In this edition of the @posit.co AI Newsletter, some 🎄Year In Review🎄, notes on GPT 5.2, and an experimental AI product for RStudio users. posit.co/blog/2025-12...

I see a lot of complaints about untested AI slop in pull requests. Submitting those is a dereliction of duty as a software engineer: Your job is to deliver code you have proven to work simonwillison.net/2025/Dec/18/...

Thinking about running local models with coding agents like Positron Assistant? 💻 A new evaluation by @simonpcouch.com and @sara-altman.bsky.social suggests we aren't there yet. Between hardware hurdles and performance gaps, hosted models are still the best bet for now. posit.co/blog/local-m...

Huge thanks to @posit.co and hosts @mchow.com and @wesmckinney.com for having me on The Test Set!!! posit.co/thetestset/e... My favorite part was learning that I've been pronouncing "pandas" correctly all along. I've never felt more vindicated. And y'all are wrong about candy corn. 😜

I get the appeal of local LLMs—free, private, no big tech. That said, they're not yet ready to power coding agents like Positron Assistant or Databot. www.simonpcouch.com/blog/2025-12...

The LLM privacy question comes up (rightly so) on every data community call I'm on. I've had sooo many questions myself. #databs #rstats #pydata Good resource: posit.co/blog/trust-l... Also, have you seen side::kick in RStudio? simonpcouch.github.io/side/

The newest edition of the @posit.co AI Newsletter is out! Some notes on TOON, several open source updates, and a callout to two recent blog posts from @sara-altman.bsky.social and I. posit.co/blog/2025-11...

Join us now to learn something about snow and statistics!

If you are a local SLC data person, join me and other folks this Saturday, Nov 15, at Big Mountain Data & Dev, a free, one-day conference with a broad scope! 🏔️ I'm looking forward both to speaking myself and to learning about the wide variety of topics: www.utahgeekevents.com/events/big-m...

The recording of my #rstats posit::conf talk ✨ practical {renv}✨ is available! 🎉 I created this talk for frustrated {renv} users 🫠 and potential {renv} users🤩 youtu.be/l01u7Ue9pIQ?... Even if {renv} isn't on your radar, you may still find this talk interesting if you are curious about🤔...

Join the SLC RUG next Wed, Nov 19 to hear from Brennan Bean about using #rstats to study snow loads! ❄️ www.meetup.com/slc-rug/even...

My talk from posit::conf earlier this fall on getting unstuck with #Python is now available to watch! - Ten years ago, I attempted to learn Python and it went EXTRMELY badly 😩 - I am really happy that so much tooling in this area has improved SO much since then 😌 youtu.be/pMVYl9fx1EE

My keynote about data science tools at posit::conf is now online! I originally meant it to be a talk about Positron, but as I was writing it, it took a left turn through the history of RStudio and into the philosophy of tool design & how to build stuff for people. www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGre...

TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-... 🧵

It was such a pleasure to join @hadley.nz, @wesmckinney.com, and @mchow.com on THE TEST SET! You can check out the two parts of our conversation here: 🍕 posit.co/thetestset/e... 🤖 posit.co/thetestset/e...

@juliasilge.com on a podcast is a must-listen ❤️❤️❤️

I was so pleased to join the @atds.space podcast to talk about my own career journey, how astronomy prepared me for working in data science, plus what I'm working on now! 💫 youtu.be/qXoxWt7YGmE

I'm excited to share a new version of the Air formatter for #rstats, with support for tabular formatting! Super useful with `tibble::tribble()` calls or `data.table::fcase()`. It's currently experimental as we're looking to get feedback on the feature, so please let us know what you think.

A number of people have told me this piece has been useful for them, maybe it will be for you, too — a simple description of the consensus view on AI amongst actual tech practitioners, presented as a tool for those who need to push back on the distorted narratives that tycoons are feeding media.

There is a new monthly release of #Positron available, and it delivers fresh new features for the Data Explorer! In this screencast, I walk through how to interactively explore a recent #TidyTuesday dataset on literary prizes 📚📖🏆 using some of the Data Explorer newness. youtu.be/KOgQuWF0US4

oooh new version of Positron just released and it has (1) github copilot chat and (2) automatic {dplyr} code generation based on filtering/sorting/etc that you do in the data viewer #rstats

Join us here in about 5 min to learn about #rstats functions! 🥳

I'm giving a talk next week about my favourite thing: functions! Come along! What: Practical Functions - Practically Magic When: 8th/9th October - www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/f... Where: Online, via Salt Lake City R User Group www.meetup.com/slc-rug/even... How: @juliasilge.com #rstats

Join the SLC RUG on Oct 7 (next Tuesday!) to hear from @njtierney.aus.social.ap.brid.gy about how to write good #rstats functions 💫 www.meetup.com/slc-rug/even...

A data scientist and product owner shares her take on why the new Positron IDE is a game-changer for her workflow. Learn how Dr. Claire Welsh of The Strategy Unit uses Positron to streamline everything from project management to documentation. Read her insights: posit.co/blog/positro...

AI has real risks & we should have smart & evolving policy to manage them. By focusing the public's mind on very low probability/"high" consequence extinction events from super-intelligent AI, it slides acceptable windows of what bad things humans can do with AI right now (eg discrimination/disinfo)

If you are an #rstats user in the greater SLC area, join us IN PERSON next Tues, Sept 30 for some networking and data science chat! We are meeting at a place called Thieves Guild Cidery, which, yes, is a DnD-themed tavern. ⚔️🎲🐉 www.meetup.com/slc-rug/even...

"How I, a non-developer, read the tutorial you, a developer, wrote for me, a beginner" by Annie Mueller 😅 😂 😭 anniemueller.com/posts/how-i-...

