Alexandra Mateescu
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cariatida.bsky.social
Alexandra Mateescu
@cariatida.bsky.social
330 followers 310 following 47 posts
RIP Social Media. Researcher @ Data & Society, living in Boston | labor, technology, care | tetrapyloctomy & entroponetics | Labor & Tech newsletter: http://bit.ly/2Fv5xfX | https://acmateescu.com/
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cariatida.bsky.social
Alexandra Mateescu @cariatida.bsky.social · Sep 11
Sharing a snapshot of a project I’ve been working on w/collaborators Zoe West & Sanjay Pinto at Cornell ILR School, looking at genAI in the fashion modeling industry. AI-generated models have been turning up a lot - H&M, a Guess ad, Luigi(!) in Shein’s catalog… datasociety.net/points/fashi...
Fashion’s Data Doubles
In their research on how AI is reshaping modeling work, Alexandra Mateescu, Zoë West, and Sanjay Pinto find a situation ripe for labor exploitation.
datasociety.net
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
thrasherxy.bsky.social
"Remembering Alice Wong: Writer, Advocate, Friend"

Steven W. Thrasher on Meeting and Collaborating with the Outspoken Founder of the Disability Visibility Project

published by @literaryhub.bsky.social | art by @mollycrabapple.bsky.social lithub.com/remembering-...
Remembering Alice Wong: Writer, Advocate, Friend
Though we were in frequent conversation for a decade, I only got to meet my friend Alice Wong in person just once. And when I did, I  was a bundle of nerves—and that was before she cussed me out wi…
lithub.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:22 PM
cariatida.bsky.social
"...she used the same phrasing ChatGPT had given back to her: precise, clinical, flattened language...Her deep fears were now encased in borrowed phrases, translated into a format she thought I would recognize as legitimate medical concerns..." www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
What we lose when we surrender care to algorithms | Eric Reinhart
A dangerous faith in AI is sweeping American healthcare – with consequences for the basis of society itself
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
weizenbauminstitut.bsky.social
⚠️ How are workers led movements against AI shaping climate action in the tech industry? Join us for a book presentation on worker led movements by Tamara Kneese (Data & Society) with Sana Ahmad (Weizenbaum-Institute). Register now: buff.ly/SnAZkHi @tamigraoh.bsky.social, @datasociety.bsky.social
Discussion: Worker Led Movements against AI. With Tamara Kneese (Data & Society) and Sana Ahmad (Weizenbaum-Institute). November 17, 2025, 18h-20h, Online Event. Book Cover of Tamaras Book co-authored book „Notes Toward a Digital Workers’ Inquiry”
November 11, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
chanda.blacksky.app
Turns out a lot of Americans understand that trans people aren’t the reason shit is expensive and people are being starved
November 5, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
chicanocyborg.bsky.social
The basic takeaway from Wong and Warzel's Atlantic piece last week: big tech is financing data-centers at break neck speed by packaging securitized debt on hypothetical gains from super intelligence. Great. 🙃
matteowong.bsky.social Matteo Wong @matteowong.bsky.social · 23d
Hundreds of billions spent on AI with little to show, a potential $1 trillion IPO without a path to profit, byzantine financial arrangements that, yes, can be sorted in tranches. @cwarzel.bsky.social and I on how the AI boom could come crashing down:

www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Here’s How the AI Crash Happens
The U.S. is becoming an Nvidia-state.
www.theatlantic.com
November 3, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
borderless.bsky.social
Starvation is always a policy choice. Just like homelessness.
broadwaybabyto.bsky.social Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 19d
The USDA is the fail safe for SNAP.

They have a contingency fund to ensure it’s covered in the event of a shutdown.

They’re refusing.

Grocery stores stepped up to try and help by offering discounts to any SNAP recipients and the USDA told them they had to stop.

Starvation as a policy choice.
November 3, 2025 at 8:52 AM
cariatida.bsky.social
It's kind of funny the idea that a $20K robot housekeeper is a novel, dystopian loss of privacy when for millennia poor people have had *very* intimate views into the daily lives of the ultra-rich by working as maids, cooks, nannies, and butlers in their homes. Now they're just working remotely.
October 29, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
newdisabledsouth.org
We are offering one time payments to disabled folks in the South who will not receive their SNAP benefits this month. If you need help, please find more information and details at ndsdj.org/snaphelp.

