Todd Rowell
@toddrowell.bsky.social
Not only a man of science—a man of hope. Software primate and UI designer at the Toyota Research Institute. I fight for the users. More fox than hedgehog.
Reposted by Todd Rowell
Every few months now I re-read this "Who Goes Nazi?" piece from 1941 and am blown away by how it captures the people we are dealing with 80 years later.
harpers.org/archive/1941...
harpers.org/archive/1941...
Who Goes Nazi?, by Dorothy Thompson
harpers.org
October 1, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Every few months now I re-read this "Who Goes Nazi?" piece from 1941 and am blown away by how it captures the people we are dealing with 80 years later.
harpers.org/archive/1941...
harpers.org/archive/1941...
Reposted by Todd Rowell
roses are red
violets are blue
singular they
predates singular you
violets are blue
singular they
predates singular you
Another day, another whiner complaining that I use the singular "they" in my work, and of course they can go fuck themselves
(you see what I did there)
(also, gift link)
wapo.st/3JEdPUv
(you see what I did there)
(also, gift link)
wapo.st/3JEdPUv
Opinion | ‘They’ has been a singular pronoun for centuries. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s wrong.
Jane Austen did it. You can, too.
wapo.st
September 3, 2025 at 9:54 PM
roses are red
violets are blue
singular they
predates singular you
violets are blue
singular they
predates singular you
Reposted by Todd Rowell
One of the victories of the "AI" industry is that the use of the word "intelligence" for their product has led to people conflating a massive appropriation of intellectual property for an database sorted and outputted with algorithms, with what actually happens in human brain, one artwork at a time.
Real question: Don't actual human artists appropriate prior artists' work without consent to train their "Natural Intelligence" without compensation? (Really interested in your thoughts, not trying to be a dick.)
September 1, 2025 at 5:04 PM
One of the victories of the "AI" industry is that the use of the word "intelligence" for their product has led to people conflating a massive appropriation of intellectual property for an database sorted and outputted with algorithms, with what actually happens in human brain, one artwork at a time.
Reposted by Todd Rowell
This, from the Quakers, is a pretty good example of how to resist pressure from bigot lobbying groups. Effectively “we legally can allow trans people to use the loo, we morally should, and we tried it and nothing bad happened”
www.quaker.org.uk
August 28, 2025 at 12:16 PM
This, from the Quakers, is a pretty good example of how to resist pressure from bigot lobbying groups. Effectively “we legally can allow trans people to use the loo, we morally should, and we tried it and nothing bad happened”
Reposted by Todd Rowell
I want a presidential candidate who promises to construct Union memorials and statues all over the country.
And yeah, North and South. Blanket Virginia with statues of Thomas, who actually chose the right side.
Hell, put one of Sherman in the middle of Peachtree Park.
And yeah, North and South. Blanket Virginia with statues of Thomas, who actually chose the right side.
Hell, put one of Sherman in the middle of Peachtree Park.
August 20, 2025 at 12:41 AM
I want a presidential candidate who promises to construct Union memorials and statues all over the country.
And yeah, North and South. Blanket Virginia with statues of Thomas, who actually chose the right side.
Hell, put one of Sherman in the middle of Peachtree Park.
And yeah, North and South. Blanket Virginia with statues of Thomas, who actually chose the right side.
Hell, put one of Sherman in the middle of Peachtree Park.
The interpreter set the dial to 11
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu:
“Under the Trump administration, groceries are less affordable, housing is harder to build, cures for cancer are farther away, and good news on our economy has been as hard to find as the Epstein list.”
“Under the Trump administration, groceries are less affordable, housing is harder to build, cures for cancer are farther away, and good news on our economy has been as hard to find as the Epstein list.”
