Asad Sayeed (also @asayeed[@zirk.us])
@asayeed.bsky.social
Thought leader, whose main act of thought leadership is to declare myself thought leader. Computational psycholinguist at the University of Gothenburg.
Reposted by Asad Sayeed (also @asayeed[@zirk.us])
Reposted by Asad Sayeed (also @asayeed[@zirk.us])
We wrote a thing -- showing you don't need LLMs to model language production dynamics like the tendency for speakers to reduce predictable words. All you have to do is better model how speech rate varies depending on where a word is and how long the utterance is. arxiv.org/abs/2512.23659
Less is more: Probabilistic reduction is best explained by small-scale predictability measures
The primary research questions of this paper center on defining the amount of context that is necessary and/or appropriate when investigating the relationship between language model probabilities and ...
arxiv.org
December 30, 2025 at 1:48 PM
We wrote a thing -- showing you don't need LLMs to model language production dynamics like the tendency for speakers to reduce predictable words. All you have to do is better model how speech rate varies depending on where a word is and how long the utterance is. arxiv.org/abs/2512.23659
Reposted by Asad Sayeed (also @asayeed[@zirk.us])
The rabbit will spread its wings and tentacles and fly to the ice planet Yuggoth, where the Lovecraftian cordyceps fungus controlling its nervous system will send fruiting bodies out through its eye sockets and anus then release its fuliginous spores beneath the gaze of the dying stars.
Beautiful.
Beautiful.
December 28, 2025 at 1:16 PM
The rabbit will spread its wings and tentacles and fly to the ice planet Yuggoth, where the Lovecraftian cordyceps fungus controlling its nervous system will send fruiting bodies out through its eye sockets and anus then release its fuliginous spores beneath the gaze of the dying stars.
Beautiful.
Beautiful.
Reposted by Asad Sayeed (also @asayeed[@zirk.us])
If your pet rabbit molts, do not worry.
It is merely preparing to transition from its current instar into its final form.
Once this process is complete …
/1
It is merely preparing to transition from its current instar into its final form.
Once this process is complete …
/1
December 28, 2025 at 1:15 PM
If your pet rabbit molts, do not worry.
It is merely preparing to transition from its current instar into its final form.
Once this process is complete …
/1
It is merely preparing to transition from its current instar into its final form.
Once this process is complete …
/1
Reposted by Asad Sayeed (also @asayeed[@zirk.us])
Get in loser, we're going west to diminish
July 13, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Get in loser, we're going west to diminish
Reposted by Asad Sayeed (also @asayeed[@zirk.us])
A happy and peaceful Christmas to all our followers.
December 19, 2025 at 9:15 AM
A happy and peaceful Christmas to all our followers.
Reposted by Asad Sayeed (also @asayeed[@zirk.us])
With this piece of bread on the ground in Ottawa, Canada and the one below in Perth, Australia, @drstip.bsky.social and I have successfully created an Earth sandwich.
The hot dog vs sandwich debate is concluded.
If the Earth is sandwiched, everything is a sandwich.
HAPPY EARTH SANDWICH DAY!
The hot dog vs sandwich debate is concluded.
If the Earth is sandwiched, everything is a sandwich.
HAPPY EARTH SANDWICH DAY!
December 14, 2025 at 1:09 PM
With this piece of bread on the ground in Ottawa, Canada and the one below in Perth, Australia, @drstip.bsky.social and I have successfully created an Earth sandwich.
The hot dog vs sandwich debate is concluded.
If the Earth is sandwiched, everything is a sandwich.
HAPPY EARTH SANDWICH DAY!
The hot dog vs sandwich debate is concluded.
If the Earth is sandwiched, everything is a sandwich.
HAPPY EARTH SANDWICH DAY!
Ged and the Nameless One
December 15, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Ged and the Nameless One
google search's latest nonsense on mobile is to make it annoying to get behind the AI answer lightbox to the actual search results
December 5, 2025 at 6:48 PM
google search's latest nonsense on mobile is to make it annoying to get behind the AI answer lightbox to the actual search results
Reposted by Asad Sayeed (also @asayeed[@zirk.us])
If those people aren't constantly angry, they might start to look for who to *really* blame for the reason the world is so shit. That's why the rich push so hard to keep them focused on marginalized groups that are both so powerful to bend the world to their whim, but so weak to be beaten by a RT.
November 24, 2025 at 6:24 PM
If those people aren't constantly angry, they might start to look for who to *really* blame for the reason the world is so shit. That's why the rich push so hard to keep them focused on marginalized groups that are both so powerful to bend the world to their whim, but so weak to be beaten by a RT.
Reposted by Asad Sayeed (also @asayeed[@zirk.us])
I was in Sweden this week! 🇸🇪❄️ Many thanks to Nikolai Ilinykh for inviting me to give a talk at the University of Gothenburg. I enjoyed having inspiring chats and delicious food with Sharid Loáiciga, @asayeed.bsky.social, Simon Dobnik, Hyewon Jang and Chris Howes at CLASP. Much appreciated! 😊🎄
November 22, 2025 at 10:27 AM
I was in Sweden this week! 🇸🇪❄️ Many thanks to Nikolai Ilinykh for inviting me to give a talk at the University of Gothenburg. I enjoyed having inspiring chats and delicious food with Sharid Loáiciga, @asayeed.bsky.social, Simon Dobnik, Hyewon Jang and Chris Howes at CLASP. Much appreciated! 😊🎄
forget AI, what will destroy the internet is 100billion factor (or however many it is now) authentication
November 20, 2025 at 7:14 PM
forget AI, what will destroy the internet is 100billion factor (or however many it is now) authentication
Reposted by Asad Sayeed (also @asayeed[@zirk.us])
oh no not This .
