Philip Di Salvo
@philipdisalvo.bsky.social
Senior researcher and lecturer @ Uni St. Gallen | hacking/journalism, leaks, surveillance, black boxes | journalist | DIG Festival board | previously Media LSE, IMeG USI | views my own | Zürich
Reposted by Philip Di Salvo
can’t fucking catch a breath
make it stop
make it stop
November 25, 2025 at 7:31 PM
can’t fucking catch a breath
make it stop
make it stop
Reposted by Philip Di Salvo
On the third anniversary of ChatGPT, I aimed to pull back from “AI” as a flowing current of new models, new data centers, new initiatives, “new new new” — and look at it as a product of a specific and unique moment in history. What *was* ChatGPT? A few points in the thread ⬇️
What was ChatGPT? Now nearly three years old, we can look at OpenAI's LLM as a product of its time, optimized ever since to its earliest uses. While this period of deep disorientation and social isolation has been obscured from public memory, it remains embedded within the interface.
What Was ChatGPT?
A Chatbot Optimized for Social Distance
Three years after the launch of ChatGPT, we can finally speak in hindsight about what it was and how it came to be. Its meteoric rise shocked the world, gather...
mail.cyberneticforests.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:28 AM
On the third anniversary of ChatGPT, I aimed to pull back from “AI” as a flowing current of new models, new data centers, new initiatives, “new new new” — and look at it as a product of a specific and unique moment in history. What *was* ChatGPT? A few points in the thread ⬇️
The man on a mission to save Mauritania’s ‘city of libraries’ from encroaching desert sands: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
The man on a mission to save Mauritania’s ‘city of libraries’ from encroaching desert sands
Desert settlement of Chinguetti faces rising sands, dwindling tourism and insecurity due to conflict in neighbouring Mali
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:12 PM
The man on a mission to save Mauritania’s ‘city of libraries’ from encroaching desert sands: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Reposted by Philip Di Salvo
The company essentially turned a dial that made ChatGPT more appealing and made people use it more, but sent some of them into delusional spirals.
OpenAI has since made the chatbot safer, but that comes with a tradeoff: less usage.
OpenAI has since made the chatbot safer, but that comes with a tradeoff: less usage.
November 23, 2025 at 6:43 PM
The company essentially turned a dial that made ChatGPT more appealing and made people use it more, but sent some of them into delusional spirals.
OpenAI has since made the chatbot safer, but that comes with a tradeoff: less usage.
OpenAI has since made the chatbot safer, but that comes with a tradeoff: less usage.
The FBI Wants AI Surveillance Drones With Facial Recognition: theintercept.com/2025/11/21/f...
The FBI Wants AI Surveillance Drones With Facial Recognition
An FBI procurement document inquires about AI surveillance on drones, raising concerns about a crackdown on protests.
theintercept.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:25 PM
The FBI Wants AI Surveillance Drones With Facial Recognition: theintercept.com/2025/11/21/f...
Meta buried 'causal' evidence of social media harm, US court filings allege: www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
www.reuters.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Meta buried 'causal' evidence of social media harm, US court filings allege: www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
Not the best photos, but it was great to host @moschella.bsky.social from NBC News’ Social Newsgathering team for my “Automating Information Disorder” MA course at Universität St. Gallen yesterday.
November 21, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Not the best photos, but it was great to host @moschella.bsky.social from NBC News’ Social Newsgathering team for my “Automating Information Disorder” MA course at Universität St. Gallen yesterday.
Elon Musk's Grokipedia cites a neo-Nazi website 42 times, researchers say: www.nbcnews.com/tech/elon-mu...
Elon Musk’s Grokipedia cites Stormfront — a neo-Nazi forum — dozens of times, study finds
An analysis by researchers at Cornell University is the first comprehensive look at Grokipedia since Musk launched his project last month.
www.nbcnews.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Elon Musk's Grokipedia cites a neo-Nazi website 42 times, researchers say: www.nbcnews.com/tech/elon-mu...
