Dr. Emily Dolson
@emilydolson.bsky.social
Assistant Professor at Michigan State University studying eco-evolutionary dynamics in artificial life, cancer, and evolutionary computation. she/her 🏳️🌈
@[email protected] on Mastodon
@[email protected] on Mastodon
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
Save the date!
The annual #Conference on #ArtificialLife - #ALIFE2026 will take place in Waterloo (Ontario, Canada), 17-21 August 2026. More details coming soon!
The annual #Conference on #ArtificialLife - #ALIFE2026 will take place in Waterloo (Ontario, Canada), 17-21 August 2026. More details coming soon!
January 21, 2026 at 5:57 PM
Save the date!
The annual #Conference on #ArtificialLife - #ALIFE2026 will take place in Waterloo (Ontario, Canada), 17-21 August 2026. More details coming soon!
The annual #Conference on #ArtificialLife - #ALIFE2026 will take place in Waterloo (Ontario, Canada), 17-21 August 2026. More details coming soon!
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
Step 1: GenAI coding contains almost twice as many errors as human coding.
Step 2: Satya Nadella says as much as 30% of Microsoft code is written by AI.
Step 3: Windows 11 is a sluggish, buggy mess.
Step 2: Satya Nadella says as much as 30% of Microsoft code is written by AI.
Step 3: Windows 11 is a sluggish, buggy mess.
AI-generated code contains more bugs and errors than human output
AI-generated code produces 1.7x more issues than human code
www.techradar.com
December 23, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Step 1: GenAI coding contains almost twice as many errors as human coding.
Step 2: Satya Nadella says as much as 30% of Microsoft code is written by AI.
Step 3: Windows 11 is a sluggish, buggy mess.
Step 2: Satya Nadella says as much as 30% of Microsoft code is written by AI.
Step 3: Windows 11 is a sluggish, buggy mess.
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
One of my most formative experiences in academic medicine was chasing down a citation.
I wanted to cite a reassurance I heard in residency that a 1cm dural exposure over the ear was okay. I found it--it was from a book chapter without any experimental evidence.
The experience rewired my brain.
I wanted to cite a reassurance I heard in residency that a 1cm dural exposure over the ear was okay. I found it--it was from a book chapter without any experimental evidence.
The experience rewired my brain.
I basically arrived at my dissertation topic while chasing a citation chain where no one seemed to know the OG primary source for.
Am I the only one who gets a real kick out of citation chains? Reading people's writing and footnotes, and making assessments and notes, finding the sources in the footnotes and reading them yourself, and making more notes?
I...love it?
I...love it?
December 21, 2025 at 10:27 PM
One of my most formative experiences in academic medicine was chasing down a citation.
I wanted to cite a reassurance I heard in residency that a 1cm dural exposure over the ear was okay. I found it--it was from a book chapter without any experimental evidence.
The experience rewired my brain.
I wanted to cite a reassurance I heard in residency that a 1cm dural exposure over the ear was okay. I found it--it was from a book chapter without any experimental evidence.
The experience rewired my brain.
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
This is 100% infuriating.
The ACM Digital Library, where a LOT of computing-related research is published (I'd say at least 75% of my own publications), is now not only providing (without consent of the authors and without opt-in by readers) AI-generated summaries of papers, but they appear as the *default* over abstracts.
December 17, 2025 at 4:13 PM
This is 100% infuriating.
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
Our paper on constraints and functions is out!
We show that agents can change from open loop control behavior to closed loop control by modifying their environment.
It’s a follow up to many of the ideas that Tim Taylor explores with his POA framework.
direct.mit.edu/isal/proceed...
We show that agents can change from open loop control behavior to closed loop control by modifying their environment.
It’s a follow up to many of the ideas that Tim Taylor explores with his POA framework.
direct.mit.edu/isal/proceed...
The Constraint-Function Loop
A central question in artificial life is how systems can sustain life-like behavior—sensing, adaptation, persistence—in complex, unpredictable environments. This paper introduces the constraint-functi...
direct.mit.edu
December 9, 2025 at 5:13 AM
Our paper on constraints and functions is out!
We show that agents can change from open loop control behavior to closed loop control by modifying their environment.
It’s a follow up to many of the ideas that Tim Taylor explores with his POA framework.
direct.mit.edu/isal/proceed...
