Suresh Venkatasubramanian
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geomblog.bsky.social
Suresh Venkatasubramanian
@geomblog.bsky.social
4.3K followers 770 following 870 posts

Director, Center for Tech Responsibility@Brown. FAccT OG. AI Bill of Rights coauthor. Former tech advisor to President Biden @WHOSTP. He/him/his. Posts my own.

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Suresh Venkatasubramanian is an Indian computer scientist and professor at Brown University. In 2021, Prof. Venkatasubramanian was appointed to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, advising on matters relating to fairness and bias in tech systems. He was formerly a professor at the University of Utah. He is known for his contributions in computational geometry and differential privacy, and his work has been covered by news outlets such as Science Friday, NBC News, and Gizmodo. He also runs the Geomblog, which has received coverage from the New York Times, Hacker News, KDnuggets and other media outlets. He has served as associate editor of the International Journal of Computational Geometry and Applications and as the academic editor of PeerJ Computer Science, and on program committees for the IEEE International Conference on Data Mining, the SIAM Conference on Data Mining, NIPS, SIGKDD, SODA, and STACS. .. more

Computer science 89%
Engineering 5%
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Reposted by Suresh Venkatasubramanian

brown.edu
Brown University @brown.edu · 13h
Gobble, gobble!

Thanksgiving recess is right around the corner. 🦃

geomblog.bsky.social
Suresh Venkatasubramanian @geomblog.bsky.social · 18h
@reniebird.bsky.social and I have just been appointed to co-Chair @TheOfficialACM's US Technology Policy Committee’s Subcommittee on AI and Algorithms. cs.brown.edu/news/2025/11...
Serena Booth And Suresh Venkatasubramanian Co-Chair ACM’s US Technology Policy Committee’s Subcommittee On AI And Algorithms
Brown CS faculty members Serena Booth and Suresh Venkatasubramanian have just been appointed to co-chair the AI and Algorithms Subcommittee, whose recent work includes responses to government RFIs, te...
cs.brown.edu

Reposted by Kori Schake, Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Fabián Muniesa , and 3 more

reckless.bsky.social
nilay patel @reckless.bsky.social · 22h
I’ve been running around asking tech execs and academics if language was the same as intelligence for over a year now - and, well, it isn’t. @benjaminjriley.bsky.social explains how the bubble is built on ignoring cutting-edge research into the science of thought www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

Reposted by Suresh Venkatasubramanian

mguariglia.bsky.social
Matthew Guariglia @mguariglia.bsky.social · 1d
A truly all-star list of tech policy folks

geomblog.bsky.social
Suresh Venkatasubramanian @geomblog.bsky.social · 1d
Amazing!! NYC is in good hands
alondra.bsky.social Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 1d
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

Reposted by Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Jean Burgess, Philip N. Cohen , and 11 more

alondra.bsky.social
Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 1d
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

geomblog.bsky.social
Suresh Venkatasubramanian @geomblog.bsky.social · 1d
I saw a lot of this X fake account discussion even here. A corollary to @cwarzel.bsky.social's point is that it's not enough to stay away from X or Facebook or other engagement-driven platforms. It doesn't matter that Bsky avoids algorithmic filtering if people themselves transmit the info.
cwarzel.bsky.social Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 1d
I wrote about the fake account blowup on X this weekend. A genuine post-truth nightmare and proof that these companies have polluted their platforms so thoroughly and traded reality for profit that they've undermined the very idea of what the internet is supposed to be.
That MAGA Account Might Be a Troll From Pakistan
How X blew up its own platform with a new location feature
www.theatlantic.com

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Brendan Nyhan , and 9 more

cwarzel.bsky.social
Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 1d
I wrote about the fake account blowup on X this weekend. A genuine post-truth nightmare and proof that these companies have polluted their platforms so thoroughly and traded reality for profit that they've undermined the very idea of what the internet is supposed to be.
That MAGA Account Might Be a Troll From Pakistan
How X blew up its own platform with a new location feature
www.theatlantic.com