August 20, 2025 at 3:41 AM
The interpreter set the dial to 11
Reposted by Todd Rowell
the arguments for Butlerian Jihad are becoming increasingly persuasive, but at this point I would probably settle for Wozniakian Jihad
continue to be pleasantly surprised by Steve Wozniak managing to be one of the only big names in tech who isn't an enormous piece of shit
August 15, 2025 at 5:34 PM
the arguments for Butlerian Jihad are becoming increasingly persuasive, but at this point I would probably settle for Wozniakian Jihad
Reposted by Todd Rowell
One of these things is not like the other #washingtondc
August 15, 2025 at 4:52 PM
One of these things is not like the other #washingtondc
Reposted by Todd Rowell
bro, your entire field is built on the vision of fooling people into thinking computers are people and calling it "intelligence," because nobody actually understands what that word really means
August 11, 2025 at 3:09 PM
bro, your entire field is built on the vision of fooling people into thinking computers are people and calling it "intelligence," because nobody actually understands what that word really means
Reposted by Todd Rowell
oh, word?
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told CNBC that artificial general intelligence is “not a super useful term.”
Sam Altman now says AGI, or human-level AI, is 'not a super useful term’ — and he's not alone
Computer science experts say it's better to focus on the more specialized use cases of AI.
cnb.cx
August 11, 2025 at 3:08 PM
oh, word?
Reposted by Todd Rowell
The not so invisible tiny orange hand
That second article is https://www.theissue.io/americas-path-towards-an-authoritarian-economy/
Normally checks and balances would prevent most of that here, but that requires the GOP congress to do their jobs, and I’m not sure anyone has ever won a bet that the GOP will.
Normally checks and balances would prevent most of that here, but that requires the GOP congress to do their jobs, and I’m not sure anyone has ever won a bet that the GOP will.
August 12, 2025 at 10:56 PM
The not so invisible tiny orange hand
Reposted by Todd Rowell
The reason people keep claiming that Republicans and other types of creepy religious freaks want to take away the vote for women is because they keep saying that's what they intend to do.
Pete Hegseth shares a clip saying women shouldn’t have the right to vote, the 19th Amendment should be “repealed,” and women should “submit” to their husbands: “All of Christ for All of Life”
August 10, 2025 at 10:59 AM
The reason people keep claiming that Republicans and other types of creepy religious freaks want to take away the vote for women is because they keep saying that's what they intend to do.
The Weekly Sift's featured post is about how an authoritarian economy is bad for business (disastrous, really):
https://weeklysift.com/2025/08/11/an-authoritarian-economy-is-a-bad-economy/
https://weeklysift.com/2025/08/11/an-authoritarian-economy-is-a-bad-economy/
August 12, 2025 at 10:41 PM
The Weekly Sift's featured post is about how an authoritarian economy is bad for business (disastrous, really):
https://weeklysift.com/2025/08/11/an-authoritarian-economy-is-a-bad-economy/
https://weeklysift.com/2025/08/11/an-authoritarian-economy-is-a-bad-economy/
Reposted by Todd Rowell
There's not enough money to be made in using tech for the things for which they are most suited and efficient, and there are both too many people hoping to be billionaires, and too many people not smart enough to know when they're being sold hype.
If LLMs weren’t so overhyped they could be a cool, but boring business automation and excel jockey tool.
Instead the endless tech hype cycle has them pretending to be this sci-fi AI.
Crypto->VR->”AI”, feels like tech has been one overhyped scam after another for a decade.
Instead the endless tech hype cycle has them pretending to be this sci-fi AI.
Crypto->VR->”AI”, feels like tech has been one overhyped scam after another for a decade.
August 8, 2025 at 6:41 PM
There's not enough money to be made in using tech for the things for which they are most suited and efficient, and there are both too many people hoping to be billionaires, and too many people not smart enough to know when they're being sold hype.
Reposted by Todd Rowell
Just once, I want to see a job description that says:
• Must be able to juggle one project in a slow-paced environment
• Must be able to juggle one project in a slow-paced environment
August 8, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Just once, I want to see a job description that says:
• Must be able to juggle one project in a slow-paced environment
• Must be able to juggle one project in a slow-paced environment
Reposted by Todd Rowell
When you say "AI is absolute shit" people will say "that shows you don't understand AI and how it's supposed to be used" and I will say "I'm not talking about AI in some imaginary rainbow world where it's used right and not fecklessly monetized, I'm talking about our world, fucknuts."
