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Janet Gornick @janetgornick.bsky.social · 15h

AI and the Future of Work (10/7/25). It's a wrap!

Thanks to our expert panelists: @dacemoglumit.bsky.social, @pkrugman.bsky.social, Danielle Li, @zey.bsky.social & @sgreenhouse.bsky.social.

#AI. Who will win and who will lose? How worried should we be? Stay tuned for the video, coming soon.

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Andy Carvin @acarv.in · 16d

The picture we've all been waiting for: #AlaaIsFree

h/t: Mohamed Elbaqer

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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 16d

Egyptian authorities announced the presidential pardon of prominent activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah after six years in prison, according to his lawyer Khaled Ali and an announcement by state TV.

Egypt announces pardon for top activist who's spent 6 years behind bars

Egyptian authorities on Monday announced the presidential pardon of prominent activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, according to his lawyer Khaled Ali and an announcement by Egypt’s state TV.

bit.ly

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StuFalk @stufalk.bsky.social · 25d

Social Media Reduced Two Horrific Killings to Cheap Snuff Films
By Zeynep Tufekci

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/o...

Opinion | Social Media Reduced Two Horrific Killings to Cheap Snuff Films

www.nytimes.com

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Bassam Khawaja @khawaja.bsky.social · 28d

Egypt's president Sisi has ordered authorities to study the possible pardon of Egyptian-British activist and blogger, Alaa Abd el-Fattah, who has already served an unjust 5 year sentence www.reuters.com/world/uk/egy...

Egypt's Sisi orders authorities to study pardon for activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered authorities on Tuesday to study the possible pardon of high-profile Egyptian-British activist and blogger, Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a statement by the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights said.

www.reuters.com

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Adam Rose @adamrose.bsky.social · Aug 12

Pssst ... @zey.bsky.social let me know when that other moment approaches!

Highlighted part in your last graf is what we do at Starling Lab, an academic research program based jointly at Stanford + USC. So happy you're casting a light on this emerging field of authenticity. We share your concerns!

It would be nice if, like members of Congress or large media organizations, we all had a large staff who could be dispatched to disprove false claims and protect our reputations and in that small way buttress the sanctity of facts. Since we don’t, we need to find other models that we can all access. Scientists and parts of the tech industry have come up with a few very promising frameworks — known as zero-knowledge proofs, secure enclaves, hardware authentication tokens using public key cryptography, distributed ledgers, for example — about which there is much more to say at another moment. Many other tools may yet arise. But unless we start taking the need seriously now before we lose what’s left of proof of authenticity and verification, governments will step right into the void. If the governments are not run by authoritarians already, it probably won’t take long till they are.

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zeynep tufekci @zey.bsky.social · Aug 11

Yes. This AI path we are on can easily lead to uber-surveillance by authorities as a means to restore social order being welcomed by shell-shocked people.

We know the step after that.

bsky.app/profile/just...

Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · Aug 11

This by @zey.bsky.social ends with a nod to a real risk- synthetic media is likely to give authoritarians even more of an excuse to step in to surveil and enforce 'reality' in various ways.

Opinion | The A.O.C. Deepfake Was Terrible. The Proposed Solution Is Delusional.

www.nytimes.com

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zeynep tufekci @zey.bsky.social · Aug 11

AI video is almost there: no amount of post-hoc squinting can tell fake from real.

Losing our last bastion of verification is no joke. Trusted news can help with high-profile events, but what about everyday life? Recipe for chaos.

Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/o...

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Radical Complexity (John T. Murphy) @johntmurphy.bsky.social · Jul 11

This is very important. From the start ChatGPT- the name, the interface- was designed to make us view it as 'like us' & capable of thought, not just a collection of numbers for text prediction. Creating a social role for an LLM is more imp. than the LLM itself, and it's where any profit comes from.

zeynep tufekci @zey.bsky.social · Jul 11

I wrote about Grok going "MechaHitler" over at X, and the need to view LLMs correctly: as remarkably powerful plausibility engines.

Their AGI marketing and the strong inclination to project human qualities to anything that can speak is misleading us.

NYT gift link:

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/o...

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Zach Allen-Kelly @zachwallen.bsky.social · Jul 11

Plausibility engine is such a great way to think of LLM's

zeynep tufekci @zey.bsky.social · Jul 11

I wrote about Grok going "MechaHitler" over at X, and the need to view LLMs correctly: as remarkably powerful plausibility engines.

Their AGI marketing and the strong inclination to project human qualities to anything that can speak is misleading us.

NYT gift link:

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/o...

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Jim @jimc5.bsky.social · Jul 11

This is a great essay:

L.L.M.s are what they eat

zeynep tufekci @zey.bsky.social · Jul 11

I wrote about Grok going "MechaHitler" over at X, and the need to view LLMs correctly: as remarkably powerful plausibility engines.

Their AGI marketing and the strong inclination to project human qualities to anything that can speak is misleading us.

NYT gift link:

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/o...

