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Reposted by Suresh Venkatasubramanian

Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 5d

University leaders need to take a look at journalists.

Mainstream journalism has not covered itself in glory in the Trump era to put it mildly.

But the Pentagon's attempt to get them to sign an agreement never to say anything the Pentagon doesn't want said was a bridge too far.

NO ONE signed.

Jay Rosen @jayrosen.bsky.social · 6d

If you are following the story of The Pentagon's new policy, nicknamed, "you must check with us before you dream of doing any journalism," you may enjoy this update from @status.news

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Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists @thebulletin.org · 1d

"AI systems are used to make invisible, inscrutable judgements that will affect our lives in ways we may not even begin to see," says Suresh Venkatasubramanian @geomblog.bsky.social.

"It sounds Kafkaesque because it is Kafkaesque."

How AI is fueling surveillance capitalism and undermining democracy

While some believe AI can be used to improve lives, others may exploit this knowledge for financial gain.

youtu.be

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Suresh Venkatasubramanian @geomblog.bsky.social · 1d

The Bulletin made a short video presentation to accompany the article. It's great especially if you want to see me gesticulating wildly at every word I say (My parents used to call me Magnus Pyke when I was a child, and that clearly hasn't gone away)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn8_...

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Manoel Horta Ribeiro @manoelhortaribeiro.bsky.social · 22d

Social media feeds today are optimized for engagement, often leading to misalignment between users' intentions and technology use.

In a new paper, we introduce Bonsai, a tool to create feeds based on stated preferences, rather than predicted engagement.

arxiv.org/abs/2509.10776

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Cyberlyra @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 4d

@geomblog.bsky.social YESS! "Intimacy Machines" is officially my new fave oxymoron.

(tough competition what with "gender-neutral masculine standard" floating around out there)

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Monica Maalouf, MD @maaloufmd.bsky.social · 4d

My husband was detained by ICE today

Juan Muñoz, an American citizen, father of 2, and local government official, was peacefully protesting w. other elected officials. He was assaulted and taken away

I have had zero contact or updates since

#SOS
@duckworth.senate.gov @durbin.senate.gov

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Suresh Venkatasubramanian @geomblog.bsky.social · 4d

I said a thing :).

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 4d

Sick burn. finance.yahoo.com/news/22-old-...

Critics see something different. Suresh Venkatasubramanian, director of the Center for Technological Responsibility, Reimagination, and Redesign at Brown University, said that Friend is clearly an example of a frothy AI company, but that it also bore a “pernicious” resemblance to a mostly forgotten early-20th-century fad: “radium necklaces.”  When Marie Curie’s new glowing discovery first hit the market, jewelers embedded radium in pendants and bracelets and sold them as chic wellness accessories—until decades later, people started dying of cancer.  “I look at Friend and I think, ‘Are we making the same mistake?’” Venkatasubramanian told Fortune. “We’re rushing these intimacy machines into people’s lives with no evidence they’re safe, or even helpful.”

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Suresh Venkatasubramanian @geomblog.bsky.social · 4d

A) you are too kind. B) I was really annoyed :)

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Suresh Venkatasubramanian @geomblog.bsky.social · 4d

I didn't know the article had landed :). Thanks!

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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 4d

Sick burn. finance.yahoo.com/news/22-old-...

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Congressman Gabe Amo @amo.house.gov · 4d

Joined ABC News Live to discuss the Trump and Republicans’ disastrous government shutdown that’s leaving Americans poorer and sicker.

I’m fighting to end the cuts, lower costs, and save health care. Watch here 📺

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Suresh Venkatasubramanian @geomblog.bsky.social · 5d

This was expected, but is also going to be a disaster when it comes to dealing with bias in algorithmic tools for employment.

Source: AP News
search.app/kuYRD

Civil rights agency drops a key tool used to investigate workplace discrimination

The U.S. civil rights agency responsible for enforcing worker rights will stop investigating complaints about company policies that don’t explicitly discriminate but may disproportionately harm certai...

search.app

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Elizabeth Joh @elizabethjoh.bsky.social · 5d

Not great to be caught in a tug of war between the 2:
"Newsom on Thursday threatened to cut “billions” in state funding from any CA campus that signs a Trump administration compact and agrees to sweeping and largely conservative campus policies in exchange" for fed $ www.latimes.com/california/s...

