Lila Byock
@lbyock.bsky.social
Writer of television, hater of Big Tech in schools
Pinned
Lila Byock
@lbyock.bsky.social
· Jul 14
Oooh your chatbot is becoming sentient and may pose a threat to humanity? Should we throw a party? Should we invite all your most gullible investors?
What if… the American Pope… runs for President…
February 8, 2026 at 8:26 PM
What if… the American Pope… runs for President…
Reposted by Lila Byock
Sign and share this call on CSU to cancel its multimillion dollar OpenAI contract. CSU is in a budget crisis, OpenAI wants to reduce us all into tools of AI, and our public money should be invested in humans!
actionnetwork.org/petitions/ca...
actionnetwork.org/petitions/ca...
Cancel ChatGPT Edu. Invest in Humans.
In February 2025, the California State University system announced a $17 million contract with OpenAI to provide ChatGPT Edu to all faculty, staff, and students on its 22 CSU campuses as part of a lar...
actionnetwork.org
February 4, 2026 at 3:10 AM
Sign and share this call on CSU to cancel its multimillion dollar OpenAI contract. CSU is in a budget crisis, OpenAI wants to reduce us all into tools of AI, and our public money should be invested in humans!
actionnetwork.org/petitions/ca...
actionnetwork.org/petitions/ca...
Reposted by Lila Byock
Jeffrey Epstein was working to replace teachers with computers and subvert traditional education with video games. In case you needed further confirmation of the rot at the center of the EdTech industry.
February 3, 2026 at 8:40 AM
Jeffrey Epstein was working to replace teachers with computers and subvert traditional education with video games. In case you needed further confirmation of the rot at the center of the EdTech industry.
“The director Brett Ratner cozied up to the Trumps after spending years in movie-biz exile amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment and assault.… For his comeback, he has summoned all the artistic ambition of a local Realtor who just got a drone.”
“From the first seconds of ‘Melania,’ we know we’re watching a commercial,” Lauren Collins writes. But “before long, we’ve left advertising behind for pure propaganda.” www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...
“Melania” Is a Forty-Million-Dollar Journey Into the Void
The First Lady’s lavish new documentary portrays world events as B-roll between wardrobe changes.
www.newyorker.com
February 3, 2026 at 2:02 PM
“The director Brett Ratner cozied up to the Trumps after spending years in movie-biz exile amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment and assault.… For his comeback, he has summoned all the artistic ambition of a local Realtor who just got a drone.”
Reposted by Lila Byock
I read this, and I almost regret it. What do you even do with the knowledge that Epstein wanted and was trying to engineer societal breakdown via far right populism bc he thought it would benefit his sex trafficking business?
I read thousands of pages of Epstein files this weekend trying to understand what he wanted out of his meeting with 4chan's Christopher Poole. Here's everything we know about Epstein's plans to dismantle the internet and, eventually, democracy.
www.garbageday.email/p/here-s-how...
www.garbageday.email/p/here-s-how...
February 3, 2026 at 10:32 AM
I read this, and I almost regret it. What do you even do with the knowledge that Epstein wanted and was trying to engineer societal breakdown via far right populism bc he thought it would benefit his sex trafficking business?
It’s amazing how quickly the entire discourse around AI has pivoted from “Look at this miraculous new technology!” to “Look, this is happening whether you want it or not.”
Dr Oz on rural healthcare: "There's no question about it, whether you want it or not -- the best way to help some of these communities is gonna be AI-based avatars"
February 3, 2026 at 10:16 AM
It’s amazing how quickly the entire discourse around AI has pivoted from “Look at this miraculous new technology!” to “Look, this is happening whether you want it or not.”
Jeffrey Epstein was working to replace teachers with computers and subvert traditional education with video games. In case you needed further confirmation of the rot at the center of the EdTech industry.
February 3, 2026 at 8:40 AM
Jeffrey Epstein was working to replace teachers with computers and subvert traditional education with video games. In case you needed further confirmation of the rot at the center of the EdTech industry.
The last four words you hear before you die: “David Brooks video podcast.”
New: David Brooks is leaving the NYT for the Atlantic, where he will be a staff writer and host a video podcast
January 29, 2026 at 5:55 PM
The last four words you hear before you die: “David Brooks video podcast.”
Our elementary school booster club has stricter bylaws around budget appropriations.
Marco Rubio: "The oil proceeds are being deposited into an account that ultimately will become a US Treasury blocked account here in the US. We will say 'this is what this money can be spent on.' They will submit to us a budget request -- 'we want to use the money on these things.'"
January 29, 2026 at 11:41 AM
Our elementary school booster club has stricter bylaws around budget appropriations.
Endeavor to lead a life that will not prompt Bruce Springsteen to record a soaring anthem about how much you suck.
January 28, 2026 at 8:20 PM
Endeavor to lead a life that will not prompt Bruce Springsteen to record a soaring anthem about how much you suck.
Reposted by Lila Byock
Here's hoping that Sam Altman continues praising Donald Trump, that his remarks are widely disseminated, and that all those using or considering using ChatGPT hear them.
"President Trump is a very strong leader, and I hope he will rise to this moment and unite the country." Such a courageous statement from Sam Altman to OpenAI employees.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/b...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/b...
January 28, 2026 at 3:46 PM
Here's hoping that Sam Altman continues praising Donald Trump, that his remarks are widely disseminated, and that all those using or considering using ChatGPT hear them.
