Kyle
@darsnack.bsky.social
NeuroAI Scholar @ CSHL
https://www.darsnack.info
Previously maintaining FluxML to procrastinate Previously EE PhD at UW-Madison, comp. eng. / math at Rose-Hulman
https://www.darsnack.info
Previously maintaining FluxML to procrastinate Previously EE PhD at UW-Madison, comp. eng. / math at Rose-Hulman
Reposted by Kyle
In almost all (all?) latent diffusion models, the VAE that sandwiches the diffusion model is not a real VAE: the KL loss has a weight of 10^-5 and there is an additional GAN loss that significantly boosts the visual quality. So it's more an adversarial auto-encoder than anything else.
February 3, 2026 at 10:45 PM
In almost all (all?) latent diffusion models, the VAE that sandwiches the diffusion model is not a real VAE: the KL loss has a weight of 10^-5 and there is an additional GAN loss that significantly boosts the visual quality. So it's more an adversarial auto-encoder than anything else.
Reposted by Kyle
every epstein file drop underscores how elite power operates through shared socio-economic networks, regardless of people's ideological differences, populist posturing, or public feuds
January 30, 2026 at 11:58 PM
every epstein file drop underscores how elite power operates through shared socio-economic networks, regardless of people's ideological differences, populist posturing, or public feuds
Reposted by Kyle
This study by people from Anthropic itself should raise huge alarm bells about the use of AI in teaching how to code (and later on in coding itself, but esp. in the learning stage).
And remember: this is by the people who make Claude!
tl;dr: not that long, read it
www.anthropic.com/research/AI-...
And remember: this is by the people who make Claude!
tl;dr: not that long, read it
www.anthropic.com/research/AI-...
How AI assistance impacts the formation of coding skills
Anthropic is an AI safety and research company that's working to build reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems.
www.anthropic.com
January 31, 2026 at 1:21 AM
This study by people from Anthropic itself should raise huge alarm bells about the use of AI in teaching how to code (and later on in coding itself, but esp. in the learning stage).
And remember: this is by the people who make Claude!
tl;dr: not that long, read it
www.anthropic.com/research/AI-...
And remember: this is by the people who make Claude!
tl;dr: not that long, read it
www.anthropic.com/research/AI-...
Reposted by Kyle
Reposted by Kyle
The City’s Budget is our future. And you deserve to know how it works.
January 30, 2026 at 2:09 PM
The City’s Budget is our future. And you deserve to know how it works.
Reposted by Kyle
didn't really need this notification popping up at random in every slack I'm in
January 29, 2026 at 10:35 PM
didn't really need this notification popping up at random in every slack I'm in
Reposted by Kyle
me: How should I invest my savings to avoid the AI bubble?
tech friends: What bubble?
non-tech friends: What savings?
tech friends: What bubble?
non-tech friends: What savings?
January 30, 2026 at 6:21 AM
me: How should I invest my savings to avoid the AI bubble?
tech friends: What bubble?
non-tech friends: What savings?
tech friends: What bubble?
non-tech friends: What savings?
Reposted by Kyle
Sadly, PRISM makes perfect sense in a world with 28,000 NeurIPS submissions, the idea that the writing of a paper to get bullets on a cv is all that matters, and the further idea that a blog post on a corporate site is equivalent to a paper.
OpenAI just released Prism, a LaTeX editor with embedded ChatGPT for free.
Writing a paper has never been easier.
Clogging the scientific publishing pipeline has never been easier.
It took me 54 seconds to write up an experiment I did not actually conduct.
prism.openai.com
Writing a paper has never been easier.
Clogging the scientific publishing pipeline has never been easier.
It took me 54 seconds to write up an experiment I did not actually conduct.
prism.openai.com
January 28, 2026 at 9:23 PM
Sadly, PRISM makes perfect sense in a world with 28,000 NeurIPS submissions, the idea that the writing of a paper to get bullets on a cv is all that matters, and the further idea that a blog post on a corporate site is equivalent to a paper.
Reposted by Kyle
I wonder how much of the appeal of chatbots is that they are basically next-level adblockers. A lot of queries should have perfectly good web search results -- e.g., give me a recipe for X or what is good to do as a tourist in city Y -- but those web pages are unusable due to ads and SEO.
January 28, 2026 at 5:39 PM
I wonder how much of the appeal of chatbots is that they are basically next-level adblockers. A lot of queries should have perfectly good web search results -- e.g., give me a recipe for X or what is good to do as a tourist in city Y -- but those web pages are unusable due to ads and SEO.
This dynamic is both likely and terrifying
The many people who will be unhappy about their AI-instructed PR not merged will also learn rapidly that open source is very much “remixable” with AI support:
Fork the code, make the change: it’s now yours!
Open source might just explode with remixes honestly…
Fork the code, make the change: it’s now yours!
Open source might just explode with remixes honestly…
January 27, 2026 at 2:40 PM
This dynamic is both likely and terrifying
Reposted by Kyle
If Dems are squeamish about "abolish," fine, the demand is still simple: zero funding for ICE and CBP.
Pretend you just want a "pause" to "sort it out." Whatever.
But, yeah, "do not vote to fund murder and other rampant lawbreaking by Trump's gestapo" is indeed a "purity test" you must pass.
Pretend you just want a "pause" to "sort it out." Whatever.
But, yeah, "do not vote to fund murder and other rampant lawbreaking by Trump's gestapo" is indeed a "purity test" you must pass.
NEW: Minnesota's top federal judge says ICE has been violating court orders repeatedly — detaining noncitizens or rushing them to Texas despite judges' commands.
He wants ICE's director to answer for it "personally," and could level contempt sanctions.
www.politico.com/news/2026/01...
He wants ICE's director to answer for it "personally," and could level contempt sanctions.
www.politico.com/news/2026/01...