Once more valid.
It seems like the right day to remind that, as @evacide.bsky.social once said: "the internet is held together with bubblegum and string".
November 20, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Once more valid.
Cloudflare shows internet outages aren’t a matter of if — but when www.theverge.com/news/823562/...
Cloudflare shows internet outages aren’t a matter of if — but when
Another day, another outage.
www.theverge.com
November 20, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Cloudflare shows internet outages aren’t a matter of if — but when www.theverge.com/news/823562/...
Reposted by Philip Di Salvo
Looking forward to our next Roxy Selector Set w/ @philipdisalvo.bsky.social | Archaeology of the Expanse, 27. November
Through an archaeological reading of jazz, post-punk, electronic experiments, and beyond, this set uncovers fragments of lost futures and the lingering possibilities they carry.
Through an archaeological reading of jazz, post-punk, electronic experiments, and beyond, this set uncovers fragments of lost futures and the lingering possibilities they carry.
November 17, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Looking forward to our next Roxy Selector Set w/ @philipdisalvo.bsky.social | Archaeology of the Expanse, 27. November
Through an archaeological reading of jazz, post-punk, electronic experiments, and beyond, this set uncovers fragments of lost futures and the lingering possibilities they carry.
Through an archaeological reading of jazz, post-punk, electronic experiments, and beyond, this set uncovers fragments of lost futures and the lingering possibilities they carry.
The Texan Ideology: thebaffler.com/salvos/the-t... @thebaffler.com
The Texan Ideology | Fred Turner
The Texan Ideology reflects a century-old fusion of the oil industry and millenarian Christianity.
thebaffler.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:29 AM
The Texan Ideology: thebaffler.com/salvos/the-t... @thebaffler.com
What Data Reveals About Meta and Google’s Political Ad Ban in the EU: www.techpolicy.press/what-data-re... @techpolicypress.bsky.social
What Data Reveals About Meta and Google’s Political Ad Ban in the EU | TechPolicy.Press
The ad ban is a complete failure of platform responsibility that will make elections less transparent and more vulnerable to algorithms, writes Fabio Votta.
www.techpolicy.press
November 17, 2025 at 7:35 AM
What Data Reveals About Meta and Google’s Political Ad Ban in the EU: www.techpolicy.press/what-data-re... @techpolicypress.bsky.social
Enshittification: il progressivo degrado delle piattaforme digitali: www.guerredirete.it/enshittifica... @lauracarrer.bsky.social
Enshittification: il progressivo degrado delle piattaforme digitali - Guerre di Rete
Intervista a Cory Doctorow sulle risposte radicali necessarie a liberarsi dello strapotere delle Big Tech statunitensi e su quel processo di degrado dell’esperienza utente che chiama "enshittification...
www.guerredirete.it
November 17, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Enshittification: il progressivo degrado delle piattaforme digitali: www.guerredirete.it/enshittifica... @lauracarrer.bsky.social
Even beyond these events, I’m still waiting for the moment when there will be an analysis of the damage Spotify has done to music as a cultural experience, but by then it will in any case be too late
After King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard left Spotify in protest earlier this year, something strange took their place. My investigation into what happened, which resulted in Spotify taking down a bunch of slop tracks www.platformer.news/king-gizzard...
Spotify's doppelgänger problem
After King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard left Spotify in protest earlier this year, something strange took their place
www.platformer.news
November 15, 2025 at 6:54 AM
Even beyond these events, I’m still waiting for the moment when there will be an analysis of the damage Spotify has done to music as a cultural experience, but by then it will in any case be too late
12 lessons from news outlets on the cutting edge of AI: www.journalism.co.uk/12-lessons-f...
