Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Shaun Wiley

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 3d

NVIDIA and OpenAi:

Concerns that their “increasingly complex and interconnected web of business transactions is artificially propping up the trillion-dollar AI boom.“

@bloomberg.com $NVDA 👀
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

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Steve Rathje @steverathje.bsky.social · 9d

🚨 New preprint 🚨

Across 3 experiments (n = 3,285), we found that interacting with sycophantic (or overly agreeable) AI chatbots entrenched attitudes and led to inflated self-perceptions.

Yet, people preferred sycophantic chatbots and viewed them as unbiased!

osf.io/preprints/ps...

Thread 🧵

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Shaun Wiley @sw13ley.bsky.social · 8d

Did ChatGPT write this?

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G Elliott Morris @gelliottmorris.com · 9d

A new report from Bright Line Watch finds experts now rate the U.S. as a "mixed" or "illiberal" democracy. The rating is dragged down by Trump's attacks on institutions, a weak legislature, political violence, and partisan gerrymandering www.gelliottmorris.com/p/experts-no...

Experts now rate the U.S. as a "mixed" or "illiberal" democracy

Experts say political violence, Trump's attacks against non-partisan agencies and institutions, and partisan gerrymandering are their top concerns

www.gelliottmorris.com

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Shaun Wiley @sw13ley.bsky.social · 13d

📍Marked safe from beautiful views and delicious food this summer in Portland.

View of downtown Portland from Mt. Tabor on a summer day.

Pollo pibil torta from Güero in Portland.

The Mud Sundae with vanilla soft serve, everything cookie chunks, dark chocolate sauce, and maldon sea salt at Cheese and Crack in Portland.

Stairs leading down Mt. Tabor through an evergreen forest in Portland on a summer day.

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Béatrice Sternberg, PhD @beatricesternberg.bsky.social · 14d

✨ Happy to share our new publication!

Are Dual- (vs. Single-) Identity Affirmation Interventions More Effective for Enhancing Well-Being and Collective Action Intentions Among Minorities?

👉 doi.org/10.1080/1528...

#socialpsyc
@lapps-enosis-up8.bsky.social
@lapps-upn.bsky.social

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Mikie Sherrill @mikiesherrill.bsky.social · 15d

This is an illegal and dangerous weaponization of the federal government.

That Jack Ciattarelli and the Trump admin are breaking the law and exposing private records for political gain is a violation of anyone who has ever served.

No veteran's record is safe.
www.cbsnews.com/news/nationa...

Archives errs in releasing too much of Mikie Sherrill's military record to her opponent in governor's race

The National Archives admitted a technician had erred in releasing Rep. Mikie Sherill's "entire record."

www.cbsnews.com

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Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 15d

The National Archives under the Trump administration released @mikiesherrill.bsky.social full, unredacted Navy personnel file to Jack Ciattarelli's campaign.

This is an unprecedented and illegal weaponization of the National Archives and private, personal records to attack a political opponent.

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Matthew Dowd @matthewjdowd.bsky.social · 20d

One thing you learn in life is that "speaking truth to power" and practicing integrity is easy when your job, your money, your fame, or your office is not on the line. The hard is speaking truth and practicing integrity when any one of those is on the line. That is the test of who you are.

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Confusing Fall Warbler @plumicorns.bsky.social · 21d

Dudes rock

Shortly after that standoff, Curtis Evans stood directly in front of the gate with an American flag. The 65-year-old Evanston resident heard about the first protest on social media and came to represent “the ideals that our country stands for.” He said tear gas and pepper balls hurt, but “five minutes later, you’re fine.”

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De-BOO-ra Wexler @debrawexler.bsky.social · 29d

It's truly hard to believe that it's been 24 years.

As always on this day, from @colsonwhitehead.com: www.nytimes.com/2001/11/11/m...

Excerpt from "The Way We Live Now by Colson Whitehead

"We can never make proper goodbyes. It was your last ride in a Checker cab, and you had no warning. It was the last time you were going to have Lake Tung Ting shrimp in that entirely suspect Chinese restaurant, and you had no idea. If you had known, perhaps you would have stepped behind the counter and shaken everyone's hand, pulled out the disposable camera and issued posing instructions. But you had no idea. There are unheralded tipping points, a certain number of times that we will unlock the front door of an apartment. At some point you were closer to the last time than you were to the first time, and you didn't even know it. You didn't know that each time you passed the threshold you were saying goodbye."

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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · Sep 9

In dissent, Justice Sotomayor wrote for the Democratic appointees, “We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job. Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent.“

SCOTUS conservatives OK Trump admin's racial profiling of Latinos in low-wage jobs

Five of the six Republican appointees to the Supreme Court wrote nothing Monday. But their actions, and Justice Kavanaugh's concurrence, paint an alarming picture.

www.lawdork.com

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Shaun Wiley @sw13ley.bsky.social · Sep 6

Useful read for some administrators at my institution…

Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · Sep 6

Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n

Abstract: Under the banner of progress, products have been uncritically adopted or
even imposed on users — in past centuries with tobacco and combustion engines, and in
the 21st with social media. For these collective blunders, we now regret our involvement or
apathy as scientists, and society struggles to put the genie back in the bottle. Currently, we
are similarly entangled with artificial intelligence (AI) technology. For example, software updates are rolled out seamlessly and non-consensually, Microsoft Office is bundled with chatbots, and we, our students, and our employers have had no say, as it is not
considered a valid position to reject AI technologies in our teaching and research. This
is why in June 2025, we co-authored an Open Letter calling on our employers to reverse
and rethink their stance on uncritically adopting AI technologies. In this position piece,
we expound on why universities must take their role seriously toa) counter the technology
industry’s marketing, hype, and harm; and to b) safeguard higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, and scientific integrity. We include pointers to
relevant work to further inform our colleagues.

