Hoping for a little hope? This might help. No big promises, but I’m enjoying Rutger Bregman’s writing

Trying to collect all the books so I have proof that facts and thoughtful ideas once existed

Ted Chiang: "The task that generative A.I. has been most successful at is lowering our expectations, both of the things we read and of ourselves when we write [...]. It is a fundamentally dehumanizing technology because it treats us as less than what we are: creators and apprehenders of meaning."

Fearful Americans Stockpiling Facts Before Federal Government Comes To Take Them Away https://theonion.com/fearful-americans-stockpiling-facts-before-federal-gove-1819579589/

These are precedented times and the precedent is a loud ass warning www.nytimes.com/1939/02/04/a...

Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.

I will say the thing that AI does really well is emulate that precise feeling of meeting someone new, and they seem amiable and pretty verbose, but over the course of the conversation you start to realize that they’re very stupid.

things were better when the computer lived in its own specific room and you only went in there sometimes

If I have to explain to you why it's a bad idea to use a machine that makes shit up 15-80% of the time AND destroys the environment AND contributes to rising fascism and genocide AND puts brilliant skillful creatives out of work by stealing their work, then we're already speaking different languages

there are so many great things about generative AI! here are some of my favorites <3

That investment in AI is apathetic to the pedagogical success and social value of education because LLMs do not produce knowledge or critical thought, nor train others in that production. It is not a pedagogical tool, it is a product to address cost of labor under the pretense of productivity.

What if it were possible for a state to ban ALL book bans? Rhode Island did just that. Read more: authorsguild.org/news/authors...

“Why did we allow schools to become Silicon Valley profit centers? Why did we replace human interaction with machines?” www.afterbabel.com/p/big-tech-a...

Once again, it must be said as loudly as possible: AI can't do the things described in this paragraph, and there is no pathway to it ever being able to do them.

ICYMI: An AI-related definition of the word ’slop’ has entered the Cambridge Dictionary for the first time, ’reflecting growing concerns about increasing amounts of low-quality content created by AI’ 👇 #BookSky

Not to self skeet, but it seems timely:

#booksky #writingcommunity

An entire industry is saying “fictional employees who openly lie to you and cost fifty billion dollars a year to maintain are the future of the economy”

Up for a little poetry? This is just great. “It Was The Damn Phones” by Kori Jane Spaulding youtu.be/ouxed-5uxDM?...

Hello World! We Brazilians, are trying to teach you a thing or two about democracy. Yesterday, the ex-president who tried a coupe d'état testified in court and probably will go to jail soon. Today, Brazil rules social media platforms liable for users' posts. www.dw.com/en/brazil-ru...

“Thompson’s first adult SF novel brilliantly blends colonies on other planets with the quest for personal autonomy while trapped in a hellish version of cyberspace.” Great to see One Level Down reviewed in Analog! @tachyonpub.bsky.social @jenazantian.bsky.social www.analogsf.com/current-issu...

New euphemism for authoritarian lawlessness just dropped

an incomplete list of things I have had to force onto a crying toddler: - antibiotics - bedtime - shoes - toast that had been cut into triangles rather than squares - a banana that had snapped in half and she didn't want a *new* banana, she wanted me to fix *this* banana

why is the president the only person testing the limits of his power? everyone should see what they can get away with. what if zookeepers gave helicopters to gorillas? nobody has tried this

Correct. We are not

A thoughtful article which expresses many of the concerns that I, as a relative technophile, feel about AI (in particular LLMs or similar).

Teachers, it’s not just about plagiarism. It’s much deeper

Someone else said something very similar to this the other day, but. It really burns me that our (millennials') generation was legally terrorized for like, downloading Radiohead discographies But we're supposed to be ok with billionaires stealing human intellectual output in its entirety bc AI

Theres nothing at all wrong with not being able to get a thing. Theres a hell of a lot wrong with being so delusional you refuse to accept your inability to get a thing.

I’d fail my students for this bullshit gift article www.nytimes.com/2025/05/29/w...

It's always a good day to share this meme

They've created a system where your worth as a person is measured by how much you contribute to your own replacement by a chatbot.

Have you read this? I’m thinking about inequality and education and lots of things and, so far, Bergman’s UTOPIA FOR REALISTS is excellent!

Pocket was one of the few things I truly enjoyed on the internet RIP thoughtful, serendipitous articles and easays www.vice.com/en/article/m...

America cannot long remain free, nor first among nations, if it becomes the kind of place where universities are dismantled because they don't align politically with the current head of the government.

I still feel so petulant about this, like “no. what is the POINT of education if we’re all doing 11 jobs instead of educating”

Compare Vonnegut buying an envelope with this tech bro running from his life

@chrislhayes.bsky.social: "'The regime is prosecuting opposition legislators.' It's a sentence whose implications you immediately understand wherever it comes up in an account from some foreign country—a hallmark of authoritarian regimes. And now it happens to be true here in the United States."

My humans, please don’t email me a jpeg of your QR code that has no active link QR codes are helpful from print to digital, but if you expect me to scan my computer screen with my phone to sign up to bring 4 cases of water to the PTA meeting you aren’t getting 4 cases of water for your PTA meeting

This is the most important story of the day. A Tulsi aide ordered a senior analyst to redo an assessment of the relationship between Venezuela’s government and a gang after intelligence findings undercut the WH justification for deporting migrants. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/u...

Reading The Hammer of Witches as research for a novel and am all hahahaha, these 15th-century conspiracist MFers were so bonkers that today no one would fall for … … wait. Shit. (Also this nonsense was a basis for literally tens of thousands of murders.)

Gotta stand with the students on this. I know colleagues who use genAI for various things, but, my guys, saying it makes your job easier is a crap excuse. The goals of both learning and teaching do not include “make it easy and fast” www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/t...

this is not an exaggeration

Writers: before you sign a contract with a publisher, make sure AI isn't replacing your illustrator, your translator, your editor, your jacket designer. Readers: if you're thinking of buying a book, do the same. Refuse. Resist. If AI garbage doesn't sell, people will stop making it.

For the last few days, I've been amusing myself watching the survivalist and prepper stuff on YT. I've arrived at one conclusion: We are living in the dumbest, most frightened timeline in history. And there are people out there who exploit that ignorance and fear to the absolute maximum.

A few things cooler than AI by Andy J. Pizza

UPDATE: The DOGE aide was told by ethics attorneys that he held stock in companies that agency employees are barred from owning — and was advised not to participate in any actions that could benefit him personally. Days later, he helped fire 90% of CFPB staff anyway.

“The moment to opt out of AI has already passed …” disagree GenAI is not inevitably taking over creativity and thinking. Efficiency is not my main goal in life. For most of us, AI is a net harm. So I’ll “resist” AI in the same way I “resist” smoking cigarettes. www.bbc.com/news/article...