ML needs to treat the social, ethical, and political character of intelligence more seriously. 🔌 dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/... Why is why AGI isn’t a technical construct. 🔌 dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/... 🔌 openreview.net/forum?id=1Rl...

Happy Henry Threadgill record release day!

This hits home. I’ve long been mistrustful of moral and political conviction, including for values I cherish. Samantha argues that we live in a time when there’s no path for liberalism as a project without shedding complacency about the need argue for liberal values.

Call for Papers! 🧵 The Public's Science–A New Social Contract for American Research Policy a Special Issue of The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science Editors: Alondra Nelson (IAS) and Jenny Reardon (UC, Santa Cruz) Abstract Deadline: Sept 19 www.ias.edu/stsv-lab/pub...

LLMs are making the internet less secure because they generate false bug reports and overwhelm cybersecurity professionals. Some are halting their bug bounty programs as a result.

Don’t miss my rock-star co-authors! Happening today!!!!

I'll just say this: I find it just as offensive when americans are against people moving to a different city, as I do when they think I'm not allowed in America.

Our work deconstructing AGI as a concept is also now a reference in www.aisnakeoil.com/p/agi-is-not.... If you're a podcast person, other coverage includes this podcast from @techpolicypress.bsky.social! www.techpolicy.press/should-agi-r...

Our new work deconstructing the concept of "AGI", led by the brilliant @borhane.bsky.social in collaboration with @graziul.bsky.social , Hananel Hazan, @shiridoshi.bsky.social +more co-authors below, has been accepted to ICML. 🤗 We discuss the many "traps" that... 🧵 1/ arxiv.org/abs/2502.03689

Good news: this will appear in the ICML position paper track!

Accepted at @icmlconf.bsky.social, position paper track!!!

🧑‍🔬 Happy our article on Creating a Generative AI Evaluation Science, led by @weidingerlaura.bsky.social & @rajiinio.bsky.social, is now published by the National Academy of Engineering. =) www.nae.edu/338231/Towar... Describes how to mature eval so systems can be worthy of trust and safely deployed.

A new paper by D&S’s Jacob Metcalf & Ranjit Singh, & affiliate @borhane.bsky.social, examines how emerging experimental publics are reshaping who gets to evaluate genAI, and how public feedback is being mobilized for safety, accountability, & democratic oversight. knightcolumbia.org/content/expe...

Just published - Experimental Publics: Democracy and the Role of Publics in GenAI Evaluation, by Jacob Metcalf, Ranjit Singh, and @borhane.bsky.social, the second essay written for our AI & Democratic Freedoms symposium (happening tomorrow and Friday!) knightcolumbia.org/content/expe...

I’m very confused about why research on LLM consistency and so-called hallucinations seem silo’d off from each other.

We have a little Zine preview on Instagram from “Noisy Joints,” our Critical AI Puppetry Workshop at the Mercury Store (with Emma Wiseman, @camilagalaz.bsky.social, @isilitke.bsky.social) for #worldpuppetryday2025 (themed “Robots, AI and the Dream of the Puppet”).

Most researchers don’t believe AGI is coming any time soon. But policy makers are steering policy toward AGI anyway. In this article for Tech Policy Press, a look at the distortions the AGI Frame introduces to policymaking. #ai #criticalai #aipolicy In @techpolicypress.bsky.social

New piece in Tech Policy Press builds on the collective work from the “AGI Should Not Be The North Star Goal of AI Research” paper with my own argument — that AGI frames also distort the perspective of policymakers shaping AI regulation. www.techpolicy.press/most-researc... #aipolicy

Since releasing our recent position paper against treating #AGI as a north-star goal, I’ve often been asked about what expectations policymakers should have instead. My personal opinion: expect many future forms of AI having many surprising impacts across many contexts.

🎙️New podcast! A Conversation with Dr. Alondra Nelson on AI and Democracy I spoke to @alondra.bsky.social about AI, democracy, DOGE, and how to plan for a different future: techpolicy.press/a-conversati...

Huge thanks to leads Kevin Klyman & Ruth Appel, top contributors @sayash.bsky.social, Rishi Bommasani, Michelle Sahar, @seanmcgregor.bsky.social, @borhane.bsky.social, and Nathan Butters. Also, the team of expert advisors: @alondra.bsky.social, @amitelazari.bsky.social, ...

👩‍💻 What is AGI...and should it be a goal? 😱 My podcast interview on this question is out! With @eryk.bsky.social and @borhane.bsky.social , interviewed by @justinhendrix.bsky.social for @techpolicypress.bsky.social : www.techpolicy.press/should-agi-r... Based on this paper: arxiv.org/abs/2502.03689

Latest @techpolicypress.bsky.social podcast features myself, @borhane.bsky.social and @mmitchell.bsky.social discussing AGI and a recent paper (with a range of co-authors) - "Should AGI Really Be the Goal of Artificial Intelligence Research?"

