Jessica Hullman
@jessicahullman.bsky.social
Ginni Rometty Prof @NorthwesternCS | Fellow @NU_IPR | Uncertainty + decisions | Humans + AI/ML | Blog @statmodeling
Pinned
ExplainableAI has long frustrated me by lacking a clear theory of what an explanation should do. Improve use of a model for what? How? Given a task what's max effect explanation could have? It's complicated bc most methods are functions of features & prediction but not true state being predicted 1/
Reposted by Jessica Hullman
Some thoughts on empirical distributions of z-scores
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2025/11/24/s...
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2025/11/24/s...
Some thoughts on empirical distributions of z-scores | Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu
November 24, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Some thoughts on empirical distributions of z-scores
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2025/11/24/s...
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2025/11/24/s...
Reposted by Jessica Hullman
As someone who has occasionally glimpsed this world, this article strikes me as very accurate. Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
Opinion | How the Elite Behave When No One Is Watching: Inside the Epstein Emails
www.nytimes.com
November 23, 2025 at 8:52 PM
As someone who has occasionally glimpsed this world, this article strikes me as very accurate. Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
Reposted by Jessica Hullman
Reposted by Jessica Hullman
I'm also very vulnerable to attack by beautiful poetry
November 21, 2025 at 12:36 AM
I'm also very vulnerable to attack by beautiful poetry
Saw an old clip of Courtney Love and now having a moment with Hole. Something about her aggressive discontent feels just right for these times.
And ”I want to be the girl with the most cake” remains a great line
And ”I want to be the girl with the most cake” remains a great line
Hole - Doll Parts (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by HoleVEVO
www.youtube.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Saw an old clip of Courtney Love and now having a moment with Hole. Something about her aggressive discontent feels just right for these times.
And ”I want to be the girl with the most cake” remains a great line
And ”I want to be the girl with the most cake” remains a great line
Reposted by Jessica Hullman
Why AI writing is mid
How the current way of training language models destroys any voice (and hope of good writing).
www.interconnects.ai/p/why-ai-wri...
How the current way of training language models destroys any voice (and hope of good writing).
www.interconnects.ai/p/why-ai-wri...
Why AI writing is mid
How the current way of training language models destroys any voice (and hope of good writing).
www.interconnects.ai
November 17, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Why AI writing is mid
How the current way of training language models destroys any voice (and hope of good writing).
www.interconnects.ai/p/why-ai-wri...
How the current way of training language models destroys any voice (and hope of good writing).
www.interconnects.ai/p/why-ai-wri...
Is it just me, or are we hitting peak contrarian-eats-itself energy? Feels like everywhere I look…
November 16, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Is it just me, or are we hitting peak contrarian-eats-itself energy? Feels like everywhere I look…
Reposted by Jessica Hullman
If you work at the intersection of CS and economics (or think your work is of interest to those who do!) consider submitting to the ESIF Economics and AI+ML meeting this summer at Cornell: www.econometricsociety.org/regional-act...
2026 ESIF Economics and AI+ML Meeting - The Econometric Society
2026 ESIF Economics and AI+ML Meeting (ESIF-AIML2026) June 16-17, 2026 Cornell University Department...
www.econometricsociety.org
November 8, 2025 at 10:37 PM
If you work at the intersection of CS and economics (or think your work is of interest to those who do!) consider submitting to the ESIF Economics and AI+ML meeting this summer at Cornell: www.econometricsociety.org/regional-act...
ICE showed up to kidnap lawn workers and nannies today in my sleepy Chicago North Shore neighborhood. So disgusted
November 8, 2025 at 12:17 AM
ICE showed up to kidnap lawn workers and nannies today in my sleepy Chicago North Shore neighborhood. So disgusted
Reposted by Jessica Hullman
I’m recruiting students this upcoming cycle at UIUC! I’m excited about Qs on societal impact of AI, especially human-AI collaboration, multi-agent interactions, incentives in data sharing, and AI policy/regulation (all from both a theoretical and applied lens). Apply through CS & select my name!
November 6, 2025 at 6:52 PM
I’m recruiting students this upcoming cycle at UIUC! I’m excited about Qs on societal impact of AI, especially human-AI collaboration, multi-agent interactions, incentives in data sharing, and AI policy/regulation (all from both a theoretical and applied lens). Apply through CS & select my name!
Reposted by Jessica Hullman
Slides from my @mit.edu IDSS Distinguished Speaker seminar "Networks untangle gender differences in productivity and prominence among scientists" this week
I argue that collaboration networks act like unequally distributed (and gendered) social capital
aaronclauset.github.io/slides/Claus...
I argue that collaboration networks act like unequally distributed (and gendered) social capital
aaronclauset.github.io/slides/Claus...
November 6, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Slides from my @mit.edu IDSS Distinguished Speaker seminar "Networks untangle gender differences in productivity and prominence among scientists" this week
I argue that collaboration networks act like unequally distributed (and gendered) social capital
aaronclauset.github.io/slides/Claus...
