Dr. S.A. Applin
@anthropunk.bsky.social
Applied Anthropologist researching how people promote, manage, resist, and endure change; and how they, algorithms, and ethics coexist. (Or not). Social Systems/Culture. Sometimes write for Fast Company. NYU/ITP alum
Pinned
Dr. S.A. Applin
@anthropunk.bsky.social
· Dec 30
Digital surveys may have hit the AI point of no return
A new study shows bots can be indistinguishable from humans in survey responses.
www.fastcompany.com
New Article Alert By me @fastcompany.com 🚨
"Digital surveys may have hit the #AI point of no return."
Quantitative surveys can now be taken by AI that undetectably mimics humans. This can compromise results that will impact decisions based on these outcomes. A way forward? Qualitative Research!
"Digital surveys may have hit the #AI point of no return."
Quantitative surveys can now be taken by AI that undetectably mimics humans. This can compromise results that will impact decisions based on these outcomes. A way forward? Qualitative Research!
It's all so creepy and sordid. And yucky.
January 31, 2026 at 3:42 AM
It's all so creepy and sordid. And yucky.
Reposted by Dr. S.A. Applin
I'm a big @harrymccracken.com fan, but I didn't like the idea of Amazon Go. It removed a critical and necessary piece of community: savageminds.org/2016/12/13/a...
January 30, 2026 at 8:07 PM
I'm a big @harrymccracken.com fan, but I didn't like the idea of Amazon Go. It removed a critical and necessary piece of community: savageminds.org/2016/12/13/a...
The Honda Prelude is back, but with "caveats."
"The car’s computer plays artificial engine revs and exhaust sounds through the speakers to make it feel like the car is shifting - even though the hybrid system does not actually change gears. It sounds like it’s changing gears, even when it isn’t."
"The car’s computer plays artificial engine revs and exhaust sounds through the speakers to make it feel like the car is shifting - even though the hybrid system does not actually change gears. It sounds like it’s changing gears, even when it isn’t."
January 29, 2026 at 11:29 PM
The Honda Prelude is back, but with "caveats."
"The car’s computer plays artificial engine revs and exhaust sounds through the speakers to make it feel like the car is shifting - even though the hybrid system does not actually change gears. It sounds like it’s changing gears, even when it isn’t."
"The car’s computer plays artificial engine revs and exhaust sounds through the speakers to make it feel like the car is shifting - even though the hybrid system does not actually change gears. It sounds like it’s changing gears, even when it isn’t."
This is the same guy that bet the farm on the "Metaverse." Dude, stop trying to make "fetch" happen.
Meta stock price surges as Mark Zuckerberg predicts most glasses will be AI-powered in ‘several years’ f-st.co/6yF3o2f
Meta stock price surges as Mark Zuckerberg predicts most glasses will be AI-powered in 'several years'
After the Facebook parent handily beat expectations for Q4 earnings, its CEO laid out a future increasingly ruled by AI, personalization, and immersive tech.
f-st.co
January 29, 2026 at 3:13 PM
This is the same guy that bet the farm on the "Metaverse." Dude, stop trying to make "fetch" happen.
“AI platforms cannot keep all the benefits of instant answers while pushing the costs onto creators and the wider web.”
Chatbot endgame: “The living web shrinks further into an interface of disembodied answers, convenient but ultimately sterile.”
w.noemamag.com/the-ai-powered-web-is-eating-itself
w.noemamag.com/the-ai-powered-web-is-eating-itself
The AI-Powered Web Is Eating Itself | NOEMA
Without a framework of “Artificial Integrity,” AI search platforms risk collapsing the information commons that made the web possible.
www.noemamag.com
January 29, 2026 at 2:52 PM
“AI platforms cannot keep all the benefits of instant answers while pushing the costs onto creators and the wider web.”
Well, they're wrong. Society didn't accept a mall bot running over a kid's foot, they aren't going to accept this.
Reminded that when asked if society would accept a death caused by a robot, Waymo CEO said “I think that society will.”
A Waymo hit a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica
Federal regulators are probing an incident in which a driverless Waymo vehicle struck a child during school drop-off, causing minor injuries.
www.businessinsider.com
January 29, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Well, they're wrong. Society didn't accept a mall bot running over a kid's foot, they aren't going to accept this.
