Blayne Haggart
@bhaggart.bsky.social
Professor, Political Science, Brock University
Knowledge governance, IPE, Sydney Swans tragic
Co-author, with Natasha Tusikov, The New Knowledge: Information, Data and the Remaking of Global Power (Bloomsbury, 2023). Open Access.
Knowledge governance, IPE, Sydney Swans tragic
Co-author, with Natasha Tusikov, The New Knowledge: Information, Data and the Remaking of Global Power (Bloomsbury, 2023). Open Access.
Some Pet Shop Boys for your Monday evening.
youtu.be/ik2YF05iX2w?...
youtu.be/ik2YF05iX2w?...
Pet Shop Boys - Domino Dancing (Official Video) [HD REMASTERED]
YouTube video by PetShopBoys Parlophone
youtu.be
November 25, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Some Pet Shop Boys for your Monday evening.
youtu.be/ik2YF05iX2w?...
youtu.be/ik2YF05iX2w?...
Reposted by Blayne Haggart
So Canadians in some provinces have free contraceptives & diabetes meds but most don't. Inequitable healthcare access isn't okay.
"Mark Carney and Michel have not publicly pledged to expand to a full national, universal pharmacare program. Both have spoken about “protecting” pharmacare."
"Mark Carney and Michel have not publicly pledged to expand to a full national, universal pharmacare program. Both have spoken about “protecting” pharmacare."
November 25, 2025 at 12:59 AM
So Canadians in some provinces have free contraceptives & diabetes meds but most don't. Inequitable healthcare access isn't okay.
"Mark Carney and Michel have not publicly pledged to expand to a full national, universal pharmacare program. Both have spoken about “protecting” pharmacare."
"Mark Carney and Michel have not publicly pledged to expand to a full national, universal pharmacare program. Both have spoken about “protecting” pharmacare."
I now have my closer for next week’s generative AI lecture. Thanks, Bluesky!
lol this rocks
taking my children to see the nativity mural painted on the olde drugstore facade downtown and accidentally giving them PTSD from a hieronymous bosch version of rudolph getting eaten by elves
taking my children to see the nativity mural painted on the olde drugstore facade downtown and accidentally giving them PTSD from a hieronymous bosch version of rudolph getting eaten by elves
November 25, 2025 at 2:41 AM
I now have my closer for next week’s generative AI lecture. Thanks, Bluesky!
Reposted by Blayne Haggart
Reposted by Blayne Haggart
I'm so tired of people telling me to have students critique LLM outputs. I'm just going to print this on little cards and hand them out
I will add the following: our students lack the research skills required to audit an LLM essay for errors. They don’t arrive on campus with these skills; we teach it to them over four long years. So throwing freshmen in the deep end and saying “swim your way to a shore of rectitude” is folly.
November 24, 2025 at 2:36 PM
I'm so tired of people telling me to have students critique LLM outputs. I'm just going to print this on little cards and hand them out
Reposted by Blayne Haggart
Revealing look at Canada’s Vichy tech company.
Faked sales claims. AI-driven hunts for malefactors jn a “high-trust company.” Executives heading for the exits. @aleksagan.bsky.social has an exclusive report on bad doings at #Shopify.
Shopify rocked by sales fraud scandal that led to ultimatums and firings - The Logic
Shopify salespeople were inflating the value of the deals they were closing. When management found out, they told staff to own up or face the consequences.
thelogic.co
November 24, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Revealing look at Canada’s Vichy tech company.
Focusing on the accuracy of an LLM’s output for a specific assignment misses the actual problem: that student use of LLMs impairs the development of the skills schools are supposed to teach. It presumes that if it were to hit a certain accuracy threshold (50%? 70?) it would be ok to use.
Two years ago I had lunch with the dean of a department at one of Toronto’s major universities and she told me she had instructed all her profs teaching first-year classes to do exactly this. It sounded sensible and I wonder if it’s now more widely applied
November 24, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Focusing on the accuracy of an LLM’s output for a specific assignment misses the actual problem: that student use of LLMs impairs the development of the skills schools are supposed to teach. It presumes that if it were to hit a certain accuracy threshold (50%? 70?) it would be ok to use.
