Data & Society
@datasociety.bsky.social
Data & Society is a nonprofit research institute that studies the social implications of data-centric technologies, automation, and AI.
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December 11 @ 1 pm ET: Join us online as D&S's @tamigraph.bsky.social discusses her forthcoming report on how climate conscious tech workers are attempting to reform the tech industry from within, with Eliza Pan of @amzn4climate.bsky.social and @khari.bsky.social. datasociety.net/events/clima...
We’re delighted that Data & Society’s own @mwoluchem.bsky.social will be part of NYC Mayor-elect Mamdani’s Transition Committee on Technology, working to advance the public interest in collaboration with so many other visionary leaders we admire
I am beyond honored to join Mayor-elect Mamdani’s Transition Committee on Technology and help deliver this incredible vision for a city we all deserve. Genuinely, I also couldn’t more excited to do this alongside so many people I admire and respect so much.
www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news...
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 25, 2025 at 3:38 PM
We’re delighted that Data & Society’s own @mwoluchem.bsky.social will be part of NYC Mayor-elect Mamdani’s Transition Committee on Technology, working to advance the public interest in collaboration with so many other visionary leaders we admire
“As it has for everything else, AI has now come for the accent.” Sheon Han experiments with whether an AI-powered “accent training” app can help him sound “less Korean” — and what that might mean. www.wired.com/story/ai-ame...
AI and the End of Accents
I sound Korean—because I am Korean. Can AI make me sound American?
www.wired.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:57 PM
“As it has for everything else, AI has now come for the accent.” Sheon Han experiments with whether an AI-powered “accent training” app can help him sound “less Korean” — and what that might mean. www.wired.com/story/ai-ame...
Researchers say AI chatbots “pose serious risks to individuals vulnerable to eating disorders,” doling out dieting advice, tips on how to hide disorders, and AI-generated “thinspiration” — partly as a result of features deliberately designed to drive engagement. www.theverge.com/news/818508/...
AI chatbots are helping hide eating disorders and making deepfake ‘thinspiration’
Chatbot guardrails are too crude to help with eating disorders.
www.theverge.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Researchers say AI chatbots “pose serious risks to individuals vulnerable to eating disorders,” doling out dieting advice, tips on how to hide disorders, and AI-generated “thinspiration” — partly as a result of features deliberately designed to drive engagement. www.theverge.com/news/818508/...
December 11 @ 1 pm ET: Join us online as D&S's @tamigraph.bsky.social discusses her forthcoming report on how climate conscious tech workers are attempting to reform the tech industry from within, with Eliza Pan of @amzn4climate.bsky.social and @khari.bsky.social. datasociety.net/events/clima...
November 21, 2025 at 5:05 PM
December 11 @ 1 pm ET: Join us online as D&S's @tamigraph.bsky.social discusses her forthcoming report on how climate conscious tech workers are attempting to reform the tech industry from within, with Eliza Pan of @amzn4climate.bsky.social and @khari.bsky.social. datasociety.net/events/clima...
🔥 This event was one for the books! Check out the video, and stay tuned to hear more about our public education work. www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZHo...
November 21, 2025 at 2:54 PM
🔥 This event was one for the books! Check out the video, and stay tuned to hear more about our public education work. www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZHo...
If AI is a bubble, or even “the ultimate bubble,” what does that really mean? @bcmerchant.bsky.social turns to the scholars who wrote the book on tech bubbles for a “reliable, battle-tested means of evaluating and understanding the AI mania.” www.wired.com/story/ai-bub...
AI Is the Bubble to Burst Them All
I talked to the scholars who literally wrote the book on tech bubbles—and applied their test.
www.wired.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:04 PM
If AI is a bubble, or even “the ultimate bubble,” what does that really mean? @bcmerchant.bsky.social turns to the scholars who wrote the book on tech bubbles for a “reliable, battle-tested means of evaluating and understanding the AI mania.” www.wired.com/story/ai-bub...
Reposted by Data & Society
Can public involvement in AI evaluation improve the science? Or does it compromise quality, speed, cost?