We show that agents can change from open loop control behavior to closed loop control by modifying their environment.
It’s a follow up to many of the ideas that Tim Taylor explores with his POA framework.
direct.mit.edu/isal/proceed...
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
was at an event on AI for science yesterday, a panel discussion here at NeurIPS. The panelists discussed how they plan to replace humans at all levels in the scientific process. So I stood up and protested that what they are doing is evil.
Full post:
togelius.blogspot.com/2025/12/plea...
Full post:
togelius.blogspot.com/2025/12/plea...
Please, don't automate science!
I was at an event on AI for science yesterday, a panel discussion here at NeurIPS. The panelists discussed how they plan to replace humans a...
togelius.blogspot.com
December 8, 2025 at 6:51 AM
was at an event on AI for science yesterday, a panel discussion here at NeurIPS. The panelists discussed how they plan to replace humans at all levels in the scientific process. So I stood up and protested that what they are doing is evil.
Full post:
togelius.blogspot.com/2025/12/plea...
Full post:
togelius.blogspot.com/2025/12/plea...
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
My first lead author paper is out with Ben Kerr and @alisonfeder.bsky.social! We found that making an antiviral too strong can sometimes make resistance easier to evolve. This has implications for how we design drugs, choose doses, and think about viral evolution in the face of treatment. (1/n)
Intracellular interactions shape antiviral resistance outcomes in poliovirus via eco-evolutionary feedback - Nature Ecology & Evolution
A model of intrahost poliovirus replication shows that, after several rounds of replication, pocapavir, a poliovirus capsid inhibitor, collapses viral density, preventing intracellular interactions th...
www.nature.com
December 8, 2025 at 5:15 PM
My first lead author paper is out with Ben Kerr and @alisonfeder.bsky.social! We found that making an antiviral too strong can sometimes make resistance easier to evolve. This has implications for how we design drugs, choose doses, and think about viral evolution in the face of treatment. (1/n)
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
Our #ALIFE2025 paper is out! 🎉 We show that even when two circuits produce the same output, their evolutionary potential can differ greatly. #Evolution at the smallest scale.
“Parameter Evolvability in Gene Expression Models Drives Phenotypic Adaptation”
🔗 direct.mit.edu/isal/proceed...
“Parameter Evolvability in Gene Expression Models Drives Phenotypic Adaptation”
🔗 direct.mit.edu/isal/proceed...
December 1, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Our #ALIFE2025 paper is out! 🎉 We show that even when two circuits produce the same output, their evolutionary potential can differ greatly. #Evolution at the smallest scale.
“Parameter Evolvability in Gene Expression Models Drives Phenotypic Adaptation”
🔗 direct.mit.edu/isal/proceed...
“Parameter Evolvability in Gene Expression Models Drives Phenotypic Adaptation”
🔗 direct.mit.edu/isal/proceed...
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by @fernpizza.bsky.social, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Intracellular competition shapes plasmid population dynamics
From populations of multicellular organisms to selfish genetic elements, conflicts between levels of biological organization are central to evolution. Plasmids are extrachromosomal, self-replicating g...
www.science.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by @fernpizza.bsky.social, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Fellow scientists who write conference papers and submit NSF/NIH grants: what publication type are you using for conference papers in your NCBI Bibliography? I realized that I've been doing a chaotic mix of "other" and "meeting abstract", each of which has pros and cons.
November 18, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Fellow scientists who write conference papers and submit NSF/NIH grants: what publication type are you using for conference papers in your NCBI Bibliography? I realized that I've been doing a chaotic mix of "other" and "meeting abstract", each of which has pros and cons.