I can't even...
Also, instead of reflexively turning to computer scientists to weigh in on the policymaking process, perhaps also ask actual experts in law and public policy if it's "fine" to use generative AI to draft legislation, and why it might not be a great idea.
Also, instead of reflexively turning to computer scientists to weigh in on the policymaking process, perhaps also ask actual experts in law and public policy if it's "fine" to use generative AI to draft legislation, and why it might not be a great idea.
November 23, 2025 at 10:42 PM
I can't even...
Also, instead of reflexively turning to computer scientists to weigh in on the policymaking process, perhaps also ask actual experts in law and public policy if it's "fine" to use generative AI to draft legislation, and why it might not be a great idea.
Also, instead of reflexively turning to computer scientists to weigh in on the policymaking process, perhaps also ask actual experts in law and public policy if it's "fine" to use generative AI to draft legislation, and why it might not be a great idea.
Reposted by Blayne Haggart
As someone who is also this guy’s age I can tell you 100% this wasn’t hard at all. The Beatles were Boomer music and they were shoved down your throat everywhere and they reeked of your parents’ nostalgia. Nobody I knew liked The Beatles.
If you were into grunge, *everything* was your enemy.
If you were into grunge, *everything* was your enemy.
As someone who is this guy's age I can tell you 100% that if you were into Pixies, Nirvana, 120 Minutes stuff, etc. but didn't like the Beatles you had to have worked hard to contort yourself into that special little box. Your enemy, if you absolutely needed one, was hair metal. GTFO here with this.
November 23, 2025 at 4:57 PM
As someone who is also this guy’s age I can tell you 100% this wasn’t hard at all. The Beatles were Boomer music and they were shoved down your throat everywhere and they reeked of your parents’ nostalgia. Nobody I knew liked The Beatles.
If you were into grunge, *everything* was your enemy.
If you were into grunge, *everything* was your enemy.
Reposted by Blayne Haggart
Trudeau-era foreign policy was feminist only in the neoliberal sense where empowerment came through capital and individualist “boot-straps” mentality. Nothing was prioritized in changing the system for women as a class. Carney decided even that was too much.
November 23, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Trudeau-era foreign policy was feminist only in the neoliberal sense where empowerment came through capital and individualist “boot-straps” mentality. Nothing was prioritized in changing the system for women as a class. Carney decided even that was too much.
Reposted by Blayne Haggart
Today is Doctor Who Day, which honours the day that Doctor Who premiered on the BBC in 1963.
The TARDIS, The Doctor and many other aspects of the show are thanks to its co-creator, Sydney Newman of Toronto.
This is his story.
🧵 1/12
The TARDIS, The Doctor and many other aspects of the show are thanks to its co-creator, Sydney Newman of Toronto.
This is his story.
🧵 1/12
November 23, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Today is Doctor Who Day, which honours the day that Doctor Who premiered on the BBC in 1963.
The TARDIS, The Doctor and many other aspects of the show are thanks to its co-creator, Sydney Newman of Toronto.
This is his story.
🧵 1/12
The TARDIS, The Doctor and many other aspects of the show are thanks to its co-creator, Sydney Newman of Toronto.
This is his story.
🧵 1/12
Reposted by Blayne Haggart
The show was a huge hit and became an iconic part of British culture.
In 2007, in the episode Human Nature, The Doctor says his parents are Sydney and Verity, in tribute to them. In 1970, despite offers to stay from the BBC with a promotion, Sydney moved back to Canada.
🧵7/12
In 2007, in the episode Human Nature, The Doctor says his parents are Sydney and Verity, in tribute to them. In 1970, despite offers to stay from the BBC with a promotion, Sydney moved back to Canada.
🧵7/12
November 23, 2025 at 4:00 PM
The show was a huge hit and became an iconic part of British culture.
In 2007, in the episode Human Nature, The Doctor says his parents are Sydney and Verity, in tribute to them. In 1970, despite offers to stay from the BBC with a promotion, Sydney moved back to Canada.
