Eric Smalley
@ericsmalley.bsky.social
scitech journalist, editor @theconversation.com
ICE's dragnet is expanding across social media, putting everyone's digital lives into the realm of border and immigration enforcement.
Always watching: How ICE’s plan to monitor social media 24/7 threatens privacy and civic participation
ICE’s dragnet is expanding across social media, putting everyone’s digital lives into the realm of border and immigration enforcement.
theconversation.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:01 PM
ICE's dragnet is expanding across social media, putting everyone's digital lives into the realm of border and immigration enforcement.
Are you going to let a chatbot do your shopping for you?
OpenAI slipped shopping into 800 million ChatGPT users’ chats − here’s why that matters
AI agents are poised to do your online shopping for you, with major consequences for the e-commerce industry – and your ability to make choices.
theconversation.com
October 20, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Are you going to let a chatbot do your shopping for you?
Reposted by Eric Smalley
AI Police reports must be disclosed in California. My take. theconversation.com/concerns-abo...
Concerns about AI-written police reports spur states to regulate the emerging practice
AI-generated police reports promise to save cops time, but they also raise a host of legal and technical concerns.
theconversation.com
October 15, 2025 at 12:53 PM
AI Police reports must be disclosed in California. My take. theconversation.com/concerns-abo...
Missile defenses make us safer, right? Right? Well, actually... Harvard arms control expert Matthew Bunn explains the long history of nuclear "shields" and the destabilizing effect of building them.
Golden Dome dangers: An arms control expert explains how Trump’s missile defense threatens to make the US less safe
Missile defense systems are nothing new. History shows that even if they work as advertised – a big if – they’re a bad idea if your aim is to make your country safer from nuclear attack.
theconversation.com
June 6, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Missile defenses make us safer, right? Right? Well, actually... Harvard arms control expert Matthew Bunn explains the long history of nuclear "shields" and the destabilizing effect of building them.
Reposted by Eric Smalley
We’ve just launched our 2025 Reader Survey. Please tell us what we’re doing well, where we could do better, and a little about yourself and your interests.
Take the survey: buff.ly/vkb419
Take the survey: buff.ly/vkb419
May 30, 2025 at 8:09 PM
We’ve just launched our 2025 Reader Survey. Please tell us what we’re doing well, where we could do better, and a little about yourself and your interests.
Take the survey: buff.ly/vkb419
Take the survey: buff.ly/vkb419
A look at the state of US high-performance computing by one of the senior figures in the field.
Challenges to high-performance computing threaten US innovation
Today’s supercomputers are enormously powerful, but the work they do − running AI and tackling difficult science − is pushing them to their limits. Building bigger supercomputers won’t be easy.
theconversation.com
May 15, 2025 at 10:10 PM
A look at the state of US high-performance computing by one of the senior figures in the field.
Here's a good look at what all that DOGE activity and talk of breaking down data silos in the government means.
From help to harm: How the government is quietly repurposing everyone’s data for surveillance
Under the guise of efficiency and fraud prevention, the federal government is breaking down data silos to collect and aggregate information on virtually everyone in the US.
theconversation.com
April 23, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Here's a good look at what all that DOGE activity and talk of breaking down data silos in the government means.
Reposted by Eric Smalley
In a new essay from our "Artificial Intelligence and Democratic Freedoms" series, @randomwalker.bsky.social & @sayash.bsky.social make the case for thinking of #AI as normal technology, instead of superintelligence. Read here: knightcolumbia.org/content/ai-a...
AI as Normal Technology
knightcolumbia.org
April 15, 2025 at 2:34 PM
In a new essay from our "Artificial Intelligence and Democratic Freedoms" series, @randomwalker.bsky.social & @sayash.bsky.social make the case for thinking of #AI as normal technology, instead of superintelligence. Read here: knightcolumbia.org/content/ai-a...
Reposted by Eric Smalley
After Jackie Robinson hung up his cleats in 1957, he became a constant presence on picket lines and at #civilrights rallies.
buff.ly/X4nM7UG
#JackieRobinsonDay #JackieRobinson #history
buff.ly/X4nM7UG
#JackieRobinsonDay #JackieRobinson #history
Jackie Robinson was a radical – don’t listen to the sanitized version of history
Years before Colin Kaepernick was born, Robinson wrote, ‘I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag; I know that I am a Black man in a white world.’
buff.ly
April 15, 2025 at 2:24 PM
After Jackie Robinson hung up his cleats in 1957, he became a constant presence on picket lines and at #civilrights rallies.
buff.ly/X4nM7UG
#JackieRobinsonDay #JackieRobinson #history
buff.ly/X4nM7UG
#JackieRobinsonDay #JackieRobinson #history
Reposted by Eric Smalley
Congress, not the president, decides on government spending. @democracyeditor.bsky.social explains the basic facts on how the ‘power of the purse’ works:
March 14, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Congress, not the president, decides on government spending. @democracyeditor.bsky.social explains the basic facts on how the ‘power of the purse’ works:
If Musk were to funnel government data collected by DOGE to xAI, what would that mean?