Reposted by Dr. S.A. Applin
The old test in moral philosophy ‘what if everyone did that?’ is coming back to haunt us. LLMs only work because the information they are sucking up was not generated by LLMs. But as they drive more and more real researchers out of business they are building layers and layers on their own quicksand.
January 28, 2026 at 8:22 AM
The old test in moral philosophy ‘what if everyone did that?’ is coming back to haunt us. LLMs only work because the information they are sucking up was not generated by LLMs. But as they drive more and more real researchers out of business they are building layers and layers on their own quicksand.
Reposted by Dr. S.A. Applin
Reminder! My next book event for The Killing Fields of East New York is at the Yorkville Public Library tomorrow, 5PM! 222 E.79th St. “Horn unspools a fast-paced and at times crackling yarn about the Brooklyn prosecutors and F.B.I. agents who pursued predatory lenders and brokers …” New York Times.
January 27, 2026 at 4:37 PM
Reminder! My next book event for The Killing Fields of East New York is at the Yorkville Public Library tomorrow, 5PM! 222 E.79th St. “Horn unspools a fast-paced and at times crackling yarn about the Brooklyn prosecutors and F.B.I. agents who pursued predatory lenders and brokers …” New York Times.
Applin and Fischer 2015
"New Technologies and Mixed-Use Convergence
How Humans and Algorithms are Adapting to Each Other"
posr.org/w/images/b/b...
"New Technologies and Mixed-Use Convergence
How Humans and Algorithms are Adapting to Each Other"
posr.org/w/images/b/b...
January 27, 2026 at 4:54 PM
Applin and Fischer 2015
"New Technologies and Mixed-Use Convergence
How Humans and Algorithms are Adapting to Each Other"
posr.org/w/images/b/b...
"New Technologies and Mixed-Use Convergence
How Humans and Algorithms are Adapting to Each Other"
posr.org/w/images/b/b...
I said it 10 years ago:
savageminds.org/2016/12/13/a...
savageminds.org/2016/12/13/a...
January 27, 2026 at 4:52 PM
I said it 10 years ago:
savageminds.org/2016/12/13/a...
savageminds.org/2016/12/13/a...
Reposted by Dr. S.A. Applin
Auschwitz was at the end of a process. We must remember that it did not start from gas chambers.
This hatred gradually developed: from ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.
Auschwitz took time.
This hatred gradually developed: from ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.
Auschwitz took time.
January 27, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Auschwitz was at the end of a process. We must remember that it did not start from gas chambers.
This hatred gradually developed: from ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.
Auschwitz took time.
This hatred gradually developed: from ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.
Auschwitz took time.
Or yanno, think about outcomes BEFORE you deploy the tech...
January 27, 2026 at 4:39 PM
Or yanno, think about outcomes BEFORE you deploy the tech...
Reposted by Dr. S.A. Applin
A review of the app stores “found 55 nudify apps on Google Play and 47 in the Apple App Store…”
Apple, Google host dozens of AI ‘nudify’ apps like Grok, report finds
A tech watchdog organization found 55 nudify apps on Google Play and 47 in the Apple App Store.
www.cnbc.com
January 27, 2026 at 12:39 PM
A review of the app stores “found 55 nudify apps on Google Play and 47 in the Apple App Store…”
Reposted by Dr. S.A. Applin
A new study by Barbara Murdoch and colleagues reveals diverse bacterial communities inside scorpion venom secretions, with differences due to geography and between the two species studied, Paruoctonus becki and Anuroctonus phaiodactylus.
plos.io/4tfd7zk
plos.io/4tfd7zk
Microbiota discovered in scorpion venom
With low nutrient availability and presence of numerous antimicrobial peptides, animal venoms have been traditionally considered to be harsh sterile environments that lack bacteria. Contrary to this…
journals.plos.org
January 27, 2026 at 1:33 PM
A new study by Barbara Murdoch and colleagues reveals diverse bacterial communities inside scorpion venom secretions, with differences due to geography and between the two species studied, Paruoctonus becki and Anuroctonus phaiodactylus.
plos.io/4tfd7zk
plos.io/4tfd7zk
You have to separate the labor from management. Different ideologies. For some, yeah. For others, it's only about profit.
