www.cais-research.de/en/event/lun...
@apasek.bsky.social
Prof. Dr. Anne Pasek, newly started CAIS Fellow, will talk about "Examining the role of the digital sector in shaping climate policy".
📅 January 14, 2026 | 1:30 PM
📍 At CAIS in Bochum & online
www.cais-research.de/en/event/lun...
@apasek.bsky.social
Lunchtime Talk: Examining the role of the digital sector in shaping climate policy - CAIS
It’s increasingly understood that climate change is in large part a story of class struggle. Traditionally, this is taken to mean conflicts between the wealthy and the working class, or […]
www.cais-research.de
January 13, 2026 at 10:02 AM
🎤 Join us for our first #LunchtimeTalk of 2026!
Prof. Dr. Anne Pasek, newly started CAIS Fellow, will talk about "Examining the role of the digital sector in shaping climate policy".
📅 January 14, 2026 | 1:30 PM
📍 At CAIS in Bochum & online
www.cais-research.de/en/event/lun...
@apasek.bsky.social
Prof. Dr. Anne Pasek, newly started CAIS Fellow, will talk about "Examining the role of the digital sector in shaping climate policy".
📅 January 14, 2026 | 1:30 PM
📍 At CAIS in Bochum & online
www.cais-research.de/en/event/lun...
@apasek.bsky.social
I've started a blog (!) about life on sabbatical: sabbatical-ing.blogspot.com
January 12, 2026 at 9:37 AM
I've started a blog (!) about life on sabbatical: sabbatical-ing.blogspot.com