Huge AI infrastructure deals assume that algorithms will keep improving with scale. They may not.
The AI Industry's Scaling Obsession Is Headed for a Cliff
Huge AI infrastructure deals assume that algorithms will keep improving with scale. They may not.
wrd.cm
“Perhaps his most fundamental heresy was the belief that the computer revolution, which Weizenbaum not only lived through but centrally participated in, was actually a counter-revolution. It strengthened repressive power structures instead of upending them.”
Charles Logan@charleswlogan.bsky.social · last yr.Worth a reread: "As Weizenbaum wrestled with this complicity, he found that his colleagues, for the most part, didn’t care about the purposes to which their research might be put. If we don’t do it, they told him, somebody else will. Or: scientists don’t make policy, leave that to the politicians."
My book ms "The Inattention Economy: Seeing the Digital Labor of Women of Color” is in production at the University of Minnesota Press. So grateful to Anne Carter and Leah Pennywark at UMP. It's a book about how the work of digital infrastructure became women of colors' work and thus invisible
Suggestion: stop talking about AI as “hype,” start talking about AI as a (very real) political and ideological instrument.
I don’t think anyone in tech believed that “prompt engineer” was going to be a real job. Better prompts improve results at the margins, sure, but not so much that years out we need classes of people performing that function and not at scale that replaces anything. www.wsj.com/articles/the...
The Hottest AI Job of 2023 Is Already Obsolete
Prompt engineering, a role aimed at crafting the perfect input to send to a large language model, was poised to become one of the hottest jobs in artificial intelligence. What happened?
wsj.com
"A new dataset, visualized as maps, reveals the extent to which African workers are indirectly employed in the tech sector, doing content moderation, customer service, and data annotation for AI models, among other jobs." restofworld.org/2025/big-tec...
Returning to #DH spaces - meets - physically this April has reminded me of why I do what I do…. In multiple modes of text-il-ing …and multiple dataspaces and multiple visualizing spaces .
#DHmakes 🤩
Scholars' Lab@scholarslab.bsky.social · last yr.For their fellowship, @claudiaeberger.bsky.social created a data quilt—dataviz made in fabric!—to explore the history of who the "public" Appalachian Trail was actually designed for; how its history of use intersects w/gender, race, & Indigenous land rights. A blogged peek into their design process:
Between the printing presses, the sheep herding, the spinning, the knitting/crochet/weaving, #DHmakes is ready to survive, rebuild, and spread the word!
Ryan Cordell@ryancordell.org · last yr.Me, waiting for the collapse of society & staring at my printing press like I imagine doomsday preppers stare at their stockpiles of canned beans: "They said I was a fool, but soon they’ll see. They’ll ALL see!!!"
SCOOP: DOGE is hosting a “hackathon” in DC next week with the goal of building one “mega API” for accessing all IRS data. Palantir has been brought up as a potential partner. www.wired.com/story/doge-h...
DOGE Is Planning a Hackathon at the IRS. It Wants Easier Access to Taxpayer Data
DOGE operatives have repeatedly referred to the software company Palantir as a possible partner in creating a “mega API” at the IRS, sources tell WIRED.
wired.com
A Black man just beat the record for the longest filibuster, defeating the record previously held by a man who filibustered the literal Civil Rights Act. As the time ticked over, Cory Booker announced he did it not out of hatred for who he opposed, but out of love for those who supported him.
LIVE: Cory Booker speaks on the Senate floor
YouTube video by Associated Press
youtube.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — Cory Booker breaks the record for longest Senate speech, previously held by segregationist Strom Thurmond.
¡Oradora Principal highlight! Estamos encantados de anunciar que la Dra. Radhika Gajjala @cyberdivalive.bsky.social regresa como oradora principal en el Global Digital Humanities Symposium 2025! 🎉 Presentará en persona el 8 de abril—¡no te lo pierdas! #MSUGlobalDH
Nothing to see - just me prepping for tomorrow zoom with Leeds …
Thrilled to have organised this panel on Sexuality,Mobility,Belonging & to be in conversation with such brilliant, critical colleagues! The audience engagement was fantastic, with thoughtful questions on political blackness, queer joy, & activism in these challenging times @cyberdivalive.bsky.social
Was honored to be respondent to a fabulous panel at #aas convention in Columbus - panel put together by @rkdasgupta.bsky.social (with whom I’ve been in conversation for years but only just finally met in person).
Important thread for #DHmakes We've got means of production and project management / organization skills. No better time to put it all to use.
M. Belanger@sethanikeem.bsky.social · 2y agoThe best advice I have for you is to start building robust, alternative networks now and quickly Don’t assume you will have access or the ability to distribute your material online forever Make hardcopies. Build local in-person communities. Build relationships with brick & mortar indie stores
With painful memories, here is to share some resources about a sad anniversary day - five years ago today in Wuhan, its health commission issued the first public notice about an "unknown pneumonia," which later turned out to be COVID-19. guobin-yang.blogspot.com/2022/01/upco...
Talks and resources about my new book The Wuhan Lockdown
sociology, China, communication studies, journalism, digital activism, digital culture, technology, media studies
guobin-yang.blogspot.com
Still not sure if this is space that makes sense to me and what I do.
This Thursday Dec 5th, 6:30pm GMT I'll give a talk @ LSE @lsemedia.bsky.social about my new book 'Technocolonialism: when technology for good is harmful' out w/ @politybooks.bsky.social www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b... In-person and online, all welcome, details ⬇️ @mediacomgold.bsky.social
Technocolonialism: when technology for good can be harmful
6.30pm Thurs 5 Dec | Mirca Madianou | Free public event at LSE
lse.ac.uk
