Chloe Thompson
@cechomps.bsky.social
historian of technology and environments, practitioner of the ancient art of graduate school
Reposted by Chloe Thompson
Took me a long time to get around to reading this, but I'm glad I did. Grief, genAI, why it was born when it was and what it means for our ability to cope and think.
2ndbreakfast.audreywatters.com/ai-grief-obs...
2ndbreakfast.audreywatters.com/ai-grief-obs...
AI Grief Observed
These remarks were delivered this evening at the Creatively Critical Tech Speaker Series at Illinois State University.
"There is no good way to say this."
These are the opening words of Yiyun Li’s l...
2ndbreakfast.audreywatters.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Took me a long time to get around to reading this, but I'm glad I did. Grief, genAI, why it was born when it was and what it means for our ability to cope and think.
2ndbreakfast.audreywatters.com/ai-grief-obs...
2ndbreakfast.audreywatters.com/ai-grief-obs...
Reposted by Chloe Thompson
The Democratic Party is out there trying to pick the perfect candidate like they look up the perfect coffee-maker on wirecutter. If they have this doodad and that price point, they’re a winner.
That’s not how politics works. It’s a game we play together, not catalogue shopping.
That’s not how politics works. It’s a game we play together, not catalogue shopping.
October 23, 2025 at 12:54 PM
The Democratic Party is out there trying to pick the perfect candidate like they look up the perfect coffee-maker on wirecutter. If they have this doodad and that price point, they’re a winner.
That’s not how politics works. It’s a game we play together, not catalogue shopping.
That’s not how politics works. It’s a game we play together, not catalogue shopping.
Reposted by Chloe Thompson
My book is (surprisingly?) here so if you thought your book was on a topic they'd neglect or that you'd be exempt, reconsider
Just a reminder to check for your name in this list of books that OpenAI trained from. If your name is there, they probably owe you several thousand dollars.
OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.
OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.
Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI
Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.
www.theatlantic.com
September 6, 2025 at 12:37 PM
My book is (surprisingly?) here so if you thought your book was on a topic they'd neglect or that you'd be exempt, reconsider
Reposted by Chloe Thompson
GUYS. The comment period for the upcoming ACIP meeting ends on the 13TH. If you have even a little bit of time, submit a comment here:
www.regulations.gov/docket/CDC-2...
Let them know EVERYONE should be able to get COVID vaccines. They BACK DOWN when WE PUSH BACK. You CAN submit anonymously!
www.regulations.gov/docket/CDC-2...
Let them know EVERYONE should be able to get COVID vaccines. They BACK DOWN when WE PUSH BACK. You CAN submit anonymously!
September 3, 2025 at 1:24 PM
GUYS. The comment period for the upcoming ACIP meeting ends on the 13TH. If you have even a little bit of time, submit a comment here:
www.regulations.gov/docket/CDC-2...
Let them know EVERYONE should be able to get COVID vaccines. They BACK DOWN when WE PUSH BACK. You CAN submit anonymously!
www.regulations.gov/docket/CDC-2...
Let them know EVERYONE should be able to get COVID vaccines. They BACK DOWN when WE PUSH BACK. You CAN submit anonymously!
Reposted by Chloe Thompson
Me: this is great, glad to see authors ripped off by AI getting their due.
Me after using the search tool: I am one of these ripped off authors.
Academics, it only takes a minute. Seven of my papers are in this and I had no idea.
Me after using the search tool: I am one of these ripped off authors.
Academics, it only takes a minute. Seven of my papers are in this and I had no idea.
There are tons of graphic novels, academic papers, film and TV scripts, & prose novels/nonfiction on the LibGen list Anthropic used.
As settlement approaches, make it easy for the class action lawyers to contact you! Here’s how
Part 1: is your work in Libgen?
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
As settlement approaches, make it easy for the class action lawyers to contact you! Here’s how
Part 1: is your work in Libgen?
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI
Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.
www.theatlantic.com
August 27, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Me: this is great, glad to see authors ripped off by AI getting their due.
Me after using the search tool: I am one of these ripped off authors.
Academics, it only takes a minute. Seven of my papers are in this and I had no idea.
Me after using the search tool: I am one of these ripped off authors.
Academics, it only takes a minute. Seven of my papers are in this and I had no idea.
This is a clear/helpful way of talking about llms
Computers can't do this. They can't touch grass as I said, which is to say they can't reach outside of their own box of symbolic symbols and make an experiential connection to something--some actual THING--in the real world. Instead they rely on models of consensus, which is to say statistics.+
August 12, 2025 at 9:33 PM
This is a clear/helpful way of talking about llms
I love the conception of speech as a resource in this book review: www.vulture.com/article/post...
