Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Nima

karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · Sep 4

if only some local elected official could have hired 100 mental health nurses and funded peer-run organizations that prevent mental health crises instead of increasing the police budget by $81,000,000

if only

CHEK News @cheknews.ca · Sep 4

UPDATE: Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim says no city can completely eliminate all risks to public safety and steps to protect people won’t be effective without addressing mental health challenges, which he described as the “root cause” of many concerns.

cheknews.ca/vancouver-of...

Sim says Vancouver is 'begging' B.C. for mental health supports after festival attack

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim says no city can completely eliminate all risks to public safety and steps to protect people won't be effective without addressing mental health challenges, which he described ...

cheknews.ca

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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · Jul 27

Nanaimo, B.C., councillor's motion proposes asking for expansion of unsafe injection sites

CTV News Vancouver @ctvnewsvancouver.bsky.social · Jul 27

Nanaimo, B.C., councillor’s motion proposes asking for closure of safe injection site

A city councillor in Nanaimo, B.C., is expected to push the city to reach out to a B.C. health authority in a bid to close the overdose prevention site next to city hall.

bit.ly

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Lucy Maloney @lucymaloney.bsky.social · Jun 5

My motion to restore Vancouver's Renter Office may have failed today but on the bright side, I'd be surprised if the word "bollards" has ever been used as many times in a Council meeting as it was today. #Bollards

My dad standing on the other side of a fine looking row of retractable bollards protecting a pedestrianised area in Amsterdam.

Me standing on top of a retractable bollard in Barcelona.

Me on top of a retractable bollard in Nîmes.

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Lucy Maloney @lucymaloney.bsky.social · Jun 4

I'm proud to report that my amendment to the Granville Street Plan has passed - directing staff to explore substantial road safety and accessibility improvements, including benches, bollards, bus bulbs and a bike parkade.

A good day for safer streets for all!

A unanimous vote in favour of Cllr Maloney's amendment with Cllrs Dominato and Klassen and Mayor Sim absent.

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COPE: The Coalition of Progressive Electors @copevancouver.bsky.social · Jun 4

Update: Motion passed unanimously.

HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT.

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Kim TallBear @kimtallbear.bsky.social · Jun 4

This🧵 on widespread student AI use.

Nope. Totally flipped classroom. In-class handwritten quizzes, responses, bluebook exams. No laptops allowed. I am not dealing with this nonsense.

My entire course prep this summer is researching in-class exercises/assignments.

I look forward to my war on AI.

Jocelyn Leitzinger @jocelynl.bsky.social · Jun 2

This past semester was the most stressful of my academic career. I had 180 students and about half cheated at some point in the semester

They submit weekly reflections where the questions are opinion-based, graded only on effort, don't care about grammar

SO MANY students submitted ChatGPT essays

Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · Jun 2

I talked to 15 teachers/professors about how AI and ChatGPT is ruining their lives:

www.404media.co/teachers-are...

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Kim TallBear @kimtallbear.bsky.social · May 29

This interview may not be seen as helpful in this moment to scientists who see "politics" as a dirty word.

But there is no outside the social. We help train Indigenous scientists to do science with joy in support of Indigenous life & governance, and we'll continue amidst volatile settler politics.

Promoting Indigenous sovereignty through scientific research

By encouraging Indigenous participation in the sciences, professor Kim TallBear sees opportunities to reclaim some of what has been lost through colonization

www.ualberta.ca

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Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · May 19

Missed Opportunities in AI Regulation: Lessons from Canada's AI and Data Act

New from me and @resieber.bsky.social for Data & Policy @cambup-polsci.cambridge.org

We draw out the problems with AIDA and ways forward to shift decision-making and control from AI companies to the people!

Missed opportunities in AI regulation: lessons from Canada’s AI and data act

Ana Brandusescu and Renée E. Sieber

Abstract

We interrogate efforts to legislate artificial intelligence (AI) through Canada’s Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA) and argue it represents a series of missed opportunities that so delayed the Act that it died. We note how much of this bill was explicitly tied to economic development and implicitly tied to a narrow jurisdictional form of shared prosperity. Instead, we contend that the benefits of AI are not shared but disproportionately favour specific groups, in this case, the AI industry. This trend appears typical of many countries’ AI and data regulations, which tend to privilege the few, despite promises to favour the many. We discuss the origins of AIDA, drafted by Canada’s federal Department for Innovation Science and Economic Development (ISED). We then consider four problems: (1) AIDA relied on public trust in a digital and data economy; (2) ISED tried to both regulate and promote AI and data; (3) Public consultation was insufficient for AIDA; and (4) Workers’ rights in Canada and worldwide were excluded in AIDA. Without strong checks and balances built into regulation like AIDA, innovation will fail to deliver on its claims. We recommend the Canadian government and, by extension, other governments invest in an AI act that prioritises: (1) Accountability mechanisms and tools for the public and private sectors; (2) Robust workers’ rights in terms of data handling; and (3) Meaningful public participation in all stages of legislation. These policies are essential to countering wealth concentration in the industry, which would stifle progress and widespread economic growth.

