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blair
@blairaf.com
3.2K followers 250 following 780 posts
Asst. Prof, Amii Fellow, sci-fi creator @ UAlberta

Transfeminist AI governance, ethics, policy: blairaf.com

Gay trans cyborg warriors vs. AI monsters: objecttype3.app
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blairaf.com
blair @blairaf.com · Apr 10
Why is AI governance so often ineffective at preventing AI from harming people and the planet? My new paper Transfeminist AI Governance addresses this question, now out in this month's issue of First Monday: firstmonday.org/ojs/index.ph...
Abstract for a paper entitled "Transfeminist AI Governance". The abstract reads: "This paper re-imagines the governance of artificial intelligence (AI) through a transfeminist lens, focusing on challenges of power, participation, and injustice, and on opportunities for advancing equity, community-based resistance, and transformative change. AI governance is a field of research and practice seeking to maximize benefits and minimize harms caused by AI systems. Unfortunately, AI governance practices are frequently ineffective at preventing AI systems from harming people and the environment, with historically marginalized groups such as trans people being particularly vulnerable to harm. Building upon trans and feminist theories of ethics, I introduce an approach to transfeminist AI governance. Applying a transfeminist lens in combination with a critical self-reflexivity methodology, I retroactively reinterpret findings from three empirical studies of AI governance practices in Canada and globally. In three reflections on my findings, I show that large-scale AI governance systems structurally prioritize the needs of industry over marginalized communities. As a result, AI governance is limited by power imbalances and exclusionary norms. My reflections reveal that re-grounding AI governance in transfeminist ethical principles can support AI governance researchers, practitioners, and organizers in addressing those limitations."
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blairaf.com
AI industry
Photo of a group of three people gathered around two lobsters facing off with one another. They are throwing money on the ground around the lobsters, and the three people and both lobsters are all labeled "AI investors"
November 21, 2024 at 1:25 AM
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blairaf.com
Me reading Canadian news rn
A dog with big ears on a fuzzy pink blanket rubbing her paw against her face in a room with dark pink lighting. The dog looks very disappointed as though she is shaking her head with her face in her palm
December 18, 2024 at 2:17 AM
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anabrandusescu.bsky.social
the onion article in science & tech on HmmAI, headline: ai chatbot that only responds 'huh' valued at $200 billion
December 23, 2025 at 6:50 PM
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blairaf.com
Reminder that Microsoft admitted to the French Senate that they "cannot guarantee" data sovereignty. If the US CLOUD Act compels them to provide foreign data to the US gov, Microsoft will provide the data

www.theregister.com/2025/07/25/m...
Microsoft exec admits it 'cannot guarantee' data sovereignty
Updated: Under oath in French Senate, exec says it would be compelled – however unlikely – to pass local customer info to US admin
www.theregister.com
December 9, 2025 at 9:05 PM
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blairaf.com
The post even acknowledges that Microsoft cannot fully guarantee continuity of service if they are ordered by another country to suspend or halt operations in Canada
Text reading: Finally, in the face of geopolitical uncertainty, continuity is essential. Microsoft pledges to rigorously defend the uninterrupted operation of cloud services for Canadian government customers. If ever confronted with an order to suspend or halt operations in Canada, we will pursue every available legal and diplomatic avenue—including litigation—to protect access to critical infrastructure. Our track record demonstrates our resolve to stand up for customer rights. We remain ready to reinforce this commitment through robust contractual agreements, confident in our ability to ensure the ongoing operation of Canadian datacentres. Ultimately, these efforts aim to deepen trust between people, institutions, and nations, grounded in mutual respect and a shared commitment to advancing Canada’s digital future. Microsoft’s digital infrastructure in Canada is not built on wheels. It is permanent infrastructure, and fully subject to Canadian laws and regulations. We recognize and respect that our operations in Canada are governed by Canadian law, just as we adhere to local laws in every country where we operate.
December 9, 2025 at 4:24 PM
blairaf.com
"Microsoft are protectors of Canadian sovereignty" is astonishing mental gymnastics and it gets worse the more you think about it
December 22, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Reposted by blair
perhaxis.bsky.social
What’s augmentation-washing? In a new piece out at @techpolicypress.bsky.social, we argue that “augmentation” language reframes automation as empowerment—masking real shifts in control, workload, and labor relations.
dwj88.bsky.social Dean Jackson @dwj88.bsky.social · 4d
“Cobots” are framed as collaborators—but in practice, automation reorganizes workers around machines. This is augmentation-washing: empowerment language concealing less agency and more labor.