Reposted by Lila Byock
"Take a second and think about it. Would you rather really grow from an experience of actually doing some work and critically thinking about the things you're writing or talking about, or just taking nothing away from it and just use a robot?"
Listen to the students, not the tech companies.
Listen to the students, not the tech companies.
Forth Worth teacher Chanea Bond says sticking with pen and paper keeps generative artificial intelligence out of her American literature classes. n.pr/4c3cdzs
To keep AI out of her classroom, this high school English teacher went analog
Forth Worth teacher Chanea Bond says sticking with pen and paper keeps generative artificial intelligence out of her American literature classes.
n.pr
January 28, 2026 at 12:08 PM
"Take a second and think about it. Would you rather really grow from an experience of actually doing some work and critically thinking about the things you're writing or talking about, or just taking nothing away from it and just use a robot?"
Listen to the students, not the tech companies.
Listen to the students, not the tech companies.
I never thought the leopards would start eating faces, say employees at the face-eating-leopard factory
SCOOP: Palantir Defends Work With ICE to Staff Following Killing of Alex Pretti
WIRED obtained Slack conversations + an updated internal Palantir wiki defending the company's work for ICE to outraged workers.
More here:
www.wired.com/story/palant...
WIRED obtained Slack conversations + an updated internal Palantir wiki defending the company's work for ICE to outraged workers.
More here:
www.wired.com/story/palant...
Palantir Defends Work With ICE to Staff Following Killing of Alex Pretti
“In my opinion ICE are the bad guys. I am not proud that the company I enjoy so much working for is part of this,” one worker wrote on Slack.
www.wired.com
January 26, 2026 at 11:15 PM
I never thought the leopards would start eating faces, say employees at the face-eating-leopard factory
Reposted by Lila Byock
hey folks, six figure opinion columnist here and gotta say, made a big ol’ whoopsie on the most consequential and honestly, probably the most obvious opinion of my life. thats my bad. anyway, guess I’ll just keep getting paid to give my opinion, thanks for reading
January 25, 2026 at 9:12 PM
hey folks, six figure opinion columnist here and gotta say, made a big ol’ whoopsie on the most consequential and honestly, probably the most obvious opinion of my life. thats my bad. anyway, guess I’ll just keep getting paid to give my opinion, thanks for reading
Did... did Brett Ratner write this?
January 26, 2026 at 8:47 PM
Did... did Brett Ratner write this?
Reposted by Lila Byock
Blistering piece on ed tech in @economist.com.
‘Although ed-tech companies tout huge learning gains, independent research has made clear that technology rarely boosts learning in schools—and often impairs it.’
economist.com/united-state...
‘Although ed-tech companies tout huge learning gains, independent research has made clear that technology rarely boosts learning in schools—and often impairs it.’
economist.com/united-state...
Ed tech is profitable. It is also mostly useless
Independent research identifies few learning gains
economist.com
January 24, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Blistering piece on ed tech in @economist.com.
‘Although ed-tech companies tout huge learning gains, independent research has made clear that technology rarely boosts learning in schools—and often impairs it.’
economist.com/united-state...
‘Although ed-tech companies tout huge learning gains, independent research has made clear that technology rarely boosts learning in schools—and often impairs it.’
economist.com/united-state...
Schrödinger’s Air Force One
January 21, 2026 at 6:29 AM
Schrödinger’s Air Force One
Reposted by Lila Byock
Students know what’s up. This sharp seventh grader raises the obvious question about what teacher use of AI implies for student usage.
January 19, 2026 at 8:37 PM
Students know what’s up. This sharp seventh grader raises the obvious question about what teacher use of AI implies for student usage.
Reposted by Lila Byock
This is the fucking limit. I had no idea that Amazon drivers AREN'T ALLOWED TO SING
wat
CRUSH this monopoly wtf my levels were already redlining
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
wat
CRUSH this monopoly wtf my levels were already redlining
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
January 18, 2026 at 4:56 PM
This is the fucking limit. I had no idea that Amazon drivers AREN'T ALLOWED TO SING
wat
CRUSH this monopoly wtf my levels were already redlining
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
wat
CRUSH this monopoly wtf my levels were already redlining
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
Reposted by Lila Byock
I do wish that the media would pick up on the harms of edtech too. We occasionally see it but the screen free phone ban groups won’t touch it- and that’s telling. The entire edtech ecosystem is surveillance and people need to know that. And refuse it. Schools are catalysts for data rights abuse
January 18, 2026 at 5:38 PM
I do wish that the media would pick up on the harms of edtech too. We occasionally see it but the screen free phone ban groups won’t touch it- and that’s telling. The entire edtech ecosystem is surveillance and people need to know that. And refuse it. Schools are catalysts for data rights abuse
To create future customers and to monetize children’s data.
US tech companies have long known that getting into schools is a great way to create future customers, going back to Apple’s efforts to get Macs in California schools decades ago.
January 18, 2026 at 5:33 PM
To create future customers and to monetize children’s data.
Reposted by Lila Byock
I can't believe that this has been an option the entire time
*sets up school for raccoons against racism*
*sets up school for raccoons against racism*
January 15, 2026 at 3:12 AM
I can't believe that this has been an option the entire time
*sets up school for raccoons against racism*
*sets up school for raccoons against racism*
Reposted by Lila Byock
Last night I heard a man who’d fled the Salvadoran civil war describe ICE as a paramilitary army aligned with an authoritarian government, and I thought… oh.
November 11, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Last night I heard a man who’d fled the Salvadoran civil war describe ICE as a paramilitary army aligned with an authoritarian government, and I thought… oh.