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Robin

@robinb.bsky.social

320 followers 260 following 57 posts

professor. traveler. anti-mayo.

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Robin @robinb.bsky.social · Aug 14

My recent @us.theconversation.com article talks about older Americans and their #AI use. More importantly, they reflect on what they want from it (hint: more info about risk) #academicsky

theconversation.com/older-americ...

Older Americans are using AI − study shows how and what they think of it

Over half of older adults report using AI, but many also struggle with trusting the technology.

theconversation.com

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · Jun 3

*Cackling in karma*

Neil Lewis, Jr. @neillewisjr.bsky.social · Jun 3

After resigning from Michigan and bending over backwards to try and appease them, "The Florida Board of Governors voted Tuesday to reject Santa Ono as the next president of the University of Florida"
www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...

Florida Board Rejects Ono for UF Job

The Florida Board of Governors decided against confirming Santa Ono as president of the University of Florida in a contentious vote focused on diversity, equity and inclusion.

www.insidehighered.com

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · May 16

🚨 Role change alert 🚨

Yesterday the Board of Regents at the University of Michigan (finally) did a good thing & approved my promotion to Associate Professor w/tenure! For non-academic/folks, this means that I can't get fired!

Thanks to students, postdocs, collaborators, mentors, friends, and fam.

Letter from interim university president grasso stating, "on behalf of the university of Michigan, I am delighted to congratulate you on your recent promotion which was approved by the board of regents at their last meeting. This promotion is a well-earned recognition of your dedicated service, scholarship, and teaching, all of which add to the excellence of our university. We are grateful for your many contributions, both to your discipline and to our campus at large, and look forward to all you will accomplish in the future. Please accept my warmest congratulations and best wishes for continued success

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · May 13

I feel this. Similarly, I would like to write my own obituary. Who knows me better than me?

Danielle Kurtzleben @titonka.bsky.social · May 13

A week ago I sat down and said “fuck it” and started writing a memoir.

I feel self indulgent and gross but also it’s fun. I may be the only person who reads it but whatever.

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · May 9

NSF abolishing divisions sounds like a bad idea, right? #academicsky

David Malakoff @davidmalakoff.bsky.social · May 8

Exclusive: NSF faces radical shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

Exclusive: NSF faces radical shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions

Changes seen as a response to presidential directives on what research to fund

www.science.org

Reposted by Robin

Mo Torres @motorres.bsky.social · May 4

In 3 years Ono cracked down on protest, attacked shared governance and banned DEI. Of course first on his list of accomplishments was: “Prioritized the strategic expansion of artificial intelligence, making UM the first university to offer custom AI tools to our entire academic community.”

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · May 1

Props to the #CHI2025 general chairs and organizing committee for choosing amazing opening and closing speakers 👌🏾

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · May 1

Takeaways:
- AI is a child.
- Agency! AI should be a co-pilot that is active when needed, not constantly
- AI should only be used for tasks humans are not good at, not for everything

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · May 1

Masako Wakamiya is 90 years old and made her first mobile app in her 80s. It is never too late to learn a new skill.

She is the closing plenary speaker at #CHI2025

Masako is an older Japanese woman with short gray hair wearing a green collared shirt on stage at the closing plenary. The screen on stage shows the title of her presentation, "Seeds of Imagination: Planting Hope for a 100-year Life with AI". Also on the screen is a sign language interpreter.

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · May 1

Masako Wakamiya is 90 years old and made her first mobile app in her 80s. It is never too late to learn a new skill.

She is the closing plenary speaker at #CHI2025

Masako is an older Japanese woman with short gray hair wearing a green collared shirt on stage at the closing plenary. The screen on stage shows the title of her presentation, "Seeds of Imagination: Planting Hope for a 100-year Life with AI". Also on the screen is a sign language interpreter.

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · May 1

Not the point of Oliver Suchanek's #CHI2025 presentation but still mind blowing - sign language interpreters aren't an accommodation for Deaf people because they can communicate with each other just fine. Hearing people need interpreters to communicate with Deaf people. #a11y

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · Apr 28

+1 this is how I met @michaelannephd.bsky.social at CHI in Montreal when we were grad students. A fun game of "no research talk allowed" and now we're colleagues 💁🏾‍♀️

Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Apr 27

3. Don’t make people talk about work all the time.
Some of my best collabs started with conversations about dogs, snacks, or bad travel stories. You’re meeting humans, not LinkedIn profiles. #chi2025

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · Apr 28

The keynote speaker at #CHI2025, @mutalenkonde.bsky.social, ended by proposing "computer scientists need to govern computer scientists" regarding AI and harms.

+1 as this may be more sustainable and faster to implement than relying on governments and organizations to oversee AI regulation.