📣We're hosting a rainbowR conference, to connect and promote LGBTQ+ people in the #RStats community and to showcase examples of working with LGBTQ+ data 🌈🎉 To help us plan, if you'd be interested in attending or speaking, please fill in this very short form (1-2 mins) docs.google.com/forms/d/1Tx0...

You guys, so many Romance girlies are reading "On Tyranny" that they've broken the Goodreads recommendations algorithm. 10/10; no notes. #romancelandia

H1B holders are net job creators. Ending the H1B visa will not result in more hiring of Americans or hiring overseas, it will simply destroy jobs and fewer people will be hired. It is racism shooting itself in the foot as usual.

Could this {uv} solution recommended by @juliasilge.com be the answer to the personal hell that is "Import Error: no module named 'numpy'" ? #positconf2025

It was such a pleasure to speak today at #PositConf2025 about how BADLY 😱 it went when I tried to learn Python ~10 years ago, and how tooling in the ecosystem has changed (gotten better!) in the intervening decade. You can check out my slides at: juliasilge.github.io/get-unstuck-...

great news! you're not actually seeing karl rove, john yoo, and david frum criticize the administration's lawlessness more stridently than dem leadership. you, reader, were infected with rabies by a brown bat 36 hours ago and this is all just the virus working its way through your nervous system

It was such a pleasure to join PyCon Colombia this past summer, to speak about #Positron, how the work of data science is different, and the tension between exploratory work and reproducible practices. 💫 The recording of my talk is now available, if you'd like to check it out! youtu.be/xiCa6OcXlSs

Whether it's John F. Kennedy saving thousands of children's lives by founding the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development or Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ending thousands of children's lives by limiting access to vaccines, both Kennedys impacted children's health.

RFK is the only person able to properly talk like that creepy text that y̵̲̹̲͌͜o̶̻͠ȗ̵͍̓ ̸̞̏ͅh̵̡̗͈̥̅a̷͇̍̊͝v̶̺͕̲͑̐ê̵̥̪ ̵̻̫̪̝̓̿ţ̵̂͋́̿ͅȯ̵͍͙̪ ̵̨̳̞̼͒g̴͚̰͆͝ǫ̴͖̫̼̇̇̆͠ ̶̡̡͓̩̾ẗ̸̛͉͌͝o̷̬̣̠̍̊̋ ̵̫̜̼̾̒͛a̸̤͒̿ͅ ̵̬̀̈́ẉ̸̦͙̀ḛ̵̲͇͓͗b̴̟̪͋̂ș̸͎̻͈͋̀i̴̛̟̞̽̀t̶̙̻̳͋ẹ̸̦̗̀͊͌ ̸̙̈́͠t̷̙̦͓̾ö̴̬̺́͒ ̶̨̰̜̋̽ṫ̵͚̝̖̎͜y̴̞̮͊̆p̴̖̫̚ě̸̢̻͍̈́ ̷̳̖͙̾̔͗ō̵̤̱ù̸̢̐͝t̴̰̻̦̎̃̅.̴̛̮͓̣̱̈́

I found this post by Claire Welsh super interesting, outlining how she uses #Positron as someone working in product! 🤩 My own data science skills have been helpful in making product decisions, and I always appreciate learning more about other people who do similar work. posit.co/blog/positro...

A very nice document prepared by Friends of BLS with important information about the agency. A solid effort to prevent the spread of misinformation. Please share, especially with friends and colleagues who do not understand what’s happening. www.friendsofbls.org/updates/2025...

So stoked to share about the first release of the Posit AI Newsletter! @sara-altman.bsky.social and I have been working on a pilot of this newsletter internally for a few months now—an opinionated and pragmatic snapshot of AI news released every two weeks. First edition: posit.co/blog/2025-08...

More or less universally a country seeking to limit foreigners studying in that country is a sign of a society, culture, great power in severe decline.

Extra day of virtual fun added to posit::conf(2025)! Join us on Sept 16 for a full day of virtual talks and activities. P.S. The conference Discord is now open to all. Come hang out! 🔗 Login for Discord instructions: pos.it/conf-event-portal 🔗 Learn about Virtual Day: posit.co/blog/posit-c...

Kilmar Abrego Garcia is the last one they come for before they come for you.

Really, really excited to get to the next stage with Positron, including upcoming general availability of Positron in Posit Workbench! posit.co/blog/positro... #RStats #PyData #dataBS #datascience #positron

Gosh, as someone who grew up homeschooled, evangelical, etc in TX in the 90s, I would have been VERY HAPPY to never hear the name "Doug Wilson" again.

Super excited to be teaching at posit::conf again this year! Interested in learning about how to do machine learning with Python and scikit-learn? Register for our workshop!

I just saw that my Fosstodon account has been bridged to here by… someone? Not sure 🤔 I do tend to manually cross post, customized for each platform, so I wonder if I can get that bridge removed? bsky.app/profile/juli...

I'm excited to speak this afternoon at #useR2025 on outgrowing your laptop with #Positron for #rstats users! You can check out my slides at juliasilge.github.io/useR-2025/

My day 1 #useR2025 highlight was the Positron class, I’m officially a convert now. 🤓 Why? 🐇 Positron is fast! ⌨️ RStudio keybindings 🎨 Command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) to find any IDE feature 🏡 Remote-SSH runs code on my home server, anywhere! 🤖 The Positron Assistant integration is seamless #rstats

Still smiling after my keynote abt Community at #useR2025 💜 Huge thanks to the organizing team for the invite, and to everyone who joined, asked questions, and shared their thoughts — you made it truly special! Slides docs.google.com/presentation... Video: www.youtube.com/live/CTTvTQ-... #rstats