Sophia, MPH
@sophiacbess.bsky.social
public health person, data scientist, GenAI refuser digging in my heels. I ❤️ vaccination. personal account; views my own, not my employer’s
We need many different kinds of expertise to counter the power being amassed by tech companies. Don't let anyone tell you that your knowledge (of how to live your own life, do your own job, organize your own community) is irrelevant --- or that you should only listen to folks deep in the AI cult.
Media “interviews” with AI business products… make it stop. Soul-crushingly stupid, harmful
New 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...
Inside ‘Project Lily’: The Humans Reading Your ChatGPT Chats
Humans are reading ChatGPT users’ prompts to improve OpenAI’s models, and those chats can include sensitive, personal information, according to leaked internal documents and real prompts seen by 404 M...
404media.co
Basically, whether or not you like AI at work will depend on how much power you have; to decide how and how not to use it, to avoid being terminated by an AI-enthused manager, and so on. It further underlines what's long been evident: AI is for the bosses.
🚨🚨🚨NC folks: if you or someone you know attended Farm Adventures’ petting zoo in Harmony, NC, or its mobile events between July 28 and Thurs, contact public health. Four baby goats contracted rabies from a rabid skunk's bites. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Four baby goats at mobile petting zoo in North Carolina test positive for rabies
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said the petting zoo held events involving children and elderly people between July 28 and Thursday.
nbcnews.com
Good luck, because "AI" adoption increases the fixed costs of care delivery, and those costs are currently artificially low (think of the ZIRP-driven model of innovation that made Uber, Lyft, AirBnB, etc accessible before they were re-priced)
Physicians want compensation boost from AI productivity gains: survey
More than 65% of physicians use AI daily or weekly for clinical or administrative work — and some believe they should be paid more if the tech increases their efficiency, according to a Doximity repor...
healthcaredive.com
I'm paying attention to the NC rabies situation... 3 baby goats from a mobile petting zoo tested + for rabies. 4th is presumed infected. While not a human rabies outbreak so far, it's an unusually complicated exposure investigation. 🧵
Read the whole thread; I just want to highlight this point. Amid so much politicalization of vaccines and polarization, it’s easy to forget that there are many people who aren’t sure and don’t have strong feelings. Nuanced journalism and investing in thoughtful public health outreach can do so much.
Jacqueline Antonovich@jackiantonovich.bsky.social · 3w ago"Neither John nor Anna has strong feelings about vaccination. Anna told me she wasn’t sure why her parents didn’t get her any shots. Choosing not to immunize their children wasn’t a political statement, and they didn’t make the decision after extensive research. They just didn’t do it."
Possible rabies exposures have been linked to baby goats that were present at multiple events throughout NC. Per the NCDHHS, the goats were not present any public events within Durham. Individuals who attended private events with the goats are being contacted. Learn more: dconc.gov/DurhamCo-New...
I really wish the CDC hadn't laid off all but one of its rabies staff because I bet there are going to be some clinician questions
Mar Hicks@histoftech.bsky.social · 3w agoFirst in my bloodline to utter the phrase “rabid baby goats at a mobile petting zoo” www.cnn.com/2026/08/29/u...
Walgreens has confirmed initial state-by-state availability of Covid vaccines. It may change — last year, some states that initially had age or prescription limits lost them when state officials acted — but this is the situation for now. Other pharmacies may have different policies.
Those dancing robots don’t seem so cute anymore, huh.
Joseph Cox@josephcox.bsky.social · 3w agoNew: ICE plans to spend millions of dollars on Boston Dynamics dog robots. ICE says this is to improve "officer safety." The robots can open doors, pick up objects, have 360 cameras, infrared vision, etc. Boston Dynamics didn't respond to question on its stance on ICE www.404media.co/ice-plans-to...
“The benefits of community protection go beyond babies and children, Stanford said: “It’s the teacher. The lunchroom lady, the man who sweeps the floor, the security officer at the door — you do not know who they go home to at night. You do not know who is on chemotherapy, who has had a transplant”
Measles outbreaks present ‘very real threats’ in Philly schools. Here’s how officials are working to prevent them.
“We are seeing in real time the tragic consequences of children and adolescents not getting vaccinated," said Kendra McDow, the Philadelphia School District's chief medical officer.
inquirer.com
Article here. This will be updated as I learn more, especially about any access difficulties. If a question is unanswered in this article, I don't know the answer yet, but I'm working hard to get more info as quickly as possible.