In @pnas.org, Megan Price & I summarize challenges of AI evaluation, review strengths/weaknesses, & suggest how participatory methods can improve the science of AI
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
In @pnas.org, Megan Price & I summarize challenges of AI evaluation, review strengths/weaknesses, & suggest how participatory methods can improve the science of AI
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
How public involvement can improve the science of AI | PNAS
As AI systems from decision-making algorithms to generative AI are deployed more widely,
computer scientists and social scientists alike are being ...
www.pnas.org
November 17, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Can public involvement in AI evaluation improve the science? Or does it compromise quality, speed, cost?
In @pnas.org, Megan Price & I summarize challenges of AI evaluation, review strengths/weaknesses, & suggest how participatory methods can improve the science of AI
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
In @pnas.org, Megan Price & I summarize challenges of AI evaluation, review strengths/weaknesses, & suggest how participatory methods can improve the science of AI
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
The AI tool Cluely exemplifies Big Tech’s belief “that problems created by technology can be solved by more technology,” @julieebeck.bsky.social writes, making money for companies while ignoring the reasons people talk to each other in the first place. www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...
How to Cheat at Conversation
A new AI tool promises to improve social interactions but instead makes them worse.
www.theatlantic.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:25 PM
The AI tool Cluely exemplifies Big Tech’s belief “that problems created by technology can be solved by more technology,” @julieebeck.bsky.social writes, making money for companies while ignoring the reasons people talk to each other in the first place. www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...
This new series, curated by researchers Emnet Tafesse and Abigail Oppong in collaboration with D&S’s AI on the Ground program, explores the need for a more equitable and inclusive approach to AI — one that prioritizes those in the Majority World. datasociety.net/points/democ...
November 19, 2025 at 7:28 PM
This new series, curated by researchers Emnet Tafesse and Abigail Oppong in collaboration with D&S’s AI on the Ground program, explores the need for a more equitable and inclusive approach to AI — one that prioritizes those in the Majority World. datasociety.net/points/democ...
In a new piece for @policyr.bsky.social, @alicetiara.bsky.social, @serena124.bsky.social, @charleyjohnson.bsky.social, and @erie.bsky.social explore the challenges of bridging empirical research and policy, and outline what’s needed to do it well. policyreview.info/articles/ana...
Troubling translation: Sociotechnical research in AI policy and governance
The common call for researchers to simply “translate” sociotechnical insights into policy overlooks the complex dynamics of policymaking. Using two case studies, the article shows how meaningful relat...
policyreview.info
November 19, 2025 at 3:11 PM
In a new piece for @policyr.bsky.social, @alicetiara.bsky.social, @serena124.bsky.social, @charleyjohnson.bsky.social, and @erie.bsky.social explore the challenges of bridging empirical research and policy, and outline what’s needed to do it well. policyreview.info/articles/ana...
In a time of economic difficulty, "some of these townships are saying, ‘Well, why not?’” when it comes to data centers, D&S researcher @livgar.bsky.social says. Others are wary of the major changes data centers have brought to communities like their own. www.newsfromthestates.com/article/data...
Data center growth drives locals to fight for more say
When local activist Frank Arcoleo found out over the summer that a data center was coming to his neighborhood in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, he said he was furious. There’d been no votes or public hearin...
www.newsfromthestates.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:14 PM
In a time of economic difficulty, "some of these townships are saying, ‘Well, why not?’” when it comes to data centers, D&S researcher @livgar.bsky.social says. Others are wary of the major changes data centers have brought to communities like their own. www.newsfromthestates.com/article/data...
🚨The final event in our popular series with the NYPL is happening on Thursday, w an incredible panel of experts discussing the value of human labor in the face of increasing automation. Reserve your in-person spot (they're going quickly) or RSVP to join us online! www.showclix.com/event/unders...
November 18, 2025 at 6:33 PM
🚨The final event in our popular series with the NYPL is happening on Thursday, w an incredible panel of experts discussing the value of human labor in the face of increasing automation. Reserve your in-person spot (they're going quickly) or RSVP to join us online! www.showclix.com/event/unders...
TODAY, at 2pm ET!
bsky.app/profile/data...
bsky.app/profile/data...
On November 18, join organizers and experts for a cross-issue panel discussion exploring how workers and communities are pushing back: From Our Workplaces to Our Communities: Stop the AI Surveillance Pipeline Now! bit.ly/stopAIsurveillance
November 18, 2025 at 4:30 PM
TODAY, at 2pm ET!
bsky.app/profile/data...
bsky.app/profile/data...
