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Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · Sep 4

Yeah. I agree with that. The local effects are real enough. They are also true of broad ranges of industrial production. But I think these kinds of analyses are born of the fact that a lot of critics have themselves been casting the issue in individual terms.

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Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · Sep 4

A new post on The Conversation estimates that flushing the toilet equals the water used in 154 GPT-5 prompts and 1,714 GPT-4o prompts. I am wondering if anyone has seen analysis or pushback on the piece.

theconversation.com/ai-has-a-hid...

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Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · Aug 27

hahahaha. Sounds right. How many drones did you end up buying? ;-)

Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · Aug 27

A bane of hosting a podcast about technology is that I get loads of press releases and such, including not one but four - FOUR! - emails relating to this supposedly AI-enabled . . . pen.

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Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · Aug 26

I agree with that. I think the kinds of quizzes I come up with tend to tack away from summary. Like, I've even had colleagues tell me my questions aren't conceptual enough. So they need to know details. But I agree that it's not a total solution.

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Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · Aug 26

Agree. I'm going back to reading quizzes in some of my undergrad classes, but I don't think that's an answer to the whole problem.

Last semester, I let them use GenAI for some writing tasks, but underestimated how many of them were using (lousy) AI summaries instead of reading.

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Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · Aug 26

I wrote a little post about where the Peoples & Things podcast is at these days and, more importantly, about our most recent episode with Mary Bridges on her book, _Dollars and Dominion: US Bankers and the Making of a Superpower_.

peoples-things.ghost.io/podcast-refl...

Podcast Reflections: Mary Bridges on US Bankers Abroad and the Making of a Global Superpower

I'm on research leave this fall, and it is giving me time to step back and reflect on what I've been up to the past few years. A lot of my work during that time has gone into making the podcast, Peop...

peoples-things.ghost.io

Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · Aug 21

Hahaha. Oh, that was just a throw away joke. Twitter sucks now. I am seeing more interesting conversations on LinkedIn.

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Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · Aug 21

That is an interesting way to put it. And I believe that is also a risk. But the caution was worth the time.

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Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · Aug 20

I just posted "Against Narcissistic-Sociopathic Technology Studies, or Why Do People *USE* Technologies?" about the need in technology studies to be less preoccupied with our own judgments and more interested in what people who are not ourselves are up to.

peoples-things.ghost.io/why-do-peopl...

Against Narcissistic-Sociopathic Technology Studies, or Why Do People *USE* Technologies?

Why and how do people USE technologies? This question should be at the center of any thinking about human life with technology. The ways in which people use technologies, after all, determines the so...

peoples-things.ghost.io

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Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · Aug 19

Had fun working on this post most of the day. Should be up tomorrow morning.

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Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · Aug 13

Any of y'all have favorite reporting/analysis of Trump and the Bureau of Labor Statistics? A reading group I'm a part of is looking for resources. Thanks!

Reposted by Lee Vinsel

Hilary J. Allen @profhilaryallen.bsky.social · Aug 8

Ch 6 of Fintech Dystopia has dropped, wherein I explain why we’re predisposed to buy Silicon Valley’s BS hype:
fintechdystopia.com/chapters/cha...

Come for the psychology & bad puns about 17th century warships, stay for the evisceration of vibe coding, enshittification & God Bless Bitcoin movie.

Helen Lovejoy from the Simpsons asking "Won't Somebody Please Think of the Innovation?

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Reposted by Lee Vinsel

Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · Jul 25

Contender for best podcast episode of the year is out today, with Jane Flegal & @jessedjenkins.com talking about climate and energy policy with Ezra Klein. Get up to speed with where we are and what is next for decarbonization. 🔌💡 Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/25/o...

Opinion | Is Decarbonization Dead?

www.nytimes.com

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Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · Jul 16

Headed to a departmental writing retreat in an old farmhouse here in Blacksburg. Really looking forward to it.

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Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · Jul 7

Thanks, Pseudo. Just as you suggest, I'm pretty sure it was this: www.economiespast.org

Economies Past

www.economiespast.org

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Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · Jul 6

Yep. This is almost certainly it. Thanks, Patrick!!

Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · Jul 5

@pseudoerasmus.bsky.social, any guesses?

I'm starting to think maybe it was Stephen Broadberry et al. All gone from my brain.

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Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · Jul 5

Annoyed at myself. Some years ago I bumped into a big quantitative - and I think UK-based - research project that was studying the emergence of capitalism/growth in Europe and pushing the dates back considerably. And now I can't remember them. Ringing bells for anyone?

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Reposted by Lee Vinsel

Hilary J. Allen @profhilaryallen.bsky.social · Jul 3

I'm excited to announce the launch of my new internet serial "Fintech Dystopia: A summer beach read about Silicon Valley ruining things," available at fintechdystopia.com. It's a sometimes irreverent and occasionally straight-up pissed off take on how Silicon Valley is making finance worse.

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Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · Jun 24

Your soul is pretty fruity.

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Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · Jun 18

Title/angle of this piece is absurd. Most examples come from medical imaging and sensing that people have been doing for *YEARS* before "AI." All kinds of ways we use technologies to look at humans in ways that we cannot look at ourselves. Peter Winch would have a field day.

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Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · Jun 12

I didn't find the analysis in this piece very interesting or cogent, but the thought - if true - that OpenAI is exploring advertising as a way to prop up its non-existent business model has me LMAOOOOOOOOOOO.

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/o...

Opinion | OpenAI Seems to Be Making a Very Familiar, Very Cynical Choice

www.nytimes.com

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Lee Vinsel @leev.bsky.social · May 29

Who could possibly have foreseen it?

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Reposted by Lee Vinsel

MIT Press @mitpress.bsky.social · May 13

In "Every American an Innovator," Matt Wisnioski investigates how innovation—a once obscure academic term—became ingrained in our institutions, our education, and our beliefs about ourselves: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255073...

"Every American an Innovator: How Innovation Became a Way of Life" on a white background. The cover is white and includes various illustrations, including students at a desk and a tree.

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