A lot of people don’t realize the dust bowl wasn’t a natural phenomenon. It happened when agrobusiness interests dramatically transformed the plains without regard for drought, and created vicious dust storms that choked whole families to death. That’s what I think of when I read about data centers.

The risk isn’t the technology. The risk is in people who should know better getting whipped up in the hype and helping normalize tech’s narratives so we don’t pay attention to (and rein in) what they’re actually doing in the present.

🚨NEW INQUIRY! - Behind the Face of AI🚨 In this short comic, two data workers describe their work impersonating an “AI” chatbot for a major social media platform. Sleepless nights, penalties for sounding “too human,” and emotional drain are just a few of the job hazards. ➡️ data-workers.org/france

I relate to these words and sentiment so much and been thinking about the refusal to participate in the "AI" clownery a lot. We love to pretend we have no agency (especially at work), but that just helps everyone that doesn't want us to have any.

Shane Anderson 🏳️‍🌈@shaneanderson.bsky.social · 8mo ago

"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future." - @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit. Incredible words. Listen to all of it!

One lesson I wish tech folks would grasp is to stop building and releasing frameworks out of academic theory without testing it in... you know, real world scenarios.

Compulsary annual post: Another great #ffConf yesterday! Had no signal in the venue, but even if I did, too busy thinking and chatting to people to be posting. It felt good to bring some of our team again. Sad I didn't get to talk to most people I wanted, but energy and time were not on my side.

Please ask your employers to support these scholarships! If you're able to, please consider chipping in (the ticket platform allows you to throw in even a few quid 😉, if I'm not mistaken). Your marginalised/future junior colleagues will thank you, speaking from experience.

rem / Remy Sharp @remysharp.com · 10mo ago

We don't have a sponsor for #FFConf 2025 scholarship programme (we didn't last year too) I really don't want to have to add this terrible sticker again… The sponsorship allows us budget not only for ticket allocation, but also travel and hotel for under represented groups. 💌 events@leftlogic.com

We need to teach people the difference between being uncomfortable and being unsafe. Because the discomfort of the safest people is endangering the most vulnerable, all day every day.

“ICE protestors […] are turning what the tech companies see as an asset into a vulnerability, and they’re exploiting it. There is no one around to stop them […] They have turned these indifferent and extractive technologies into instruments of protest. They are weaponizing the accountability sink.”

Brian Merchant@bcmerchant.bsky.social · last yr.

I spent some time at the site where protestors incinerated five Waymos—all lined up neatly in a row in downtown LA—and spoke to journalists, eyewitnesses and activists who were there. This is how protestors weaponized Waymos and Lime scooters, and turned them into icons of the anti-ICE uprising

one of my favorite chatgpt commentaries is "you dont need AI i can also drink a bottle of water and lie to you"

“I just don’t know how you go around, asking everyone first. I just don’t see how that would work” It would work, if your lot weren't greedy rapists.

David Slack@slack2thefuture.bsky.social · last yr.

If your business model doesn’t work without breaking the law, then you’re not in business. You’re in organized crime.

How did we get from "Do not use Wikipedia as a source" to "ask hallucinating chatbot everything"?

Using accessibility applications to legitimate generative AI is seriously gross. "But an AI that describes images helps the blind" Someone chose that image and put it where people can see it. *They* can describe it.

OpenAI has to be the most insufferable company in the world. They can steal from the whole world & guzzle all resources. But no one can give them a taste of their own medicine even a little bit. How long till they use this to say give us even more resources & this is why we can't release anything.

Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 2y ago

OpenAI says it has evidence China’s DeepSeek used its model to train competitor https://www.ft.com/content/a0dfedd1-5255-4fa9-8ccc-1fe01de87ea6

Some requirements of a civilised society: ✊🏾Healthcare for all ✊🏼Education for all ✊🏽Accessibility for all

As a disabled web accessibility practitioner. This pisses me off. Extremely. GENERATIVE AI DOES NOT AND CANNOT EVER REPRESENT DISABLED PEOPLE. Just fucking hire disabled people like me who know what they're doing. Believing AI over disabled people is ABLEISM and DEHUMANIZING. For fucks sake.

Publisher: Do you want to put an LLM clause in the copyright statement? Me: Definitely. How specific can we get? Publisher: As specific as you like.

This. Good reasons for using alt text. Also I'd add: not everyone can immediately understand what you mean if you only use an image to convey that information. The amount of times I stared at an image, wondering WTF does this mean... It could be as harmless as repurposing a meme I don't know.

alex@dremenec.bsky.social · 2y ago

Generally we think of alt-text as the domain of those with accessibility needs. However alt-text is useful for many reasons, which benefit your viewers, as well as you, the creator!

Thiiiiiiis. A checklist doesn't always prove your site is accessible. Test with users! Learn what tools they're using. Find the gaps that can lead to creative solutions. I always rail against the idea that meeting accessibility needs means stifling creativity; I think it actually unlocks it.

Crystal Preston-Watson@scopicengineer.com · 2y ago

It might be controversial to say but failing WCAG to provide a solution that provides improved accessibility isn't a bad thing. I rather have that type of failure than failure due to lack of care or chasing after quick fixes.

Hey Blue Sky people! There are so many #ffconf people on here that I had to make an account. Also, as usual, the conference on Friday was an absolute banger and a joy. Can't wait for next year already ❤️