Mutale Nkonde, a Black woman, on stage with a slide that says, "Computer scientists need to govern computer scientists". The slide screen also shows a sign language interpreter and captions. The large screen is located above a large, human height calligraphy mural with the words, #CHI2025, and large painted characters that represent the words "beyond boundaries", which is the conference theme

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · Apr 10

Truly my favorite moment of the day is when I can share with PhD students that there is more free food in the kitchen. The joy on their faces 🥹

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · Mar 27

Deep sigh.

Neil Lewis, Jr. @neillewisjr.bsky.social · Mar 27

I guess we can add Michigan to the list of capitulating institutions.

www.michigandaily.com/news/news-br...

UMich announces cuts to all DEI programs

The University of Michigan announced cuts to campus-wide diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives Thursday, effective immediately.

www.michigandaily.com

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · Mar 27

Starting an email to the campus acknowledging DEI programs and then announcing you're ending them in the exact same email is a wild kind of bold. Disappointed can't even begin to describe

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · Mar 12

Working with a designer to edit a friend's website and he literally tried to bribe me with desserts to intentionally fail a color contrast check for the sake of design. Do you know what I do for a living?? Even if you didn't, why is that a logical thought?

a man in a white shirt is standing next to another man in a living room and making a funny face .

Alt: a man in a white shirt is standing making a surprised face while the word "huh" and many question marks surround him

media.tenor.com

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · Mar 6

So grateful that as an undergrad, I had PhD student mentors who put me on game. They encouraged me to leave my UG institution and taught me PhDs are fre. People are really out here thinking all PhD programs cost money!

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · Mar 4

*SOME people won't be at NSBE but I'm headed there tomorrow to recruit.

If you're interested in master's or *free* PhD programs in data science, UX/HCI, information+ stop by University of Michigan's School of Information booth - 💁🏾‍♀️ #NSBE2025 #motherregion #4solid (... but #2hype raised me)

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · Feb 25

My personal favorite BHM moment happened this past weekend on a writing retreat with PhD students and faculty from around the country in Tucson. We worked on papers, blog posts, dissertation proposals, and IRBs. + We ate tasty Ethiopian food and played lots of Uno No Mercy 👿 #blacksky #academicsky

5 Black women sitting at wooden tables in the hotel lobby doing work on their laptops

6 Black women standing in front of an archway with a rainbow mural and a palm tree and sand nearby

5 Black women seated around a wooden table playing Uno, the card game

Reposted by Robin

Nathan Lambert @natolambert.bsky.social · Feb 25

Come work with me!
We are looking to bring on more top talent to our language modeling workstream at @ai2.bsky.social building the open ecosystem. We are hiring:
* Research scientists
* Senior research engineers
* Post docs (Young investigators)
* Pre docs

job-boards.greenhouse.io/thealleninst...

The Allen Institute for AI

job-boards.greenhouse.io

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · Feb 20

Spent the evening listening to THE Dr. Angela Davis and Ta-Nehisi Coates discuss activism and solidarity in our current historical moment and learning from oppression in Gaza. Gems. Too many to name. BUT, very inspiring to hear Davis is optimistic given all that she has experienced. #blacksky

Ta-Nehisi Coates seated next to Dr. Angela Davis seated next to the discussion moderator on stage in front of a slide with the discussion title, The Arc of Activism Bridging Intergenerational Legacies. The slide shows black and white images of Coates and Davis and different ages in their lives.

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · Feb 10

Ahh that's the secret. Things felt a lot more communal when we lived in a townhouse.

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · Feb 9

This is what I imagined home ownership would be like. Instead, it's mostly me walking the dog hoping to come across someone, anyone...

Jaclyn A. Siegel, PhD @jacasiegel.bsky.social · Feb 9

My neighbors and I have a group chat, and now whenever we have an open bottle of wine we likely won’t finish, we text the group chat, and everyone arrives at our doors with a glass 😂

Reposted by Robin

Cats of Yore @catsofyore.bsky.social · Apr 19

Posting this again because a lot of people said they found it helpful! Guide to ALT text: www.perkins.org/resource/how...

ALT text copied and pasted from the linked website: An infographic titled “How To Write Alt Text” featuring a photo of a capybara. Parts of alt text are divided by color, including identify who, expression, description, colour, and interesting features. The finished description reads “A capybara looking relaxed in a hot spa. Yellow yuzu fruits are floating in the water, and one is balanced on the top of the capybara’s head.”

Robin @robinb.bsky.social · Jan 28

1. This is terrifying.
2. Lightbulb moment of connecting why NSF HQ is at the Eisenhower metro stop.
3. How is it still January?

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Jan 27

I don’t have a definitive source on this yet but it looks like NSF review panels have been canceled.

Sixty-some years ago, Eisenhower transformed higher education because he viewed a science education gap as the single greatest threat to national security.

This is absolutely an act of sabotage.