I argue that collaboration networks act like unequally distributed (and gendered) social capital
aaronclauset.github.io/slides/Claus...
🧠⚙️ Interested in decision theory+cogsci meets AI? Want to create methods for rigorously designing & evaluating human-AI workflows?
I'm recruiting PhDs to work on:
🎯 Stat foundations of multi-agent collaboration
🌫️ Model uncertainty & meta-cognition
🔎 Interpretability
💬 LLMs in behavioral science
I'm recruiting PhDs to work on:
🎯 Stat foundations of multi-agent collaboration
🌫️ Model uncertainty & meta-cognition
🔎 Interpretability
💬 LLMs in behavioral science
November 5, 2025 at 4:40 PM
🧠⚙️ Interested in decision theory+cogsci meets AI? Want to create methods for rigorously designing & evaluating human-AI workflows?
I'm recruiting PhDs to work on:
🎯 Stat foundations of multi-agent collaboration
🌫️ Model uncertainty & meta-cognition
🔎 Interpretability
💬 LLMs in behavioral science
I'm recruiting PhDs to work on:
🎯 Stat foundations of multi-agent collaboration
🌫️ Model uncertainty & meta-cognition
🔎 Interpretability
💬 LLMs in behavioral science
A very reasonable take on AI in education
Wrote a short piece arguing that higher ed must help steer AI. TLDR: If we outsource this to tech, we outsource our whole business. But rejectionism is basically stalling. If we want to survive, schools themselves must proactively shape AI for education & research. [1/6, unpaywalled at 5/6] +
Opinion | AI Is the Future. Higher Ed Should Shape It.
If we want to stay at the forefront of knowledge production, we must fit technology to our needs.
www.chronicle.com
November 4, 2025 at 8:02 PM
A very reasonable take on AI in education
Tonight’s mood…
No offense to John Denver but this version captures something the original missed
No offense to John Denver but this version captures something the original missed
The Eagle And The Hawk
YouTube video by Bonnie Prince Billy - Topic
youtu.be
November 4, 2025 at 1:52 AM
Tonight’s mood…
No offense to John Denver but this version captures something the original missed
No offense to John Denver but this version captures something the original missed
Reposted by Jessica Hullman
Two answers:
- Anthropomorphization makes sense when dealing with written human-like characters, which is what LLMs generate
- We aren’t very deep into interpretability yet
x.com/pfau/status/...
- Anthropomorphization makes sense when dealing with written human-like characters, which is what LLMs generate
- We aren’t very deep into interpretability yet
x.com/pfau/status/...
October 31, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Two answers:
- Anthropomorphization makes sense when dealing with written human-like characters, which is what LLMs generate
- We aren’t very deep into interpretability yet
x.com/pfau/status/...
- Anthropomorphization makes sense when dealing with written human-like characters, which is what LLMs generate
- We aren’t very deep into interpretability yet
x.com/pfau/status/...
Reposted by Jessica Hullman
When referring to an unspecified, imaginary person, why do some writers need to refer to them specifically as “she” or “he”?
🧠: are you proudly showing that your imagination is this specific or are you just really against using “they”?
Either way, it’s a distraction.
🧠: are you proudly showing that your imagination is this specific or are you just really against using “they”?
Either way, it’s a distraction.
October 30, 2025 at 8:36 AM
When referring to an unspecified, imaginary person, why do some writers need to refer to them specifically as “she” or “he”?
🧠: are you proudly showing that your imagination is this specific or are you just really against using “they”?
Either way, it’s a distraction.
🧠: are you proudly showing that your imagination is this specific or are you just really against using “they”?
Either way, it’s a distraction.
Great post on various ways in which multiverse analysis can be misdirected as a solution
People seem to be discussing multiverse analysis again! I haven’t read the latest piece but will use that as an opportunity to share a blog post of mine with a title of which I’m still proud (although I probably shouldn’t)
www.the100.ci/2021/03/07/m...
www.the100.ci/2021/03/07/m...
Mülltiverse Analysis
Psychologists like their analyses like I like my coffee: robusta. Results shouldn’t change too much, no matter which exclusion criteria are applied, which covariates are included, which transformation...
www.the100.ci
October 26, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Great post on various ways in which multiverse analysis can be misdirected as a solution
✨ SOTA in Probability Elicitation, 2025 ✨
Econ/stats/JDM: "We invoke Schervish (1989) to derive a task-aligned strictly proper scoring rule, and expose subjects to 50 calibration trials to verify comprehension. We provide proofs of LIC in ..."
HCI: “We used a slider to promote carefulness.”
Econ/stats/JDM: "We invoke Schervish (1989) to derive a task-aligned strictly proper scoring rule, and expose subjects to 50 calibration trials to verify comprehension. We provide proofs of LIC in ..."
HCI: “We used a slider to promote carefulness.”
