Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Prof. Caroline Roux

@carolineroux.bsky.social

840 followers 100 following 140 posts

Associate professor of marketing at Concordia University (Montreal) | I study the psychology of resource scarcity | Geek, anglophile, wannabe foodie, not-so-crazy cat lady.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Prof. Caroline Roux @carolineroux.bsky.social · Dec 19

Got a bunch of new followers, so I guess I should (re-)introduce myself. 👋
I'm a marketing professor and consumer behavior experimental researcher who's been studying the effects of resource scarcity.
If you'd like to learn more about this topic: 🧵

1 3

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

Michael W. Kraus @mwkraus.bsky.social · 11h

I read this paper bc, on the editor side, I see what i think is AI adoption. Interpret this result with some caution:

First, AI adoption is operationalized by an increase in specific words (not stated AI use). No way of knowing how many are in AI adopt/not groups incorrectly. It's not zero.

Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 1d

Does AI improve or undercut academic scholarship?

A new study finds that academics who use AI increased both the quantity & quality of their academic scholarship and it appears to reduces inequality (helping junior and non-english speaking scholars the most).
arxiv.org/pdf/2510.02408

1 2 8

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 10h

Datacolada posted about you

🏰meg⚔️ @Birthright Audiobook! @impavid.us · 3d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand

I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.

3 5 59

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

Let the Right Hon In @danhon.com · 5d

Needless to say I think this is brilliant.

theoatmeal.com/comics/ai_art

A cartoonist's review of AI art - The Oatmeal

This is a comic about AI art.

theoatmeal.com

7 27 83

Prof. Caroline Roux @carolineroux.bsky.social · 6d

On the enshittification of everything, including Amazon. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

Sick of scrolling through junk results, AI-generated ads and links to lookalike products? The author and activist behind the term ‘enshittification’ explains what’s gone wrong with the internet – and ...

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 8d

🌟 New preprint 🌟, by @olivia.science and me:

📝 Guest, O., & van Rooij, I. (2025). *Critical Artificial Intelligence Literacy for Psychologists*. lnkd.in/ewajedAe

🧪

Table 1

Core reasoning issues (first column), which we name after the relevant numbered section, are characterised using a plausible quote. In the second column are responses per row; also see the named section for further reading, context, and explanations.

See paper for full details: ** Guest, O., & van Rooij, I. (2025, October 4). Critical Artificial Intelligence Literacy for Psychologists. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dkrgj_v1

2 15 41

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

Prof Sam Illingworth @samillingworth.com · 11d

🧒 Inequality reshapes young brains

A study of more than 10,000 US children found that living in states with greater income inequality is linked to structural brain changes and poorer mental health, regardless of family wealth.

🔗 www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

#SciComm #Inequality 🧪

Study links greater inequality to structural changes in children’s brains

Researchers say findings show inequality creates toxic environment and reducing it is ‘a public health imperative’

www.theguardian.com

4 54 110

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 12d

"Data centers are proliferating in VA and a blind man in [MD] is suddenly contending with sharply higher power bills...It’s an increasingly dramatic ripple effect of the AI boom as energy-hungry data centers...[pull]...households into paying for the digital economy" www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

AI Data Centers Are Sending Power Bills Soaring

Wholesale electricity costs as much as 267% more than it did five years ago in areas near data centers. That’s being passed on to customers.

www.bloomberg.com

4 62 120

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · 13d

The real generational divide is people who refuse to watch a video if it could be an article versus people who refuse to read an article if it could be a video

520 2.2K 12K

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

Uma Karmarkar @umakarma.bsky.social · 13d

PLEASE NOMINATE YOURSELF FOR ACADEMIC AWARDS.

And ask friends to nominate you. And apply again next year if you don't get it.

I've been on a handful of committees that can give people things. A frequent complaint is that we can't give great people recognition if we don't "see" them in the pool.

Jin X. Goh | 吴晋勋 @jinxungoh.bsky.social · 13d

When I was a younger faculty, I kept wavering on whether I should apply for the Rising Star every year. And then when I finally worked up the courage to apply, I was no longer eligible. Lesson here is that you should not miss your shot and just apply! Don’t pray for someone to secretly nominate you!

Association for Psychological Science @psychscience.bsky.social · 13d

This designation recognizes researchers whose innovative work has already advanced the field and signals great potential for their continued contributions. #AcademicSky

Nominate a colleague to be an APS Rising Star by October 1!
www.psychologicalscience.org/members/awar...

2 17 56

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

babyboomersaves.bsky.social @babyboomersaves.bsky.social · 16d

"...most of the people still masking are among the strongest, most self-assured people I’ve known. They are the least concerned about other’s perceptions, the most concerned about others/our collective well-being, are embodying self-care..."

Mikel Maria Delgado, PhD @mikeldelgado.bsky.social · Mar 4

misfitmentalhealth.substack.com/p/why-are-pe...

Why Are People Wearing Masks in 2025?

a mental health professional’s perspective

misfitmentalhealth.substack.com

2 14

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

Erin Wraithburn 👻 @erinraeburn.bsky.social · 16d

"In some places, French postal workers now pick up prescriptions, return library books, and deliver flowers. Last year, only twenty eight per cent of La Poste’s revenue came from sending mail."

Services can evolve in positive ways to meet new and growing needs.

Julienne Danvers (WE WANT TRAINS!! 🚂) @juliennedanvers.bsky.social · 17d

For those who wonder what a modern postal service could look like, one example is in France, where letter carriers provide check-ins on the elderly for very affordable rates, while completing their routes.