Sarah Fox and Samantha Shorey for @techpolicypress.bsky.social

www.techpolicy.press/how-augmenta...
How Augmentation-Washing Hides Labor Automation | TechPolicy.Press
Sarah E. Fox and Samantha Shorey discuss how corporate “cobots” reduce control and intensify demands—and what policy can do to protect worker agency.
www.techpolicy.press
December 22, 2025 at 3:10 PM
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blairaf.com
Biggest challenge for digital sovereignty rn is that digital sovereignty doesn't actually exist
December 10, 2025 at 9:18 PM
blairaf.com
got her some boots she doesn't like the boots
Huxley the dog has brown white and black fur and is wearing black doggie boots
December 22, 2025 at 4:48 PM
blairaf.com
Finally updated my Research page for the first time since April so you can peruse all my latest rants all in one place www.blairaf.com/research/
Research - Blair Attard-Frost
My research is qualitative and interdisciplinary. I combine theories and methods from social sciences, humanities, management, and engineering to produce unique frameworks and actionable insights.
www.blairaf.com
December 19, 2025 at 9:38 PM
blairaf.com
sunpilled & cozymaxxing
Huxley the dog is laying on a fuzzy blanket on the couch with sunlight coming in through the balcony window in the background
December 19, 2025 at 7:22 PM
blairaf.com
The being trans in academia experience
December 19, 2025 at 4:07 AM
blairaf.com
"I'm logging off LinkedIn for the year thanks for a great year happy holidays byeeee"

LinkedIn guys in my dms: 'hey blair great post would love to connect" "hi blair I'm trying to get into AI ethics where do I start" "hi blair let's connect on zoom?" "hello madam"
December 19, 2025 at 1:18 AM
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biancawylie.com
The instinct to add rather than subtract when it comes to policy – or any kind of problem-solving – runs deep.
www.policyready.ca/policymaking...
Less as more: decomputing in the age of tech accelerationism — Resources for today's policymakers
By Bianca Wylie In 2021, in the Journal of Social Computing, historian Jonnie Penn made the argument for “Algorithmic Silence: A Call to Decomputerize.” As he summarizes:   “Tech critics become...
www.policyready.ca
December 16, 2025 at 10:57 PM
blairaf.com
linkedin .com is a website where you will instantly lose followers if you say the word trans
December 18, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Reposted by blair
mkirschenbaum.bsky.social
PSA: your graduate program, even if in the humanities, needs an AI policy. Now.
December 18, 2025 at 5:28 PM
blairaf.com
When I told people I was doing a PhD they would ask what I study and were very surprised to find out that I also teach, but now when I tell people I'm a prof they ask what I teach and are very surprised that I also do research
December 18, 2025 at 6:38 PM
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carlbergstrom.com
Computer scientists: "So with machine learning we can extract subtle patterns from massive datasets. What shall we do with it?"

Business school professors, every single time: "You know, I think phrenology got a raw deal in the late 1800s."
Can Your Face Predict Your Salary? Using AI Personality Assessments in Hiring
A new study from Wharton faculty explores how AI can extract personality traits from facial images — and what that means for your career.
knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu
December 11, 2025 at 7:36 PM
blairaf.com
I like teaching my AI governance class and I already miss my students but it is nice having a Wednesday to myself where I don't have say the word governance over and over until I dissociate
December 18, 2025 at 2:24 AM
blairaf.com
Every day we get closer to a major political figure making Butlerian Jihad part of their policy platform

www.theregister.com/2025/12/17/d...
Bernie Sanders proposes AI datacenter moratorium
: Vermont lawmaker proposes DC moratorium to give Congress time to rein in the AI boom
www.theregister.com
December 18, 2025 at 2:07 AM
blairaf.com
LinkedIn wrapped is a thing now have we reached Peak Wrapped?
December 17, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Reposted by blair
blairaf.com
Big challenge for Canada's "sovereign AI" strategy is many political leaders haven't fully internalized that the US poses an existential threat to Canada, this results in naive assumptions that the US will follow rule of law & lazy gaslighting where OpenAI & MS are champions of Canadian sovereignty
blairaf.com blair @blairaf.com · 17d
The post even acknowledges that Microsoft cannot fully guarantee continuity of service if they are ordered by another country to suspend or halt operations in Canada
Text reading: Finally, in the face of geopolitical uncertainty, continuity is essential. Microsoft pledges to rigorously defend the uninterrupted operation of cloud services for Canadian government customers. If ever confronted with an order to suspend or halt operations in Canada, we will pursue every available legal and diplomatic avenue—including litigation—to protect access to critical infrastructure. Our track record demonstrates our resolve to stand up for customer rights. We remain ready to reinforce this commitment through robust contractual agreements, confident in our ability to ensure the ongoing operation of Canadian datacentres. Ultimately, these efforts aim to deepen trust between people, institutions, and nations, grounded in mutual respect and a shared commitment to advancing Canada’s digital future. Microsoft’s digital infrastructure in Canada is not built on wheels. It is permanent infrastructure, and fully subject to Canadian laws and regulations. We recognize and respect that our operations in Canada are governed by Canadian law, just as we adhere to local laws in every country where we operate.
December 9, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Reposted by blair
blairaf.com
Unclear how a $19 billion dependency on a US tech giant will "promote and protect Canada's digital sovereignty"

blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issue...
Microsoft Deepens Its Commitment to Canada with Landmark $19B AI Investment
Today, Microsoft is announcing the most important commitment in Microsoft Canada’s history. We’re adding to our investments – with a total of $19 billion CAD between 2023 and 2027, including more than...
blogs.microsoft.com
December 9, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by blair
trans.bsky.social
meanwhile, the US attorney general also wants to categorize trans equality activists as belonging to “designated terrorist organizations”.

a leaked Justice Department memo from December 9th added “radical gender ideology” as part of its definition of “domestic terrorism”.
December 17, 2025 at 7:27 PM