DOGE threat: How government data would give an AI company extraordinary power
As DOGE taps into sensitive federal agency data repositories, many people fear what could happen to the data. One little-discussed but hugely consequential possibility: fueling Elon Musk’s xAI company...
theconversation.com
March 6, 2025 at 5:09 PM
If Musk were to funnel government data collected by DOGE to xAI, what would that mean?
Reposted by Eric Smalley
Trump is the kinglike president many feared when arguing over the US Constitution in 1789 – and his address to Congress showed it
Trump is the kinglike president many feared when arguing over the US Constitution in 1789 – and his address to Congress showed it
When the US Constitution was written, many people − from those who wrote the document to those on the outside who read it − believed that endowing the president with kinglike powers was dangerous.
theconversation.com
March 5, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Trump is the kinglike president many feared when arguing over the US Constitution in 1789 – and his address to Congress showed it
Media researcher Jianqing Chen, a longtime RedNote user, gives a firsthand account of TikTok "refugees" interacting with native users on the Chinese app. "Even in a world increasingly fractured by platforms, misinformation and political divisions, unexpected connections can still blossom."
What’s happening on RedNote? A media scholar explains the app TikTok users are fleeing to – and the cultural moment unfolding there
A digital media scholar and longtime RedNote user gives a firsthand account of US and Chinese social media users interacting on the app.
theconversation.com
January 19, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Media researcher Jianqing Chen, a longtime RedNote user, gives a firsthand account of TikTok "refugees" interacting with native users on the Chinese app. "Even in a world increasingly fractured by platforms, misinformation and political divisions, unexpected connections can still blossom."
Reposted by Eric Smalley
From interactive funeral experiences to digital chatbots of the deceased, technology is blurring the line between life and afterlife. Marketing professors weigh in on the implications for #grief, memory, and immortality: https://buff.ly/4fPSRfE #AI #death #estateplanning
Logging off life but living on: How AI is redefining death, memory and immortality
Ethical and legal issues around death in the digital age are thorny enough dealing with social media accounts. AI puts the notion of a digital afterlife into overdrive.
buff.ly
January 9, 2025 at 6:23 PM
From interactive funeral experiences to digital chatbots of the deceased, technology is blurring the line between life and afterlife. Marketing professors weigh in on the implications for #grief, memory, and immortality: https://buff.ly/4fPSRfE #AI #death #estateplanning
Reposted by Eric Smalley
Prof. Jay Feinman’s first public writing since Luigi Mangioni allegedly wrote “Delay” and “Deny” on his bullets
Americans’ rage at insurers goes beyond health coverage. Law professor @jayfeinman.bsky.social), the author of "Delay, Deny, Defend," points to 3 reforms that could help: https://buff.ly/4h1i3AT @rutgerslaw.bsky.social #healthinsurance #economics
Americans’ rage at insurers goes beyond health coverage – the author of ‘Delay, Deny, Defend’ points to 3 reforms that could help
It’s time to move from rage to regulation, an insurance expert argues.
buff.ly
January 6, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Prof. Jay Feinman’s first public writing since Luigi Mangioni allegedly wrote “Delay” and “Deny” on his bullets
Reposted by Eric Smalley
Maybe you’ve just found us on Bluesky, but there’s a good chance that you’ve read articles from The Conversation on one of the 100s of websites that syndicate our #journalism for free.
We give our work away to reach as many people as possible with accurate, trustworthy, insightful journalism🧵
We give our work away to reach as many people as possible with accurate, trustworthy, insightful journalism🧵
December 13, 2024 at 3:31 PM
Maybe you’ve just found us on Bluesky, but there’s a good chance that you’ve read articles from The Conversation on one of the 100s of websites that syndicate our #journalism for free.
We give our work away to reach as many people as possible with accurate, trustworthy, insightful journalism🧵
We give our work away to reach as many people as possible with accurate, trustworthy, insightful journalism🧵
Noam Chomsky turned 96 today.