Figure 1. A cartoon set theoretic view on various terms (see Table 1) used when discussing the superset AI
(black outline, hatched background): LLMs are in orange; ANNs are in magenta; generative models are
in blue; and finally, chatbots are in green. Where these intersect, the colours reflect that, e.g. generative adversarial network (GAN) and Boltzmann machine (BM) models are in the purple subset because they are
both generative and ANNs. In the case of proprietary closed source models, e.g. OpenAI’s ChatGPT and
Apple’s Siri, we cannot verify their implementation and so academics can only make educated guesses (cf.
Dingemanse 2025). Undefined terms used above: BERT (Devlin et al. 2019); AlexNet (Krizhevsky et al.
2017); A.L.I.C.E. (Wallace 2009); ELIZA (Weizenbaum 1966); Jabberwacky (Twist 2003); linear discriminant analysis (LDA); quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA).

Table 1. Below some of the typical terminological disarray is untangled. Importantly, none of these terms
are orthogonal nor do they exclusively pick out the types of products we may wish to critique or proscribe.

Protecting the Ecosystem of Human Knowledge: Five Principles

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Jackie Chen @jackiemchen.bsky.social · Sep 5

We're hiring TWO social psychologists (one health, one any area of social) at U of Utah! Pls share widely, and reach out if you have any questions! utah.peopleadmin.com/postings/186...

Assistant Professor in Social Psychology

utah.peopleadmin.com

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · Aug 28

The mantra for this era is "fuck you, make me."

Christina Jewett @by-cjewett.bsky.social · Aug 28

BREAKING: www.nytimes.com/live/2025/08...

The director of the CDC, Susan Monarez, is refusing to leave her post, despite demands from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that she quit or be fired, per her lawyers.

via @sherylnyt.bsky.social + @apoorvanyt.bsky.social

Trump Administration Live Updates: Health Secretary Tries to Oust C.D.C. Director, but She Refuses to Leave

www.nytimes.com

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Alvaro M. Bedoya @bedoyausa.bsky.social · Aug 26

Dear journalists:

The President has not fired Lisa Cook. The President is *trying* to illegally fire her.

Your words shape people’s reality. Please be accurate in your reporting.

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James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · Aug 25

The full 12 minutes of @govpritzker.illinois.gov speech today, which was superb.

(Via Nicole Wallace / @msnbc.com segment.)

www.msnbc.com/deadline-whi...

'We are watching and taking names': Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker responds to Trump's threats to Chicago

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker holds press conference in response to recent threats made by President Donald Trump to send the national guard to Chicago, in a similar manner that he has done so in Los ...

www.msnbc.com

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Good Authority @goodauth.bsky.social · Aug 25

Embracing populism doesn’t hurt right-wing parties. It may help them.

New research from Western Europe shows that accommodating extremism doesn’t work.

Read the latest from @johnsides.bsky.social: goodauthority.org/news/embraci...

Embracing populism doesn’t hurt right-wing parties. It may help them.

New research from Western Europe shows that accommodating extremism doesn’t work.

goodauthority.org

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Thekla Morgenroth @theklamorgenroth.bsky.social · Aug 18

I'll be recruiting a grad student to join the UNICORN lab for Fall 2026! If you know any magical students interested in gender/sex, LGBTQ+ issues, intergroup relations, stereotyping & prejudice, social cognition, feminism, issues of bodily autonomy, or anything else I do, please send them my way!

a cartoon unicorn with a rainbow mane is dancing on a dance floor

ALT: a cartoon unicorn with a rainbow mane is dancing on a dance floor

media.tenor.com

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mark brandt @mjbsp.bsky.social · Aug 18

Large Language Models Do Not Simulate Human Psychology

arxiv.org/pdf/2508.06950

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Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality @stone-lis.bsky.social · Aug 6

We invite applications for two postdoctoral scholars! These 2-year positions start in Aug. 2026 and are based at the GC CUNY Stone Center in NYC. One is focused on #mobility and #poverty, the other on #wealth and/or wealth inequality. Apply by Nov. 3!
#EconSky #Sociology #PoliSciSky
bit.ly/40TZR6J

Applications Are Open for Two Postdoctoral Positions at the GC CUNY Stone Center - Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality

The Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality is seeking applicants for an eighth cohort of postdoctoral scholars. These full-time, two-year positions will begin in August 2026.

stonecenter.gc.cuny.edu

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Shaun Wiley @sw13ley.bsky.social · Aug 2

This place is the best!

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John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · Aug 1

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Shaun Wiley @sw13ley.bsky.social · Jul 19

I had to spend much of the last 48 hours with my daughter in the ER and the medical professionals @childrensphila.bsky.social 100% rule.

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Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · Jul 15

New opportunity at the Institute for Advanced Study! The School of Social Science is hiring an Academic Assistant to support faculty & an international community of scholars. Pls share with folks in your network who might be interested in joining our team. recruiting.paylocity.com/recruiting/j...

Institute for Advanced Study - Academic Assistant - School of Social Science

Reporting to the School Administrative Officer, the incumbent will be responsible for providing broad administrative support to a faculty member and the School Administrative Officer.Position Duties a...

recruiting.paylocity.com

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