Kristen Thomasen
@kristenthomasen.bsky.social
Law things, robots, space, privacy || habitual misAInthrope || feministing || she/her || (Profile pic from community art-making project in #YQG graffiti alley)
See a small sample of @cyn-k.bsky.social ’s many relevant works too (below original post).
Cynthia Khoo@cyn-k.bsky.social · 3w agoNo one should be working or publicly opining on "~AI safety~" without first reading this paper by @kristenthomasen.bsky.social — asking whose safety is centred in these kinds of discussions and proposed responses, drawing on abolitionist scholarship:
Grateful to the folks on the Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Academic Professions who put all this together. Resources include a zine, procurement playbook, bargaining tracker, AI/tech divestment guide, state policy tracker, FOIA guide, explainer for ditching Palantir, & AI/tech audit guide
Toolkit for Activism on AI
The AAUP ad hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Academic Professions developed the following toolkit resources to fight against the top-down adoption of technology by colleges and universitie...
aaup.org
Macklemore just announced he’s donating the $1 million he made from Sheeran’s tour to 6 organizations to support Palestinians and he’s asking Robert Kraft to match it. This is just the first part announcing it.
Colonizers using terms like "self-determination", "autonomy", and "sovereignty" is odd to me. They don't understand how their "sovereignty" is based on the continued subjection of others, even if they, as individuals, are "good". Whose land does the Internet depend on? www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...
Digital Sovereignty: What It Is, What It Could Be
The term “digital sovereignty” has become ubiquitous. European officials invoke it in debates about cloud infrastructure, AI, semiconductors, and platform regulation. Governments throughout the global...
eff.org
Something I'm concerned about that I haven't really seen anyone addressing is how "AI safety" regs could end up being super authoritarian. Like, if you truly believe that AI could kill all humans, it seems totally reasonable to install a government backdoor in every smartphone and computer.
There's a cool public speaker series on privacy & tech happening this month, that's a collaboration between @ipcontario.bsky.social & @civictechto.bsky.social ! I'll be giving a talk for it tomorrow on this brief co-authored w/ @digitalprivacy.ca & @kate-ro.bsky.social:
The Citizen Lab (Un)forced Errors: Analysis of Proposed Surveillance Law Expansion under Bill C-22, An Act respecting lawful access -
This submission analyzes Bill C-22, the Lawful Access Act, which would enact broad surveillance obligations and reforms in Canada. Issues include: the bill’s sweeping scope, significant constitutional...
citizenlab.ca
The Citizen Lab@citizenlab.ca · 4w agoJoin @cyn-k.bsky.social tomorrow, September 15th at 7PM ET, for @civictechto.bsky.social Meetup #560. She will present a recent joint brief by @citizenlab.ca and @cancivlib.bsky.social that analyzes the privacy and human rights implications of Bill C-22. Register here: guild.host/events/civic...
Four supporting acts quit Ed Sheeran’s tour after Macklemore is dropped over Palestine comments
Four supporting acts quit Ed Sheeran’s tour after Macklemore was dropped
The artists announced they were pulling out of the tour hours after Ed Sheeran broke his silence on the controversy
the-independent.com
With 24 Emmy nominations tonight, “Hacks” has set a new record for the most nominations for a comedy series in a single year. Revisit our conversation with creators Paul W. Downs and Lucia Aniello. 👇️
The Creators of ‘Hacks’ Really, Really, Really Hate AI
Ahead of the hit show’s finale, cocreators Paul W. Downs and Lucia Aniello talk about media consolidation, the perils of censorship, and why they find AI “deeply disturbing.”
wired.com
'Don't let the best be the enemy of the good' is appropriate advice for someone struggling to finish a small, low-stakes project. This is not the right advice for how to regulate a field of tech with wide and well-documented harms..