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Juan Meza @mathsciprof.bsky.social · Jul 11

Nice piece on the dangers of LLMs. I liked the description as “plausibility engines” and not “truth seekers” or “reasoning machines”

zeynep tufekci @zey.bsky.social · Jul 11

I wrote about Grok going "MechaHitler" over at X, and the need to view LLMs correctly: as remarkably powerful plausibility engines.

Their AGI marketing and the strong inclination to project human qualities to anything that can speak is misleading us.

NYT gift link:

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/o...

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zeynep tufekci @zey.bsky.social · Jul 11

I wrote about Grok going "MechaHitler" over at X, and the need to view LLMs correctly: as remarkably powerful plausibility engines.

Their AGI marketing and the strong inclination to project human qualities to anything that can speak is misleading us.

NYT gift link:

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/o...

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Elliott @emc314159.bsky.social · Jul 11

After trying to sift thru the AI-generated crap in #WNBA, I found this

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/o...

"AI-generated content — true and otherwise — is taking over the internet, providing training material for the next generation of LLMs, a sludge-generating machine feeding on its own sludge."

Opinion | Another Day, Another Chatbot’s Nazi Meltdown

www.nytimes.com

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Brian Piercy is caffeinated for your safety. @brianpiercy.bsky.social · Jul 9

“the Weather Service employee whose job it was to make sure those warnings got traction — Paul Yura, the long-serving meteorologist in charge of “warning coordination” — had recently taken an unplanned early retirement amid cuts pushed by DOGE. He was not replaced.”

Opinion | As the Texas Floodwaters Rose, One Indispensable Voice Was Silent

www.nytimes.com

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Sister of Wendy #AbolishICE @sisterswendy.bsky.social · Jul 9

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John Noël @noeljohnny.bsky.social · Jul 9

"The problem is that complex systems are only as strong as their weakest point." www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/o...

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Sam Kam @samkampix.bsky.social · Jul 9

“To a Washington bean counter, his loss might have looked like one tiny but welcome subtraction in a giant spreadsheet, but not in a region so prone to these perilous events that it’s known as Flash Flood Alley.” @zey.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/o...

Opinion | A Fact About the Floods the Government Doesn’t Seem Eager to Discuss

www.nytimes.com

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Adam Klasfeld @klasfeldreports.com · Jul 6

"The National Weather Service’s San Angelo office, which is responsible for some of the areas hit hardest by Friday’s flooding, was missing a senior hydrologist, staff forecaster and meteorologist in charge," according to its union's legislative director. 🎁 🔗

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/05/u...

As Floods Hit, Key Roles Were Vacant at Weather Service Offices in Texas (Gift Article)

Some experts say staff shortages might have complicated forecasters’ ability to coordinate responses with local emergency management officials.

www.nytimes.com

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Margaret Dumont 🇨🇦 @margaretdumont.bsky.social · Jul 6

Here's the original KXAN article from April reporting on Paul Yura's early retirement "as the Trump Administration works to slash the budget at NWS and the larger NOAA organization"

www.kxan.com/weather/weat...

Head of local weather warnings takes early retirement as NOAA cuts continue

Yura has over 32 years experience, spending more than half of his career at the NWS Austin/San Antonio office.

www.kxan.com

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Brad Johnson @climatebrad.hillheat.com · Jul 6

Key Texas floods @nws.noaa.gov vacancies:
San Angelo office is missing
* meteorologist in charge
* senior hydrologist
* staff forecaster
San Antonio office is missing
* warning coordination meteorologist
* science officer

As Floods Hit, Key Roles Were Vacant at Weather Service Offices in Texas

www.nytimes.com

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · Jun 22

Breaking News: President Trump said that the U.S. had bombed Fordo, Iran’s heavily fortified nuclear facility, as well as two other sites.

U.S. Enters War With Iran, Striking Fordo Nuclear Site: Live Updates

President Trump announced the United States had struck Fordo, Iran’s heavily fortified nuclear facilities, as well as two other sites.

trib.al

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Dr. Aure Schrock @aschrock.bsky.social · Jun 20

Paging the approximately ten million PhD students working on AI & society

zeynep tufekci @zey.bsky.social · Jun 20

We’re hiring at Princeton on AI and society, working with Arvind Narayanan or me depending on fit.

I think current AI developments are all a huge deal but am very unexcited by current state of the AGI and/or AI safety discourse.

Please share as you see fit.

puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/app...

puwebp.princeton.edu

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zeynep tufekci @zey.bsky.social · Jun 20

These positions are jointly with @randomwalker.bsky.social but the exact distribution will depend on fit to various projects.

Separately, I am also considering hiring postdocs to work on AI and society so please reach out over email if that is already your field!

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zeynep tufekci @zey.bsky.social · Jun 20

We can’t match corporate salaries but do offer decent pay, great benefits and real intellectual freedom and challenge.

We have a group of people from CS, sociology, policy, history, law etc. thinking hard about this historic moment—and no lazy AGI talk.

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