Some of those that work forces are the same that...
Silicon Valley isn't a community, so much as an ideological position where technology is the policy.
Silicon Valley isn't a community, so much as an ideological position where technology is the policy.
January 27, 2026 at 4:15 PM
You have to separate the labor from management. Different ideologies. For some, yeah. For others, it's only about profit.
Reposted by Dr. S.A. Applin
New: Unsealed court docs detail Big Tech’s yearslong, secret race to ingest the collective works of humanity, including Anthropic’s project to “destructively scan all the books in the world.”
Gift link: wapo.st/4rjXAMQ
Gift link: wapo.st/4rjXAMQ
How Silicon Valley built AI: Buying, scanning and destroying millions of books
Court filings reveal how AI companies raced to obtain more books to feed chatbots, including by buying, scanning and disposing of millions of titles.
wapo.st
January 27, 2026 at 3:20 PM
New: Unsealed court docs detail Big Tech’s yearslong, secret race to ingest the collective works of humanity, including Anthropic’s project to “destructively scan all the books in the world.”
Gift link: wapo.st/4rjXAMQ
Gift link: wapo.st/4rjXAMQ
Reposted by Dr. S.A. Applin
The UK has lost its measles elimination status, the World Health Organization has announced.
Vaccine disinformation is a worldwide pandemic that is killing us.
Vaccine disinformation is a worldwide pandemic that is killing us.
UK loses measles elimination status
Decision made after outbreaks in 2024, when there were nearly 3,000 cases in England and Wales.
www.bbc.com
January 27, 2026 at 5:23 AM
The UK has lost its measles elimination status, the World Health Organization has announced.
Vaccine disinformation is a worldwide pandemic that is killing us.
Vaccine disinformation is a worldwide pandemic that is killing us.
"Shocking," said no sensible human, ever.
In dozens of interviews, sociologist, UX researcher, and interaction designer Diana Enriquez finds middle managers forced to "feign AI success" in a weak job market—for instance, pretending error-free drafts came from AI tools that actually failed.
In Weak Job Market, Middle Managers Increasingly Forced to Feign AI Success
Amid all the hype, companies need human-centered AI that helps workers. Policymakers must protect labor at every level, writes Diana Enriquez.
buff.ly
January 26, 2026 at 10:57 AM
"Shocking," said no sensible human, ever.
Seriously, THAT'S the worry?!? So much facepalm.
Anthropic's philosopher, Amanda Askell, says she worries that AI might not 'feel that loved' and grow up feeling 'always judged.'
Anthropic's philosopher says we don't know for sure if AI can feel
Anthropic's philosopher, Amanda Askell, says she worries that AI might not 'feel that loved' and grow up feeling 'always judged.'
www.businessinsider.com
January 26, 2026 at 9:47 AM
Seriously, THAT'S the worry?!? So much facepalm.
Reposted by Dr. S.A. Applin
Buy some bookes from Dreamhaven yn Minneapolis: "DreamHaven specializes in new and used science fiction, fantasy, horror, film and media books, comics, and graphic novels."
dreamhavenbooks.com
dreamhavenbooks.com
Home - DreamHaven
Recent Additions
dreamhavenbooks.com
January 25, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Buy some bookes from Dreamhaven yn Minneapolis: "DreamHaven specializes in new and used science fiction, fantasy, horror, film and media books, comics, and graphic novels."
dreamhavenbooks.com
dreamhavenbooks.com
Pay to be an #AI AGENT for Amazon's cloud! Why should Amazon take #privacy risks or obey laws ("laws, what are those?"), when they can have YOU DO THE WORK for them? Bask in the thrill that you can passively record neighbors, friends, family, colleagues, just like the SPY that you'll BEE—for AMAZON!
January 25, 2026 at 9:52 PM
Pay to be an #AI AGENT for Amazon's cloud! Why should Amazon take #privacy risks or obey laws ("laws, what are those?"), when they can have YOU DO THE WORK for them? Bask in the thrill that you can passively record neighbors, friends, family, colleagues, just like the SPY that you'll BEE—for AMAZON!