New work: Protecting Human Cognition in the Age of AI - with Anjali Singh, Karan Taneja, and Klara Guan. We claim that overreliance on GenAI models disrupt traditional learning pathways. We suggest best practices for better teaching, testing, and learning tools to restore these paths:

📣 New! In this report, we examine how red-teaming methods are being adapted to evaluate generative AI, and offer a vision for red-teaming in the public interest. 1/4 datasociety.net/library/red-...

A collaboration between D&S and the AI Risk and Vulnerability Alliance (ARVA), the report’s authors are Ranjit Singh, @borhane.bsky.social, @carolanderson.bsky.social, @emnetspeaks.bsky.social, @briana-v.bsky.social, @bduckles.bsky.social, and Jacob Metcalf. 3/4

On Feb 20 @ 1 pm ET, join Lama Ahmad, @camillefrancois.bsky.social, Tarleton Gillespie, @briana-v.bsky.social, and @borhane.bsky.social to discuss the report and consider red-teaming’s place in the evolving landscape of genAI evaluation and governance. 4/4 datasociety.net/events/red-t...

I’m thrilled to share Red Teaming in the Public Interest, a research report I had the pleasure to co-lead with Ranjit Singh, as part of a collaboration between @datasociety.bsky.social and the AI Risk and Vulnerability Alliance (ARVA). 🧵

Pleased to share this report I contributed to on Red Teaming in the Public Interest with Data & Society and the AI Risk and Vulnerability Alliance.

We did interviews with folks across the generative AI ecosystem. 

datasociety.net/library/red-... #generativeai #llms #aiethics #aisafety #redteaming

Greater specificity, pluralism, and inclusion in AI research are more important than pursuing AGI, especially if the goal is to improve people's lives. In this paper, we describe "traps" associated with the pursuit of AGI that can impede achieving this and other worthwhile goals.

A group of us came together to challenge the dominant narrative of AI research - paper out today. We posit that “AGI” is as nebulous to define as its supposed benefits, and we argue that principled scientific, engineering and societal needs should drive AI research instead. Read 👇

Aiming AI into “general” intelligence distracts AI research from more meaningful and socially desirable goals. I’m honored to have been part of the team writing this paper on AGI’s traps, offering an alternative anchored in specificity, pluralism, and inclusion. ⬇️ #mlsky #ai

Continuing my 🌶️🌶️ recent pieces: We deconstruct the concept of "AGI", and explain why it's a truly, truly awful goal for AI research. This project has been ongoing for almost 2 years. Thrilled to share this output today. Much gratitude for the leadership of @borhane.bsky.social. Read more here.👇 🤗

This paper wouldn’t exist without Leif on so many levels. I’m so grateful we got to collaborate again!

I’m thrilled to share new work arguing that the research community should stop treating AGI as a North-Star goal! Debates about AGI miss the forest for the trees. 🧵

On Thursday, Feb 20 @ 1 pm ET, Lama Ahmad, @camillefrancois.bsky.social, Tarleton Gillespie, @briana-v.bsky.social, and @borhane.bsky.social will examine red-teaming’s place in the evolving landscape of genAI evaluation and governance. RSVP and join us online! datasociety.net/events/red-t...

I'm really proud of this article, it should be of interest to anyone thinking about Generative AI, Resistance/Refusal, and the role artists play in hijacking the spectacle of AI.

Such a failure of our information environment that most people aren’t going to realize what’s happening until the economy crashes

Here’s a no context: no.

Thus far OpenAI & its peer scaling labs have sought to convince the public & policymakers that scaling is the best way to reach so-called AGI. This has always been more of an argument based in business than in science. 4/

I don't like the term 'epistemic trespassing', because I don't think areas of inquiry are like private property. It's also ironic when left-identifying people who would otherwise be against privatization of property use the term to border police.

Added this to my course's Gen AI policy www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIeb...

Incisive discussion of social media on what’s quickly becoming my favorite political commentary podcast.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah www.liberalcurrents.com/the-crisis-o...

oh hey it ya girl explaining why the recent government shutdown extravaganza is just a preview of the next four years of GORILLA CHANNEL GOVERNANCE foreignpolicy.com/2024/12/20/t...

The disappearance of outdoor dining is the outcome of simplistic “all regulation is good” attitudes, among other things

Looking for feel good sci-fi novels for the holidays. Examples that fall in that category for me: anything by Becky Chambers, A half-built garden, The Murderbot Diaries, etc.

“Flowers Blooming Backward Into Noise” is a 20-minute “documanifesto” using AI-generated imagery to explain diffusion models and the relationship between composite photography, inferential statistics, and eugenics. My work aims to reveal & resist this logic of categorizing images and bodies.

Me, a public health person, just sitting over here reflecting on the fact that the US has experienced a 7% increase in infant mortality post-Dobbs. Like, do you realize what that says about this society from an ethical perspective? That we made policy choices that caused this? #PHEthx

coups: how do they work? (what does it take for them to not work.) this week, on neonliberalism: www.liberalcurrents.com/neonliberali...