🧵7/12
In 2007, in the episode Human Nature, The Doctor says his parents are Sydney and Verity, in tribute to them. In 1970, despite offers to stay from the BBC with a promotion, Sydney moved back to Canada.
🧵7/12
Reposted by Blayne Haggart
Mark Carney continues to distance himself from Justin Trudeau. But if there's a political calculation here, I can't see it.
No more feminist foreign policy, Carney says
Prime Minister, who made the comments at the G20 summit in Johannesburg, has placed less emphasis on feminist policies than the Trudeau government
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Mark Carney continues to distance himself from Justin Trudeau. But if there's a political calculation here, I can't see it.
Reposted by Blayne Haggart
The world is amidst a misogynist, racist backlash and the violent results of rage-bait laden social media.
Of all the times to say Canada is "meh" about 1/2 the world and gender-based violence...
Then adding Canada seeks returns on investment Africa can't deliver...whilst being a guest.
Unbelievable
Of all the times to say Canada is "meh" about 1/2 the world and gender-based violence...
Then adding Canada seeks returns on investment Africa can't deliver...whilst being a guest.
Unbelievable
The women that brought him to power might be raising their collective eyebrows.
Canada's view on Africa also bears reporting.
Important coverage from the G20 @geoffreyyork.bsky.social
Canada's view on Africa also bears reporting.
Important coverage from the G20 @geoffreyyork.bsky.social
November 23, 2025 at 2:56 PM
The world is amidst a misogynist, racist backlash and the violent results of rage-bait laden social media.
Of all the times to say Canada is "meh" about 1/2 the world and gender-based violence...
Then adding Canada seeks returns on investment Africa can't deliver...whilst being a guest.
Unbelievable
Of all the times to say Canada is "meh" about 1/2 the world and gender-based violence...
Then adding Canada seeks returns on investment Africa can't deliver...whilst being a guest.
Unbelievable
Carney on Africa:
“Yes, Africa is part…Is it the first thing we worked on in terms of priorities? No…Because we have a responsibility to have that highest return.”
What a foolish, stupid thing to say/believe. Canada needs all the friends we can get, and he just told an entire continent to screw off.
“Yes, Africa is part…Is it the first thing we worked on in terms of priorities? No…Because we have a responsibility to have that highest return.”
What a foolish, stupid thing to say/believe. Canada needs all the friends we can get, and he just told an entire continent to screw off.
The women that brought him to power might be raising their collective eyebrows.
Canada's view on Africa also bears reporting.
Important coverage from the G20 @geoffreyyork.bsky.social
Canada's view on Africa also bears reporting.
Important coverage from the G20 @geoffreyyork.bsky.social
November 23, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Carney on Africa:
“Yes, Africa is part…Is it the first thing we worked on in terms of priorities? No…Because we have a responsibility to have that highest return.”
What a foolish, stupid thing to say/believe. Canada needs all the friends we can get, and he just told an entire continent to screw off.
“Yes, Africa is part…Is it the first thing we worked on in terms of priorities? No…Because we have a responsibility to have that highest return.”
What a foolish, stupid thing to say/believe. Canada needs all the friends we can get, and he just told an entire continent to screw off.
Reposted by Blayne Haggart
The women that brought him to power might be raising their collective eyebrows.
Canada's view on Africa also bears reporting.
Important coverage from the G20 @geoffreyyork.bsky.social
Canada's view on Africa also bears reporting.
Important coverage from the G20 @geoffreyyork.bsky.social
November 23, 2025 at 1:09 PM
The women that brought him to power might be raising their collective eyebrows.
Canada's view on Africa also bears reporting.
Important coverage from the G20 @geoffreyyork.bsky.social
Canada's view on Africa also bears reporting.
Important coverage from the G20 @geoffreyyork.bsky.social
Reposted by Blayne Haggart
No PM, who swept to power as women abandoned his main opponent, should want this headline.
PM Goldman Sachs has very bad political instincts.
"Mark Carney, backing away from a key international priority of his Liberal predecessors, says his government does not have a feminist foreign policy."
PM Goldman Sachs has very bad political instincts.