Zero Tolerance
Five years after the George Floyd protests, many liberals blame “wokeness” for stifling open debate. So why can’t they handle being disagreed with?
www.vulture.com
August 5, 2025 at 3:08 PM
I love the conception of speech as a resource in this book review: www.vulture.com/article/post...
Reposted by Chloe Thompson
1. We interrupt this programming for some LEGITIMATELY GOOD NEWS
Violent crime in Baltimore has PLUMMETED to historic lows
How did the city do it?
Baltimore adopted a comprehensive set of "woke" policies, treating violence as a public health issue
Violent crime in Baltimore has PLUMMETED to historic lows
How did the city do it?
Baltimore adopted a comprehensive set of "woke" policies, treating violence as a public health issue
The secret to Baltimore's extraordinary year
This April, Baltimore saw five homicides.
popular.info
July 16, 2025 at 1:14 PM
1. We interrupt this programming for some LEGITIMATELY GOOD NEWS
Violent crime in Baltimore has PLUMMETED to historic lows
How did the city do it?
Baltimore adopted a comprehensive set of "woke" policies, treating violence as a public health issue
Violent crime in Baltimore has PLUMMETED to historic lows
How did the city do it?
Baltimore adopted a comprehensive set of "woke" policies, treating violence as a public health issue
I wrote about a conference I went to earlier this summer -- check it out if you're interested!
In our latest #CHESS2025 reflection, @cechomps.bsky.social contemplates "The Limits of Ruin."
"It’s easy to think of industrial production as destroying natural landscapes. But both the forest and the factories are human creations..."
niche-canada.org/2025/07/04/t...
#envhist #urbanhistory
"It’s easy to think of industrial production as destroying natural landscapes. But both the forest and the factories are human creations..."
niche-canada.org/2025/07/04/t...
#envhist #urbanhistory
The Limits of Ruin
CHESS 2025 reminded a despairing historian that even amid political and ecological ruin, complexity, resilience, and beauty still persist.
niche-canada.org
July 4, 2025 at 6:51 PM
I wrote about a conference I went to earlier this summer -- check it out if you're interested!
Nova, as per the usual, has some Concerns
April 22, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Nova, as per the usual, has some Concerns
Reposted by Chloe Thompson
I co-facilitated a workshop last night on how to transform one’s research poster (or paper) into a zine!
Here are the slides and zine we created:
Slides:
library.buffalostate.edu/ld.php?conte...
Zine:
library.buffalostate.edu/ld.php?conte...
Here are the slides and zine we created:
Slides:
library.buffalostate.edu/ld.php?conte...
Zine:
library.buffalostate.edu/ld.php?conte...
April 18, 2025 at 1:50 PM
I co-facilitated a workshop last night on how to transform one’s research poster (or paper) into a zine!
Here are the slides and zine we created:
Slides:
library.buffalostate.edu/ld.php?conte...
Zine:
library.buffalostate.edu/ld.php?conte...
Here are the slides and zine we created:
Slides:
library.buffalostate.edu/ld.php?conte...
Zine:
library.buffalostate.edu/ld.php?conte...
Reposted by Chloe Thompson
The teachers have had it (given the spelling I bet this one teaches math 😋)
April 5, 2025 at 7:30 PM
The teachers have had it (given the spelling I bet this one teaches math 😋)
Reposted by Chloe Thompson
Cory Booker: "I don't want a Disney vacation of our history! I don't a whitewashed history, I don't want a homogenized history. Tell me the wretched truth about America."
Historians, crawling back into daylight from the depths of despair: "Did somebody somewhere ask for some wretched truth?"
Historians, crawling back into daylight from the depths of despair: "Did somebody somewhere ask for some wretched truth?"
a polar bear cub is laying in a pile of hay
ALT: a polar bear cub is laying in a pile of hay
media.tenor.com
April 1, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Cory Booker: "I don't want a Disney vacation of our history! I don't a whitewashed history, I don't want a homogenized history. Tell me the wretched truth about America."
Historians, crawling back into daylight from the depths of despair: "Did somebody somewhere ask for some wretched truth?"
Historians, crawling back into daylight from the depths of despair: "Did somebody somewhere ask for some wretched truth?"
