Huw Swanborough
@huwroscience.bsky.social
Cognitive neuroscientist at ETH Zurich. Primary interests in the neuroscience of affect processing/perception!
Outside of science: Hiking, huts, snow, bluegrass, folk, and all things creative.
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Everything's a signal, man.... Everything's a signal
Outside of science: Hiking, huts, snow, bluegrass, folk, and all things creative.
-------
Everything's a signal, man.... Everything's a signal
Behold! My first creation!!
I can't remember the last time I built something, let alone designed it and built it all from scratch.
I can't remember the last time I built something, let alone designed it and built it all from scratch.
December 16, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Behold! My first creation!!
I can't remember the last time I built something, let alone designed it and built it all from scratch.
I can't remember the last time I built something, let alone designed it and built it all from scratch.
Vox Pitch: "We aren't having good ideas, so we used those bad ideas to trained an LLM to create a train of words based on their statistical probability of occuring within those bad ideas.
Perhaps this grand average of all bad ideas will create good ideas"
Perhaps this grand average of all bad ideas will create good ideas"
December 16, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Vox Pitch: "We aren't having good ideas, so we used those bad ideas to trained an LLM to create a train of words based on their statistical probability of occuring within those bad ideas.
Perhaps this grand average of all bad ideas will create good ideas"
Perhaps this grand average of all bad ideas will create good ideas"
I hate this. AI has not reduced any obstacles to creativity that were technical or procedural. If I can't play an instrument but want to make music, there's heaps of ways. If I want to write, I require no technical expertise to open up word and start writing.
There are no obstacles to creativity...
There are no obstacles to creativity...
I have grown to believe that excessive wealth does something to your brain that is analogous to a serious head injury
December 16, 2025 at 8:37 AM
I hate this. AI has not reduced any obstacles to creativity that were technical or procedural. If I can't play an instrument but want to make music, there's heaps of ways. If I want to write, I require no technical expertise to open up word and start writing.
There are no obstacles to creativity...
There are no obstacles to creativity...
What the hell is this?
I measured once now I'm cutting twice?!
No one warned me.
I measured once now I'm cutting twice?!
No one warned me.
December 15, 2025 at 5:49 PM
What the hell is this?
I measured once now I'm cutting twice?!
No one warned me.
I measured once now I'm cutting twice?!
No one warned me.
I mean, I guess there's potential for a semi final upset for Zuckerberg but I've never seen a clearer path to a musk-thiel final.
🚨 THE BATTLE BEGINS 🚨
Your favorite year-end contest is back. It’s time to choose who will be this year’s Worst Person In Tech for 2025!
Each day of this week new matchups will drop until we choose the winner on Friday.
🗳️ Cast your ballot: twsu.forms.app/worst-person...
Your favorite year-end contest is back. It’s time to choose who will be this year’s Worst Person In Tech for 2025!
Each day of this week new matchups will drop until we choose the winner on Friday.
🗳️ Cast your ballot: twsu.forms.app/worst-person...
December 15, 2025 at 5:03 PM
I mean, I guess there's potential for a semi final upset for Zuckerberg but I've never seen a clearer path to a musk-thiel final.
Reposted by Huw Swanborough
"We face a social dilemma around the role of these empathy machines. Those who are most cognitively vulnerable may turn to these tools when what they most need is a flesh-and-blood human who will care for them, not sycophantically, but with thick empathy arising from the experience of being human."
Empty empathy machines
AI chatbots lack something fundamental to human empathy
buildcognitiveresonance.substack.com
December 15, 2025 at 1:00 PM
"We face a social dilemma around the role of these empathy machines. Those who are most cognitively vulnerable may turn to these tools when what they most need is a flesh-and-blood human who will care for them, not sycophantically, but with thick empathy arising from the experience of being human."
Feeling those winter blues?
Lean into it... Listen to some Tom Waits for growly cathersis, it's good for the soul.
youtu.be/wFrqclcm8pU
Lean into it... Listen to some Tom Waits for growly cathersis, it's good for the soul.
youtu.be/wFrqclcm8pU
Tom Waits - "Come On Up To The House"
YouTube video by Tom Waits
youtu.be
December 15, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Feeling those winter blues?
