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Warren Pearce @warrenpearce.bsky.social · 22h

On way home from superb Cultural Climate Models meeting in Graz with @davidhiggins.bsky.social @caroschwegler.bsky.social et al. Looking forward to seeing in print the new approach to modelling from this truly interdisciplinary international collab

gewi.uni-graz.at/en/unsere-fo...

Entrance of Graz train station with Graz Hauptbahnhof written in capital letters on a light coloured stone building against clear blue sky

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Warren Pearce @warrenpearce.bsky.social · 6d

Arguably, Wikipedia occupies a comparable role to IPCC in terms of epistemic authority (albeit via a totally different route). The Foundation‘s policy, including a strong statement of values, is a good starting point for IPCC deliberations wikimediafoundation.org/news/2025/04...

Our new AI strategy puts Wikipedia's humans first – Wikimedia Foundation

The Wikimedia Foundation's new AI strategy doubles down on the volunteers behind Wikipedia.

wikimediafoundation.org

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Warren Pearce @warrenpearce.bsky.social · 6d

Excellent analysis of the dilemmas presented to the IPCC by AI! The question of whether there should be an IPCC chatbot is crucial. Given close control over communication products in the past, an “official” chatbot would signal a v different attitude to risk.

holly jean buck @hollyjeanbuck.bsky.social · 7d

How can the #IPCC navigate generative AI?

What does it mean for scientific assessment more broadly?

New working paper looks at scenarios for AI adoption & resistance, w/ @dralaaclimate.bsky.social @shinasayama.bsky.social and Oliver Geden

Reflections welcome!

www.swp-berlin.org/publications...

www.swp-berlin.org

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Alaa Al Khourdajie @dralaaclimate.bsky.social · 9d

New working paper out: "Four scenarios for an @ipcc.bsky.social navigating Artificial Intelligence"

Led by @hollyjeanbuck.bsky.social, with @shinasayama.bsky.social and Oliver Geden

Thread 🧵

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holly jean buck @hollyjeanbuck.bsky.social · 7d

How can the #IPCC navigate generative AI?

What does it mean for scientific assessment more broadly?

New working paper looks at scenarios for AI adoption & resistance, w/ @dralaaclimate.bsky.social @shinasayama.bsky.social and Oliver Geden

Reflections welcome!

www.swp-berlin.org/publications...

www.swp-berlin.org

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Reposted by Warren Pearce

Jack Stilgoe @jackstilgoe.bsky.social · 13d

We need an associate lecturer in history of modern science @stsucl.bsky.social www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

UCL – University College London

UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).

www.ucl.ac.uk

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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 15d

"Common decency stigmatizes people that do not participate in it—removes them from voluntary association. We indeed have to live with one another, but terms and conditions apply."

me on why Ezra Klein should be ashamed / why shame is Good Actually

www.bostonreview.net/articles/how...

How Can We Live Together? - Boston Review

Ezra Klein is wrong: shame is essential.

www.bostonreview.net

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Shobita Parthasarathy @shobitap.org · 20d

I am a new Expert Voices columnist @science.org and my first article just came out! In it, I argue that scaling technology has a dark side, particularly when it comes to alleviating inequality and injustice. And I suggest what scientists, engineers, and policymakers can do about it.

Beware the drive to scale technology

When it comes to technology, scalability—its capacity to be standardized and then distributed en masse and across contexts—is the ultimate goal. Scientists and engineers view scalability as the route ...

www.science.org

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Bart Penders 🟥 @penders.bsky.social · 22d

"Epistemic oligarchies: capture and concentration through science reform", a new preprint by Sven Ulpts (not here), Sheena Bartscherer (also not here), @nicolecnelson.bsky.social and me. Read it here: zenodo.org/records/1713... 1/

Epistemic oligarchies: capture and concentration through science reform

In this paper we describe how current efforts to reform science create oligarchic power structures within science and prepare scientific products for the uptake by existing oligarchic actors like Big ...

zenodo.org

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Warren Pearce @warrenpearce.bsky.social · 22d

NSFW

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Warren Pearce @warrenpearce.bsky.social · 28d

Yes, sounds very arm-waving by Smith. Whether or not LLMs get close to panel scores, there is the usual underlying problem with accountability that we saw during 'fuck the algorithm'.

Ironically(?) IMO REF also has an accountability problem, with gnomic feedback & panel members sworn to secrecy

Warren Pearce @warrenpearce.bsky.social · 28d

Ironically, if Smith had asked a LLM chatbot about the prospect of AI replacing humans in the REF, he would have received a very sceptical answer!

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ysabel @ysabel.bsky.social · Sep 9

If you have a spare 15 minutes today and care about the kids X smartphone debate, then read this excellent, excellent article: www.tes.com/magazine/tea...

