Ben Caudron
@bencaudron.bsky.social
Sociologist dissecting ‘Tech’ bullshit narratives, killing optimists’ crap on AI.
Head of Program at Erasmus College University.
Author, columnist & essayist.
Lover of fountain pens.
#sociology #discourse #tech #capitalism #AI
Head of Program at Erasmus College University.
Author, columnist & essayist.
Lover of fountain pens.
#sociology #discourse #tech #capitalism #AI
Reposted by Ben Caudron
I scribbled down all my shutdown-related intrusive thoughts and put them in a blog post.
open.substack.com/pub/davekarp...
open.substack.com/pub/davekarp...
The Shutdown Surrender
I just... I mean... Whatever.
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:44 PM
I scribbled down all my shutdown-related intrusive thoughts and put them in a blog post.
open.substack.com/pub/davekarp...
open.substack.com/pub/davekarp...
Reposted by Ben Caudron
Bahahahahaha The New York Times just printed an opinion piece declaring "AI is intelligent, so long as we redefine what intelligence means to include it. And soon AI will be conscious, because we'll just redefine consciousness too!"
Nothing means anything! Yay!
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/o...
Nothing means anything! Yay!
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/o...
Opinion | A.I. Is on Its Way to Something Even More Remarkable Than Intelligence
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Bahahahahaha The New York Times just printed an opinion piece declaring "AI is intelligent, so long as we redefine what intelligence means to include it. And soon AI will be conscious, because we'll just redefine consciousness too!"
Nothing means anything! Yay!
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/o...
Nothing means anything! Yay!
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/o...
Reposted by Ben Caudron
Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
September 6, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
Reposted by Ben Caudron
This is from good 5 years ago. I would still recommend all five books, even if even more rxcellent books on the far right have been published since.
The Far Right
The best books on the far right, as recommended by political scientist Cas Mudde, Stanley Wade Shelton UGAF Professor of International Affairs.
fivebooks.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:51 PM
This is from good 5 years ago. I would still recommend all five books, even if even more rxcellent books on the far right have been published since.
November 7, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Reposted by Ben Caudron
"Fascism and AI, whether or not they have the same goals, they sure are working to accelerate one another."
🗣️📢
www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...
🗣️📢
www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...
AI Is Supercharging the War on Libraries, Education, and Human Knowledge
"Fascism and AI, whether or not they have the same goals, they sure are working to accelerate one another."
www.404media.co
November 6, 2025 at 6:12 PM
"Fascism and AI, whether or not they have the same goals, they sure are working to accelerate one another."
🗣️📢
www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...
🗣️📢
www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...
It’s my birthday… gimme a nice present
🩵 Turquoise Tuesday 🩵 Platinum 3776 Shape of the Heart Bluebird #fountainpen
November 5, 2025 at 12:56 AM
It’s my birthday… gimme a nice present
Reposted by Ben Caudron
"Additionally, by accepting generative models’ normative rationality, the University reframes learning and research as
essentially consisting in the evaluation of models’ outputs." @katschwerzmann.bsky.social
arxiv.org/abs/2505.03513
essentially consisting in the evaluation of models’ outputs." @katschwerzmann.bsky.social
arxiv.org/abs/2505.03513
Ruled by the Representation Space: On the University's Embrace of Large Language Models
This paper explores the implications of universities' rapid adoption of large language models (LLMs) for studying, teaching, and research by analyzing the logics underpinning their representation spac...
arxiv.org
November 4, 2025 at 5:25 PM
"Additionally, by accepting generative models’ normative rationality, the University reframes learning and research as
essentially consisting in the evaluation of models’ outputs." @katschwerzmann.bsky.social
arxiv.org/abs/2505.03513
essentially consisting in the evaluation of models’ outputs." @katschwerzmann.bsky.social
arxiv.org/abs/2505.03513
So he’s gone. Cheney. It takes a lot of effort to try to avoid reducing him to the cynical war criminal who benefited from every bullet entering an innocent human being’s skull. And yet, there was indeed more to him. Whatever. Let him rot
November 4, 2025 at 7:30 PM
So he’s gone. Cheney. It takes a lot of effort to try to avoid reducing him to the cynical war criminal who benefited from every bullet entering an innocent human being’s skull. And yet, there was indeed more to him. Whatever. Let him rot
Reposted by Ben Caudron
You couldn't come up with a better visualization if you tried to!
Yesterday, Illinois State Police arrested a protester dressed as Jesus, draped in American flag. When he did not walk, they picked him up and carried him.
November 2, 2025 at 5:43 PM
You couldn't come up with a better visualization if you tried to!
Ouch… K-nock-out
November 3, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Ouch… K-nock-out
Reposted by Ben Caudron
lmao thank you president maduro
November 2, 2025 at 8:57 PM
lmao thank you president maduro
October 31, 2025 at 9:52 PM
October 31, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Reposted by Ben Caudron
“We write as 416 experienced qualitative researchers from 38 countries, to reject the use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) applications for Big Q Qualitative approaches…”
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
<span>We reject the use of generative artificial intelligence for reflexive qualitative research</span>
We write as 416 experienced qualitative researchers from 38 countries, to reject the use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) applications for Big Q Qu
papers.ssrn.com
October 30, 2025 at 11:23 PM
“We write as 416 experienced qualitative researchers from 38 countries, to reject the use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) applications for Big Q Qualitative approaches…”
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by Ben Caudron
We’ve entered a second age of orality. The written word’s influence is fading, replaced by short-form video slop. But if smartphones are to blame, so are the elites: as Noah McCormack argues, the history of literacy is the history of class.
