This is downtown Santa Barbara right now. The No Kings protest stretches for over a mile along the water. The cars who drive by are all honking in support. Probably the biggest protest this community has ever seen.

they were memorable conversations!

@brettbobley.bsky.social has been one of the great humanities visionaries. In this context perhaps the highest praise would be to say his influence is incalculable. #ThanksBrett

OpenAI will not “embed” its tools in college life, it is already changing the nature of what it means to learn, to read or think critically. It does not embed in the world, it makes the world in its image. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/07/t...

The ODH is a true legacy

Out today, the Academic Council of the University of California issues the following statement: “Higher education is under direct and sustained attack. 1/ senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/repor...

These images offer a momentary reprieve from the gloom of the world, but behind them lies a great deal of collaborative work (which itself has been a reprieve). Tremendous thanks to @ryancordell.org and all who contributed passages…

In the press on a Saturday working on a project for @ritaraley.bsky.social & @alanyliu.bsky.social

The mission and values of the University of California have not changed. You matter. Your work is important. Together we will continue to make a difference in our state, our country and our world. #FiatLux ✨ www.youtube.com/watch?v=EweZ... Federal updates: bit.ly/4b7x9Db

Here are the 25 institutions that receive the most NIH funding (98% of HHS is NIH). Basically, they're large schools with large hospitals. They receive 50% of all NIH funding. Source: ncses.nsf.gov/surveys/fede... (table 26) (Not going to do a whole thread but thought folks might be interested.)

Really powerful models are getting cheaper and cheaper to build - genuinely really cheap. Universities, do not tie yourself to OpenAI. We can and should use and develop open source only. (Desperately hoping that my own uni is listening)

Now reading a paper for a promotion case and Adobe Acrobat popup keeps asking me ‘Short on Time? Ask for a Quick Summary!’ There’s a ‘Hide for this Session’ button but it does nothing. So here is unwanted, uninvited AI repeatedly telling me to half-ass my job, one that someone’s career depends upon

I appreciate all the people recommending the Shock Doctrine. I've been thinking about what makes Trump's use of these tactics a little different. In recent decades, shock tactics were used mainly to rapidly impose neoliberal economic policies. But what Trump is doing goes way beyond that. a 🧵

Brilliant talk today by Hannes Bajohr (@hannesbajohr.de) on “Surface Reading LLMs: Synthetic Text & its Styles” at launch of UCSB Center for the Humanities & Machine Learning (huml.ucsb.edu/events). Bajohr is 2nd from left with (L to R) ‪@zentralwerkstatt.org, Rita Raley, & @owenleonard.bsky.social.

In #mla25 #s584 on generative AI, Rita Raley posits that the risk we’re collectively facing is not to the humanities but to the concept of research itself. (Standing room only in here, btw)

Absolutely fantastic panel on “Rereading Generative AI” at #MLA2025. One of the best conversations I’ve heard about AI, copyright, language, & the future of the humanities and university. Highly recommend you check out all their essays in this PMLA special issue: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

what, I forgot “fabulous”

New work: The post-election period may be volatile, esp if the outcome is disputed. Platforms will be scrutinized for handling of rumors & disinfo, early claims of victory, & potential incitements to violence. We analyzed scenarios & key policies to be aware of: www.techpolicy.press/a-guide-to-s...

www.chronicle.com/article/ai-m... many an existential threat on the horizon I guess; take a number and get in line

Just out: www.chronicle.com/article/ai-m...

Full TOC for the PMLA cluster on #criticalAI edited by @ritaraley.bsky.social and me. Essays are alphabetical by title, but our piece is intended as the frame and Katherine Elkins’ as the endcap. They’re all bangers— check out Eduardo Ledesma’s, for example. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

🔥 🔥 Two great sentences on how universities are responding to AI 🔥 🔥

Much to ponder here including the framing : "[T]he matter at hand is not simply property theft: it is rather an enclosure of the language commons". Thank you for this essay.

somewhat odd to say given the relatively accelerated timeline but…finally, it’s out

Thank you so much @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social and @ritaraley.bsky.social for convening this discussion and helping get this to press (a mere 8 months after the initial discussion). I'll update some thoughts here in the coming days, too, but for now, THANK YOU MATT & RITA!

Part of a Theories and Methodologies cluster brilliantly edited by @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social and @ritaraley.bsky.social and with other sharp essays by @mmvty.bsky.social @aarthivadde.bsky.social and others not on. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Glad to be able to cap my career by helping to pass on what I have learned about digital scholarship, & about the profession, in the MLA’s new “Guidelines for Evaluating Digital Scholarship”: www.mla.org/About-Us/Gov....

If you're having a rough day, remember that in 1991 Tim Berners-Lee's paper for the World Wide Web was rejected and he was relegated to the poster session.

It’s almost like we need a media history :) Minh and I are on it…

Also @aarthivadde.bsky.social of course

In a cluster featuring essays by @mmvty.bsky.social @sethperlow.bsky.social and others not here. Coming soon!

A good time to mention that @ritaraley.bsky.social and I have a co-authored piece about to come out in PMLA (next few weeks) titled “AI and the University as a Service.” It’s not a feel-good read.

Interesting seeing this defense of the humanities major coming from the world of advertising.

starting yet another social media account from scratch…