Reposted by Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Felicity Callard, Klaus Oschema , and 1 more

sonjadrimmer.bsky.social
Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 1d
This is not the way, and @cnygren.bsky.social and I lay out in detail why it isn’t in this essay here. static1.squarespace.com/static/55577...
How We are Not Using Al in the Classroom By Sonja Drimmer & Christopher J. Nygren Premise Prompt engineering is a term that has become commonplace since the widespread availability of generative AI applications like ChatGPT. The idea is that the outputs of the large language models (LLMs) on which these applications are based are only as good as the prompts that are input: vague prompts result in equally vague outputs. And thus was born the race to train for careers in prompt engineering. Unfortunately, the bubble seems to have burst before even the first generation of students was trained for this career outcome. We were given a prompt as an invitation to participate in this newsletter: "How are you using Al in the classroom?" While we have accepted this invitation, we are engaging in the most humanistic act we can imagine-refusing the prompt.

Reposted by Suresh Venkatasubramanian

benpatrickwill.bsky.social
Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 3d
AI in education is obviously not just a technology but something that different groups interpret and construct in various ways. I thought I'd have a go at characterizing them:

Reposted by Suresh Venkatasubramanian

lance.fortnow.com
Lance Fortnow @lance.fortnow.com · 3d
Well, it works in theory...
Cryptology Group Held an Election, but Can’t Decrypt the Results
A global group of researchers was unable to read the vote tally, after an official lost one of three secret code keys needed to unlock a hyper-secure election system.
www.nytimes.com

geomblog.bsky.social
Suresh Venkatasubramanian @geomblog.bsky.social · 3d
Worth stopping the doom scrolll and reading this.

Reposted by Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Smith

scalzi.com
John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 3d
This is a lovely article.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
How to Fix a Typewriter and Your Life (Gift Article)
This is the story of how a man traded steady, grinding corporate security for a dying craft and, in the process, found his soul.
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Suresh Venkatasubramanian

alexhanna.bsky.social
Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 4d
I wrote a bit about my first MozFest, moments of rupture, narratives we don't control, and trans justice

buttondown.com/maiht3k/arch...

geomblog.bsky.social
Suresh Venkatasubramanian @geomblog.bsky.social · 5d
This is a math life hack at the same level as "if the kth Fibonacci number measures miles, the (k+1)th is the conversion to km"
patrickjohanneson.com Patrick Johanneson 🚀 🇨🇦 @patrickjohanneson.com · 5d
8675309 is prime, and so is 8675311, so if you ever need a middlin'-large pair of adjacent primes to test your cryptographic suite, all you need is a 1980s earworm and a +2 and you're all set.
colindickey.com Colin Dickey @colindickey.com · 5d
Man, everything is so bleak, anyone got a fun fact or little bit of trivia they want to share

geomblog.bsky.social
Suresh Venkatasubramanian @geomblog.bsky.social · 5d
States should not be allowed to require modification of the always truthful outputs of LLMs, sez leaked Trump EO

Reposted by Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Richard Waite, Rebecca Tushnet

patrickjohanneson.com
Patrick Johanneson 🚀 🇨🇦 @patrickjohanneson.com · 5d
8675309 is prime, and so is 8675311, so if you ever need a middlin'-large pair of adjacent primes to test your cryptographic suite, all you need is a 1980s earworm and a +2 and you're all set.
colindickey.com Colin Dickey @colindickey.com · 5d
Man, everything is so bleak, anyone got a fun fact or little bit of trivia they want to share

geomblog.bsky.social
Suresh Venkatasubramanian @geomblog.bsky.social · 6d
Serena Booth (@reniebird.bsky.social) reflects on the challenge of collecting human preferences to steer AI systems and wonders if we are doing it all wrong. cntr.brown.edu/news/2025-11...

This is part 1 of 3 of CNTR researcher reflections on COLM 2025.

geomblog.bsky.social
Suresh Venkatasubramanian @geomblog.bsky.social · 7d
Reading is for liberal elites who won't get any jobs in the future.

Reposted by Suresh Venkatasubramanian

dbrody.bsky.social
David Brody @dbrody.bsky.social · 7d
The Nazgûl mobile app provides a wireless backup solution, because no LAN can defeat them.

