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John West @johnwest.bsky.social · 2d

I wrote this essay, which is, in part, about the time I tried to turn a language model into Bartleby the Scrivener.

The Wall Street Journal @wsj.com · 2d

Experimenting with the math and data behind large language models helped me understand how AI “thinks.” I wish everyone had the chance to do the same, writes WSJ software engineer John West.

Essay | I’ve Seen How AI ‘Thinks.’ I Wish Everyone Could.

Experimenting with the math and data behind large language models can be exhilarating—and revealing.

on.wsj.com

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John West @johnwest.bsky.social · 2d

I know AI is a polarizing topic, but I created a very-little-language model using Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener." I asked it to finish my sentence: "I would..." and it responded "...prefer to, yes."

My AI never quite got it right—the most human thing about it.

www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ive-...?

Essay | I’ve Seen How AI ‘Thinks.’ I Wish Everyone Could.

Experimenting with the math and data behind large language models can be exhilarating—and revealing.

www.wsj.com

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John West @johnwest.bsky.social · 21d

Miles Davis, upon being asked to tailor his own pants, “You want me to sew what?!”

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John West @johnwest.bsky.social · 28d

The highest compliment!

John West @johnwest.bsky.social · 28d

For the nerds, here's how we did it: www.wsj.com/business/air...

How the Journal Analyzed More Than One Million FAA Reports

Reporters used machine learning algorithms and large-language models to perform the first analysis of fume-event reports at this scale

www.wsj.com

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John West @johnwest.bsky.social · 28d

Toxic fumes are leaking Into airplanes, sickening crews and passengers. The problem is getting worse and not much is being done about it.

From Ben Katz, me, and @andrewtangel.bsky.social for @wsj.com.

🔓 www.wsj.com/business/air...

Text of the article, reading:

> The Journal’s reporting—based on a review of more than one million FAA and National Aeronautics and Space Administration reports, thousands of pages of documents and research papers and more than 100 interviews—shows that aircraft manufacturers and their airline customers have played down health risks, successfully lobbied against safety measures, and made cost-saving changes that increased the risks to crew and passengers.

> The fumes—sometimes described as smelling of “wet dog,” “Cheetos” or “nail polish”—have led to emergency landings, sickened passengers and affected pilots’ vision and reaction times midflight, according to official reports.

> Most odors in aircraft aren’t toxic, and neither are all vapors. The effects are often fleeting, mild or present no symptoms.

> But they can also be longer-lasting and severe, according to doctors, medical records and affected crew members.

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Reposted by John West

Dr. Johnathan Flowers, Blade Wielding Bisexual (Lordean arc) @shengokai.blacksky.app · Aug 31

Kantians must be stopped.

stellz @piss.beauty · Aug 31

The Kant Car

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John West @johnwest.bsky.social · Sep 1

Every year!

Star Trek Minus Context @nocontexttrek1.bsky.social · Sep 2

Happy Labor Day

Chief Miles Edward O'Brien, who could strangle you with a cordless phone if he wanted to, is pictured. Chief O'Brien, who can kill 2 stones with 1 bird, is facing the camera and winking. O'Brien, who can dribble a bowling ball, is on DS9 station and wearing his classic gold uniform, and has the energy of a man who is walking away from an explosion without looking backwards at it. Closed caption reads, "He was more than a hero. He was a union man."

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John West @johnwest.bsky.social · Sep 1

I really loved this new Elvia Wilk essay: clereviewofbooks.com/elvia-incorp...

(If you haven't read her book, DEATH BY LANDSCAPE, you should.)

Elvia, Incorporated - Cleveland Review of Books

I left the bank fully and completely realized as ELVIA INC, annual projected revenue: one million dollars.

clereviewofbooks.com

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John West @johnwest.bsky.social · Aug 29

🫡

John West @johnwest.bsky.social · Aug 23

Over @wsj.com, my colleagues Sara Randazzo, @ceostroff.bsky.social, and Shane Shifflett have a deep, fascinating look at how researchers are amending grant language to keep federal funding and avoid getting flagged in the Trump administration’s push against "DEI." www.wsj.com/health/scien...

An excerpt from the article:

Scientists are removing words like “diverse” and “disparities” from hundreds of federal grant renewals to avoid getting flagged in the Trump administration’s focus on eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a Wall Street Journal analysis shows.

At least 600 research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health have been modified in the fiscal year starting in October to remove terms associated with diversity, equity and inclusion, the Journal analysis found. Nearly all of those projects were multiyear grants that had already been approved but were up for routine annual reviews. The modified grants were worth $480 million this cycle.

The most frequently deleted term was “diverse,” removed in 300 instances, followed by “underrepresented.”

In some cases, scientists are yanking words that aren’t DEI-related at all, but could be flagged as such, including references to “discrimination” of antibodies in transplant patients.

Other changes researchers are making are more substantive, shifting the scope of projects. Scientists caution that research on medical issues affecting minority communities is being de-emphasized. Some grants up for routine yearly renewals sat in limbo until scientists submitted the revisions. Funding delays at times led to layoffs and disrupted ongoing research.

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John West @johnwest.bsky.social · Aug 23

I studied Baroque music, and Beethoven is definitely *not* Baroque, but I did have some fun with this Sonatina of his. And, yes, I know my interpretation is pretty far off, but I was, as they say, ~vibing~.