November 18, 2025 at 2:48 PM
oh no not This .
Reposted by Asad Sayeed (also @asayeed[@zirk.us])
Yes, Jeffrey Epstein was a terrible person. But he did more to undermine Americans' faith in capitalism than anyone from DSA ever did.
November 14, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Yes, Jeffrey Epstein was a terrible person. But he did more to undermine Americans' faith in capitalism than anyone from DSA ever did.
I've been saying this for a while.
on a meta level, i think it is a bad idea for people who are opposing tech-fascism to marry that opposition to specific positions on philosophy of mind
this is because you presumably want allies who might disagree with you about those things
this is because you presumably want allies who might disagree with you about those things
November 18, 2025 at 4:55 PM
I've been saying this for a while.
Reposted by Asad Sayeed (also @asayeed[@zirk.us])
By that point, though, the heavy lifting of the Radch was already done. And to date, I have only read CP and the Hydrogen Sonata.
By the same token, people who were immersed in Banks' work almost never read CJ Cherryh, because her work wasn't widely available in the UK.
By the same token, people who were immersed in Banks' work almost never read CJ Cherryh, because her work wasn't widely available in the UK.
November 18, 2025 at 1:51 PM
By that point, though, the heavy lifting of the Radch was already done. And to date, I have only read CP and the Hydrogen Sonata.
By the same token, people who were immersed in Banks' work almost never read CJ Cherryh, because her work wasn't widely available in the UK.
By the same token, people who were immersed in Banks' work almost never read CJ Cherryh, because her work wasn't widely available in the UK.
shaka, before the walls fell
November 18, 2025 at 4:15 PM
shaka, before the walls fell
I just cut a cake with a cookie @datatherapist.bsky.social
November 18, 2025 at 9:52 AM
I just cut a cake with a cookie @datatherapist.bsky.social
Reposted by Asad Sayeed (also @asayeed[@zirk.us])
We need our policymakers everywhere to be attuned to the needs of the people, not the whims of CEOs -- and especially not CEOs in the grip of TESCREAList fantasies.
Thank you @abeba.bsky.social and @krisshrishak.bsky.social for speaking up
www.techpolicy.press/ai-hype-is-s...
Thank you @abeba.bsky.social and @krisshrishak.bsky.social for speaking up
www.techpolicy.press/ai-hype-is-s...
AI Hype Is Steering EU Policy Off Course | TechPolicy.Press
Kris Shrishak and Abeba Birhane say policymakers should stop peddling in unscientific discourse about "AGI" and "superintelligence."
www.techpolicy.press
November 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM
We need our policymakers everywhere to be attuned to the needs of the people, not the whims of CEOs -- and especially not CEOs in the grip of TESCREAList fantasies.
Thank you @abeba.bsky.social and @krisshrishak.bsky.social for speaking up
www.techpolicy.press/ai-hype-is-s...
Thank you @abeba.bsky.social and @krisshrishak.bsky.social for speaking up
www.techpolicy.press/ai-hype-is-s...
Reposted by Asad Sayeed (also @asayeed[@zirk.us])
For anyone who's struggled with variable spelling practices before modern printing, there's a summary of what's "interchangeable" in Thomas Wright's Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English. 2 vols. London, 1857.
#orthography #English #language #dialect #manuscripts #medieval
#orthography #English #language #dialect #manuscripts #medieval
November 16, 2025 at 2:58 PM
For anyone who's struggled with variable spelling practices before modern printing, there's a summary of what's "interchangeable" in Thomas Wright's Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English. 2 vols. London, 1857.
#orthography #English #language #dialect #manuscripts #medieval
#orthography #English #language #dialect #manuscripts #medieval
Reposted by Asad Sayeed (also @asayeed[@zirk.us])
While the media often focuses on identity, any election with a socialist / progressive candidate will come down to class and capital accumulation.
November 6, 2025 at 12:40 AM
While the media often focuses on identity, any election with a socialist / progressive candidate will come down to class and capital accumulation.
Anyone interested in spending a semester to a year as a guest prof in Gothenburg? Let me know...
November 15, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Anyone interested in spending a semester to a year as a guest prof in Gothenburg? Let me know...
Reposted by Asad Sayeed (also @asayeed[@zirk.us])
This is as bad as anything proposed by Reform.
Leaving refugees in permanent limbo and unable to build a new life in the UK would be a complete abdication of our humanitarian responsibilities
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Leaving refugees in permanent limbo and unable to build a new life in the UK would be a complete abdication of our humanitarian responsibilities
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays
Shabana Mahmood is expected to say the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, in major changes to the UK's asylum and immigration system.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 6:43 AM
This is as bad as anything proposed by Reform.
Leaving refugees in permanent limbo and unable to build a new life in the UK would be a complete abdication of our humanitarian responsibilities
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Leaving refugees in permanent limbo and unable to build a new life in the UK would be a complete abdication of our humanitarian responsibilities
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
SACing for EACL this year and pleasantly surprised by how many papers on my docket have the proper 3 reviews by this point. Just to cut through the doominess and grousing (which are perfectly legit).
November 15, 2025 at 4:23 PM
SACing for EACL this year and pleasantly surprised by how many papers on my docket have the proper 3 reviews by this point. Just to cut through the doominess and grousing (which are perfectly legit).
someone signed me up as a reviewer for a conference in OpenReview, I actually emailed them to remove me, but instead what they're doing is a fishing net sort of thing where they keep everyone signed up and just hope that some people actually do a review. So they never deleted me.
November 15, 2025 at 3:45 PM
someone signed me up as a reviewer for a conference in OpenReview, I actually emailed them to remove me, but instead what they're doing is a fishing net sort of thing where they keep everyone signed up and just hope that some people actually do a review. So they never deleted me.