Shannon Vallor
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shannonvallor.bsky.social
Shannon Vallor
@shannonvallor.bsky.social

Philosopher/AI Ethicist at Univ of Edinburgh, co-Director @technomoralfutures.bsky.social and BRAID @braiduk.bsky.social, author of Technology and the Virtues (2016) and The AI Mirror (2024). Views my own. Trying not to lose it. .. more

Shannon Vallor is an American philosopher of technology. She is the Baillie Gifford Chair in the Ethics of Data and Artificial Intelligence at the Edinburgh Futures Institute. She previously taught at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California where she was the Regis and Dianne McKenna Professor of Philosophy and William J. Rewak, S.J. Professor at SCU. .. more

Neuroscience 30%
Computer science 22%

too late, can confirm

I bet a study of living philosophers would show a lot of us were turned into ourselves by this game lol

“Think less “family night,” and more “I will find the hidden structure of your choices, and then I will destroy you.”

Reposted by Patrick Stokes

I played this compulsively as a child. I have never felt more seen:

SMITH: I want every eight-year-old to look at this and think, “Someday, I will destroy my father’s confidence with pure logic.”
"If you put a kid on the cover, you’re telling buyers it’s a kid game. If you put adults on the cover, you’re telling kids it’s a gateway to adulthood. This is basic aspirational psychology. They’ll feel like tiny professors. Or tiny villains. Both sell."
The Mastermind Box Cover: What the Hell Were They Thinking?
- - -INVICTA GAMES, LTD. Packaging Team — Official Minutes Project: Mastermind / New Cover Presentation MARTIN SMITH (Marketing Senior Vice Presi...
buff.ly
Happening now: Texas leaders announcing a rollout of a statewide program to put TPUSA chapters in high schools and colleges across the state. Gov. Abbott adds that schools that stand in the way should be reported to the Texas Education Agency.
"If you put a kid on the cover, you’re telling buyers it’s a kid game. If you put adults on the cover, you’re telling kids it’s a gateway to adulthood. This is basic aspirational psychology. They’ll feel like tiny professors. Or tiny villains. Both sell."
The Mastermind Box Cover: What the Hell Were They Thinking?
- - -INVICTA GAMES, LTD. Packaging Team — Official Minutes Project: Mastermind / New Cover Presentation MARTIN SMITH (Marketing Senior Vice Presi...
buff.ly

Did karaoke at our @technomoralfutures.bsky.social holiday party today, and people stayed in the room and did not scream in agony or set upon one another in a frenzy of pained madness. Where do I pick up my FIFA Peace Prize

Labour: we have only alienated half of our voter base but we think we see a way to finish the job
can't stop watching this clip of a tesla Optimus teleoperator taking his headset off before properly logging out the robot

Dumping rain and our house just sprung a massive window leak; in the process of digging around for duct tape to seal off the outside until we can get it fixed, we found *another* leak under the water heater tank that has already stained and warped the floor. Holidays off to a fine start.
One of my neighbors has been putting up these fish facts posters. All kinds of different fish, marine, freshwater, deep, shallow, all kinds. This is a good one. “Stg this real fish” took me out. Good work, neighbor.
Who has made this 🤣
The “Labour” Party finds itself arguing ordinary workers, carers and others are “takers”.
Hey everyone, here's the news, if you aren't a high earner, entrepreneur or a "skilled frontline worker" (whatever the fuck that means) the "Labour" Party says you aren't contributing, you're a taker!
This is so disgusting.
Hey everyone, here's the news, if you aren't a high earner, entrepreneur or a "skilled frontline worker" (whatever the fuck that means) the "Labour" Party says you aren't contributing, you're a taker!
This is so disgusting.

Reposted by Shannon Vallor

Every new word in this sentence is worse than the last
A Palantir billionaire just called for public hangings.

“It's time to bring back masculine leadership to protect our most vulnerable,” writes Joe Lonsdale.

This is where Silicon Valley authoritarianism is heading:

www.thenerdreich.com/joe-lonsdale...
Joe Lonsdale Calls For Public Hangings
Silicon Valley radicalization escalates
www.thenerdreich.com
This is so disgusting.
the reason its bad to run universities like businesses is that almost all businesses fail on any reasonable timeline of evaluation.

hudson's bay made it the longest and even they only got to about half an oxford of longevity
They claim financial exigency, but then turn down $4 million pledges to keep the PhD programs open and disregard financial analyses that point to the real problem—bad real estate deals, spending on consultants, and their own salaries 2/2
Come research with us at the Max Planck Research Group for Machine Visual Culture — “Artificial Intelligence and the History of Seeing” positions open under Dr Leonardo Impett. We’ll get to hang out sometimes. www.biblhertz.it/3757971/0412...
Call for Digital Humanities Research Scientist (M/F/D)Max Planck Research Group "Machine Visual Culture: Artificial Intelligence and the History of Seeing"
Job Offer from December 04, 2025
www.biblhertz.it
“School officials have created a Microsoft Copilot prompt to review course descriptions with an eye toward avoiding ‘advocacy-oriented or prescriptive terms.’”

Terms: “dismantling, decolonizing, interrogating, challenging, centering, combating, liberation, resistance, activism, justice oriented”
To Root Out Wokeness in the Course Catalog, This Texas University Is Turning to AI
“The AI was upset with my use of the phrase ‘women's rights movement.’”
www.texasmonthly.com

Reposted by Shannon Vallor

Also something like “groundedness”. Not about physical details but a sense of a mind reflecting on its own experiences.

I’m sure Sarah Friar of OpenAI feels it’s great to “write” with ChatGPT so I can explain with hers.

There is no thinking about the person in here.

Ours mostly ignores the lights now but when a kitten they were delightful for chewing

One last tip—only plug in lights when you have eyes on the monster

Good luck!

It helps to have a very heavy, stable base - we use the Krinner one (pictured) and ours has not been able to pull it down. Ymmv. Also, no glass ornaments and a dense tree

I’m so sorry Sarah. It’s heartbreak.
Farage arrives in Scotland today, and it should make our collective stomach heave that this repulsive, dangerous extremist has crossed the border. Amid scapegoating schoolkids and allegations of antisemitism anyone who supports this man is morally in the gutter

My @heraldscotland.bsky.social column
"Farage in Falkirk? It should make our stomachs heave to have him in Scotland"
Nigel Farage’s Falkirk visit sparks outrage, with many Scots saying his presence north of the border should make “our stomachs heave”.
www.heraldscotland.com

Reposted by Shannon Vallor

Everyone always laughs nervously when I show this slide, but - seriously - don't make things that are creepy and weird. Don't purchase tools that are creepy and weird. Don't get free licenses to see how they work, just in case. Don't take meetings with the people who make them.