What to Know About New Covid Vaccines for Fall 2026 (Gift Article)
The shots have been approved for people 65 and older, and for younger people with underlying conditions. Others may be able to get them off label.
nytimes.com
Maggie Astor@maggieastor.bsky.social · 3w agoUpdated Covid vaccines for the 2026-27 season have been approved by the FDA. Article to come.
Also, in the setting of circulating virus (which, again, hasn't been the norm in the US in decades, and doesn't have to be now - but is out of your individual control), MMR can be given as early as 6 months; check with your doctor if that makes sense for you.
Perhaps I should not be surprised that this article only quotes men. But if you’re interested in more about the the “collision of American popular culture &public health,” may I recommend my own book? “No Game for Boys to Play: The History of Youth Football and the Origins of a Public Health Crisis”
As CTE Cases Soar, Why Can’t Americans Quit the NFL?
A collision of American popular culture and public health is on display in the N.F.L.
nytimes.com
Two people have died in Pennsylvania from measles, the state health department said. Both were unvaccinated. These the first deaths related to measles within the state in 35 years, it reports
2 people die from measles in Pennsylvania
Two people have died in Pennsylvania from measles, the state health department said Tuesday.
abcnews.com
Saw an old Honda out and about with one of those bumper stickers that says “I bought this before Elon went crazy.” Teehee
2 observations about this "let's chat w/ MAHA bc they offer a way to improve public health" thesis hyped by many inside & outside public health of late 1. In some ways, it's akin to the "lack of viewpoint diversity" accusations aimed at academia & higher ed's embrace of bad ideas to address it. 1/
I regret to inform you that these traditional college courses in AI are indistinguishable from the classrooms I sat in at for-profit colleges 15 years ago. Centralized curriculum & branding, technological control, “virtual” libraries, & bureaucratic alienation of labor.
This extraordinary interview is worth 7 mins of your time. Delsia Bare has a nuanced, comprehensive theory of corporate power and the value of human life. Quite inspiring. www.cnn.com/2026/08/19/u...
KY farm owner wants governments to ‘throw on the brakes’ after turning down $26M offer from AI data center | CNN
Delsia Bare joins CNN’s Pamela Brown in The Situation Room to talk about her family turning down $26M from a company to build an AI data center on their farmland. Bare explained their decision and her...
cnn.com
Anyway, your problem isn‘t finding the time to take notes. The problem is that taking notes is thinking and thinking has to be done by someone. women have been doing a lot of metacognition that looks like a task when it’s really thinking.
“The incident shows that artificial intelligence has made its way [into] expert witness testimonies… The case also shows that the specific prompts used to create this type of expert testimony can be discoverable during a case, and that those prompts can be quite embarrassing.”
Jason Koebler@jasonkoebler.bsky.social · last mo.New: An "expert witness" in a $61 million lawsuit over an industrial explosion that killed three people and destroyed 200 homes used ChatGPT to write his report for the court. He prompted ChatGPT to "show how 3M is 0% at fault for the explosion at Watson Grinding" www.404media.co/show-how-3m-...
“Writing builds our working memory, executive planning skills and metacognition — the ability to think about our thinking, weigh alternate viewpoints and revise for clarity and style. It takes decades to develop writing skills, from toddlerhood into adulthood.”
What Do Students Lose When They Stop Writing?
Educators are worried that many students can no longer write essays without A.I. And it’s costing more than just grammar skills.
nytimes.com
"We need to double the number of teams ensuring safe and dignified burials, triple the treatment capacity, improve contact tracing and deploy more experienced managers," said Fletcher. "Crucially, we must meet the immense needs for water, hygiene, health care… The world needs to wake up, & show up”
Ebola outbreak in DR Congo killing one person every 30 minutes, UN says
The United Nations says the epidemic is spreading at its fastest pace on record and threatens to become the deadliest outbreak in the disease's history.
lemonde.fr
I am so glad to see the professional organizations investing in PSAs. We need all the voices, everywhere, in all languages.
AMA@ama-assn.org · last mo.AMA President Willie Underwood III, MD, MSc, MPH; Immediate Past President Bobby Mukkamala, MD; and President-Elect Sandra Adamson Fryhofer, MD, address the recent executive order changing the childhood vaccine schedule and what it means for families.
“Hepatitis A is a highly contagious virus that can in rare cases cause liver failure and death… [and] often spreads through contaminated food or close contact. Between the vaccine’s introduction in 1996 and 2011, the number of cases in the U.S. decreased by more than 95 percent.”
What to Know About the Vaccines Targeted by Trump’s Executive Order
The order, whose legal power is unclear, recommended narrowing the use of vaccinations against several diseases that can be life-threatening.
nytimes.com