Reposted by Chloe Thompson
“fuck Strom Thurmond” is a good enough point in 2025 tbqh
April 1, 2025 at 11:26 PM
“fuck Strom Thurmond” is a good enough point in 2025 tbqh
This is also a core insight from the history of technology. “Labor-saving” devices often just increase productivity demands! Two big examples are household tech in the mid 1900s and the cotton gin in the mid 1800s (1/3)
In thirteen years of teaching, there have been zero instances of an increase in productivity/efficiency leading to "more time" (and definitely not "more time to do the things that matter")
Rather, in every single instance, it has led to "more tasks"—with no turning back from there
Rather, in every single instance, it has led to "more tasks"—with no turning back from there
“'I think technology will have an important role to play in freeing up teachers’ time, and in freeing up that time, putting it to better use with more face-to-face, direct teaching that can only ever be done by a human,' she said."
Over 20+ yrs, when my time was "freed up," how it was used...
Over 20+ yrs, when my time was "freed up," how it was used...
April 1, 2025 at 1:32 PM
This is also a core insight from the history of technology. “Labor-saving” devices often just increase productivity demands! Two big examples are household tech in the mid 1900s and the cotton gin in the mid 1800s (1/3)
Reposted by Chloe Thompson
In case you needed someone to tell you this:
You can do it.
You know what to do.
You are so smart.
You are doing your best.
I see how hard you're trying.
Keep going.
I am so proud of you.
You can do it.
You know what to do.
You are so smart.
You are doing your best.
I see how hard you're trying.
Keep going.
I am so proud of you.
April 1, 2025 at 12:58 PM
In case you needed someone to tell you this:
You can do it.
You know what to do.
You are so smart.
You are doing your best.
I see how hard you're trying.
Keep going.
I am so proud of you.
You can do it.
You know what to do.
You are so smart.
You are doing your best.
I see how hard you're trying.
Keep going.
I am so proud of you.
This was DELIGHTFUL
gotta watch all the way through for the great twist ending
#Doves with jobs: Home builder
March 16, 2025 at 2:40 PM
This was DELIGHTFUL
Hey Pittsburgh! I’m going to this protest in Schenley Park tomorrow with some friends. Come join! I’m bringing poster board and some markers for folks to make signs.
March 15, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Hey Pittsburgh! I’m going to this protest in Schenley Park tomorrow with some friends. Come join! I’m bringing poster board and some markers for folks to make signs.
The journalist doing this interview is @michelmartinnpr.bsky.social. I had to dig back through the posts a bit to find her name — she deserves credit for her excellent work here!
everyone should listen to this in its entirety but journalists should listen to it multiple times. this is how you ask questions. you just keep asking simple, easily answerable stuff and the evasiveness becomes that much more glaring
In which the Department of Homeland Security struggles to answer a very simple question: "Is any criticism of the United States government a deportable offense?"
(From NPR here: www.npr.org/2025/03/13/n...)
(From NPR here: www.npr.org/2025/03/13/n...)
March 14, 2025 at 11:53 AM
The journalist doing this interview is @michelmartinnpr.bsky.social. I had to dig back through the posts a bit to find her name — she deserves credit for her excellent work here!
Reposted by Chloe Thompson
I hate these fascist motherfuckers with every cell in my body and with nearly equal timbre I hate the cowardice of the only people in a position to oppose them who treat it like they were playing crazy 8s over cocktails and watercress sandwiches
March 14, 2025 at 1:53 AM
I hate these fascist motherfuckers with every cell in my body and with nearly equal timbre I hate the cowardice of the only people in a position to oppose them who treat it like they were playing crazy 8s over cocktails and watercress sandwiches
Reposted by Chloe Thompson
The detention of Mahmoud Khalil puts all Americans fundamental rights at risk. And if you can’t see that because you oppose his politics, well that’s exactly the reaction Trump and his cronies are counting on. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Mahmoud Khalil’s Detention Is a Trial Run
The pro-Palestine student was arrested without due process for exercising his right to free speech. He will not be the last.
www.theatlantic.com
March 11, 2025 at 5:21 PM
The detention of Mahmoud Khalil puts all Americans fundamental rights at risk. And if you can’t see that because you oppose his politics, well that’s exactly the reaction Trump and his cronies are counting on. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Reposted by Chloe Thompson
once again I have to invoke the specter of Ronald Wilson Reagan, who is in Hell now. under Reagan, the term "government spending" was effectively demonized. fuck you, Reaganite ghouls! spending money, on its people and their needs, is the function of government! public works are good! say so!
March 9, 2025 at 3:51 PM
once again I have to invoke the specter of Ronald Wilson Reagan, who is in Hell now. under Reagan, the term "government spending" was effectively demonized. fuck you, Reaganite ghouls! spending money, on its people and their needs, is the function of government! public works are good! say so!