I would be EXTREMELY annoyed to discover my PR is "AI"-generated, and as someone bombarded with dozens of "AI"-generated emails daily, I assure you the stink of "AI" is immediately noticable and immediately dismissible. Publishers are not doing their new books any favors in using it.

Adam Morgan@adamm0rgan.bsky.social · 3d ago

For @wired.com, I spoke with workers about the quiet push to experiment with AI tools from book publishing executives at the Big Five. www.wired.com/story/book-p...

"When I looked this week, I found dozens more AI-generated books still for sale." #AI #AIslop #books #publishing It's not just on Amazon, either. Other platforms reportedly have similar issues. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10...

Someone used AI to create a book about me and sold it online

Cam Wilson, who is the ABC's AI reporter, recently discovered an AI-generated book about him and a book he wrote.

abc.net.au

"This year, the deciding body will be mindful of picking someone who can withstand pressure from Mr Trump, according to Haakon Gjerløw, acting director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo." www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10...

Nobel Peace Prize won't go to Trump this year, experts say

It is often regarded as the most prestigious of all Nobel prizes, which are given to those who have "conferred the greatest benefit to humankind". But the Nobel Peace Prize can also be controversial.

abc.net.au

It seems like Amazon knows about my SFF reading.

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 6d ago

Launched in May, “the page uses data from customers’ activity to generate details about them in categories like Product Preferences, Interests & Hobbies, and Home & Family, which Amazon then uses to personalize users’ product experiences.”

The #2026IgnyteAwards for Creative Nonfiction recognizes works related to the field of speculative fiction. Congratulations to @gautambhatia88.bsky.social and THE SECRET HISTORY OF INDIAN SCIENCE FICTION

‘Complete devastation’: How NSF gutted its social sciences research. Agency body that funds sociology, linguistics, and archaeology studies in U.S. gave 90% fewer new grants this year. | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

‘Complete devastation’: How NSF gutted its social sciences research

Agency body that funds sociology, linguistics, and archaeology studies in U.S. gave 90% fewer new grants this year

science.org

Also read the debates in the replies.

Victoria Strauss@victoriastrauss.com · 6d ago

Canada is refusing to issue ISBNs to books primarily generated with AI. This illustrates both the urgency of the problem of the growing flood of slop books, and also the toothlessness of addressing it on the honor system without there also being consequences for lying

Another #AI development. "[Jay], the restaurateur, says he gets 'absolutely nothing' from DoorDash when it comes to customer data; with Bites he is able to contact customers directly because the orders (and customer contact information) come straight to him." www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

AI could upend food delivery

A startup offered delivery for dine-in prices plus a $1 fee. DoorDash noticed.

theverge.com

An infuriating account of how airlines screw us. (Read the whole thread to get the whole disgusting picture.)

By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C)@doctorow.pluralistic.net · 6d ago

Up until very recently indeed, airlines were the only businesses that I dealt with regularly that practiced "price discrimination," charging different customers different prices for the same seats.

💜Applications are OPEN for the 2027 #DisabledInSTEM Mentorship Program! Join our 7th year of connecting disabled people in STEM with mentors & community. Mentors can be disabled or nondisabled allies! 📅 Apply by Dec. 11 Mentees: forms.gle/121MAZgCWBHW...
 Mentors: forms.gle/LU1NFBxCz43M...

DisabledInSTEM Mentee Application 2027

Thank you for your interest in becoming a mentee. This marks the seventh year of the program, and we are deeply grateful for the continued support from our community. The program features mentoring po...

forms.gle

RIP. Margaret Hamilton, computing pioneer who led software development for the Apollo program, dies at 90

Margaret Hamilton, computing pioneer who led software development for the Apollo program, dies at 90 | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Margaret H. Hamilton, a profoundly influential computer scientist best known for leading the software engineering team at MIT’s Instrumentation Lab during NASA’s Apollo program, died at age 90.

news.mit.edu

In this insider look at OpenAI, interviewee David Robinson, who majored in #Philosophy, does not believe that there is a useful definition of the all-important concept of "aligned." @jhuartssciences.bsky.social @drleighmjohnson.bsky.social na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

‘This Is Nuts.’ An OpenAI Insider Explains Why He Quit. - The Ezra Klein Show | iHeart

Last week, David Robinson resigned from OpenAI. He’d been in charge of writing the safety reports for new models and came to believe that OpenAI and the broader artificial intelligence industry ...

na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

Register today for the Johns Hopkins Data Science and AI Institute Fall 2026 Symposium on October 27, which will feature a keynote by Dr. Javed (Jay) Aslam. He will give his talk "AI Readiness at the University." Details here: ai.jhu.edu/event/data-s...