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Kim TallBear @kimtallbear.bsky.social · May 19

"The American Dream" rings extractive. Immigrate to this land to extract it. Leave when all is withdrawn.

The settlers' state looks like a financial account, living lands and waters turned to capital, not seen as living entities with their own histories. We'll see if settler security/ies hold(s).

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blair @blairaf.com · May 7

What resources are distributed across the AI value chain, and to whom? Who benefits in the AI value chain, and who is harmed?

In "The Ethics of AI Value Chains", @davidthewid.bsky.social & I address these fundamental questions, now out in Big Data & Society!

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

The ethics of AI value chains - Blair Attard-Frost, David Gray Widder, 2025

Researchers, practitioners, and policymakers with an interest in the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI) need more integrative approaches for studying and in...

journals.sagepub.com

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Nima @boscarino.bsky.social · May 5

Has the preliminary program been published already? Thanks!

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Jathan Sadowski @jathansadowski.com · Apr 17

I'm thrilled that this huge paper is now out — Machine's Eye View: Postmodern Data Science and the Politics of Ground Truth

I advance a critical theory of the epistemic politics of machine learning by tying it postmodernism and actuarial data science journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Machine's Eye View: Postmodern Data Science and the Politics of Ground Truth - Jathan Sadowski, 2025

This paper advances the critical analysis of machine learning by placing it in direct relation with actuarial science as a way to further draw out their shared ...

journals.sagepub.com

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Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · Apr 14

Loved talking w @parismarx.com for @zeteo.com about the AI Coup and the vampiric nature of this technology.

It's us or the machines, my friends. And thought we are far from perfect, I choose us over the bots.

Stay for Charlie Chaplin's anti-fascism at the end!

zeteo.com/p/silicon-va...

Silicon Valley’s AI Coup: ‘It’s Draining Our Real World’

Tech reporter Paris Marx joins Naomi to discuss the threat posed by artificial intelligence to democracy.

zeteo.com

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Sophie Bishop @sophiebishop.bsky.social · Apr 13

Hello I've decided to use Blue Sky now. In unrelated news, my book 'Influencer Creep' will be published with University of California press in October 2025. It's about the ways influencer culture has transformed creative work.

Preorder here: www.ucpress.edu/books/influe...

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BC Policy Solutions @bcpolicy.bsky.social · Apr 12

📢 We are hiring! 📢 If you are:

✊ Passionate about strengthening systems that help orgs thrive
🌱Dedicated to creating socially just, inclusive and resilient orgs
⚖️ And have experience bringing an equity lens to managing people and operational systems

This may be the job for you!

Work with us

Current openings

bcpolicy.ca

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Nick Srnicek @nsrnicek.bsky.social · Apr 10

Submitted the final version of my next book on AI, Big Tech, and the geopolitical struggles over them. Now hopefully nothing important happens on those topics before it comes out...

Pre-order here: www.amazon.co.uk/Silicon-Empi...

Table of Contents
1 / Where is the Value of Generative AI?
Beyond ChatGPT
The Generative AI Stack
Tensions and Trajectories
Conclusion
2 / Strategies of Capture
Strategies of Capture
Amazon and the Infrastructure Strategy
OpenAI and the Frontier Strategy
Google and the Conglomerate Strategy
Meta and the Open Strategy
Conclusion
3 / An Interregnum
The Silicon Valley Consensus
Technodevelopmentalism
Consensus Undone
The Tech-Industrial Complex
The Disorderly Expansion of Capital
Conclusion
4 / The Future of Silicon Empires
America’s Innovation Strategy
China’s Diffusion Strategy
Silicon Empires
Conclusion

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Deb Raji @rajiinio.bsky.social · Apr 7

This was a key factor of the California nurses strike (ie forced use of AI tools through EHR updates), also very common in education settings.

We often hear about "AI replacing workers" & not enough about workers being forced to use AI in ways that fundamentally disrupt the nature of their work!

Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · Apr 7

Per leaked memo, Shopify is making AI tools mandatory, whether they help or not.

This is exactly like RTO - "we paid for all of this (empty real estate/magic beans) so you better start using it." Then the C-suite can pat themselves on the back for making a wise (real estate/magic beans) investment.

$1. Using Al effectively is now a fundamental expectation of everyone at Shopify. It's a tool of all trades today, and will only grow in importance. Frankly, I don't think it's feasible to opt out of learning the skill of applying Al in your craft; you are welcome to try, but I want to be honest I cannot see this working out today, and definitely not tomorrow. Stagnation is almost certain, and stagnation is slow-motion failure. If you're not climbing, you're sliding. 2. Al must be part of your GSD Prototype phase. The prototype phase of any GSD project should be dominated by Al exploration. Prototypes are meant for learning and creating information. Al dramatically accelerates this process. You can learn to produce something that other team mates can look at, use, and reason about in a fraction of the time it used to take. 3. We will add Al usage questions to our performance and peer review questionnaire. Learning to use Al well is an unobvious skill. My sense is that a lot of people give up after writing a prompt and not getting the ideal thing back immediately. Learning to prompt and load context is important, and getting peers to provide feedback on how this is going will be valuable. 4. Learning is self directed, but share what you learned. You have access to as much of the cutting edge Al tools as possible. There is chat.shopify.io, which we had for years now. Developers have proxy, Copilot, Cursor, Claude code, all pre- tooled and ready to go. We'll learn and adapt together as a team. We'll be sharing Ws (and Ls!) with each other as we experiment with new Al capabilities, and we'll dedicate time to Al integration in our monthly business reviews and product development cycles. Slack and Vault have lots of places where people share prompts that they developed, like #revenue-ai-use-cases and #ai-centaurs. 5. Before asking for more Headcount and resources, teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using Al.$

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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · Apr 5

I've cracked the code of why byelection lineups are so long in Vancouver today.

It's not just a turnout question.

Compared to the 2017 byelection, the city decreased the number of election workers by EIGHTY PERCENT.

From 1,250 in 2017 to 250 this time around.

This was a staff recommendation.

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Nima @boscarino.bsky.social · Apr 4

Joice Tang at UW has a “failure resume”; it’s helped me feel less alone when things get tough in grad school. joicetang.com/failure/

Morgan Klaus Scheuerman’s website is *beautiful*, and I find myself coming back to his reading list again and again. www.morgan-klaus.com/readings.html

failure resumeLinkedInBluesky

joicetang.com

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Rachel Gilmore @rachelgilmore.bsky.social · Apr 3

Fact check friday coming soon, to a new home 💞

Thanks @jameswsthomson.com and @nationalobserver.com for keeping this alive!!!

Canada's National Observer @nationalobserver.com · Apr 3

We're very excited to announce journalists @rachelgilmore.bsky.social and Emily Baron Cadloff are teaming up with National Observer staff for a biweekly election fact-checking segment.

First post coming tomorrow! Follow for updates.

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BC Policy Solutions @bcpolicy.bsky.social · Apr 2

Extreme inequality is fuelled by the super-rich and the housing crisis, writes @1alexhemingway.bsky.social.

These inequalities damage our economy and social fabric, lower economic growth, worsen health and social outcomes and distort democracy and politics, he says.
jacobin.com/2025/04/cana...

Canada’s Inequality Is Driven by Billionaire Wealth

New data show that Canada’s inequality crisis is driven by both billionaire wealth and runaway housing costs. Without a meaningful fix, both democracy and economic growth will be distorted by entrench...

jacobin.com

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Rachel Gilmore @rachelgilmore.bsky.social · Apr 1

💔
pressprogress.ca/ctv-cancelle...

CTV Cancelled a Fact-Checking Segment in Response to Political Pressure From Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives

Audio recording shows CTV cancelled an ‘election misinformation’ segment with journalist Rachel Gilmore after online backlash from conservatives

pressprogress.ca

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Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · Mar 26

Vancouver! Join me and my brother Seth Klein for The New Shock Doctrine: Charting Canada’s Path in a Time of Crisis.

To beat Trump and his oligarchs, we must innovate, not imitate

In person at UBC’s Chan Centre on April 26 at 7:30pm.

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Nima @boscarino.bsky.social · Mar 26

Thank you so much!

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Nima @boscarino.bsky.social · Mar 26

What’s the newsletter? I’m collecting material written by teachers on AI, for my research, across the whole spectrum of opinions

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