Noam Chomsky at 96: The linguist, educator, philosopher and public thinker has had a massive intellectual and moral influence
Noam Chomsky’s notion of the human instinct for freedom ties together his many intellectual pursuits, from educating creative, independent citizens to rejecting social and economic hierarchies.
theconversation.com
December 7, 2024 at 9:59 PM
Noam Chomsky turned 96 today.
Danielle Lee Tomson and Kate Starbird of the University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public describe one of the reasons the right-wing media ecosystem has been so effective: It's a lot like improv theater.
How right-wing media is like improv theater
Improv theater is known for improvisation, audience participation and riffing on memes and stories circulating on social and traditional media – all hallmarks of right-wing media.
theconversation.com
December 4, 2024 at 7:08 PM
Danielle Lee Tomson and Kate Starbird of the University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public describe one of the reasons the right-wing media ecosystem has been so effective: It's a lot like improv theater.
AI is now part and parcel of elections, from helping with mundane campaign functions to enabling politicians to speak to constituents in multiple languages at once. Deepfakes, however, were not a big part of the disinformation campaigns in 2024. Bruce Schneier and Nathan Sanders break it down.
The apocalypse that wasn’t: AI was everywhere in 2024’s elections, but deepfakes and misinformation were only part of the picture
Like it or not, AI is now part and parcel of elections, from helping with mundane campaign functions to enabling politicians to speak to constituents in multiple languages at once.
theconversation.com
December 3, 2024 at 3:21 PM
AI is now part and parcel of elections, from helping with mundane campaign functions to enabling politicians to speak to constituents in multiple languages at once. Deepfakes, however, were not a big part of the disinformation campaigns in 2024. Bruce Schneier and Nathan Sanders break it down.
Tech law scholar Sylvia Lu explains how the law can more effectively address the cumulative, often hidden harms from AI.
AI harm is often behind the scenes and builds over time – a legal scholar explains how the law can adapt to respond
The damage AI algorithms cause is not easily remedied. Breaking algorithmic harms into four categories results in pieces that better align with the law and points the way to better regulation.
theconversation.com
November 26, 2024 at 1:45 AM
Tech law scholar Sylvia Lu explains how the law can more effectively address the cumulative, often hidden harms from AI.
Reposted by Eric Smalley
#DYK that The Conversation gives away all our journalism for free syndication under a @creativecommons.bsky.social license (as well as being available for free on our website)?
100s of news sites and newspapers use our stories each month.
🧵 So you may have read our stories on national websites…
100s of news sites and newspapers use our stories each month.
🧵 So you may have read our stories on national websites…
Guest column | I taught rats to drive, but they taught me to enjoy the ride
Unexpectedly, we found that the rats had an intense motivation for their driving training.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 19, 2024 at 10:23 PM
#DYK that The Conversation gives away all our journalism for free syndication under a @creativecommons.bsky.social license (as well as being available for free on our website)?
100s of news sites and newspapers use our stories each month.
🧵 So you may have read our stories on national websites…
100s of news sites and newspapers use our stories each month.
🧵 So you may have read our stories on national websites…
UMass Boston philosopher Nir Eisikovits pushes back on techno determinism in the age of AI.
Is AI dominance inevitable? A technology ethicist says no, actually
AI is already widespread and garnering billions of dollars in investment. But that doesn’t mean its ubiquity is predetermined. Society can decide when and how it’s used.
theconversation.com
November 12, 2024 at 7:44 PM
UMass Boston philosopher Nir Eisikovits pushes back on techno determinism in the age of AI.
Joan Donovan explains "networked incitement" -- a lesson from J6 and warning for the future.
theconversation.com/jan-6-was-an...
theconversation.com/jan-6-was-an...
January 5, 2024 at 2:08 PM
Joan Donovan explains "networked incitement" -- a lesson from J6 and warning for the future.
theconversation.com/jan-6-was-an...
theconversation.com/jan-6-was-an...
With all the attention on OpenAI, large language models and AGI, it's important to remember that AI is very much here and now -- for better and worse.
Forget dystopian scenarios – AI is pervasive today, and the risks are often hidden
The explosion of generative AI tools like ChatGPT and fears about where the technology might be headed distract from the many ways AI affects people every day – for better and worse.
theconversation.com
November 22, 2023 at 5:22 PM
With all the attention on OpenAI, large language models and AGI, it's important to remember that AI is very much here and now -- for better and worse.