October 25, 2025 at 1:47 AM
✨ SOTA in Probability Elicitation, 2025 ✨
Econ/stats/JDM: "We invoke Schervish (1989) to derive a task-aligned strictly proper scoring rule, and expose subjects to 50 calibration trials to verify comprehension. We provide proofs of LIC in ..."
HCI: “We used a slider to promote carefulness.”
Econ/stats/JDM: "We invoke Schervish (1989) to derive a task-aligned strictly proper scoring rule, and expose subjects to 50 calibration trials to verify comprehension. We provide proofs of LIC in ..."
HCI: “We used a slider to promote carefulness.”
Why are there so many houses with bathrooms in basements? Especially bathrooms with showers in unfinished basements. Why on earth? Why does my own house have a bathroom in the basement? Who is going to use it?
October 24, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Why are there so many houses with bathrooms in basements? Especially bathrooms with showers in unfinished basements. Why on earth? Why does my own house have a bathroom in the basement? Who is going to use it?
I’m giving an IDE seminar at @mitsloan.bsky.social tomorrow at 11am, on optimizing AI as decision support. Joint work w/ @ziyang.bsky.social @yifanwu.bsky.social @jasonhartline.bsky.social @berkustun.bsky.social
Come by if you’re around!
www.eventbrite.com/e/fall-2025-...
Come by if you’re around!
www.eventbrite.com/e/fall-2025-...
October 22, 2025 at 7:06 PM
I’m giving an IDE seminar at @mitsloan.bsky.social tomorrow at 11am, on optimizing AI as decision support. Joint work w/ @ziyang.bsky.social @yifanwu.bsky.social @jasonhartline.bsky.social @berkustun.bsky.social
Come by if you’re around!
www.eventbrite.com/e/fall-2025-...
Come by if you’re around!
www.eventbrite.com/e/fall-2025-...
Reposted by Jessica Hullman
And now might be a good time to mention, I’m on the faculty job market this year! I do work in human-AI collusion, collaboration and competition, with an eye towards building foundations for trustworthy AI. Check out more info on my website here! Nataliecollina.com
October 22, 2025 at 3:56 PM
And now might be a good time to mention, I’m on the faculty job market this year! I do work in human-AI collusion, collaboration and competition, with an eye towards building foundations for trustworthy AI. Check out more info on my website here! Nataliecollina.com
@abhsarma.bsky.social created a visualization tool for principled reasoning about whether analysis paths should be included in a multiverse
Try it: abhsarma.github.io/milliways/
Paper:
mucollective.northwestern.edu/project/2024...
Code:
github.com/abhsarma/mil...
Try it: abhsarma.github.io/milliways/
Paper:
mucollective.northwestern.edu/project/2024...
Code:
github.com/abhsarma/mil...
October 21, 2025 at 4:56 PM
@abhsarma.bsky.social created a visualization tool for principled reasoning about whether analysis paths should be included in a multiverse
Try it: abhsarma.github.io/milliways/
Paper:
mucollective.northwestern.edu/project/2024...
Code:
github.com/abhsarma/mil...
Try it: abhsarma.github.io/milliways/
Paper:
mucollective.northwestern.edu/project/2024...
Code:
github.com/abhsarma/mil...
So excited
No one tells you that full professor really means full return to your high school self, but that’s basically what it is
No one tells you that full professor really means full return to your high school self, but that’s basically what it is
October 19, 2025 at 1:09 AM
So excited
No one tells you that full professor really means full return to your high school self, but that’s basically what it is
No one tells you that full professor really means full return to your high school self, but that’s basically what it is
Reposted by Jessica Hullman
"Wank is a speech act directed first and foremost at helping the speaker feel better about themselves, stated as an objective claim about the state of the world, that we are expected in discussion to treat with the epistemic authority of a claim about identity, but the content of the actual claim".
The various people trying to shame me for using large language models to do actual research and produce detailed teaching materials on their harms, instead of simply preaching against them on a street corner—they provide a perfect illustration of wank.
An essay on wank | deadSimpleTech
This captures well the uncomfortable, slightly disorienting feeling that wank creates when you're subjected to it, wherein you're expected to speak about and think about the statement as though it say...
deadsimpletech.com
October 18, 2025 at 3:50 PM
"Wank is a speech act directed first and foremost at helping the speaker feel better about themselves, stated as an objective claim about the state of the world, that we are expected in discussion to treat with the epistemic authority of a claim about identity, but the content of the actual claim".
Reposted by Jessica Hullman
Since I'm about to head out to DC's No Kings protest, here's a quick look at America's ORIGINAL No Kings movement, and a review of how many of George III's crimes outlined in the Declaration have been repeated by Trump. juliansanchez.substack.com/p/trump-vs-g...
Trump vs. George III: A No Kings Comparison
Our own mad king is repeating many of his predecessors' greatest hits
juliansanchez.substack.com
October 18, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Since I'm about to head out to DC's No Kings protest, here's a quick look at America's ORIGINAL No Kings movement, and a review of how many of George III's crimes outlined in the Declaration have been repeated by Trump. juliansanchez.substack.com/p/trump-vs-g...