While calling the requirements of NY's RAISE Act fair and doable, D&S policy manager @serena124.bsky.social tells @politico.com that the bill could go further to protect consumers and hold tech companies accountable. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...
POLITICO Pro: New York faces biggest test yet on AI safety
The RAISE Act, awaiting the governor’s signature, is under the microscope after passage of California’s landmark artificial intelligence law.
subscriber.politicopro.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:13 PM
While calling the requirements of NY's RAISE Act fair and doable, D&S policy manager @serena124.bsky.social tells @politico.com that the bill could go further to protect consumers and hold tech companies accountable. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...
Tomorrow at 10am ET: a discussion debunking myths about the impact of data centers on the economy, environment, & local communities, with D&S researcher @livgar.bsky.social, MOSACAT's Tania Rodríguez, & @slehuede.bsky.social. Interpretation in English and Spanish. us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
November 17, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Tomorrow at 10am ET: a discussion debunking myths about the impact of data centers on the economy, environment, & local communities, with D&S researcher @livgar.bsky.social, MOSACAT's Tania Rodríguez, & @slehuede.bsky.social. Interpretation in English and Spanish. us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
Meta knowingly makes billions from scam ads, while vulnerable users around the world lose devastating amounts. It’s time to hold the company accountable for its role in this shameful cycle of harm, @lanalanalana.bsky.social & D&S's @alicetiara.bsky.social write. www.theverge.com/tech/820906/...
Meta must rein in scammers — or face consequences
Scams are ruinous to users — but, reportedly, big business to Meta.
www.theverge.com
November 14, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Meta knowingly makes billions from scam ads, while vulnerable users around the world lose devastating amounts. It’s time to hold the company accountable for its role in this shameful cycle of harm, @lanalanalana.bsky.social & D&S's @alicetiara.bsky.social write. www.theverge.com/tech/820906/...
"The whole idea of AGI is built on a warped view of what we should expect technology to do, and even what intelligence is in the first place,” @willdouglasheaven.bsky.social writes. www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/30/1...
How AGI became the most consequential conspiracy theory of our time
The idea that machines will be as smart as—or smarter than—humans has hijacked an entire industry. But look closely and you’ll see it’s a myth that persists for many of the same reasons conspiracies d...
www.technologyreview.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:19 PM
"The whole idea of AGI is built on a warped view of what we should expect technology to do, and even what intelligence is in the first place,” @willdouglasheaven.bsky.social writes. www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/30/1...
For the new season of his podcast "Shell Game," @evrat.bsky.social tests the hype about AI employees by creating a real company, run by fake people. “At first it was fun...like playing The Sims." But soon, "their fabrications became increasingly difficult to manage.” www.wired.com/story/all-my...
All of My Employees Are AI Agents, and So Are My Executives
Sam Altman says the one-person billion-dollar company is coming. Maybe I could be that person—if only I could get my colleagues to shut up and stop lying.
www.wired.com
November 13, 2025 at 6:33 PM
For the new season of his podcast "Shell Game," @evrat.bsky.social tests the hype about AI employees by creating a real company, run by fake people. “At first it was fun...like playing The Sims." But soon, "their fabrications became increasingly difficult to manage.” www.wired.com/story/all-my...
The money being thrown around for AI is so huge that numbers have lost all meaning. But @shiraovide.bsky.social offers one way to put it in context: The amount Big Tech has spent on AI data centers in just the past year could fund SNAP benefits for four years. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Analysis | The AI spending frenzy is so huge that it makes no sense
Big companies could fund four years’ worth of SNAP benefits from what they’re spending on AI. It may not be a bubble but the numbers in AI are bonkers.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 13, 2025 at 4:03 PM
The money being thrown around for AI is so huge that numbers have lost all meaning. But @shiraovide.bsky.social offers one way to put it in context: The amount Big Tech has spent on AI data centers in just the past year could fund SNAP benefits for four years. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Reposted by Data & Society
I’ll be in conversation with Sana Ahmad next Monday, November 17 at @weizenbauminstitut.bsky.social about our new @commonnotions.bsky.social book on digital workers’ inquiry and my forthcoming @datasociety.bsky.social report on climate action in and against the tech industry
Worker Led Movements Against AI: A Discussion with Tamara Kneese
Mon, Nov. 17, 2025
tickets.weizenbaum-institut.de
November 11, 2025 at 4:04 PM
I’ll be in conversation with Sana Ahmad next Monday, November 17 at @weizenbauminstitut.bsky.social about our new @commonnotions.bsky.social book on digital workers’ inquiry and my forthcoming @datasociety.bsky.social report on climate action in and against the tech industry
Talk of an economy dominated by AI output is making it hard for Gen Z to plan for the future, even if they put the technology at the center of their work. One laid-off employee who built AI agents compares it to “feeding myself into the AI meat grinder.” nymag.com/intelligence...
