Kristina McElheran
@kmcelheran.bsky.social
Associate Prof at University of Toronto. Digitization scholar studying firm use of technology, productivity, strategy, and the future of work.
Just your regular reminder that: 1) Almost everyone has an underlying health issue if you look hard enough 2) People with underlying health issues don't deserve to die for eating lettuce 3) We should be strengthening, not weakening our regulatory processes. And properly funding them.
The New York Times@nytimes.com · 3d agoBreaking News: Two deaths in Michigan have been linked to cyclospora. Both people who had the parasite also had underlying health issues.
Can anyone find the report this claim is from?
FinTwitter@fintwitter.bsky.social · 3d agoENTRY-LEVEL JOBS ARE VANISHING: NO-EXPERIENCE HIRING PLUNGES 73% IN JUST 4 YEARS
It's not just Google Maps. AllTrails put genAI into their system last year and it has screwed everything up so badly I would never use it for hiking, purely for safety reasons. Some things require long years of practical, experiential knowledge. Walking in the 'wilderness' is one of those things.
Kathleen Bachynski@bachynski.bsky.social · 3d ago“We’re so used to using Google Maps in our everyday life that I think when people are starting to get into hiking, they think that probably Google Maps will work for backcountry use as well, and that’s just not the case,” said John Blown, of North Shore Rescue, a team based in British Columbia.”
“the virus could be easily misdiagnosed as Lyme disease…highlights “the need for expanded viral surveillance, clinical testing and assay development to improve clinical decision-making and inform tick-borne disease epidemiology and vector management.” So, Science.
First Case of Bourbon Virus, Which Is Untreatable and Potentially Fatal, Confirmed in New York
The first confirmed case of the tick-borne Bourbon virus, which is extremely rare and potentially fatal, has been identified in New York.
people.com
Happy July 32, all academics. Yesterday, Joseph woke up and chose violence.
Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman.bsky.social · 6d agoBecause the 1st is a Saturday, “How is it August already?!” will be observed today, Friday, July 31, 2026. Please panic accordingly.
How was I supposed to know that all those emails for which I thought "lol I can snooze that until August 1 when it'll really matter" would hit me on a Saturday at 8AM?
I worry that most cynical among us, hopped up on 30 years of law and order rhetoric, will say "this is the system working: he didn't do anything wrong and now he's free." As if the terror and wide-scale publicity of an arrest and federal prosecution is not a horrible punishment in and of itself.
CNN@cnn.com · 5d agoThe Justice Department is admitting that a $14 million renovation on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC, was flawed, and is dropping the criminal case against a former Olympian that accused him of damaging the pool, according to a new court filing. https://cnn.it/3RJJnwj
I want you to notice how the New York Times does not think it's important to mention that both the OpenAI and Anthropic "AI gone rogue" hack events were completely avoidable and caused by human error
Anthropic Says Its A.I. Systems Broke Into Computers at 3 Organizations (Gift Article)
The disclosure followed OpenAI’s report last week that its own artificial intelligence had hacked into the network of an online library.
nytimes.com
My hot take is that this is telling us more about organizational immaturity to wield this technology than the tech itself. Anyone who has been inside a firm with proper process control (Toyota auto plant, e.g.) knows what I mean.
Karl Bode@karlbode.com · 6d agoI want you to notice how the New York Times does not think it's important to mention that both the OpenAI and Anthropic "AI gone rogue" hack events were completely avoidable and caused by human error
Because the 1st is a Saturday, “How is it August already?!” will be observed today, Friday, July 31, 2026. Please panic accordingly.
Indeed, and while tech usually scales, AI itself does not. Those same hyperscalers carry >$1.2 trillion in off-balance-sheet debt for data centers precisely because AI unit costs don't go down with scale (much less reach "near-zero"). AI requires hefty compute costs every single time it's run.
JW Mason@jwmason.bsky.social · 6d agoIt is certainly true that the tech sector enjoys increasing returns. But it is *not* true that this is a difference from "traditional production industries" - increasing returns are ubiquitous in manufacturing. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
After OpenAI's models broke into Hugging Face, Anthropic checked its own history and found three similar incidents.
Anthropic says its own AI models breached three companies during security tests | TechCrunch
After OpenAI's models broke into Hugging Face, Anthropic checked its own history and found three similar incidents.
techcrunch.com
Damn, this is good writing.