Lean into it... Listen to some Tom Waits for growly cathersis, it's good for the soul.
youtu.be/wFrqclcm8pU
Lean into it... Listen to some Tom Waits for growly cathersis, it's good for the soul.
youtu.be/wFrqclcm8pU
Reposted by Huw Swanborough
I'm avoiding the news in detail right now because I'm just so sad for my fellow Australians, but this man is beyond heroic and everything about Australia that I am proud of.
For a while, this is gonna be my only engagement with this tragedy.
For a while, this is gonna be my only engagement with this tragedy.
Extraordinary courage from Ahmed al Ahmed, a Muslim, 43-year-old father of two, who bravely risked his life to save his neighbors celebrating Hanukkah.
Praying for his full & speedy recovery.
And so deeply inspired by his example.
Praying for his full & speedy recovery.
And so deeply inspired by his example.
WATCH: Bystander disarms active shooter at Bondi Beach in Sydney
December 14, 2025 at 3:36 PM
I'm avoiding the news in detail right now because I'm just so sad for my fellow Australians, but this man is beyond heroic and everything about Australia that I am proud of.
For a while, this is gonna be my only engagement with this tragedy.
For a while, this is gonna be my only engagement with this tragedy.
Ok survived a small print scare and the laptop stand/desktidy is looking sweet.
December 14, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Ok survived a small print scare and the laptop stand/desktidy is looking sweet.
3D printing is basically magic and I can't believe I lived life without one.
December 12, 2025 at 8:45 AM
3D printing is basically magic and I can't believe I lived life without one.
a) I thought the calibri story was an onion story at first.
b) If I were at the onion, I would have written a joke headline of: "Calibri no saint": NYT journalist uncover's Calibri's dark past
But no...this is all real.
b) If I were at the onion, I would have written a joke headline of: "Calibri no saint": NYT journalist uncover's Calibri's dark past
But no...this is all real.
Can't say I ever expected to see a "That Font was No Angel" headline. But here we are.
December 11, 2025 at 1:31 PM
a) I thought the calibri story was an onion story at first.
b) If I were at the onion, I would have written a joke headline of: "Calibri no saint": NYT journalist uncover's Calibri's dark past
But no...this is all real.
b) If I were at the onion, I would have written a joke headline of: "Calibri no saint": NYT journalist uncover's Calibri's dark past
But no...this is all real.
Time for my tri-yearly "I have forgotten how the hell differential equations work and must spend a month relearning it"
I am endlessly envious of people who can remember maths.
I am endlessly envious of people who can remember maths.
December 11, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Time for my tri-yearly "I have forgotten how the hell differential equations work and must spend a month relearning it"
I am endlessly envious of people who can remember maths.
I am endlessly envious of people who can remember maths.
Hey Pablo, love the sentiment, but I genuinely wouldn't care if I died having not finished the dishes and recycling.
December 10, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Hey Pablo, love the sentiment, but I genuinely wouldn't care if I died having not finished the dishes and recycling.
Sans serif fonts are woke now huh?
Marco Rubio ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor's decision to adopt Calibri a “wasteful” diversity move
Rubio Stages Font Coup: Times New Roman Ousts Calibri
The secretary of state called it a "wasteful" diversity move, according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters.
www.huffpost.com
December 10, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Sans serif fonts are woke now huh?
Well, guess secret Santa won't be 3D printed.
This has taken an absolute enormous hit to be this bent out of shape.
This has taken an absolute enormous hit to be this bent out of shape.
December 9, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Well, guess secret Santa won't be 3D printed.
This has taken an absolute enormous hit to be this bent out of shape.
This has taken an absolute enormous hit to be this bent out of shape.
I am finding the process of designing things way too fun.
Laptop stand with combi desk tidy trays.
Cannot wait for the 3D printer to arrive.
Laptop stand with combi desk tidy trays.
Cannot wait for the 3D printer to arrive.
December 8, 2025 at 8:29 PM
I am finding the process of designing things way too fun.
Laptop stand with combi desk tidy trays.
Cannot wait for the 3D printer to arrive.
Laptop stand with combi desk tidy trays.
