Claire Atkin
@catthekin.checkmyads.org
Co-founder of Check My Ads, the adtech watchdog
Reposted by Claire Atkin
Silicon Valley’s alliance with Donald Trump was a mask off moment and showed the world we can’t depend on US tech companies.
For the past few months, I’ve been trying to get off US tech and I put together a guide so you find alternatives too. I hope you find it helpful!
For the past few months, I’ve been trying to get off US tech and I put together a guide so you find alternatives too. I hope you find it helpful!
Getting off US tech: a guide
I’m in the process of dropping US tech services. Here’s how I did it, and options you should consider.
www.disconnect.blog
July 18, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Silicon Valley’s alliance with Donald Trump was a mask off moment and showed the world we can’t depend on US tech companies.
For the past few months, I’ve been trying to get off US tech and I put together a guide so you find alternatives too. I hope you find it helpful!
For the past few months, I’ve been trying to get off US tech and I put together a guide so you find alternatives too. I hope you find it helpful!
Reposted by Claire Atkin
I think about this one a lot
January 3, 2026 at 4:19 AM
I think about this one a lot
Reposted by Claire Atkin
This was just sent to me by an LAUSD parent. A 4th grader was assigned to design a book cover for Pippi Longstocking using Adobe for Education. Here is what the AI tool generated:
December 5, 2025 at 9:49 PM
This was just sent to me by an LAUSD parent. A 4th grader was assigned to design a book cover for Pippi Longstocking using Adobe for Education. Here is what the AI tool generated:
Reposted by Claire Atkin
be the bitch doing something yourself that you want to see in the world
there’s a scene in the new documentary where Elizabeth Taylor is talking about the stigma of AIDS and how she got involved in the movement and it’s fucking everything
December 1, 2025 at 8:54 PM
be the bitch doing something yourself that you want to see in the world
Ha, this is so great. It’s simple. If you don’t want otherwise satisfied busy people to stop everything to take a stand, don’t fuck with our friends ❤️
there’s a scene in the new documentary where Elizabeth Taylor is talking about the stigma of AIDS and how she got involved in the movement and it’s fucking everything
December 2, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Ha, this is so great. It’s simple. If you don’t want otherwise satisfied busy people to stop everything to take a stand, don’t fuck with our friends ❤️
Reposted by Claire Atkin
Oh really
Three years into the generative-AI wave, demand for the technology seems surprisingly flimsy
Investors expect AI use to soar. That’s not happening
Recent surveys point to flatlining business adoption
econ.st
December 1, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Oh really
Reposted by Claire Atkin
Reposted by Claire Atkin
big late breaking news: the market monitor for the largest energy grid in the u.s., covering much of the midwest and mid-atlantic, has called to block new data centers connections to the grid, saying current course of growth assures regular blackouts
No more PJM data centers unless they can be reliably served: market monitor
The PJM Interconnection’s market monitor urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to rule that large data centers can only come online if the grid operator can still meet reliability metrics.
www.utilitydive.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:17 AM
big late breaking news: the market monitor for the largest energy grid in the u.s., covering much of the midwest and mid-atlantic, has called to block new data centers connections to the grid, saying current course of growth assures regular blackouts
Reposted by Claire Atkin
NEW: AI “recipe slop” is overrunning search and social. Food creators say Google’s AI Overviews and glossy fake food pics are drowning out real, tested recipes — collapsing traffic and setting home cooks up for disaster, especially this Thanksgiving.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
AI Slop Recipes Are Taking Over the Internet -- And Thanksgiving Dinner
Food bloggers see traffic dip as home cooks turn to AI, inspired by impossible pictures
www.bloomberg.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:16 PM
NEW: AI “recipe slop” is overrunning search and social. Food creators say Google’s AI Overviews and glossy fake food pics are drowning out real, tested recipes — collapsing traffic and setting home cooks up for disaster, especially this Thanksgiving.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Reposted by Claire Atkin
Honored to serve on Mayor-elect @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social Transition Committee on Technology. For too long, too many New Yorkers have been left behind. NYC deserves governance that centers affordability, equity, and the public good-looking forward to the work ahead. www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news...
NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announces transition committees
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced Monday the creation of 17 transition advisory committees made up of more than 400 people.
www.cbsnews.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Honored to serve on Mayor-elect @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social Transition Committee on Technology. For too long, too many New Yorkers have been left behind. NYC deserves governance that centers affordability, equity, and the public good-looking forward to the work ahead. www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news...
Reposted by Claire Atkin
Mark MacCarthy says there is little doubt that the AI investment boom is a bubble. The real questions, he says, are when will the bubble burst, how severe will the consequences be, and what should policymakers do now to prepare for the inevitable downturn.
Policymakers Have to Prepare Now for When the AI Bubble Bursts | TechPolicy.Press
Mark MacCarthy says the fear of making a mistake in industrial policy should not paralyze policymakers.
www.techpolicy.press
November 24, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Mark MacCarthy says there is little doubt that the AI investment boom is a bubble. The real questions, he says, are when will the bubble burst, how severe will the consequences be, and what should policymakers do now to prepare for the inevitable downturn.
Reposted by Claire Atkin
The reason why platform companies do make it hard to find account location information is not because they believe in privacy, it's so that advertisers do not know how much is lost to low-tier engagement.
Growth, at all costs, means avoiding publishing basic metadata so that advertisers don't sue.
Growth, at all costs, means avoiding publishing basic metadata so that advertisers don't sue.
November 24, 2025 at 8:23 PM
The reason why platform companies do make it hard to find account location information is not because they believe in privacy, it's so that advertisers do not know how much is lost to low-tier engagement.
Growth, at all costs, means avoiding publishing basic metadata so that advertisers don't sue.
Growth, at all costs, means avoiding publishing basic metadata so that advertisers don't sue.
Reposted by Claire Atkin
Even the ad targeting was basically a zero sum arms race with minimal or negative utility for both brands and consumers. We basically constructed a system that was bad for users and bad for buyers but created a simulacrum of consumer rationality that was attractive to executives.
November 19, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Even the ad targeting was basically a zero sum arms race with minimal or negative utility for both brands and consumers. We basically constructed a system that was bad for users and bad for buyers but created a simulacrum of consumer rationality that was attractive to executives.
This is all true but the profit motive for fake news was realized domestically far more than by foreign psyops or grifters. The outcome of this opaque ad revenue system is the political landscape we have today, which is thanks to American tech companies monetizing American fake news.
Everyone forgets that the term "fake news," originally referred to made up stories about Hillary Clinton and the Democrats, spread by supposed Trump supporters for racist reasons. But it turned out to just be profit motive by non-US individuals looking to get racist American weirdos to click on ads🤷🏿♂️
Macedonia's Fake News Factories | AJ+
YouTube video by AJ+
m.youtube.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:21 PM
This is all true but the profit motive for fake news was realized domestically far more than by foreign psyops or grifters. The outcome of this opaque ad revenue system is the political landscape we have today, which is thanks to American tech companies monetizing American fake news.
Reposted by Claire Atkin
Insurers AIG, Great American, and WR Berkley seek permission to limit liability from AI agents and chatbots and to retreat from coverage of AI risk as multibillion-dollar claims mount
www.ft.com/content/abfe...
www.ft.com/content/abfe...
Insurers retreat from AI cover as risk of multibillion-dollar claims mounts
AIG, Great American and WR Berkley seek permission to limit liability from AI agents and chatbots
www.ft.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Insurers AIG, Great American, and WR Berkley seek permission to limit liability from AI agents and chatbots and to retreat from coverage of AI risk as multibillion-dollar claims mount
www.ft.com/content/abfe...
www.ft.com/content/abfe...
Reposted by Claire Atkin
Instagram’s former head of safety and well-being Vaishnavi Jayakumar testified the company had a “17x” strike policy for accounts that engaged in the trafficking of humans for sex.