If you’d like to donate to the fund, go to ndsdj.org/snapdonate

We take care of each other ❤️
Graphic with a light background and the New Disabled South logo in the top right corner. Large bold text reads: ‘Apply: Food Assistance for Disabled People in the South.’ Text below explains that due to the government shutdown, people in the South will not receive their November SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) payments. New Disabled South is offering one-time payments to help people impacted by not receiving SNAP — $100 for individuals and $250 for households with two or more people. It notes that funding is first-come, first-served and that SSI or Medicaid recipients should read a disclaimer before applying. A call-to-action at the bottom reads: ‘Apply at ndsdj.org/snaphelp.’ There are small illustrations of a grocery bag and a grocery list. Graphic with a light background and the New Disabled South logo in the top right corner. Large bold text reads: ‘Donate to Support Food Assistance for Disabled People in the South.’ The message says that New Disabled South is raising money to provide direct payments to people impacted by loss of SNAP funds, and invites donations. A black banner at the bottom reads: ‘Donate at ndsdj.org/snapdonate.’ A small illustration of a grocery bag with food items is on the left. Graphic in Spanish with a light background and the New Disabled South logo in the top right corner. Large bold text reads: ‘Solicitar: Asistencia Alimentaria para Personas con Discapacidad en el Sur.’ The text explains that due to the government shutdown, people will not receive November SNAP payments and that New Disabled South offers one-time payments of $100 for individuals and $250 for households with two or more people, first-come, first-served. It also includes a note for SSI or Medicaid recipients. A black banner at the bottom reads: ‘Solicitar en ndsdj.org/snaphelp.’ A small illustration of a grocery bag and grocery list appears on the left. Graphic in Spanish with a light background and the New Disabled South logo in the top right corner. Large bold text reads: ‘Dona para apoyar la asistencia alimentaria para personas con discapacidad en el Sur.’ The text explains that New Disabled South is raising funds to make direct payments to people affected by the loss of SNAP funds and provides information on how to donate. A black banner at the bottom reads: ‘Dona en ndsdj.org/snapdonate.’ A small illustration of a grocery bag with food items appears on the left.
October 28, 2025 at 3:11 AM
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
dairinstitute.bsky.social
🚨NEW🚨 from DAIR:

Today we are releasing "Driven Down", a new report on how workplace technology enables Amazon to steal wages, hide labor,
intensify poor working conditions, and evade responsibility.

Read the full report here: drive.google.com/file/d/1yBxy...
Amazon is Building a Surveillance Empire on the Backs of Delivery Drivers. A new report from the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR) exposes the dark underbelly of technology-driven workplace surveillance.” Above the text is an old school television with an antenna featuring a surveillance snapshot from a camera inside of an Amazon delivery van. The Amazon logo is upside down and is a frown. Around the television are disembodied eyes and ears.
October 22, 2025 at 2:40 PM
cariatida.bsky.social
Nighttime, the enemy of capitalism. "The company...says its future constellation will deliver light on demand after sunset and before sunrise to paying customers on Earth, effectively extending the daytime hours."
www.space.com/space-explor...
Company's plan to launch 4,000 space mirrors alarms scientists
Reflect Orbital says their light-on-demand idea has generated significant interest from commercial and government customers.
www.space.com
October 22, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
bengoggin.bsky.social
AWS outage seemingly takes down Medicare website during open enrollment...
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
October 20, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
datasociety.bsky.social
“The notion of AI personhood is a marketing exercise and a legal maneuver that I don’t think we should buy into,” says D&S researcher @cariatida.bsky.social. “Tilly is not an actress any more than, like, Sid the sloth from the ‘Ice Age’ movies is an actor.” www.huffpost.com/entry/ai-act...
Experts Warn This Real-World Effect Is The Most Unsettling Thing About 'AI Actor' Tilly
This Hollywood newcomer has a long list of haters already.
www.huffpost.com
October 6, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
apnews.com
Over 2 million people across Italy have rallied in more than 100 cities for a one-day general strike.
2 million rally in Italy for Gaza as general strike halts key services
Over 2 million people across Italy have rallied in more than 100 cities for a one-day general strike.
bit.ly
October 4, 2025 at 9:00 AM
cariatida.bsky.social
Opening up a talent agency and creating an army of AI actresses named Milly, Dilly, Lilly, Billy, Jilly (and so on) who are all completely identical to Tilly but cost less to underbid this so-called AI talent agency. variety.com/2025/film/ne...
AI Actress Tilly Norwood Debuts at Zurich Summit as Industry Grapples With Emerging Tech: We Want Her ‘to Be the Next Scarlett Johansson’
AI actress Tilly Norwood has attracted the attention of multiple talent agents.
variety.com
October 1, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
tracyjan.bsky.social
GOP lawmakers cite Georgia’s experiment as a model for the federal Medicaid work requirements set to take effect in 2027.