"Mark Carney, backing away from a key international priority of his Liberal predecessors, says his government does not have a feminist foreign policy."
November 23, 2025 at 1:14 PM
No PM, who swept to power as women abandoned his main opponent, should want this headline.
PM Goldman Sachs has very bad political instincts.
"Mark Carney, backing away from a key international priority of his Liberal predecessors, says his government does not have a feminist foreign policy."
PM Goldman Sachs has very bad political instincts.
"Mark Carney, backing away from a key international priority of his Liberal predecessors, says his government does not have a feminist foreign policy."
A thoughtful and enjoyable long read for your Sunday morning.
In which I articulate the case that AGI is impossible and machines just plain cannot think. www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/on-inco...
On Incomputable Language: An Essay on AI
An incidental consequence of having written a book on tech-fascism and the so-called rationalist movement is that I find myself periodically queried for my thoughts on artificial intelligence. On the ...
www.eruditorumpress.com
November 23, 2025 at 12:39 PM
A thoughtful and enjoyable long read for your Sunday morning.
November 23, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Maybe. But his boss definitely is.
So Bezos is in them too then?
The Washington Post editorial board decided the Epstein files have “no public interest” before even seeing them. That’s a stunning position for any newsroom to take. Praising Clay Higgins as the lone ‘no’ vote, too? No wonder no one trusts legacy media. Absolutely disgusting.
November 22, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Maybe. But his boss definitely is.
The North-Melbourne AFLW final is a banger.
November 22, 2025 at 5:44 PM
The North-Melbourne AFLW final is a banger.
Reposted by Blayne Haggart
Reposted by Blayne Haggart
“AI workers said they distrust the models they work on because of a consistent emphasis on rapid turnaround time at the expense of quality.”
Meet the AI workers who tell their friends and family to stay away from AI
When the people making AI seem trustworthy are the ones who trust it the least, it shows that incentives for speed are overtaking safety, experts say
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 5:12 PM
“AI workers said they distrust the models they work on because of a consistent emphasis on rapid turnaround time at the expense of quality.”
Reposted by Blayne Haggart
It’s not just the aircraft avionic software dependent systems that are an issue, the Americans want customers to be reliant on mission data for navigation & mapping plus the electronic warfare mission data. The risk being the flow gets turned off as happened in Ukraine.
bsky.app/profile/ianm...
bsky.app/profile/ianm...
The announcement of 80Sqn being resurrected (over on twitter) is interesting; not for the rebadging of a capability with a squadron number plate but for something more complex.
MDSs are data files created offline by a team of specialists based on ESM data.
MDSs are data files created offline by a team of specialists based on ESM data.
November 22, 2025 at 2:45 PM
It’s not just the aircraft avionic software dependent systems that are an issue, the Americans want customers to be reliant on mission data for navigation & mapping plus the electronic warfare mission data. The risk being the flow gets turned off as happened in Ukraine.
bsky.app/profile/ianm...
bsky.app/profile/ianm...
“noting that he gets the patient's consent before using the AI tool.”
Indicidual “consent” w/r/t AI is a near-meaningless concept. It is rarely/never “informed consent,” and individual consent is meaningless when your data is used to affect other people. Which is *always* the case with AI products.
Indicidual “consent” w/r/t AI is a near-meaningless concept. It is rarely/never “informed consent,” and individual consent is meaningless when your data is used to affect other people. Which is *always* the case with AI products.
This hospital had the longest wait times in Ontario last year. It’s using AI, private donors to speed up care | CBC Shows
Toronto’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre is using artificial intelligence to reduce the amount of time people spend in the emergency department and increase the amount of focus doctors can provide ...
www.cbc.ca
November 22, 2025 at 2:25 PM
“noting that he gets the patient's consent before using the AI tool.”
Indicidual “consent” w/r/t AI is a near-meaningless concept. It is rarely/never “informed consent,” and individual consent is meaningless when your data is used to affect other people. Which is *always* the case with AI products.
Indicidual “consent” w/r/t AI is a near-meaningless concept. It is rarely/never “informed consent,” and individual consent is meaningless when your data is used to affect other people. Which is *always* the case with AI products.