R.J. Cross
@rj-x.bsky.social
Writer/researcher/advocate @ the Public Interest Research Group. Usually: tech/privacy/AI. Sometimes: fiction/poems/satire/birds. Currently learning about: burrowing owls. Cool new lit project coming soon. Kansan at heart. https://rjcross.org/
Data center protest sign thread - updated whenever I run into a new one 📍Admire, KS
Something similar has happened with both ChatGPT and Grok. If you're a chatbot user, it's safest to behave like anything you share could be made public some day.
NEW: A large trove of Claude-generated documents have been exposed to the web and indexed by Google. We reviewed what appear to be real medical records, the full names and phone numbers of school-aged children, and company documents marked for internal use only. futurism.com/artificial-i...
My parents have 13 (!) Black Swallowtail butterflies absolutely destroying their herb garden. Look at this tank. I love him
assuming the reason @cpsc.gov keeps sharing horse pics is horses have been recalled
SHARK HOOOOORRRRSEEEE!
I think I speak for everyone when I ask how this will be used to sell advertisements.
Designers are experimenting with AI to make clothes and footwear more interactive
Toronto-based start-up Aurmada is designing AI-enhanced clothing that it hopes will help those wearing it monitor everything from their gait to how close someone is standing, part of a budding wearabl...
ca.news.yahoo.com
Ever seen a news story about AI and thought “this could be an episode of Black Mirror”? We're running a research study where we ask people to imagine generative AI futures and pitch their own science fiction story. More detail at the link and please share! www.internetruleslab.com/black-mirror...
Black Mirror Survey Study — Internet Rules Lab
We're recruiting for a survey where you pitch your own Black Mirror episode about the future of generative AI!
internetruleslab.com
perhaps the most important choice you can make in life is what you pay attention to. personally i recommend choosing to focus on posts by the most unlikable people on the planet
I’ve gotten the same comment about our 1990s era fridge. Keep it, do not upgrade, because the new ones are flimsy and near impossible to repair.
the appliances in my apartment are from like 15 years ago, stove, fridge, dishwasher, etc, low tech. repair guy came in to fix a faulty wire with the stove and i asked him if i should think about getting a new one. he immediately was like "no man hold onto this thing for as long as possible" lol
Here's Ted Chiang on the idea that LLMs can be conscious Link: www.theatlantic.com/philosophy/2... Unpaywalled just in case: archive.is/bcpZl
On writing about A.I. that simulates people: "The longer this story went on, the more tired I was... It was the feeling of being at a computer all day. It was a dehydration of human interaction... It was the subject matter. It was trying to dig to the depths of something and not finding any."
Woke up this morning wanting to swallow your own tongue? Here, then, I wrote this for you!
State Consumer Privacy Laws Are Being Corrupted by Lobbying danielsolove.substack.com/p/state-cons... My thoughts on the tragedy of Vermont’s privacy law and how Rep. Monique Priestley’s valiant attempt to create a good law was undermined by lobbyists.
State Consumer Privacy Laws Are Being Corrupted by Lobbying
Starting in 2018, the U.S.
danielsolove.substack.com
we'll do commemorative shirts for anything now
/ THE BOSTON BIG BOOM OF 2026 COMMEMORATIVE T-SHIRT / SUMTHING 2 WEAR IN THE FUTURE / 2 BRING UP THE SUBJECT / OF THE TIME / THAT THERE / WAS A BIG BOOM IN BOSTON / THIS T-SHIRT IS AVAILABLE @: / merch.weatherishappening.com/product/the-...
AI companies are letting anyone with a credit card use their models to make products for kids - the same models that the #AI companies themselves have said are not for children. A video version of our recent research: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbG0...
How AI models not for kids are ending up in toys
YouTube video by PIRGvideos
youtube.com
one of my favorite facts about the US coal industry is that it employs less people than Broadway
Another interesting fact: When I wrote that piece in 2019, 6,569 people in Kentucky, or 1 in 500 working age adults, were employed in coal mining. Today the number is 3,843, or about 1 in every 1,000 working age Kentuckians. But we have to save coal! Data here: eec.ky.gov/Energy/News-... 3/3
I wanted a book my public library didn't have, so I asked them to buy it, and they did. @bpl.boston.gov is truly magic
I’m realizing reading the replies that my dog may be on the simple side. At least he’s entertaining
how many words do you think your dog knows? what are they?
Now that OpenAI is in the targeted ads business, hard to imagine your bank account data not being used to decide how expensive of crap they should try to get you to buy
ChatGPT Can Now Connect to Your Financial Accounts for Budgeting Advice
Appreciated the chance to chat w/ @sophiecharara.bsky.social about our newest #AI toys research - AI companies don't vet the toy companies using their models at all. After all my time messing w/ these little weirdos, I'm in the same place as this piece: "Or, you know, there’s always 'dumb' toys."
These cuddly, connected companions could disrupt everything from make-believe to bedtime stories. No wonder some lawmakers want them banned. www.wired.com/story/the-ne...
This is unhealthy, irresponsible, and is going to get people stalked if not killed
New AI tool lets heartbroken users ‘recreate’ their exes and people are divided - Dexerto
An AI agent that can ‘recreate’ people’s exes by using their texts and social media is sparking a fierce debate in China.
dexerto.com
Consumer-facing AI chatbots are consumer products - they don't magically get a pass because they're high tech. Will be important to watch these cases!
OpenAI was sued this week over a mass shooting in Florida and the overdose death of a college student in California. They are among two dozen cases filed in the last year that claim ChatGPT should be subject to consumer product safety laws: www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/t...
Now that this is in the news, I'm excited to finally announce that I am starring in "Paper Rush: A Fast and the Furious Tale" for NBC, which tells the story of the brave loan officers who help the heroes of the franchise buy all of their Skyline GT-Rs at 27.9% APR
Peacock launching four shows set in the Fast and the Furious universe, Vin Diesel announces at #NBCUpfront.
Inappropriate content, confusing social play, voice cloning, subscription shilling - it's all happening in AI kids toys thanks to @ejgoodacre.bsky.social @rj-x.bsky.social @claudio-teixeira.bsky.social & Kitty Hamilton for speaking to me for this piece
These cuddly, connected companions could disrupt everything from make-believe to bedtime stories. No wonder some lawmakers want them banned. www.wired.com/story/the-ne...