A new report by a government spending watchdog found that the nation’s only Medicaid work requirement program spent twice as much on administrative costs as on health care.
Georgia’s Medicaid Work Requirement Program Spent Twice as Much on Administrative Costs as on Health Care, GAO Says
Republican lawmakers cite Georgia’s Pathways to Coverage as a national model for federal Medicaid work requirements that are set to take effect in 2027. A new report shows the program has spent at lea...
www.propublica.org
September 24, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
justinhendrix.bsky.social
Companies are marketing “alternatives” to immigration detention such as ankle monitors, GPS-enabled watches, and biometric reporting apps. But research by Petra Molnar, Daniel Ghezelbash, Carolina Gottardo, and Antonella Napolitano finds that tech doesn’t dismantle detention—it expands it.
Technology is Turning Immigration Detention into an Invisible Leash | TechPolicy.Press
Rights-based and community-centered alternatives to detention are possible, write Petra Molnar, Daniel Ghezelbash, Carolina Gottardo, and Antonella Napolitano.
www.techpolicy.press
September 23, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
aaronsojourner.org
Trump administration tackling the problem of home health care workers getting wages that are [checks notes...] too high.
Home health care workers help elderly or medically fragile people by preparing meals, administering medications, assisting with toilet use, accompanying clients to doctor appointments and performing other tasks. Under one of the Labor Department’s proposals, an estimated 3.7 million workers employed by home care agencies could be paid below the federal minimum wage — currently $7.25 per hour — and made ineligible for overtime pay if they aren’t covered by corresponding state laws.
September 22, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
esqueer.net
Republicans: "transgenderism must be eradicated."

Trans people: "they're trying to eradicate us."

Republicans: "Saying we want to eradicate you is violent extremism."
esqueer.net Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · Sep 19
The Heritage Foundation is going after me this morning calling me a terrorist because I am accurately stating what they are intending to do. Michael Knowles at CPAC explicitly called for the "eradication of transgenderism."

I'll continue to speak the truth of what is being done to my community.
A tweet from Oversight Project (@ItsYourGov) shows a screenshot of an Advocate article. The tweet text says: “This is an example of an element of TIVE rhetoric coming from @Harvard Professor Alejandra Caraballo @Esqueer_in the @TheAdvocateMag. The notion that opposing Transgender Ideology is a form of violence (‘eradication’ here) leads people to justify violence.” The screenshot highlights a quote from Alejandra Caraballo criticizing a Heritage Foundation policy proposal: “They want us all eradicated.”
September 19, 2025 at 7:04 PM
cariatida.bsky.social
My dad was a storyboard artist for a commercial art studio for 30 years, and he'd tell me how the transition from alcohol markers to digital in the early 2000s was quite rough and led to a lot of labor intensification. But it's stories like these that make me glad he's retired.
bcmerchant.bsky.social Brian Merchant @bcmerchant.bsky.social · Sep 17
Freelance illustration gigs drying up. Ad agencies using Midjourney instead of hiring human artists. Costume design turned over to AI wholesale. Good work vanishing.

These are the stories of working visual artists, who describe losing jobs, wages, and hope as their clients and bosses embrace AI.
Artists are losing work, wages, and hope as bosses and clients embrace AI
Visual artists, illustrators and graphic designers share their stories about how AI is being used to lower wages, degrade work and even replace it altogether, in this installment of AI Killed My Job.
www.bloodinthemachine.com
September 19, 2025 at 2:42 PM
cariatida.bsky.social
Sharing a snapshot of a project I’ve been working on w/collaborators Zoe West & Sanjay Pinto at Cornell ILR School, looking at genAI in the fashion modeling industry. AI-generated models have been turning up a lot - H&M, a Guess ad, Luigi(!) in Shein’s catalog… datasociety.net/points/fashi...
Fashion’s Data Doubles
In their research on how AI is reshaping modeling work, Alexandra Mateescu, Zoë West, and Sanjay Pinto find a situation ripe for labor exploitation.
datasociety.net
September 11, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
techworkerscoalition.org
NEWS ALERT: Early bird tickets now available for Circuit Breakers, our annual US tech labor conference! Repost please!

🗽 New York City, Oct. 18-19th

✊ Conference will feature workers from the wider tech labor movement

🎟️ Snag your early bird tickets here: techworkerscoalition.org/circuit-breakers
Circuit Breakers Early Bird Registration A national conference for all workers, organizers, and activists in the tech industry to come together and learn, build communitx, strategize, and recognize our collective power. bit.ly/circuitbreakers2025
September 4, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
edidin.bsky.social
CRAFT FAIR FOR GAZA!
Tomorrow! 629 Nostrand Ave. 12-6 PM
Flyer reading CRAFT FAIR FOR GAZA / Proceeds will go to mutual aid orgs operating in Gaza / Sunday, Sep 7, 12-6 pm, 729 Nostrand Ave, Brooklyn
September 6, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
hypervisible.blacksky.app
🙃
August 21, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
arrianna-planey.bsky.social
Administrative burden by design- but with even less ability to trace decision-making processes.

Mind you, OIG & Senate were previously investigating Medicare Advantage insurers for their high rates of denied payments oig.hhs.gov/reports/all/...
August 11, 2025 at 1:34 PM
cariatida.bsky.social
Black markets always reveal how things really work: "This is a colonial model adjusted in the digital age: European citizens may use their status and residency to be paid for doing nothing, while taskers in the Global South only get a fraction to do all the work” algorithmwatch.org/en/scams-and...
Scams and Shadow Workers: A Black Market is Selling European Accounts for AI Training - AlgorithmWatch
AI data annotation companies are losing control of their supply chain. Criminal networks are taking over the work account management.
algorithmwatch.org
August 7, 2025 at 5:39 PM