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
Jeffrey Epstein justified his evil actions with "science"
Evolutionary biologists whispering in his ear about how men and women are fundamentally different, and it's "natural" to desire younger women
Our field has a duty to explain why this is wrong both scientifically and ethically
Evolutionary biologists whispering in his ear about how men and women are fundamentally different, and it's "natural" to desire younger women
Our field has a duty to explain why this is wrong both scientifically and ethically
November 14, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Jeffrey Epstein justified his evil actions with "science"
Evolutionary biologists whispering in his ear about how men and women are fundamentally different, and it's "natural" to desire younger women
Our field has a duty to explain why this is wrong both scientifically and ethically
Evolutionary biologists whispering in his ear about how men and women are fundamentally different, and it's "natural" to desire younger women
Our field has a duty to explain why this is wrong both scientifically and ethically
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
Rep Tom Barrett would rather take food from the hungry than give care to the sick. If he won't lift a finger to help his constituents, I will. I'm holding vigil for 30 hours leading up to the SNAP cutoff deadline, and collecting donations for the Greater Lansing Food Bank. bit.ly/cd7food
October 31, 2025 at 2:16 AM
Rep Tom Barrett would rather take food from the hungry than give care to the sick. If he won't lift a finger to help his constituents, I will. I'm holding vigil for 30 hours leading up to the SNAP cutoff deadline, and collecting donations for the Greater Lansing Food Bank. bit.ly/cd7food
Remembering the time in grad school when a Black PhD student at the next desk over was doing computer vision research. He was testing out a facial recognition tool using his own face as a reference, but it wasn't working. So he asked a (white) colleague to try it, and of course it worked for her.
New incredible detail here: ICE says a match in its facial recognition app Mobile Fortify is a "definitive" determination of a person's status, and that this overrides birth certificates. This is an app ICE is using in the field to scan people
www.404media.co/ice-and-cbp-...
www.404media.co/ice-and-cbp-...
October 29, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Remembering the time in grad school when a Black PhD student at the next desk over was doing computer vision research. He was testing out a facial recognition tool using his own face as a reference, but it wasn't working. So he asked a (white) colleague to try it, and of course it worked for her.
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
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The official home of the Python Programming Language
www.python.org
October 27, 2025 at 2:47 PM
TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
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Data like these are exactly why I think @wewill2026.bsky.social is an excellent candidate to be the next MI-07 representative!
Some people say Elissa Slotkin won our district because she's moderate. I think that's wrong. I think she won because she stood for something. Will does too.
Some people say Elissa Slotkin won our district because she's moderate. I think that's wrong. I think she won because she stood for something. Will does too.
This piece by @adambonica.bsky.social is a crucial read. The @nytimes.com editorial board leans into their priors in their own recent editorial on the need for moderation to win. As @adambonica.bsky.social suggests the story is more complicated. 1/ data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-new-yo...
The New York Times Argues “Moving to the Center Is the Way to Win.” But the Data Shows the Strategy Is Tapped Out.
Democrats already run moderates in nearly every swing district. It's not enough. A data-driven response to the case for centrism as a core electoral strategy.
data4democracy.substack.com
October 26, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Data like these are exactly why I think @wewill2026.bsky.social is an excellent candidate to be the next MI-07 representative!
Some people say Elissa Slotkin won our district because she's moderate. I think that's wrong. I think she won because she stood for something. Will does too.
Some people say Elissa Slotkin won our district because she's moderate. I think that's wrong. I think she won because she stood for something. Will does too.
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
RFK is undoing human subjects protections so he can conduct placebo trials of vaccines. That means infecting people knowingly. I wonder who will “volunteer” for these trials? If history is any guide, a lot of incarcerated and other powerless people.
Dismantling the Institutional Review Board (IRB), that oversees all human subjects research, is bad. Really bad.
The entire HR department at the CDC is gone. Everyone at the IRB, which makes sure studies are conducted ethically and rigorously, and the ethics office, which oversee conflicts of interest for CDC leaders and advisory committee members, were also let go.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
October 19, 2025 at 4:12 PM
RFK is undoing human subjects protections so he can conduct placebo trials of vaccines. That means infecting people knowingly. I wonder who will “volunteer” for these trials? If history is any guide, a lot of incarcerated and other powerless people.
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
tl;dr
1. Studies of genAI in the classroom show that it harms learning
2. The quality of AI-generated text is irrelevant to its most negative effects on teaching
3. The way AI has entered the classroom is as a money-making project extracting new labour, not a “tool” serving teachers’ actual needs
1. Studies of genAI in the classroom show that it harms learning
2. The quality of AI-generated text is irrelevant to its most negative effects on teaching
3. The way AI has entered the classroom is as a money-making project extracting new labour, not a “tool” serving teachers’ actual needs
Why I am not using AI in the classroom
Last week I spoke with some of my colleagues about the “challenges” posed by generative AI to our teaching. As anyone who follows me on Bluesky — or followed me on Twitter, prior …
memoriousblog.com
October 19, 2025 at 4:32 PM
tl;dr
1. Studies of genAI in the classroom show that it harms learning
2. The quality of AI-generated text is irrelevant to its most negative effects on teaching
3. The way AI has entered the classroom is as a money-making project extracting new labour, not a “tool” serving teachers’ actual needs
1. Studies of genAI in the classroom show that it harms learning
2. The quality of AI-generated text is irrelevant to its most negative effects on teaching
3. The way AI has entered the classroom is as a money-making project extracting new labour, not a “tool” serving teachers’ actual needs
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
In 2018, Charles Murray challenged me to a bet: "We will understand IQ genetically—I think most of the picture will have been filled in by 2025—there will still be blanks—but we’ll know basically what’s going on." It's now 2025, and I claim a win. I write about it in The Atlantic.
