Benanav: let’s do socialism, here’s how Morozov: but what about AI Benanav: OK what Weatherby: automate the CEOs Morozov: POEISIS

Lisa Lowe is an essential missing interlocutor here (and in all discussions of AI, Marxism, labor, the erasure of bodies), but I am enjoying this debate and this particular intervention into it!

Braverman, Labor and Monopoly Capital, Ch. 9: Machinery

Don’t sleep on this battle royale: @abenanav.bsky.social x @leifw.bsky.social x @evgenymorozov.bsky.social on AI and socialism ⚔️💾 www.theideasletter.org/issue/eterna...

the Marxists are fighting, so i had to weigh in www.theideasletter.org/essay/automa...

Leif says it better, but I made this meme and I am going to share it

The Dallas Mavericks are being traded for the Washington Wizards

Do yourself a favor and come learn from Ellie on Friday as.nyu.edu/research-cen...

some thoughts on Moltbook for @nytopinion.nytimes.com

in LANGUAGE MACHINES, Leif Weatherby describes this tendency of "remainder humanism" in academic writing about LLMs, a seeking after whatever remains, once we lay out first what is similar between human and machine language-processing, and calling whatever is left over "humanity"

I do not have any known reason to be on Bluesky

discussion over

Shot. Chaser

so like, a bunch of LLMs which turn out to be, with some tweaks, general-purpose computer-using devices (a Very Big Deal) also ... chat when you meta-prompt them to on a bulletin board, thus reverting to the baseline behavior they were trained for. am i missing something?

the Derrideans found me, and they turn out to be MLers, and we turn out (almost entirely) agree

Meaning of AI conference at University of Chicago end of February with me, Leif Weatherby, Yuk Hui, Nan Z Da, N. Katherine Hayles, Hannes Bajohr, James Duesterberg, Anastasia Berg. Will be streamed and extremely rockin

happy to be on here but also happy that such a course is being taught, this will be immensely rewarding for students

if you're in NYC, come see @maxread.info and me discuss Language Machines on Feb 5 On Cultural AI and the End of Remainder Humanism with Leif Weatherby and Max Read eventbrite.com/e/language-m...

All interpretability research is either philosophy (affectionate) or stamp collecting (derogatory)

A delightful review from @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social, critical points are fair and the book’s arc comes across nicely - also must be the only Critical Inquiry review that contains the phrase “Fuckin-A”

claude code is fucking insane i know literally NOTHING about Hegel. ZERO. and it just built me a complete system of German idealism

got to talk literacy (and orality) and go deep on my book on @ttsgpod.bsky.social with Jay Kang and co-guest Celine Nguyen - book stuff in the second half of an awesome conversation open.spotify.com/episode/3P8l...

Rule 35

Digital Theory, out today! @leifw.bsky.social @mbfazi.bsky.social

Find out about Digital Theory

this is why you write books — Pete with a super deep, fair read of Language Machines, with several disagreements but i think an overall orientation to the same diagnosis/set of problems

I’ll be discussing Language Machines with Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social and Mike Lipkin @mlipkin.bsky.social at the Sem Coop on Dec 12 www.semcoop.com/event/leif-w...

“Structuralism is back baby, it’s good again!” This interview with Leif Weatherby on LLMs is one of the best theoretically-informed discussions I’ve heard on the topic. Well worth your time if you’re a literary theorist or linguist. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/d...

Categorical imperative for the 21st century: act in such a way that you can start class without discussion of a public statement of regret you had to issue

my interview for the Digital Theory Lab with Karen Hao @karenhao.bsky.social at the Remarque Institute www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZpH...

if you're in NYC, come see Stephen and Hannes talk about their LLM novels as.nyu.edu/research-cen...

Large language models are language machines, and we need to think about what they do with language as more than just "mathy math." Language Machines as Antimeme www.ailog.blog/p/language-m...

Let him who has not parroted stochastically cast the first stone

Recruiter: holy shit, this applicant is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

This market is “stuff that will happen before GTA VI”

Some are saying it’s a match made in heaven

If you’re local stop by!

Ben continues to derive actionable insights from unstructured data

SUNY Binghamton just substantially increased stipends for grad students and we have several fully-funded PhD spots in art history. Pretty sure our endowment is smaller more our placement record is great www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

SOTA

Thursday Night Football starring Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort

The Digital Theory Lab at NYU will host Karen Hao for a book talk on Empire of AI on Monday, October 13, RSVP required here: as.nyu.edu/research-cen...

Man if only cognitive maps were still functioning

Greg Olsen is so committed to the decision-theory bit: "Just because the outcome is good, doesn't mean the decision was correct." Anyway, Carson Wentz.

i was on Disintegrator podcast, a really awesome conversation podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/3...

the political economy of bad thinking, a really great piece about the *hostile synergy* between B and X from Henry

The humanities long since in its Cringe Era

I'm going to write on this, but the subtext is that the Nate Silver crowd have shifted hard away from political science, and hard towards the Silicon Valley mindset as a foundational source for purportedly better grounded knowledge. This by @beenwrekt.bsky.social and @leifw.bsky.social