Financial Times@financialtimes.com · last wk.'I didn’t want to talk about Claude. I wanted to talk about the user, about addiction and dehumanisation, about power and accountability.' Theologian Carmody Grey explains how the AI industry is courting the humanities — but asking the wrong questions ft.trib.al/MIQRiNX
This notion that the purpose of writing essays is to have an essay-shaped object to hold at the end of it is just... wild, and incredibly widely held apparently? Have these people never... written an essay?
Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill.bsky.social · last wk.The point isn't to produce essays, it's to teach students how to think for fuck's sake. The minute you automate that, it's over. You might as well close the course. Which they're also doing. This is an attack on learning, and everyone is just shrugging.
Well that sucks. www.engadget.com/2225849/goog... Least bummer interpretation: AlphaFold served its purpose, DeepMind already spun off a drug lab, so it was time to reassign the time.
Google shuts down its Nobel-prize winning AlphaFold project as it focuses on Gemini - Engadget
DeepMind's award-winning AlphaFold team is no more.
engadget.com
Are we going to get “minning” next month? Calling it now! Looking forward to explaining “the dual” to the social media natives.
Aaron Sojourner@aaronsojourner.org · 2w agoEconomics is trending, you say?
Americans have more confidence in higher education than in big tech companies, and the gap is growing rather than shrinking. The higher ed-doomsday pundits need to get on board with the real vibe shift in public trust that is happening right now.
Mark Copelovitch@mcopelov.bsky.social · 2w agoI look forward to all the reports & coverage about all of the internal problems & mistakes of all of these other institutions, in the same way that universities are constantly blamed (& blaming themselves) for “declining trust.” “Compared to what?” news.gallup.com/poll/712436/...
Join the Climate Change AI Virtual Summer School 2026, where I will be doing a lecture about AI and Climate Policy and Regulation. It’s run by a nonprofit founded by some of our brilliant alums. The fee for the whole sequence is $30. Learn more & register: www.climatechange.ai/events/summe...
Climate Change AI Virtual Summer School 2026
Climate Change AI - Virtual Summer School 2026
climatechange.ai
while we talk about the RFK's Diarrhea 2026 stuff, don't overlook the fact that there's a dog food recall going on too. unfortunately we don't have a good spokesvehicle for the FDA anymore, so Good Housekeeping will have to do.
FDA Announces Nationwide Recall of Popular Dog Food
Check your dog’s food for safety.
goodhousekeeping.com
A clip from a freight train stopped in a wildfire near Armstrong, Ontario. Thankfully, the crew escaped safely. Wildfire is nothing new but the burning of fossil fuels is making them larger, more frequent and severe.
Eva Holland@evaholland.bsky.social · 3w agoAstonishing video of a freight train's crew, stopped in the midst of a raging wildfire near Armstrong, Ontario, in order to let another oncoming train pass: www.instagram.com/reel/DaymbMr...
A 3-year-old girl watched ICE murder her father yesterday. We all watched Sebastian Guerrero’s final moments through our phones. We can scroll away — but Sebastian’s 3-year-old daughter cannot.
The entire Constitution speaks with a single voice on this question If you want to reject what it has to say, the thing you are rejecting is the Constitution. Full stop.
Great resources linked in Sarah's thread. I found this two-page "take action flyer" from @elizabethginexi.bsky.social especially helpful for pulling together comments — due today — quickly: drive.google.com/file/d/1ppq4...
Sarah Gollust@sarahgollust.bsky.social · 4w agoDid you write your comment yet on the OMB rules on federally funded science yet? No? Don’t worry, you can do it this weekend. Here are some resources that can help you get started.
Bold move to follow yourself from your dead boss's Twitter account the day he died, tbh.
"the American Astronomical Society said the endeavor cannot be considered to serve the public interest and would waste taxpayer $ by wrecking the work of federally funded astronomical facilities even as it brought untold risks to people and wildlife" Gift article. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/c...
F.C.C. Approves Test of Space Mirror to Light Night Sky Despite Outcry (Gift Article)
A start-up company has permission to try its plan to bounce solar rays onto the dark side of Earth, turning night to day for a three-mile-wide patch.
nytimes.com