Steve Turner
@stevet-au.bsky.social
Writer based in Australia, either working on something, or posting about news, events, fun, hating AI... this site appears to be suitable.
Yes, the computer that makes mistakes, while also being the computer that constantly praises you (no matter how wrong you are), is no fun at all...
Conor Smith@conorsmith.ie · yesterdayAs a lifelong fan of the Computer That Does What It's Told I am not at all impressed by the entire global economy going all in on the Computer That Makes Mistakes
AI slop is the medium of post-truth. It’s for people who reject the value of factual reality, can’t appeal to the public based on the truth, and want everyone to live inside a lie. Unsurprisingly, Republicans are using it much more in campaigns.
Claes de Vreese@claesdevreese.bsky.social · 3d agoThe use of AI in political ads is not evenly distributed: “More than 80 percent of the ads were produced by Republican campaigns or Republican-aligned political action committees” #midterms #AI #ads $137 Million in A.I.-Generated Ads Flood the Midterms www.nytimes.com/2026/10/16/u...
“The internet is a store but it used to be a library” hits me like a slug to the chest
For three + years, teachers, writers, artists, humanities professors and so many others have been arguing exactly this--that this technology only produces an endless ouroboros of bland, sad, grey slop. But we were told that we were/are luddites, reactionary, old-fashioned, angry, etc etc.
Rachel Coldicutt@rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · yesterdayI am sorry, which company is this? www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
It will not surprise you to learn that I found the Olivia Rodrigo Expectations remix featuring Chappell Roan to be a fucking delight. The video is great, and features David Byrne as "your favorite host's favorite host," but definitely check out the track wherever you do that. I love them
Olivia Rodrigo - expectations (feat. Chappell Roan) (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by OliviaRodrigoVEVO
youtu.be
Winter is coming and Collapse OS aims to soften the blow. It is a Forth operating system with tools and documentation intended to preserve the ability to program microcontrollers through civilizational collapse. This project is as self-contained as possible … https://collapseos.org
“We only used LLM to do (trivial task that has been done for decades with a few lines of code that don’t require a data center that burns huge amount of compute time and does the job better than an LLM).” GAH 😖
As a researcher, I can't really emphasise enough that the main thing LLMs have done is significantly slow me down and add cognitive burden. I'm just *tired* of every aspect of this trend at this point.
AI is conscious AND it is my girlfriend AND it is my slave. A perfect scenario for me, a normal person. Not gonna think too deeply about this. Now do all other living human people deserve the level of investment devoted to my Tamogotchi slave girlfriend? Not so fast.
can't take "LLMs are people" discourse seriously when we haven't even convinced everyone that all people are people.
Canadian teens who use AI every week score two years behind teens who don’t use AI. I looked into the PISA data, so you don’t have to. Why are they using AI and does AI literacy instruction help? Read more here.
The release of AI chatbots has harmed teens’ learning and Canada needs to act
Teens use AI every day to help them learn, but new data shows they are falling years behind. Governments cannot afford to wait to regulate AI.
theconversation.com
A million unheard Cassandras say together OH REALLY IMAGINE THAT
Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social · 4d agoEmployers worldwide are pulling back on AI as they navigate a flood of errors and low-quality work that sap employee time, raise privacy and security risks, and drive up costs
Oh boy, if anyone could have predicted this these C-Suite guys would really have egg on their faces. Thankfully no one saw this coming so they couldn't possibly be held accountable
Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social · 4d agoEmployers worldwide are pulling back on AI as they navigate a flood of errors and low-quality work that sap employee time, raise privacy and security risks, and drive up costs
Oh, you don’t like AI cause isn’t ethical or cheap or safe? Well, have you considered that it’s supported by all the most annoying and evil people on earth?
I've said it elsewhere but here's my two penneth. I understand the impulse to find a way to navigate between the difference voices on AI and develop an accommodation but it's wrong headed and misguided because we understand clearly what generative AI is built upon and what the social aims are of
And while we're on the subject: there's no ethical use of a product brought to market through unethical means. It doesn't matter whether the product is "AI" or chocolate or diamonds. Most generative "AI" was knowingly developed through massive theft from creatives; we have the emails admitting this.
The acid test for me is a simple one: Has my professional and/or creative life benefited in any material way from "AI," and very specifically generative "AI"? No, it hasn't. Has it been negatively impacted by the same? Yup, in a whole bunch of ways. My professional life is worse now for it.