Your Genes Are Simply Not Enough to Explain How Smart You Are
Seven years ago, I took a bet with Charles Murray about whether we’d basically understand the genetics of intelligence by now.
www.theatlantic.com
October 13, 2025 at 1:33 PM
In 2018, Charles Murray challenged me to a bet: "We will understand IQ genetically—I think most of the picture will have been filled in by 2025—there will still be blanks—but we’ll know basically what’s going on." It's now 2025, and I claim a win. I write about it in The Atlantic.
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
Swipe up to try a new variant on Conway's Game of Life. And another. And another. This is how artificial-life researchers spread the joy after the #ALIFE2025 conference! They say it's like TikTok, but I wouldn't know.... ⚙️🧫 rulehunt.org?rulesetHex=7... #cellularautomata #gameoflife
October 11, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Swipe up to try a new variant on Conway's Game of Life. And another. And another. This is how artificial-life researchers spread the joy after the #ALIFE2025 conference! They say it's like TikTok, but I wouldn't know.... ⚙️🧫 rulehunt.org?rulesetHex=7... #cellularautomata #gameoflife
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
The SONI session turned out a great—shout out to the speakers & the panelists @emilydolson.bsky.social, @risi.bsky.social, @blaiseaguera.bsky.social & Sidney Pontes-Filho for great talks & discussion on how we can rethink intelligence under the complexity lens.
#ALife2025 @alife2025.bsky.social
#ALife2025 @alife2025.bsky.social
October 10, 2025 at 2:33 AM
The SONI session turned out a great—shout out to the speakers & the panelists @emilydolson.bsky.social, @risi.bsky.social, @blaiseaguera.bsky.social & Sidney Pontes-Filho for great talks & discussion on how we can rethink intelligence under the complexity lens.
#ALife2025 @alife2025.bsky.social
#ALife2025 @alife2025.bsky.social
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
New, brief overview of lexicase selection: lexicase.ai
It considers individual training cases in different random orders, and therefore with different priorities, for each selection event.
#AI #MachineLearning #ALife
It considers individual training cases in different random orders, and therefore with different priorities, for each selection event.
#AI #MachineLearning #ALife
lexicase.ai
lexicase.ai
October 9, 2025 at 3:24 AM
New, brief overview of lexicase selection: lexicase.ai
It considers individual training cases in different random orders, and therefore with different priorities, for each selection event.
#AI #MachineLearning #ALife
It considers individual training cases in different random orders, and therefore with different priorities, for each selection event.
#AI #MachineLearning #ALife
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
nyti.ms
October 8, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
"This compact is a “reward” in exactly the same sense that it is “rewarding” to purchase protection from the Mafia. The compact is an open, explicit threat." This is very good.
I thought I'd put the administration's proposed "compact" with universities in context, so I wrote the blog post below.
It's especially for journalists covering this story!
Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.
It's especially for journalists covering this story!
Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.
Balkinization: The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal
A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics
balkin.blogspot.com
October 5, 2025 at 1:23 PM
"This compact is a “reward” in exactly the same sense that it is “rewarding” to purchase protection from the Mafia. The compact is an open, explicit threat." This is very good.
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
Reposted by Dr. Emily Dolson
I considered writing a long carefully constructed argument laying out the harms and limitations of AI, but instead I wrote about being a hater. Only humans can be haters.
I Am An AI Hater
I am an AI hater. This is considered rude, but I do not care, because I am a hater.
anthonymoser.github.io
August 27, 2025 at 5:04 PM
I considered writing a long carefully constructed argument laying out the harms and limitations of AI, but instead I wrote about being a hater. Only humans can be haters.