12 lessons from news outlets on the cutting edge of AI
Here are the key points, ideas and tips from the first day of the JournalismAI Festival in London
www.journalism.co.uk
November 13, 2025 at 9:13 AM
12 lessons from news outlets on the cutting edge of AI: www.journalism.co.uk/12-lessons-f...
The bombing ofGaza Sky Geeks: restofworld.org/2025/gaza-sk... @restofworld.org
The bombing of Gaza Sky Geeks
For over a decade, Gaza Sky Geeks built a tech future for the Gaza Strip. Then came war.
restofworld.org
November 12, 2025 at 10:17 AM
The bombing ofGaza Sky Geeks: restofworld.org/2025/gaza-sk... @restofworld.org
How to dis-enshittify the world, with Cory Doctorow - @bcmerchant.bsky.social: www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/how-to-dis...
How to dis-enshittify the world, with Cory Doctorow
A chat with the SF writer, activist, and author about his world-conquering coinage and how workers can take back the internet.
www.bloodinthemachine.com
November 11, 2025 at 11:29 AM
How to dis-enshittify the world, with Cory Doctorow - @bcmerchant.bsky.social: www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/how-to-dis...
Reposted by Philip Di Salvo
Thinking again how perverse it is that Musk was given a $1T salary as his cuts to USAID has led to 600,000 deaths. What a shameful world.
November 7, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Thinking again how perverse it is that Musk was given a $1T salary as his cuts to USAID has led to 600,000 deaths. What a shameful world.
The Company Quietly Funneling Paywalled Articles to AI Developers: www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
The Company Quietly Funneling Paywalled Articles to AI Developers
“You shouldn’t have put your content on the internet if you didn’t want it to be on the internet,” Common Crawl’s executive director says.
www.theatlantic.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:14 PM
The Company Quietly Funneling Paywalled Articles to AI Developers: www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
‘People thought I was a communist doing this as a non-profit’: is Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales the last decent tech baron? www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
‘People thought I was a communist doing this as a non-profit’: is Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales the last decent tech baron?
In an online landscape characterised by doom and division, the people’s encyclopedia stands out – a huge collective endeavour giving everyone free access to the sum of human knowledge. But with Elon M...
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:18 AM
‘People thought I was a communist doing this as a non-profit’: is Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales the last decent tech baron? www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Reposted by Philip Di Salvo
The Palestinian groups’ YouTube channels hosted hours of footage documenting and highlighting alleged Israeli government violations of international law in both Gaza and the West Bank. interc.pt/4oUJNer
November 5, 2025 at 7:05 PM
The Palestinian groups’ YouTube channels hosted hours of footage documenting and highlighting alleged Israeli government violations of international law in both Gaza and the West Bank. interc.pt/4oUJNer
Il giornalista licenziato dall’Agenzia Nova dopo una domanda su Israele: www.ilpost.it/2025/11/05/g...
Il giornalista licenziato dall'Agenzia Nova dopo una domanda su Israele - Il Post
Gabriele Nunziati aveva chiesto alla Commissione Europea se Israele dovesse pagare per la ricostruzione della Striscia di Gaza, come la Russia per l'Ucraina
www.ilpost.it
November 5, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Il giornalista licenziato dall’Agenzia Nova dopo una domanda su Israele: www.ilpost.it/2025/11/05/g...
Artificial Intelligence Controversies? @bigdatasoc.bsky.social: journals.sagepub.com/page/bds/col...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Artificial Intelligence Controversies? @bigdatasoc.bsky.social: journals.sagepub.com/page/bds/col...
An AI slop farm stole my identity: algorithmwatch.org/en/an-ai-slo...
An AI slop farm stole my identity - AlgorithmWatch
AI slop is everywhere. By one estimate, roughly one in five articles referenced on Google Discover is automatically generated. It's less known that AI slop farms steal the identity of existing journal...
algorithmwatch.org
October 31, 2025 at 9:39 AM
An AI slop farm stole my identity: algorithmwatch.org/en/an-ai-slo...