Reposted by Suresh Venkatasubramanian

johndavisson.bsky.social
John Davisson @johndavisson.bsky.social · 7d
Joke's on them, the whole system goes down if you cast the integrated Ring® Camera into the fire.

geomblog.bsky.social
Suresh Venkatasubramanian @geomblog.bsky.social · 7d
TIL that I can add another to the surveillance collection that includes palantir and anduril. Meet ..... SAURON

share.google/jqLXiVwEzte5...

I'm just disappointed that there isn't a mobile version called Nazgul
Sauron
Our home security platform reliably identifies, understands, and deters threats. With Sauron, you always know that everything is under control.
share.google

Reposted by Suresh Venkatasubramanian

justinhendrix.bsky.social
Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 7d
A proposed federal moratorium on enforcement of state AI laws failed in the US Senate during budget negotiations in July, but lawmakers have resurrected the idea and may seek to advance it inside the National Defense Authorization Act before the end of the year, writes Cristiano-Lima Strong.
It’s Back. Congress Gears Up for Year-End Fight Over Moratorium on AI Laws. | TechPolicy.Press
A proposed federal moratorium on enforcement of state AI laws failed last summer, but lawmakers have resurrected the idea, writes Cristiano-Lima Strong.
www.techpolicy.press

Reposted by Sven T. Beckert, Suresh Venkatasubramanian

publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 7d
New at PB: Stephanie Wong interviews Seth Rockman (@sethrockman.bsky.social) about his latest book, "Plantation Goods: A Material History of American Slavery (@uchicagopress.bsky.social) and his experience learning to work on a late 18th-century loom.
Cloth and Complicity: Seth Rockman on Plantations, Textiles, and the Art of Weaving - Public Books
“But I had found a set of instructions in the archives of one of New England's leading manufacturers of low-end woollen cloth for enslaved wearers.”
www.publicbooks.org

geomblog.bsky.social
Suresh Venkatasubramanian @geomblog.bsky.social · 8d
Send a response made with ChatGPT? and "accidentally" also send the prompt :)

geomblog.bsky.social
Suresh Venkatasubramanian @geomblog.bsky.social · 11d
A terrific oped in the Globe by @sramach.bsky.social and @cbo.bsky.social on the tarnished legacy of Watson. They go beyond the retrospectives to point out how wrong he was on the science of genetics itself, and how dangerous (and deadly!) his opinions were. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/14/o...
What James Watson got wrong about DNA - The Boston Globe
The science he helped pioneer consistently undermines his view that genes determine everything about us.
www.bostonglobe.com

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Jan W. Mueller, Roger A. Pielke , and 32 more

joefore.bsky.social
Joe Fore @joefore.bsky.social · 11d
Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ.

It's a surreal--and troubling--read.

drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...

Reposted by Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Greg Linden

404media.co
404 Media @404media.co · 12d
NEW: Google is hosting a CBP app that uses facial recognition to identify immigrants, and tell local cops whether to contact ICE about the person, while also removing apps designed to warn communities about ICE officials.

“Google wanted to ‘not be evil’ back in the day. Well, they're evil now."
Google Has Chosen a Side in Trump's Mass Deportation Effort
Google is hosting a CBP app that uses facial recognition to identify immigrants, while simultaneously removing apps that report the location of ICE officials because Google sees ICE as a vulnerable gr...
www.404media.co

Reposted by Suresh Venkatasubramanian

natolambert.bsky.social
Nathan Lambert @natolambert.bsky.social · 13d
I’m starting a new series of interviews with all the leading open model labs around the world to show why people are doing this, how people train great models, and where the ecosystem is going.

Reposted by Suresh Venkatasubramanian

nsrnicek.bsky.social
Nick Srnicek @nsrnicek.bsky.social · 15d
The blog here is an enlightening piece on the EO, from one of the key architects behind it. The whole thing is worth reading, but some particularly notable points are:

www.hyperdimensional.co/p/dont-overt...
Don't Overthink "The AI Stack"
Reflections on the Export Promotion Executive Order
www.hyperdimensional.co