Newsom threatens to cut state funding to universities that sign Trump’s political compact

The White House is asking nine major universities, including USC, to commit to President Trump’s political priorities in exchange for more favorable access to federal money.

www.latimes.com

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Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 5d

Just noting that a university that signed this compact would be agreeing to gut clinics and institutes like, say, the Knight Institute, whose mandate is to promote free speech and press freedom. What would it even mean for us to be “neutral”?

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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 5d

The "AI" responses that Google gives about me and my work are consistently error-prone, which I know because I am me. If I know Google's "AI" responses give incorrect answers about things I know about, I can't trust it to give correct answers about things I don't know. So, no, I don't use it.

John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰 @johngordon.bsky.social · 5d

I’m surprised you don’t use ai answer engines in research you currently do with Google

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Magdalena Skipper @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social · 5d

Jane Goodall challenged what it meant to be a scientist.

In this news story we look at three ways she changed science.

A loss for science, a loss for the community, a loss for everyone

🧪 #academicSky

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Jane Goodall’s legacy: three ways she changed science

The primatologist challenged what it meant to be a scientist.

www.nature.com

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Melanie Mitchell @melaniemitchell.bsky.social · 5d

In honor of the 75th anniversary of the Turing test, I'm re-upping my short essay, "The Turing Test and our shifting conceptions of intelligence".

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

The Turing Test and our shifting conceptions of intelligence

“Can machines think?” So asked Alan Turing in his 1950 paper, “Computing Machinery and Intelligence.” Turing quickly noted that, given the difficulty of defining thinking, the question is “too meaning...

www.science.org

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Suresh Venkatasubramanian @geomblog.bsky.social · 6d

No inference time compute required.

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Suresh Venkatasubramanian @geomblog.bsky.social · 6d

Amazing

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 6d

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

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Dean Jackson @dwj88.bsky.social · 6d

Sam Woolley and I have a piece out in
@jodemocracy.bsky.social on the true dangers AI poses to democracy in the years ahead.

While acknowledging immediate harms like discrimination, we eschew catastrophism and explore the cumulative impact of already visible trends.

muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...

"AI's Real Dangers for Democracy," by Dean Jackson and Samuel Woolley

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Veena Dubal @veenadubal.bsky.social · 7d

WE WON: "This case -– perhaps the most important ever to fall w/in..this district court squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in US..have the same free speech rights as the rest of us. The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally “yes, they do.”"

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Alex Hanna-ween @alexhanna.bsky.social · 7d

Incredible work by Veena and the AAUP. Standing up for so many here when universities and other institutions dedicated to "free speech" refuse to.

Veena Dubal @veenadubal.bsky.social · 7d

WE WON: "This case -– perhaps the most important ever to fall w/in..this district court squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in US..have the same free speech rights as the rest of us. The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally “yes, they do.”"

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Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 9d

"Here I am, this middle-aged black man, I'm in my best suit. I actually argued the case at the Supreme Court that we were trying to implement. I've got all these degrees and awards. And I'm still required to laugh at my own humiliation."

Bryan Stevenson with @katiecouric.bsky.social

The Exhausting Reality of Being a Black Lawyer - Bryan Stevenson's Truth

YouTube video by Katie Couric

www.youtube.com

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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 9d

“This worldwide update includes the ability for parents, as well as law enforcement, to receive notifications if a child—in this case, users between the ages of 13 and 18—engages in chatbot conversations about self harm or suicide.”

OpenAI Adds Parental Safety Controls for Teen ChatGPT Users. Here’s What to Expect

OpenAI’s review process for teenage ChatGPT users who are flagged for suicidal ideation includes human moderators. Parents can expect an alert about alarming prompts within hours.

www.wired.com

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Thomas Dietterich @tdietterich.bsky.social · 13d

Copyright law doesn't protect what people seem to want it to protect. This talk by Pamela Samuelson @pamelasamuelson.bsky.social was very enlightening.
icml.cc/virtual/2025...

icml.cc

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