We Used to Read Things in This Country | Noah McCormack
Technology changes us—and it is currently changing us for the worse.
thebaffler.com
October 28, 2025 at 6:22 PM
We’ve entered a second age of orality. The written word’s influence is fading, replaced by short-form video slop. But if smartphones are to blame, so are the elites: as Noah McCormack argues, the history of literacy is the history of class.
Bunch of hypocrites. Enjoying NSFW is every adult’s right, given that the content is within the boundaries of the law. I don’t need corporate interference, especially not from bankers. Go finance a war but stay out adults’ entertainment
October 26, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Bunch of hypocrites. Enjoying NSFW is every adult’s right, given that the content is within the boundaries of the law. I don’t need corporate interference, especially not from bankers. Go finance a war but stay out adults’ entertainment
Reposted by Ben Caudron
New article on CogPGT, "the world’s most powerful genetic predictor of IQ," plus other examples of how influential eugenics has become in recent years. I also explain why I think "IQ" is an utterly meaningless measure of "intelligence." (Ever heard of the "BITCH" test? Lol.) What do you think?
From Trump to TESCREAL, Eugenics Is Everywhere
Most people think eugenics largely vanished after the Nazis' atrocities. But that's not true: eugenics is alive and well, and probably more influential today than ever. (2,200 words.)
www.realtimetechpocalypse.com
October 26, 2025 at 4:24 PM
New article on CogPGT, "the world’s most powerful genetic predictor of IQ," plus other examples of how influential eugenics has become in recent years. I also explain why I think "IQ" is an utterly meaningless measure of "intelligence." (Ever heard of the "BITCH" test? Lol.) What do you think?
Reposted by Ben Caudron
> “Universities are not tech companies,” Olivia Guest and Iris van Rooij, two computational cognitive scientists at Radboud University in the Netherlands[.] “Our role is to foster critical thinking,” the researchers said, “not to follow industry trends uncritically.”
I was pleased to see @olivia.science and @irisvanrooij.bsky.social mentioned in this NYT article (gift link below). But I wish there was more analysis. Boasts and critiques re: #GenAI were strewn throughout, requiring readers to sort the concerns from the hyperbole. For example… (1/2)
Big Tech Makes Cal State Its A.I. Training Ground
www.nytimes.com
October 26, 2025 at 12:32 PM
> “Universities are not tech companies,” Olivia Guest and Iris van Rooij, two computational cognitive scientists at Radboud University in the Netherlands[.] “Our role is to foster critical thinking,” the researchers said, “not to follow industry trends uncritically.”
Must read! @apache.be hits the nerve of a debate almost lost: keep that nonsense out of our educational structure. Why should we instruct our students how to adjust to these utterly ridiculous systems? Learn them to think instead, that’s why society pays us!
I am close to tears; they listened and made an english version apache.be/2025/10/24/b...
@apache.be you rule 🖤
@apache.be you rule 🖤
October 24, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Must read! @apache.be hits the nerve of a debate almost lost: keep that nonsense out of our educational structure. Why should we instruct our students how to adjust to these utterly ridiculous systems? Learn them to think instead, that’s why society pays us!
Take that look of your face - oh I didn’t know - ‘cause you could have known. This is being prepared over the last 20 years.
US border patrol is asking companies to submit plans to turn standard 4x4 trucks into AI-powered watchtowers—combining radar, cameras, and autonomous tracking to extend surveillance on demand.
DHS Wants a Fleet of AI-Powered Surveillance Trucks
US border patrol is asking companies to submit plans to turn standard 4x4 trucks into AI-powered watchtowers—combining radar, cameras, and autonomous tracking to extend surveillance on demand.
wrd.cm
October 24, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Take that look of your face - oh I didn’t know - ‘cause you could have known. This is being prepared over the last 20 years.
Reposted by Ben Caudron
The AI industry wants us to believe AI superintelligence is the real threat from generative AI.
But that narrative was crafted to distract from the many ways genAI is being used to tear our societies apart, as we saw this week when a deepfake video rocked the Irish election. It must be reined in.
But that narrative was crafted to distract from the many ways genAI is being used to tear our societies apart, as we saw this week when a deepfake video rocked the Irish election. It must be reined in.
Generative AI is a societal disaster
Governments are deluding themselves into believing investment justifies allowing AI to upend society
disconnect.blog
October 24, 2025 at 10:12 AM
The AI industry wants us to believe AI superintelligence is the real threat from generative AI.
But that narrative was crafted to distract from the many ways genAI is being used to tear our societies apart, as we saw this week when a deepfake video rocked the Irish election. It must be reined in.
But that narrative was crafted to distract from the many ways genAI is being used to tear our societies apart, as we saw this week when a deepfake video rocked the Irish election. It must be reined in.
October 24, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Trying something completely different… I stumbled on this Japanese, the #Wancher Sekai World Tree Sandalwood that looks great and is very affordable. Can’t wait to try this one.
#FountainPens
#FountainPens
October 22, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Trying something completely different… I stumbled on this Japanese, the #Wancher Sekai World Tree Sandalwood that looks great and is very affordable. Can’t wait to try this one.
#FountainPens
#FountainPens
Some say the pen is mightier than the sword…
October 15, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Some say the pen is mightier than the sword…