Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Ana Brandusescu

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 19h

red and orange maple tree on a cloudy day

2 5 37

Reposted by Ana Brandusescu

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 19h

Because I know people have lots of time to react but not enough to click through

blacksky.community/profile/did:...

Aaron Rodericks @aaron.bsky.team · 1d

thehive.ai evaluates all images posted to the site. We don't actually provide any input.

AI to Understand, Search, and Generate Content | Hive

Hive's APIs enable developers to integrate pre-trained AI models that address technically challenging content understanding needs into their applications.

thehive.ai

6 35 180

Reposted by Ana Brandusescu

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 19h

I was here for the Hive AI incident :-/ blacksky.community/profile/did:...

Katie Tightpussy, Editor-In-Chief @katie.bzky.team · 21h

WHAT ARE YOU DOING MAN

bluesky official posts from november 2024:

A number of artists and creators have made their home on Bluesky, and we hear their concerns with other platforms training on their data. We do not use any of your content to train generative AI, and have no intention of doing so.

Bluesky uses AI internally to assist in content moderation, which helps us triage posts and shield human moderators from harmful content. We also use AI in the Discover algorithmic feed to serve you posts that we think you’d like.

None of these are Gen AI systems trained on user content.

Access Hive's industry-leading AI models
Seamlessly integrate with our APIs with a few lines of code
[object Object]
Hive’s industry-leading models empower businesses to understand, search, and generate content at scale.

Understand your content

Generate rich classification labels on your text, image, video, and audio data at scale.

Search and identify content

Next generation search capabilities on datasets including web images, intellectual property, and customer provided content.

Generate content

Proprietary and open source generative AI models to create text, image, video, and audio content.

3 33 220

Reposted by Ana Brandusescu

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 19h

I don't even know what to say about @aaron.bsky.team announcing that actually they feed all images posted on Bsky into an AI that just a year ago they told everyone they had banned from using Bsky images

27 340 1.1K

Reposted by Ana Brandusescu

Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 1d

ACLS statement against White House “compact”: THIS IS SOVIET SHIT

Screenshot from statement “Universities and colleges have one mission: to advance knowledge. Faculty carry out the mission by conducting research and teaching students. The knowledge they produce and circulate is independently assessed by professional peers. Interfering with that process by forcing knowledge to pass through a political filter is a tactic adopted by the Soviet Union and other authoritarian states. The White House is dressing up its compact as a reasonable corrective to what it views as problems in campus culture. Let no one be deceived. This proposal imposes government censorship on academia. It is anti-American, and it weakens our democracy by devaluing academic expertise.”

6 65 150

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 19h

2 5 37

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 1d

@kristenthomasen.bsky.social the disrespect is glaring. Thank you for reading and sharing!

1

Reposted by Ana Brandusescu

Kristen Thomasen @kristenthomasen.bsky.social · 1d

The consultation is structured to a pre-determined outcome: yes, more AI. Very much agree with @anabrandusescu.bsky.social 👇🏻

(I‘m also offended by how much effort so many stakeholders put into trying to make the AIDA process better only to be ignored again. As Ana says, it’s no way to build trust)

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 5d

I wrote a short essay about refusing to participate in Canada's public consultation on AI.

On refusal and reaching the limits to engage

This is an essay about the importance of refusal. As a researcher, I hardly write anymore this way, but I thought I should, in this moment, where the need to document our descent into fascism is cr…

www.anabrandusescu.com

1 9 14

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks for reading and sharing, Cynthia. And absolutely on point regarding the forced sprint. They are not taking any of this seriously.

1 1

Reposted by Ana Brandusescu

Cynthia Khoo @cyn-k.bsky.social · 1d

"Something needs to be done differently. We are stuck in a loop expecting something different. I do not think engaging with a performative, pre-determined public consultation process is it." 💯 That the govt is forcing a "sprint" precisely where there is the greatest need to slow down, says it all.

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 5d

I wrote a short essay about refusing to participate in Canada's public consultation on AI.

On refusal and reaching the limits to engage

This is an essay about the importance of refusal. As a researcher, I hardly write anymore this way, but I thought I should, in this moment, where the need to document our descent into fascism is cr…

www.anabrandusescu.com

1 3 12

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 2d

I'll check it out, thanks.

Reposted by Ana Brandusescu

Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 3d

🌟 New preprint 🌟, by @olivia.science and me:

📝 Guest, O., & van Rooij, I. (2025). *Critical Artificial Intelligence Literacy for Psychologists*. lnkd.in/ewajedAe

🧪

Table 1

Core reasoning issues (first column), which we name after the relevant numbered section, are characterised using a plausible quote. In the second column are responses per row; also see the named section for further reading, context, and explanations.

See paper for full details: ** Guest, O., & van Rooij, I. (2025, October 4). Critical Artificial Intelligence Literacy for Psychologists. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dkrgj_v1

2 14 40

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 3d

Thank you, Kai. Appreciate the read and your words.

1

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 5d

+1

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 5d

Thanks for reading and sharing, Blayne

1

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 5d

<3

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 5d

I wrote a short essay about refusing to participate in Canada's public consultation on AI.