“You could incur 16 violations and upon the 17th violation, your account would be suspended"
time.com/7336204/meta...
“You could incur 16 violations and upon the 17th violation, your account would be suspended"
time.com/7336204/meta...
7 Allegations Against Meta in Newly Unsealed Filings
Court filings allege Meta tolerated sex trafficking, hid harms to teens, and prioritized growth over user safety for years.
time.com
November 23, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Instagram’s former head of safety and well-being Vaishnavi Jayakumar testified the company had a “17x” strike policy for accounts that engaged in the trafficking of humans for sex.
“You could incur 16 violations and upon the 17th violation, your account would be suspended"
time.com/7336204/meta...
“You could incur 16 violations and upon the 17th violation, your account would be suspended"
time.com/7336204/meta...
Reposted by Claire Atkin
Meta halted internal research that purportedly showed (young) people who stopped using Facebook became less depressed and anxious, according to an unredacted legal filing released on Friday. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/23/m...
Meta halted internal research suggesting social media harm, court filing alleges
Meta is alleged to have halted internal research suggesting social media harm, according to court documents.
www.cnbc.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Meta halted internal research that purportedly showed (young) people who stopped using Facebook became less depressed and anxious, according to an unredacted legal filing released on Friday. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/23/m...
Reposted by Claire Atkin
Reposted by Claire Atkin
I think the shortest version of why LLMs are an anti education technology is that education is fundamentally about making shared context to understand ourselves, each other, and the world
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
November 23, 2025 at 12:57 PM
I think the shortest version of why LLMs are an anti education technology is that education is fundamentally about making shared context to understand ourselves, each other, and the world
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
Reposted by Claire Atkin
Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
November 23, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
Reposted by Claire Atkin
Another similarity of LLMs to humans: if you expose them to a lot of disinformation, they will believe it. Which you can exploit, apparently called "LLM grooming". So LLMs fail at three levels: /1 www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Hundreds of English-language websites link to pro-Kremlin propaganda
Thinktank says internet flooded with disinformation by Russia-aligned Pravda network, which many websites treat as credible
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Another similarity of LLMs to humans: if you expose them to a lot of disinformation, they will believe it. Which you can exploit, apparently called "LLM grooming". So LLMs fail at three levels: /1 www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Reposted by Claire Atkin
Sales of AI-enabled teddy bear suspended after it gave advice on BDSM sex and where to find knives
Sales of AI-enabled teddy bear suspended after it gave advice on BDSM sex and where to find knives | CNN Business
Sales of an artificial intelligence-enabled plush toy have been suspended after it was found that it engaged in conversation around sexually explicit topics and offered potentially dangerous advice.
www.cnn.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Sales of AI-enabled teddy bear suspended after it gave advice on BDSM sex and where to find knives
Prove to me this isn’t the single most critical comment on media this year
whole thing here, I also talk about media complicity and our frothin' murderous president
Fireside Chat with Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion
YouTube video by Boston Globe Events
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Prove to me this isn’t the single most critical comment on media this year
Reposted by Claire Atkin
talkin' about the AI bubble
November 20, 2025 at 6:56 PM
talkin' about the AI bubble
Reposted by Claire Atkin
So this ad revenue metric is indicative of such a fascinating and weird set of business decisions by Google to inexplicably kill of SEO-- and I honestly don't get how they think this is going to pay off for them in the long run.
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Stereogum says Google's switch to AI Overviews reduced its ad revenue by *70 percent* www.theverge.com/entertainmen...
Stereogum soldiers on in the era of streaming and AI
Stereogum Founder Scott Lapatine on the importance of independent media in the age of AI slop and algorithms.
www.theverge.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:42 PM
So this ad revenue metric is indicative of such a fascinating and weird set of business decisions by Google to inexplicably kill of SEO-- and I honestly don't get how they think this is going to pay off for them in the long run.
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