I’m crying this is so funny

The Fig Economy@figgityfigs.bsky.social · 6d ago

Sometimes my wife and I like to send each other text messages as though they’re democratic fundraising messages, and I believe she has produced the jewel of the form.

"What's happening is not normal," said Marimar Martinez. abcnews.com/US/chicago-w...

Chicago woman shot 5 times by an immigration officer sues the US government

An American-born citizen who survived being shot by a federal immigration officer in Chicago is suing the US government.

abcnews.com

Anti-Prime Day starts…NOW! 🥳 Today through midnight on 10/7, enjoy free shipping site-wide, all while supporting local, independent bookstores.

@wamsleylab.bsky.social The fiscal year is over. The Social, Behavioral, and Economic division of NSF ended up awarding 90 total grants this year, as opposed to ~700-800 in recent past years. Source: grantwitness.org/nsf/analyses...

Agency Pulse: Grantmaking at NSF

An independent, up-to-date, grant-level record of federal science funding disruptions in the United States.

grantwitness.org

Surround yourself with the kind of people who find the Oxford comma to be illuminative, beautiful, and necessary.

At the University of Omelas, you will receive the finest education. Just pay no mind to the TA who you see sleeping in the basement of the Humanities building.

Paywall, but you get the info from the headline. #AI #ads

The Verge@theverge.com · last wk.

The visual ads will ‘initially’ appear when you generate images using ChatGPT. www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

Delighted to see The Eyre Affair, #1 of @jasperfforde.bsky.social 's extraordinary series about THURSDAY (not "Tuesday") Next. I think subsequent books are even funnier; you haven't lived until you've met the group of Mrs. Danverses in Lost in a Good Book (#2). Don't miss these! #Booksky #books

Five Books - Expert Book Recommendations@fivebooks.com · last wk.

NEW: "They’re all very different, and they all have very different ways of making me laugh." British novelist Andrew Hunter Murray recommends his top five funny sci-fi books fivebooks.com/best-books/f...

My Minnesota friends have already seen this, but I keep thinking about it and want more people outside our state to, too.

🌬Breeze@cool-summer-breeze.bsky.social · 3w ago

This is the Stolen Neighbors Quilt. Each of the 11,000 squares represents a person taken by ICE in Minnesota.

Just a friendly reminder to surround yourself with the kind of people who support their local library, theatre, bakery, bookstore, and café.

BOOK-RELATED PEOPLE (define as you wish): (1) Are you also on #Twitter? (2) If so, do you post different content there? I'm on both, + asking because I don't want to miss you on either. (I'm also posting this on Twitter.) #books #Booksky

No words. #religion #religions Pete Hegseth creates a Pentagon Office of Religious Affairs reporting directly to him apnews.com/article/pete...

Pete Hegseth creates a Pentagon Office of Religious Affairs reporting directly to him

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is launching an office of religious affairs at the Pentagon. He announced Wednesday that the office will provide “first-class religious support” and report directly to h...

apnews.com

Finally finished reading "Absence" by AD Hudson. --Great premise and characters --The narrative needed trimming in spots --Ending was semi/mostly satisfying I'd say it's worth reading + feel free to just skim/skip unnecessary details until the story starts again. #BookSky #books #specfic

Not your everyday coffee in a Serbia cafe. Enjoy it in the company of alpacas apnews.com/article/serb...

Not your everyday coffee in a Serbia cafe. Enjoy it in the company of alpacas

A cafe in northern Serbia has unusual hosts. Six alpacas. The South American animals of various sizes and colors roam among the tables in the cafe.

apnews.com

Fantastic news about the extraordinary adventures of Thursday Next! (Jasper, your home page also lists Powell's in Oregon despite this post about not going anywhere else in the U.S.?) May your tour throughout the UK + elsewhere be wonderful! #BookSky #books www.jasperfforde.com/appearances....

Jasper Fforde@jasperfforde.bsky.social · 2w ago

North American readers: Here I explain about the upcoming US tour for Dark Reading Matter and chat about dodos, grammasites and try to promote my favoured windshield de-icer (no paid advertising) youtube.com/shorts/pP1Gz...

ALL, ALL of this is horrifying on several levels. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Oxford lets OpenAI train its AI models on Bodleian Library

University staff voice concerns over reputational risk of partnering with company behind ChatGPT

theguardian.com

BOOKS CLUBS -Main: Sea of Tranquility -Jewish: Hostage (Sharabi; NONFIC) -SF: Vicious (Schwab) STILL READING --Absence (A.D. Hudson) --I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI To Do (Almost) Everything (NONFIC) --Medicine for the Greater Good (NONFIC)--Dr. @Panagis.bsky.social is a great speaker! #books