Cannot wait for the 3D printer to arrive.
The difficulty is in picking just one...
December 8, 2025 at 7:35 AM
The difficulty is in picking just one...
First week I made pancakes every day, iterating through all variables for the perfect crepe
The week after I did the same for french toast.
The week after, old fashioneds (that was a lot of fun).
Etc.
I have a wealth of recipes that are the result of the first few months.
The week after I did the same for french toast.
The week after, old fashioneds (that was a lot of fun).
Etc.
I have a wealth of recipes that are the result of the first few months.
What's a charming memory you have from the worst period of the pandemic?
November 30, 2025 at 7:54 PM
First week I made pancakes every day, iterating through all variables for the perfect crepe
The week after I did the same for french toast.
The week after, old fashioneds (that was a lot of fun).
Etc.
I have a wealth of recipes that are the result of the first few months.
The week after I did the same for french toast.
The week after, old fashioneds (that was a lot of fun).
Etc.
I have a wealth of recipes that are the result of the first few months.
If milk follows soon, he'll have had a really crepe week..
France’s far-right leader hit by egg, days after flour attack
French far-right leader hit on the head with an egg
Jordan Bardella, leader of France’s far-right National Rally party, was hit on the head with an egg Saturday, just days after another incident in which a protester threw flour at him.
www.ctvnews.ca
November 30, 2025 at 1:06 AM
If milk follows soon, he'll have had a really crepe week..
Twas frymblal and the autism,
Did remech & runction in the wabe.
All mimsy where the fexcectorn,
And the bicylce outgrabe.
Did remech & runction in the wabe.
All mimsy where the fexcectorn,
And the bicylce outgrabe.
November 27, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Twas frymblal and the autism,
Did remech & runction in the wabe.
All mimsy where the fexcectorn,
And the bicylce outgrabe.
Did remech & runction in the wabe.
All mimsy where the fexcectorn,
And the bicylce outgrabe.
Maybe those many users should think rather than feel.
Maybe the vibes of many users is not a great justification for a research project.
Maybe the vibes of many users is not a great justification for a research project.
November 26, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Maybe those many users should think rather than feel.
Maybe the vibes of many users is not a great justification for a research project.
Maybe the vibes of many users is not a great justification for a research project.
"handheld meat pie" implies the existence of the vehicle-mounted vegetarian pie.
"handheld meat pies" is truly the most cursed phrase anyone has ever used to describe this part of our national cuisine
* New Zealand takes pies (namely, handheld meat pies) so seriously that there are National Pie Awards that get major media coverage. The New Zealand National Library has a whole dedicated category for “Pies — Competitions.”
Pie.
Pie.
November 25, 2025 at 7:04 AM
"handheld meat pie" implies the existence of the vehicle-mounted vegetarian pie.
This is the goal of all AI companies...
Why go through the bother of buying news outlets or trying to influence public opinion when you can create a product in which users voluntarily ask you to man-in-the-middle attack all information they see?
Rocketing towards a permission economy.
Why go through the bother of buying news outlets or trying to influence public opinion when you can create a product in which users voluntarily ask you to man-in-the-middle attack all information they see?
Rocketing towards a permission economy.
"Musk has said publicly that he wants to make X’s algorithm “purely AI” and give users the ability to adjust what appears in their feeds by asking xAI’s Grok... Those features are supposed to launch by the end of 2025, Musk has said."
What could go wrong?
www.theinformation.com/articles/twi...
What could go wrong?
www.theinformation.com/articles/twi...
The Twins Pushing Elon Musk’s Plans to Replace X Staff With Grok
Last month, Elon Musk’s X laid off half of the engineering team tasked with building and running systems to fight spam, influence campaigns and illegal content, among other trust and safety issues, ac...
www.theinformation.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:44 PM
This is the goal of all AI companies...
Why go through the bother of buying news outlets or trying to influence public opinion when you can create a product in which users voluntarily ask you to man-in-the-middle attack all information they see?
Rocketing towards a permission economy.
Why go through the bother of buying news outlets or trying to influence public opinion when you can create a product in which users voluntarily ask you to man-in-the-middle attack all information they see?
Rocketing towards a permission economy.