My IRL friends call me Chris@christyceeck.bsky.social · 4w agoBloomberg interviewed PMMC. (of course) If you're wondering how aggressive the Carney govt will be in pursuing AI regulation, this clip is insightful. Carney raises self-regulation initially & cites FINRA, For those who don't speak bank, FINRA is an industry-financed self-regulatory body. #CdnPoli
Joseph Cox@josephcox.bsky.social · 4w agoNew from 404 Media: humans are reading ChatGPT conversations. OpenAI has hired an army of contractors who read real ChatGPT users' chats. I've seen internal docs, the review system, and real user prompts. Sometimes they contain very personal and sensitive information www.404media.co/inside-proje...
The Onion has created a machine that will kill everyone on Earth that is coincidentally running out of money and the only way to slow it down is if my staff and I take a six-week vacation to Cabo San Lucas.
How did he pass is job interview? The same reason he's all over the press & everyone in the "left" is captured by these people. I'm gonna call it like it is, once again, its ******RACISM********* Y'all can't imagine that WE are the experts.
Some updates added to the story following a new response from U of T: breachmedia.ca/canadian-uni...
Canadian universities set up a secret network to crack down on student Palestine demonstrators ⋆ The Breach
Universities in Canada coordinated to spy on and violently clear student encampments. Then, they deleted the evidence
breachmedia.ca
emerging from a social media sabbatical to share one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen from the global tech market. inherently alienating and solidarity-destroying at its core. Prediction markets are among the most dangerous platforms out there. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
My son has cancer. Kalshi wants you to be able to bet on his medical future | Joshua Pederson
The predictions market is planning to allow betting on clinical trial results and regulatory decisions as our family fights for his survival
theguardian.com
I am thrilled to see Jayden Nelson get out on the pitch. Big ❤️ from and for the childhood cancer community. 🥹 m.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqch...
Jayden Nelson's journey to the 2026 FIFA World Cup
YouTube video by TSN
m.youtube.com
Female professors at post-secondary schools in Toronto earn significantly less than their male counterparts. In Ontario, every major university paid male professors more than female professors, with average wage gaps ranging from 5.7% (University of Ottawa) to 13.5% (McMaster University)
Female professors at post-secondary schools in Toronto earn significantly less than their male counterparts. Here’s why.
Female professors in Toronto are earning as much as $23,000 less than their male counterparts, according to Statistics Canada.
ctvnews.ca
“I reject the idea that we have to be slaves to surveillance capitalism in order to participate in the modern economy” Wab Kinew in his announcement that Manitoba would not be continuing with the Île-des-Chênes data centre.
A sober take from @shachikurl.bsky.social of Angus Reid Institute of how Canadians are not on side with Mark Carney’s enthusiastic approach to AI or data centres. They aren’t uninformed or illiterate; they simply experience the sides of AI the government prefers not to focus on.
‼️ This is a success in the long process of Hamilton #hamont resisting a proposed new data centre. Please share with anyone keeping tabs on community resistance to data centres.
Joey Coleman@joeycoleman.ca · 4mo agoDENIED Hamilton's Committee of Adjustment voted 3-0 to deny the Steelport land severance application. #yhmcc #HamOnt
Huge disconnect between the federal government’s ’AI for All’ announcement today and the many, many thoughtful and well informed voices of opposition to the proposed data centre in Hamilton. Almost as if the ‘All’ are not for ‘AI’. #hamont
I would also like to say that most of the government's emphasis on First Nations and AI (as well as the leading AI institutes) is on education. I think it is paternalistic to imply that distrust of these systems stems from insufficient understanding of them.
Peak Hamilton. 💕 I am one of over 1,000 who submitted comments in writing.
Bhaskar Mitra | ভাস্কর মিত্র@bmitra.bsky.social · 4mo ago"Chants of “f--k AI” filled Hamilton’s city council chambers ahead of a raucous planning meeting Thursday morning as dozens of people packed the public gallery and over a hundred waited in the halls outside." www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...