Is Jonathan Haidt right about smartphones?

In ‘The Anxious Generation’, Haidt makes the case that social media and smartphones have ‘rewired’ today’s teenagers, but his critics say the evidence tells us something very different - and that bann...

www.tes.com

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John Whitfield @johnwhitfield.bsky.social · Sep 5

Everyone with the internet has access: it's free to read.

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · Sep 3

This is a really astute analysis. Read it if you have access.

University crisis is forcing the REF to lower its expectations - Research Professional News

When dauntingly complex plans meet cash-strapped institutions, something’s got to give, says Anna Grey

www.researchprofessionalnews.com

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Warren Pearce @warrenpearce.bsky.social · Sep 4

A third of survey respondents *had not heard* the argument that the richest 1% emit twice as much as carbon as the world's poorest 50% 😳

Communicating climate change as apolitical is good for some....

Data -> climatebarometer.org/climate-baro...

#climatechange

A chart showing public awareness of media narratives about climate change, specifically that the richest 1% of the world emit more than twice as much carbon as the world's poorest 50%. Approximately one-third have heard and agreed with the claim, approximately one-third have not heard the claim

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Jack Stilgoe @jackstilgoe.bsky.social · Sep 4

We're hiring a new lecturer @stsucl.bsky.social. We're looking for someone with particular interests in the environment. Please share widely www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

UCL – University College London

UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).

www.ucl.ac.uk

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Warren Pearce @warrenpearce.bsky.social · Sep 4

Scraping tools like @digitalmethods.net Zeeschuimer, @lescarr.bsky.social WDRA are *vital* for social media research but how widely are they used? 🤔

If you use these tools or similar in your work, please reply 'teaching' 'research' 'both' 👇🏽 or via email if preferred 🤗

#AcademicSky

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Bart Penders 🟥 @penders.bsky.social · Sep 3

Our data stewards have started recommending that we no longer use US-based infrastructure for #openscience practices, given the risk of (near-future) censorship, from pre-print and data hosting to preregistration and more. That includes OSF.

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Warren Pearce @warrenpearce.bsky.social · Sep 2

Don't worry boss, it will be all exams by the time you get back

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Lawrence Wang @ltothewang.bsky.social · Aug 20

Please read our amazing interview with @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social in @hammerandhope.bsky.social where I share brilliant, earth-shattering, once-in-a-generation comms insights like the following:

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Tom Stafford @tomstafford.mastodon.online.ap.brid.gy · Aug 20

The future of AI superintelligence is already here, it is just not evenly distributed yet

#genai #llms #cogsci #chess

https://tomstafford.substack.com/p/superhuman-intelligence-already-exists

Text: superhuman intelligence already exists, and how it has affected the game of chess tells us something

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Warren Pearce @warrenpearce.bsky.social · Aug 20

Good post boss!

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Shobita Parthasarathy @shobitap.org · Aug 20

On Sunday @npr.org the UK's independent reviewer of international terrorism laws said about Palestine Action, the law applies whether you are a "hairy foreigner, or you're some nice white old lady sitting in the road". I can't stop thinking about the casual racism coming from the King's Counsel.

The U.K. is arresting pro-Palestinian protestors on terror charges. They're not deterred

After adding a pro-Palestinian protest group to a list of terrorist organizations, the U.K. has been arresting hundreds of demonstrators at weekly rallies. Critics say the move endangers free speech.

www.npr.org

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Béatrice Cointe @beatricecointe.bsky.social · Aug 17

To concur, I think LLMs in their current design & use are inherently flawed because they rely on a confusion of information with text.

(& specifically with a specific type of text that mimics written human language)

But information is very much not reducible to text.

Anthony Moser @anthonymoser.com · Apr 26

A key difference here is that while either can be incorrect, the structure of Wikipedia *creates context* and the structure of LLMs *destroys context*

Wikipedia has linked sources and an edit history showing where information came from and who added it when

An LLM just generates text

Eugene Vinitsky 🍒 @eugenevinitsky.bsky.social · Apr 26

Some of the anti-AI stuff feels a bit like when people would say "don't use Wikipedia as a source." It's just like anything else, a piece of information that you weigh against multiple sources and your own understanding of its likely failure modes

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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.bsky.social · Aug 6

"[Microsoft Azure] has facilitated the preparation of deadly airstrikes and has shaped military operations in Gaza and the West Bank" www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Microsoft continues to aid genocide

‘A million calls an hour’: Israel relying on Microsoft cloud for expansive surveillance of Palestinians

Revealed: The Israeli military undertook an ambitious project to store a giant trove of Palestinians’ phone calls on Microsoft’s servers in Europe

www.theguardian.com

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