August 8, 2025 at 5:15 PM
When you say "AI is absolute shit" people will say "that shows you don't understand AI and how it's supposed to be used" and I will say "I'm not talking about AI in some imaginary rainbow world where it's used right and not fecklessly monetized, I'm talking about our world, fucknuts."
Reposted by Todd Rowell
I'm most proud of how flammable it was
“Hey quick follow up for the History Respecter — what aspect of the Confederacy are you *most* proud of?
The treason against the United States? The defense of slavery? All the losing? I bet it’s the losing.”
The treason against the United States? The defense of slavery? All the losing? I bet it’s the losing.”
Hegseth on restoring a Confederate monument in Arlington cemetery: "We recognize our history. We don't erase it. We don't follow the woke lemmings off the cliff that want to tear down statues ... we're proud of our history."
August 8, 2025 at 12:38 AM
I'm most proud of how flammable it was
“Our history” is the tell
Hegseth on restoring a Confederate monument in Arlington cemetery: "We recognize our history. We don't erase it. We don't follow the woke lemmings off the cliff that want to tear down statues ... we're proud of our history."
August 10, 2025 at 2:27 PM
“Our history” is the tell
I absolutely agree with this characterization of (one of) the harms of “AI” … soul stripping is perhaps the result that makes me the saddest.
NEW ARTICLE! On the dangers of AI: sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/soul-strip...
Soul Stripping
Against AI, again.
sarahkendzior.substack.com
August 10, 2025 at 2:20 PM
I absolutely agree with this characterization of (one of) the harms of “AI” … soul stripping is perhaps the result that makes me the saddest.
Reposted by Todd Rowell
Wow. Appallingly, this is real.
August 7, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Wow. Appallingly, this is real.
Reposted by Todd Rowell
The Death of the Fourth American Republic. The Roberts Supreme Court means to end the fourth republic, which “began with the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 60 years ago today”, by gutting that same act. [kottke.org]
Jamelle Bouie on the Death of the Fourth American Republic
This is a great piece from Jamelle Bouie on the likely death of the Voting Rights Act and, zooming out, the end of an era in American society that began with the Act’s signing.
Americans pride ourselves, by contrast, on
kottke.org
August 6, 2025 at 11:36 PM
The Death of the Fourth American Republic. The Roberts Supreme Court means to end the fourth republic, which “began with the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 60 years ago today”, by gutting that same act. [kottke.org]
Reposted by Todd Rowell
I am going to be a massive humorless asshole about woo-woo shit, no matter how seemingly harmless, for the rest of my life due to this. astrology, homeopathic medicine, etc etc it's all bullshit and it's not fucking harmless. there are people who will die due to this who would have otherwise lived.
"The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced the beginning of a coordinated wind-down of its mRNA vaccine development activities...."
cc: Sen. Bill Cassidy
cc: Sen. Bill Cassidy
August 6, 2025 at 12:42 AM
I am going to be a massive humorless asshole about woo-woo shit, no matter how seemingly harmless, for the rest of my life due to this. astrology, homeopathic medicine, etc etc it's all bullshit and it's not fucking harmless. there are people who will die due to this who would have otherwise lived.
BRB gonna make stickers for Teslas that read “this car is trying to kill me and then cover it up”
just wait until you see this in some actual context, Autopilot is the biggest high-tech scandal in modern history
The most damning part: The car was programmed to send all the information to Tesla then delete the local copies. Which speaks to a clear conspiracy to hide the fact that "driver assistance" features contributed to an accident #teslatakedown electrek.co/2025/08/04/t...
August 6, 2025 at 3:55 AM
BRB gonna make stickers for Teslas that read “this car is trying to kill me and then cover it up”