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David Higgins

@davidhiggins.bsky.social

8.1K followers 2.7K following 1.7K posts

Professor of Environmental Humanities at the University of Leeds, UK. Working on culture and environmental crisis. Writing a book about birds, loss, and restoration. Worried parent. Luddite. Opinions my own. Reposts ≠ endorsement.

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David Higgins @davidhiggins.bsky.social · Oct 17

The book I'm writing -- on bitterns, loss, and hope -- has for a while seemed impossible. Today it seems merely improbable. I'm counting that as progress!

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Matt Round @mattround.com · 15h

OpenAI’s strategy is very clear, it’s trying to get people - especially young people - so reliant on its products intellectually & emotionally (& now sexually!) that going without them becomes unthinkable. And they need signs of that strategy working to keep the funding flowing in

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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 9h

No it isn’t stop complying in advance

Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 2d

Despite early, and familiar, copyright growing pains, Sora may be the prelude to AI-generated on-demand TV and movies

Want to See Marilyn Monroe in Game of Thrones? AI Could Make It Soon

Despite early, and familiar, copyright growing pains, Sora may be the prelude to AI-generated on-demand TV and movies

www.scientificamerican.com

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Silky @silkyweineck.bsky.social · 26d

been staring at this paragraph in @umich.edu ‘s AI guidance on and off.

you have an ethical obligation to feed Sam Altman.

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David Higgins @davidhiggins.bsky.social · 7h

This is genuinely one of the worst things I’ve seen on social media. Even drug pushers don’t tend to claim that you have an ‘ethical responsibility’ to buy their product!

Reposted by David Higgins

Silky @silkyweineck.bsky.social · 17h

now that we have solved the mental health issue, everybody can fuck a robot with no restrictions, in a very mentally healthy way

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David Higgins @davidhiggins.bsky.social · 19h

He also seems to believe that Open AI have been ‘careful with mental health issues’!

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 19h

Sam Altman went from “AI will cure cancer" to "ChatGPT porn" in less than a month

ChatGPT boss predicts when AI could cure cancer

We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue we wanted to get this right.

Now that we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues and have new tools, we are going to be able to safely relax the restrictions in most cases.

In a few weeks, we plan to put out a new version of ChatGPT that allows people to have a personality that behaves more like what people liked about 4o (we hope it will be better!). If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it (but only if you want it, not because we are usage-maxxing).

In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our “treat adult users like adults” principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults.
12:02 PM · Oct 14, 2025
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David Higgins @davidhiggins.bsky.social · 20h

British Association of Romantic Studies digital event: 'Volcanic Romanticism', 30 October, 7pm UK time. I'm chairing, but please don't let that put you off. The speakers will be great!
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bars-digit...

BARS Digital Events: Volcanic Romanticism

Exploring the Diodatic Circle, the volcanic as a sublime, apocalyptic force, and how this inflected their powerful visions of the future.

www.eventbrite.co.uk

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David Higgins @davidhiggins.bsky.social · 20h

Between work and rushing around with small children, I’ve not had much time for birdwatching recently. October highlight has been a skein of maybe 200 pink-footed goose in flight from the garden. We sometimes get hundreds of migrating thrushes over us in October so 🤞

Garden fence with some green plants in front and a russet brown acer behind. Sides of houses visible. Lovely blue sky.

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Amílcar E. Challú @amilcarchallu.bsky.social · 1d

Question for #envhist and humanities peeps: I’m working on an outreach plan supporting a wetland restoration project. Does anybody have recommendations of authors or projects using history to increase public awareness on restoration projects?

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Reposted by David Higgins

Ian Carrillo @iansociologo.bsky.social · 1d

AI is clearly anti-productivity given the extent that its externalities create more work for society.

Ian Carrillo @iansociologo.bsky.social · 1d

www.techpolicy.press/generative-a...

Generative AI’s Productivity Myth | TechPolicy.Press

People may be using artificial intelligence, but that doesn’t mean it’s useful, writes Eryk Salvaggio.

www.techpolicy.press

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Dr Jennie Orr @drjenniferorr.bsky.social · 1d

We will soon be announcing a new Fellowship through the British Association for Romantic Studies which supportsthe work of independent researchers. It's a tight deadline but if you fall into this category or know anyone who does, watch this space @bars.bsky.social

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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 1d

"Geoengineering is inevitable; we better start preparing for it" and "AI is inevitable, we better start preparing for it" seem to both have extremely similar vibes.

In both cases, it *does not matter* whether something is inevitable. What matters is how its controlled, minimised and regulated

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David Higgins @davidhiggins.bsky.social · 2d

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

Research Excellence Framework 2029.

Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 2d

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

New library catalogue website.

🏰meg⚔️ @Birthright Audiobook! @impavid.us · 5d

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.

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Dr Rebecca Warren @drrjwarren.bsky.social · 2d

The lifelong psychological trauma of this destruction on those who have survived is beyond comprehension.

Resist 🕎🍉 @antizionistjew.bsky.social · 2d

No homes left, Gaza.

(Muhammad Smiry)

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David Higgins @davidhiggins.bsky.social · 2d

Portrait of me, by my son.

Green line picture of a flat blobby man with huge ears, resembling a particularly hideous goblin.

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Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 3d

People freaking out over the Chat-fishing dating-app article seem to miss that this is the *whole point* of ChatGPT and similar generative AI: writing as though you’re something other than you are. The whole idea is deception. Writing like a pro, like a lawyer etc, when you’re too lazy to be one.

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William Carruthers @williamcarruthers.bsky.social · 3d

Do I know anyone on here who has either applied for or received an AHRC Catalyst Award?

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Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 3d

The alarming aspect of this deliberate "anti-woke" algorithmic biasing of LLMs from an educational perspective is our institutions all bought in to an imaginary of innovation, then got locked in to enterprise contracts, and now the models are being recoded so they undermine educational values

Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 3d

Genuine question: for those enthusiastically pushing AI tools into every part of our education system—what checks/guardrails are there around algorithmic biases like this?

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 4d

The administration “is currently pressuring OpenAI and other AI companies to make their models more conservative-friendly.”

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Jessica Kant @jessdkant.bsky.social · 5d

So when I hear of students being encouraged to use GPT in college I don’t hear innovation. I hear cognitive atrophy, the inability to think critically for oneself, and total dependence on vulnerable centralized repositories of data for knowledge without ever understanding how knowledge is generated.

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David Higgins @davidhiggins.bsky.social · 5d

very grateful to @victoriaxiaoxiaoma.bsky.social for getting me into the building!

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David Higgins @davidhiggins.bsky.social · 5d

Thank you!

David Higgins @davidhiggins.bsky.social · 5d

Really up against it today so arrived at work at 6.20 before realising that I’d forgotten my keycard and therefore can’t access my office…

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Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 6d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

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David Higgins @davidhiggins.bsky.social · 5d

CFP: 'Poetry's Environments', University of Leeds, June 2026.

About poetry and the natural environment in relation to the environments in which it is written, experienced, performed, preserved, and studied.

Please submit a proposal! Deadline 5 December.

conferences.leeds.ac.uk/poetryenviro...

Call for Proposals | Poetry's Environments

conferences.leeds.ac.uk

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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 6d

I just cannot comprehend how a massive bung for older rich homeowners, at the expense of sicker and younger people who have to bear all the cuts, is seen as some sort of 'win'. Britain has become a grotesque and narrow place indeed. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Conservatives would scrap stamp duty, Kemi Badenoch announces

The Tory leader says the move would help millions buy a home, in her annual conference speech.

www.bbc.co.uk

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