Nick Harkaway@nickharkaway.com · 5d agoPulling some thoughts together from disparate discussions on the SoA / AI Charter thing... (Full text here: societyofauthors.org/charter-of-e...)
I wrote a thread a while ago about key distinctions I use to do my work as a critic. For example: "An audience is not a public." bsky.app/profile/jayr... Here's one from the political world. Brian Beutler, @brianbeutler.bsky.social "Exposure Is Not Accountability." open.substack.com/pub/brianbeu...
Exposure Is Not Accountability
When bad actors are shameless, exposure accomplishes little. They need to face tangible consequences.
open.substack.com
Jay Rosen@jayrosen.bsky.social · 9mo ago"When in doubt, draw a distinction." Not sure where he got it, but in grad school one of my teachers taught me that. This (long) thread is about the key distinctions I rely on as a critic. There's a Twitter version from 2021. This one builds on that one. I will post them one at a time. Ready?
There are so many ironies/hypocrisies in all of this, but one of them is that we are being asked to value AI-powered literary criticism over African literary critics' assessments of African authors. AI use: illegitimate if Africans use it, legitimate when used to assess African humanity
Karen Attiah@karenattiah.bsky.social · 5d agoI have questions and would like to write about this. But one that jumps out immediately: The Zimbabwean head of the Caine Prize board said the story resonated deeply with her. Is it not colonial to insist we trust AI programs and non-Africans more than Africans reading their own stories?
It is really chilling to see how quickly Black, Caribbean, and African writers and academics have become the global face of AI use and accusations of plagiarism. For such a serious charge, @vauhinivara.bsky.social's article rests on...a Pangram scan. www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/1...
Yet Another Literary Prizewinner Seems to Be AI
The prestigious Caine Prize, announced last week, went to a story with many red flags.
theatlantic.com
The Good Place: Jason Mendoza's Bad Place Realization
Alt: The Good Place: Jason Mendoza's Bad Place Realization
static.klipy.com
Matt Novak@paleofuture.bsky.social · 5d agoCarl Quintanilla: Real average hourly earnings down 0.7% on the month, that's the sixth straight month... Jim Cramer: Look, rich people are making a lot of money. God, I sound like Marx. I really don't want to sound like Marx. It's just, look at the data.
While we're at it, might as well share Tom Baker's perennial masterpiece.
![Interview with Baker in Vortex Magazine.
Vortex:What’s your one biggest Doctor Who memory?
Baker: I remember a man stopping me in Oxford Street once, looking at me with absolute incredulity; he couldn’t believe it. He said, ‘Tom Baker?’ A man in his late thirties. I said, ‘Yes’. He said, ‘Tom Baker?’ I said, ‘Yes!’ And he looked at me and in his brain he catapulted back in time and he said, ‘You know, when I was a boy, I was in a home for children; nobody wanted us, you know? It was terrible. And you made Saturday night good.’ And I went to say something to him and I could see him so close to tears that he couldn’t speak. And he shook his head as if to say, ‘Don’t go on, don’t remind me’ and he just did [a thumbs up]. Such a common thing, isn’t it, but suddenly backed up with an expression on his face through his tears that was a knighthood. It was a knighthood. Just thumbs up, meaning it was great, and thanks. It’s incredible, isn’t it? Just a gesture.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:lss244cnzeoicm3p3nrg5ovh/bafkreihlgkgmbvrg2infn55uwyjyulq3wy5zu2mqm5cmtehqwzsj43stky)
Ah yes, perhaps the most beloved literary trope of all: the classic McMuffin
The most indebted corporations in America right now are, at their core, computer virus companies. They think the computer viruses are their girlfriends, so they think this absolves them of guilt. Let's find out!
Anthropic warns AI models could soon copy themselves across home devices
Anthropic's latest research adds to the growing safety concerns around AI from the ability for models to carry out cyberattacks to the technology going rogue.
www-cnbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org
most economically-viable AI company
Jason Koebler@jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 6d agoNew: I pulled the Character ai bankruptcy documents. They show: - They were spending $14 million/month on compute alone at a time their revenue was around ~$1 million/month - Currently losing $9 million a month - They admitted they enshittified & that it didnt work www.404media.co/character-ai...
You know, the thing is, I had drafted this piece a month ago, and then never published it, because I thought maybe it was too mean.
What a blech stupid take on the movie. No, you are just a terrible analyst and thinker. theconversation.com/an-overlooke...
An overlooked sci-fi movie shows how disruption by AI could be positive for society
The message in the film Annihilation is that disruption by AI needn’t be disastrous for humanity.
theconversation.com