On refusal and reaching the limits to engage

This is an essay about the importance of refusal. As a researcher, I hardly write anymore this way, but I thought I should, in this moment, where the need to document our descent into fascism is cr…

www.anabrandusescu.com

1 11 39

Reposted by Ana Brandusescu

Cynthia Khoo @cyn-k.bsky.social · 9d

Exciting week for @cdtsuottawaclts.bsky.social & @uocommonlaw.bsky.social Law & Tech! For those still in town after the conference (where I'll be speaking on the civil society panel), I'm hosting this on Oct 4—a space for more critical discussion of AI. RSVP to join here: tinyurl.com/criticalAIsalon

Critical AI Breakfast Salon

Saturday, Oct 4, 2025
11:00am - 12:30pm
Métropolitain Brasserie
700 Sussex Dr, Ottawa, ON

What Is This?
Join us over an informal late morning breakfast for an opportunity to gather, connect, and exchange ideas with colleagues around critical AI studies and critical approaches to AI law and regulation, and what those mean within and for the Canadian technology law and policy landscape. If you are concerned about the state of AI discourse in Canada, namely, the lack of representation of impacted and marginalized communities, or the missing lens of AI as a tool of power, capital, and colonialism, or if you are simply tired of the AI hype cycle and AI boosterism, then this event is for you.

Who Is Invited?
This event is open to attendees of the CLTS @ 15 / 25 anniversary event of the Centre for Law, Technology, and Society at the University of Ottawa. Please note this salon is organized as an independent side event, hosted and sponsored by Tekhnos Law, and that neither the CLTS nor University of Ottawa are involved.

What Should I Know?
- Complimentary drinks and light breakfast bites will be provided!
- Modified Chatham House Rule will apply (no attribution unless person wishes).
- Limited spots are available to allow for more fulsome discussion and engagement by attendees. RSVP fast if you want to attend.
- An agenda and discussion questions will be sent to registrants 1-2 days in advance.

RSVP: tinyurl.com/criticalAIsalon
Questions/Contact: critical.ai@tekhnoslaw.ca

3 5

Reposted by Ana Brandusescu

jess reia • 何杰茜 @jhereia.bsky.social · 7d

I have a short piece on smart infrastructure and techno-authoritarianism in Brazil in the new journal Dialogues on Digital Society ✨ Available here: doi.org/10.1177/2976...
If you cannot access it through your library, ping me and I will make sure you get a copy.

It is a screenshot of a short commentary paper titled "Smart infrastructure, techno-authoritarianism, and the threat to democracy in Brazil," written by Jess Reia and published in the journal Dialogues on Digital Society. It features an abstract and keywords. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/29768640251382644

4 11

Reposted by Ana Brandusescu

Kate Kaye @katekaye.bsky.social · 7d

In new paper @anabrandusescu.bsky.social of @balsillieschool.bsky.social suggests making algorithmic impact assessments mandatory for all cos in Canada: balsilliepapers.ca/bsia-paper/c... via @mtlaiethics.bsky.social

Sharing this insightful talk re: problems with those AIAs & their actual use -

Lawyer Will Tao on the Real-World Impacts of AI and Canada’s Algorithmic Impact Assessments on Immigrants

Podcast Episode · Privacy On The Ground · 07/12/2025 · 44m

podcasts.apple.com

2 1

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 10d

bsky.app/profile/anab...

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · Feb 18

The Paris AI Summit: Deregulation, Fear, and Surveillance

Me and @resieber.bsky.social discuss ways in which new public-private partnerships on AI would increase private sector power and a hollowing out of the state, and set a dystopian future for state and corporate led surveillance.

The Paris AI Summit: Deregulation, Fear, and Surveillance | Montreal AI Ethics Institute

✍️ Op-Ed by Ana Brandusescu and Prof Renée Sieber. Ana is a PhD Candidate at McGill University and a Balsillie Scholar at the Balsillie School of International Affairs. Prof Sieber is an Associate…

montrealethics.ai

5

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 10d

The pivot has started. I've written about it in a few places: bsky.app/profile/anab...

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 18d

ICYMI: I wrote about Palantir and Cohere and their role in the privatization of governance by AI.

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 21d

New paper alert! Challenging Privatization in Governance by AI

I argue that the harms of generative AI are exacerbated through governance by AI:
- at the expense of workers and the environment
- in the name of partnerships at any cost
- to concentrate power via familiar acquisition patterns

1 9

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 11d

If there was truly any conviction for the public interest, members of the AI Strategy Task Force would resign in protest for the configuration of their group.

Government of Canada launches AI Strategy Task Force and public engagement on the development of the next AI strategy - Canada.ca

Public feedback and stakeholder engagement will inform strategy for Canada to be an AI leader

www.canada.ca

2 12 39

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 14d

Back to the abyss 👋🏻

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 16d

comic by tom gauld

i stared into the abyss.

the abyss stared back.

one thing led to another, and now i meet the abyss for regular chats in the coffee shop near my lab.

1 2 14

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 14d

"But we do need the core aspect of [our social and political habits] that makes Klein so uncomfortable: Russell’s expectation that those who relate to others as though they are not worthy of respect ought to be treated with the regard that orientation deserves."

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 14d

"Common decency stigmatizes people that do not participate in it—removes them from voluntary association. We indeed have to live with one another, but terms and conditions apply."

me on why Ezra Klein should be ashamed / why shame is Good Actually

www.bostonreview.net/articles/how...

How Can We Live Together? - Boston Review

Ezra Klein is wrong: shame is essential.

www.bostonreview.net

1 3