I encourage everyone to read the whole thing

#CanadaPost

www.newyorker.com/culture/anna...

In France, Elder Care Comes with the Mail

Carriers for La Poste have a new job: checking in on the aged.

www.newyorker.com

20 620 1.4K

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

Liz Climo @lizclimo.bsky.social · 17d

Top: lemmings are lined up. The lemming in charge says “okay, here’s what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna keep walking that way until we fall off a cliff.” Bottom: one of the lemmings in the audience turns to its friend, whispers “Hey, maybe we should stop listening to this guy.”

4 87 260

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

Anthony Moser @anthonymoser.com · 18d

In other words, the poverty rate is effectively a policy choice

Stephen Nuñez @socio-steve.bsky.social · 18d

At some point people need to learn that the poverty rate is mostly about the safety net or lack thereof and not the economy. The economy was doing historically well, real wages rising for the first time in decades, etc. And poverty rose because pandemic safety policies expired.

Jacobin @jacobinmag.bsky.social · 18d

A new Census Bureau report establishes that poverty increased over the course of the Biden administration.

The data is yet another rebuke to the politicians and commentators who insisted economic conditions under Joe Biden were great.

1 15 47

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

Spencer M Ross @srossmktg.com · 18d

What a bunch of culture war dingdongs.

Quebec government bans gender-neutral pronouns in all official communications

The province says non-binary people will still be able to use the gender marker X on certain government documents.

www.montrealgazette.com

1 1

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

Bethany Brookshire @beebrookshire.bsky.social · 20d

Some people think ChatGPT has a place writing things like news briefs, stuff written to a specific style and tone and, y'know, kinda boring.

So Science did a study.

ChatGPT failed.

Why? It got stuff wrong. "Also, extensive editing for hyperbole was needed." www.science.org/content/blog...

Can ChatGPT help science writers?

www.science.org

11 210 420

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

Liz Climo @lizclimo.bsky.social · 20d

Top: gator wears a cozy scarf, drinks coffee with hamster. Gator says “It’s the first day of Fall! We should watch something scary.” Hamster replies “Like the news?” Bottom: Gator says “No, that’s too scary. Ooh, what about The Exorcist?”

5 170 520

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

Prof Mike Yearworth @mikeyearworth.bsky.social · 21d

"In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits."

www.computerworld.com/article/4059...

OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws

In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...

www.computerworld.com

120 1.8K 3.6K

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

Behavioral Scientist @behscientist.bsky.social · 22d

In this weekend’s read from the archive: People often think recycling is the place where they can have the greatest environmental impact. This misperception lets wasteful companies off the hook, write Patrick I. Hancock and Michaela Barnett.

Waste Waste... Don't Tell Me: Investigating the Bias Toward Recycling Over Reduction and Reuse - by Patrick I. Hancock & Michaela Barnett - Behavioral Scientist

For many people, recycling seems like the place where they can have the greatest impact on the waste stream. This misperception lets wasteful companies off the hook.

behavioralscientist.org

1 1

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

LSE Inequalities @lseinequalities.bsky.social · 25d

“What has happened is not that capital income trickled down, but that labour income ‘trickled up’” – @brankomilan.bsky.social on how income from capital remains a privilege of the few in our latest blog post #LSEInequalitiesBlog

Read the post here: buff.ly/BEs46q0

New Capitalism in America, Part III - LSE Inequalities

Why is capital so concentrated and why do so few have it? Under the "new" capitalism, why do 85% of the world’s population remain capital-income destitute?

blogs.lse.ac.uk

4 6

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

Spencer M Ross @srossmktg.com · 25d

I mean...

Why AI Will Not Provide Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Once AI becomes pervasive, it no longer gives companies an edge over rivals — but cultivating creativity can.

sloanreview.mit.edu

Prof. Caroline Roux @carolineroux.bsky.social · 25d

🤬 I'm not surprised (but still very disappointed) by the Quebec government's decision of restricting access to COVID-19 vaccines (given their track record).

Le Devoir @ledevoir.com · 25d

Québec réserve désormais les doses sans frais aux personnes jugées plus à risque, a appris «Le Devoir». #COVID #santé

Le vaccin contre la COVID-19 ne sera plus gratuit pour tous cet automne

www.ledevoir.com

Prof. Caroline Roux @carolineroux.bsky.social · Sep 12

Even if I'm quite fluent in English (French is my native language), my brain often confuses "gang up" vs. "gang bang" for some reason (which is totally not embarrassing in conversations). 😳

1 1

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Sep 11

How thousands of ‘overworked, underpaid’ humans train Google’s AI to seem smart

Contracted AI raters describe grueling deadlines, poor pay and opacity around work to make chatbots intelligent

www.theguardian.com

7 59 110

Reposted by Prof. Caroline Roux

Spencer M Ross @srossmktg.com · Sep 10

Philanthropy is neoliberalized charity, made lucrative by tax breaks.

America’s Richest Billionaires Keep Getting Richer. They’re Not Donating Much More

The members of The Forbes 400 are $1.2 trillion wealthier than a year ago. But how much of their fortune have they given back?

www.forbes.com

1 1

Prof. Caroline Roux @carolineroux.bsky.social · Sep 9

Been there (still kinda am), done that (still kinda doing it) for a while now... I'm so tired of being tired all the time.