‘There’s Just No Reason to Deal With Young Employees’
AI is taking entry-level jobs. What happens when Gen-Z-ers can’t start their careers?
nymag.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Talk of an economy dominated by AI output is making it hard for Gen Z to plan for the future, even if they put the technology at the center of their work. One laid-off employee who built AI agents compares it to “feeding myself into the AI meat grinder.” nymag.com/intelligence...
AI is not a climate solution. With #COP30 underway, we stand in solidarity with indigenous peoples and frontline communities in rejecting centralized tech power and the extractive practices of AI — and affirming that technology must serve people. #TheAnswerIsUs greenscreen.network/en/blog/cop30/
The Answer is Not AI! Statement of Solidarity with The Answer Is Us campaign
Sign the solidarity statement The Answer is Not AI – The Answer Is Us! Support The Answer is Us! campaign Leia a versão em português da declaração de solidariedade.
In support of The Answer Is Us camp...
greenscreen.network
November 12, 2025 at 4:14 PM
AI is not a climate solution. With #COP30 underway, we stand in solidarity with indigenous peoples and frontline communities in rejecting centralized tech power and the extractive practices of AI — and affirming that technology must serve people. #TheAnswerIsUs greenscreen.network/en/blog/cop30/
Microsoft and Google say data centers will create thousands of jobs in Chile, but an analysis of permit filings by @restofworld.org shows only a small number of potential positions — and most are not skilled IT jobs, but those in security and cleaning. restofworld.org/2025/data-ce...
Microsoft, Google say their data centers create thousands of jobs. Their permit filings say otherwise
Chile and tech giants promise economy-wide impact but permits show fewer onsite jobs after construction.
restofworld.org
November 10, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Microsoft and Google say data centers will create thousands of jobs in Chile, but an analysis of permit filings by @restofworld.org shows only a small number of potential positions — and most are not skilled IT jobs, but those in security and cleaning. restofworld.org/2025/data-ce...
This Thursday, 11/13! D&S Director of Research @alicetiara.bsky.social will take part in a panel discussion about the opportunities and challenges of using research to support tech policy and advocacy, and share strategies for ethical, effective research that centers marginalized communities.
Advocating with Evidence: Lessons for Tech Researchers in Civil Society.
Join us on November 13 for an online discussion featuring @alicetiara.bsky.social @mkgerchick.bsky.social @jordanaut.bsky.social and me.
Organized by @cdt.org @datasociety.bsky.social @aclu.org
cdt.org/event/advoca...
Join us on November 13 for an online discussion featuring @alicetiara.bsky.social @mkgerchick.bsky.social @jordanaut.bsky.social and me.
Organized by @cdt.org @datasociety.bsky.social @aclu.org
cdt.org/event/advoca...
November 10, 2025 at 3:42 PM
This Thursday, 11/13! D&S Director of Research @alicetiara.bsky.social will take part in a panel discussion about the opportunities and challenges of using research to support tech policy and advocacy, and share strategies for ethical, effective research that centers marginalized communities.
AI chatbots used to be pitched as impartial tools for answering questions, but bespoke chatbots like Arya (an “unapologetic right-wing nationalist Christian AI model”) are now being programmed explicitly to reflect the biases of their creators. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/b...
Right-Wing Chatbots Turbocharge America’s Political and Cultural Wars
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:42 PM
AI chatbots used to be pitched as impartial tools for answering questions, but bespoke chatbots like Arya (an “unapologetic right-wing nationalist Christian AI model”) are now being programmed explicitly to reflect the biases of their creators. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/b...