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John West @johnwest.bsky.social · Aug 14

I absolutely loved this essay by Patrick Nathan. patricknathan.substack.com/p/soul-searc...

A quote from the essay:

> A genre that used to annoy me but that I now find somewhat charming is the why-I-left-New-York essay. As with most annoying essays, this is all Joan Didion’s fault.1 And as usual, Didion nailed it: Yes, New York is tiring — because people get tired. People get old. The habits we don’t change as we change start to burden us, not support us. One day, it’s unbearable to look around and find your youth — the bars you went to, the lights that dazzled you, the food you relished — not only harder to recognize, but worse: unwilling to delight you, console you, or even welcome you. Unwilling to want you. Going on unchangedly in a city that’s changed, trying to live as you once did with a body that’s changed, is to set yourself up for rejection. That city, that past, that youth — none of it can be recaptured, at least not in life, not in the things you do from day to day. Either you contend with that, consciously, or you leave. Most people leave.

> Nostalgia isn’t homesickness, in this understanding — not quite. With its overtone of loss, of irrevocability, and of yearning for the impossible, it’s something closer to time sickness: one can feel, one can see, that youth is gone.

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John West @johnwest.bsky.social · Aug 3

New Sumerian myth just dropped. archaeology.org/news/2025/07...

(How rad is it that we're still deciphering these things!)

News - Newly Deciphered Cuneiform Tablet Contains Unknown Sumerian Myth - Archaeology Magazine

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS—A riveting lost Sumerian myth was recently rediscovered thanks to University of Chicago Sumerologist […]

archaeology.org

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John West @johnwest.bsky.social · Jul 26

no one asked for this, but

A venn diagram:

- Fisher
- Phisher
- Fissure
- Fisher / Phisher: They want to catch you.
- Fisher / Fissure: They want to go deep.
- Phisher / Fissure: The allow backdoor access.
- Fisher / Phisher / Fissure: The go before "of men".

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John West @johnwest.bsky.social · Jul 25

Turned away from the pearly gates, the hacker mutters, "Jesus' disciples get to be 'fishers of men,' but when I do it, it's a federal crime."

John West @johnwest.bsky.social · Jul 25

Brb just sending copies of Barthes “The Death of the Author” to Nintendo execs.

My Nintendo News @mynintendonews.com · Jul 25

Nintendo says Princess Peach and Mario are just good friends

Nintendo has clarified on the Nintendo Today app that the lovable Princess Peach and Mario are just good friends putting to bed fan theories that they are in a relationship or have had a relationship. This comes despite the kisses over…

Nintendo says Princess Peach and Mario are just good friends

Nintendo has clarified on the Nintendo Today app that the lovable Princess Peach and Mario are just good friends putting to bed fan theories that they are in a relationship or have had a relationship. This comes despite the kisses over the years and the closeness of the two characters. Nintendo also said that the two characters help each other out whenever they can, just like good friends. "Princess Peach and Mario are good friends and help each other out whenever they can."

mynintendonews.com

John West @johnwest.bsky.social · Jul 25

Gotta send copies of Barthes’s death of the author to Nintendo execs

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Reposted by John West

Thorn @coelliptic.bsky.social · Jul 25

mike's hard problem of consciousness

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Reposted by John West

Alanna Smith @alannamode.bsky.social · Jul 21

Maybe the real Ship of Theseus was the Ship of Theseus we made along the way

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John West @johnwest.bsky.social · Jul 22

I'm burning through an absolutely incredible podcast, Threshold. The most recent season, Hark, is all about the history of sound across human history. It's hands down some of the best science journalism I've even encountered. www.thresholdpodcast.org

John West @johnwest.bsky.social · Jul 22

I'm legitimately curious if the scale matters here to folks. Sometimes a difference in degree can be so vast it becomes a difference in kind, no?

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John West @johnwest.bsky.social · Jul 22

@willoremus.com's piece and @jeffjarvis.bsky.social's response circle an important question: How capacious should fair use be? I sure don't know, but multi-billion dollar companies scraping millions of maybe-pirated books certainly *feels* a bit different than a reporter subscribing to the news.

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Reposted by John West

Marcus @marcusjmerritt.com · Jul 14

A Borges story about a guy who gets AI to summarize all the world’s information for him, and then summarize the summary, until the AI has the whole world summarized into a single word. He sits alone at his desk, staring at the word, repeating it endlessly, certain he is experiencing everything

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John West @johnwest.bsky.social · Jul 7

this is deeply aspirational for me.

Omar Wasow @owasow.bsky.social · Jul 7

Nice

Acknowledgment section of a thesis:

Acknowledgment
Firstly, I want to acknowledge the immense guidance, feedback and support provided by my supervisor, Siddartha Araddhya, during the process of writing this thesis. I am truly grateful for the advice and encouragement he has given me. Secondly, I want to thank my dear friend Mikaela Rapaport fort the tremendous support, insights and feedback she has provided in these past months. At last, in the words of Snoop Dogg "[...] I wanna to thank me [...] for believing in me, [...] for doing all this hard work [...]" (Dogg and Marknoxx, 2019).

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