January 27, 2026 at 12:40 PM
If Dems are squeamish about "abolish," fine, the demand is still simple: zero funding for ICE and CBP.
Pretend you just want a "pause" to "sort it out." Whatever.
But, yeah, "do not vote to fund murder and other rampant lawbreaking by Trump's gestapo" is indeed a "purity test" you must pass.
Pretend you just want a "pause" to "sort it out." Whatever.
But, yeah, "do not vote to fund murder and other rampant lawbreaking by Trump's gestapo" is indeed a "purity test" you must pass.
Reposted by Kyle
Your Iranian colleagues are cut off from family back home & are in a state of collective grief, which has many faces. We may appear more aloof or be more impatient, may self-isolate, have more typos, may freeze or overwork to numb the pain, or find fear, memory, or hope in unexpected moments.
January 27, 2026 at 1:37 PM
Your Iranian colleagues are cut off from family back home & are in a state of collective grief, which has many faces. We may appear more aloof or be more impatient, may self-isolate, have more typos, may freeze or overwork to numb the pain, or find fear, memory, or hope in unexpected moments.
Reposted by Kyle
Call Schumer's office today at (202) 224-6542. Then get on the phone to Jeffries at (202) 225-5936. 7/
January 27, 2026 at 12:50 PM
Call Schumer's office today at (202) 224-6542. Then get on the phone to Jeffries at (202) 225-5936. 7/
Reposted by Kyle
Zohran Mamdani promised to be a mayor for an era of abundance in New York City, and the snow accumulation of the first winter storm of his mayoralty is proof that he can live up to that promise
January 26, 2026 at 2:44 PM
Zohran Mamdani promised to be a mayor for an era of abundance in New York City, and the snow accumulation of the first winter storm of his mayoralty is proof that he can live up to that promise
Reposted by Kyle
Best thing I've read in the Atlantic in years
How the Bernie Goetz Shootings Explain the Trump Era
A notorious event in 1984 divided New Yorkers in ways that feel extremely familiar four decades later.
www.theatlantic.com
January 26, 2026 at 1:48 PM
Best thing I've read in the Atlantic in years
Reposted by Kyle
I have tried consciously to talk about politics less here but my god, abolish ICE and put everyone involved with this on trial
January 24, 2026 at 10:52 PM
I have tried consciously to talk about politics less here but my god, abolish ICE and put everyone involved with this on trial
Reposted by Kyle
For people asking “why isn’t there a general strike?” earnestly, and not just to be a judgmental prick
Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947 (over Truman's veto) to make general strikes so incredibly difficult to organize that there hasn't been one since.
That there is a general strike happening in a major US city on such short notice is nothing short of a miracle.
That there is a general strike happening in a major US city on such short notice is nothing short of a miracle.
National media should really be covering the fact thay every major school, museum, and arts institution in the Twin Cities, and hundreds of local businesses are closed tomorrow to protest federal occupation.
Nothing like this at this scale has happened anywhere in America anytime in living memory.
Nothing like this at this scale has happened anywhere in America anytime in living memory.
January 22, 2026 at 10:23 PM
For people asking “why isn’t there a general strike?” earnestly, and not just to be a judgmental prick
Does everyone gushing over CC opus 4.5 really fork over $200/month? The economics of this tool make no sense to me.
January 20, 2026 at 12:55 PM
Does everyone gushing over CC opus 4.5 really fork over $200/month? The economics of this tool make no sense to me.
An interesting write up on exams in the LLM era. I enjoyed the quote:
> The problem is not the young generation. The problem is the older generation destroying critical infrastructure out of fear of missing out on the new shiny thing from big corp’s marketing department.
ploum.net/2026-01-19-e...
> The problem is not the young generation. The problem is the older generation destroying critical infrastructure out of fear of missing out on the new shiny thing from big corp’s marketing department.
ploum.net/2026-01-19-e...
Giving University Exams in the Age of Chatbots
Giving University Exams in the Age of Chatbots par Ploum - Lionel Dricot.
ploum.net
January 20, 2026 at 12:50 PM
An interesting write up on exams in the LLM era. I enjoyed the quote:
> The problem is not the young generation. The problem is the older generation destroying critical infrastructure out of fear of missing out on the new shiny thing from big corp’s marketing department.
ploum.net/2026-01-19-e...
> The problem is not the young generation. The problem is the older generation destroying critical infrastructure out of fear of missing out on the new shiny thing from big corp’s marketing department.
ploum.net/2026-01-19-e...
Reposted by Kyle
Fair enough. I'm not allergic to AI (and I'm very interested in CC personally) but I think industry deserves more scrutiny than critics, even when the latter are crazily out of touch, mainly because of the power imbalances.
January 19, 2026 at 7:19 PM
Fair enough. I'm not allergic to AI (and I'm very interested in CC personally) but I think industry deserves more scrutiny than critics, even when the latter are crazily out of touch, mainly because of the power imbalances.
Reposted by Kyle
We introduce epiplexity, a new measure of information that provides a foundation for how to select, generate, or transform data for learning systems. We have been working on this for almost 2 years, and I cannot contain my excitement! arxiv.org/abs/2601.03220 1/7
January 7, 2026 at 5:28 PM
We introduce epiplexity, a new measure of information that provides a foundation for how to select, generate, or transform data for learning systems. We have been working on this for almost 2 years, and I cannot contain my excitement! arxiv.org/abs/2601.03220 1/7
Reposted by Kyle
Taking the kids to daycare by sleigh today
January 7, 2026 at 8:25 AM
Taking the kids to daycare by sleigh today
Reposted by Kyle
Different hillfort, different season, same sentiment
January 6, 2026 at 11:02 AM
Different hillfort, different season, same sentiment