Eugenia Stamboliev
@eugeniaunivie.bsky.social
Postdoc fellow Uni Vienna & visiting prof BTU / philosophy of media & technology / works on AI, ethics, democracy, trust and gender / board member Women in AI / eugeniastamboliev.com
‘The early days of digital currencies were dominated by thieves and drug dealers, who were attracted by the speed and anonymity of crypto, which make it a useful vehicle for money laundering. Bitcoin…underpinned dark-web markets where merchants sold narcotics...’ @nytimes.com
The Crypto Industry’s $28 Billion in ‘Dirty Money’
www.nytimes.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:13 PM
‘The early days of digital currencies were dominated by thieves and drug dealers, who were attracted by the speed and anonymity of crypto, which make it a useful vehicle for money laundering. Bitcoin…underpinned dark-web markets where merchants sold narcotics...’ @nytimes.com
💡🪫 Great paper on #AI #energy #datacenters
www.nature.com/articles/s41... (via @wolvendamien.bsky.social)
www.nature.com/articles/s41... (via @wolvendamien.bsky.social)
Environmental impact and net-zero pathways for sustainable artificial intelligence servers in the USA - Nature Sustainability
The rapid expansion of AI server installations in the United States poses sustainability challenges in terms of water usage and carbon emissions. A study now quantifies these potential impacts and out...
www.nature.com
November 15, 2025 at 8:38 AM
💡🪫 Great paper on #AI #energy #datacenters
www.nature.com/articles/s41... (via @wolvendamien.bsky.social)
www.nature.com/articles/s41... (via @wolvendamien.bsky.social)
‘Google, Microsoft, and Meta Have Stopped Publishing Workforce Diversity Data | WIRED’ … of course they have, if you stop saying or caring about DEI, then how would you report on it?
Google, Microsoft, and Meta Have Stopped Publishing Workforce Diversity Data
Other big tech companies including Amazon, Apple, and Nvidia have continued their annual disclosures this year even as the Trump administration cracks down on DEI.
www.wired.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:23 PM
‘Google, Microsoft, and Meta Have Stopped Publishing Workforce Diversity Data | WIRED’ … of course they have, if you stop saying or caring about DEI, then how would you report on it?
Reposted by Eugenia Stamboliev
"Many scholars, including us, have highlighted the threat posed by techno-solutionism in education: Rather than expanding our intellectual horizons, these technologies undermine the very conditions that allow us to think for ourselves."
1/n
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/a...
1/n
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/a...
October 25, 2025 at 6:08 AM
"Many scholars, including us, have highlighted the threat posed by techno-solutionism in education: Rather than expanding our intellectual horizons, these technologies undermine the very conditions that allow us to think for ourselves."
1/n
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/a...
1/n
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/a...
Hm, bizarre world. But I have a question- if not a genius idea; hypothetically, if we all marry ChatGPT, let’s assume I found THE loophole, imagine the potential divorce settlement from OpenAI we’d get! If you can’t beat them, divorce them? 🥳
October 23, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Hm, bizarre world. But I have a question- if not a genius idea; hypothetically, if we all marry ChatGPT, let’s assume I found THE loophole, imagine the potential divorce settlement from OpenAI we’d get! If you can’t beat them, divorce them? 🥳
‘Faculty of Arts and Sciences slashed the number of Ph.D. student admissions slots for the Science division by more than 75 percent and for the Arts & Humanities division by about 60 percent for the next two years.’
Harvard FAS Cuts Ph.D. Seats By More Than Half Across Next Two Admissions Cycles | News | The Harvard Crimson
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences slashed the number of Ph.D. student admissions slots for the Science division by more than 75 percent and for the Arts & Humanities division by about 60 percent for th...
www.thecrimson.com
October 23, 2025 at 7:13 AM
‘Faculty of Arts and Sciences slashed the number of Ph.D. student admissions slots for the Science division by more than 75 percent and for the Arts & Humanities division by about 60 percent for the next two years.’
Of course they are. So the ads are coming to ChatGPT as predicted. Should be fun. Or not.🍿😎 #ShopGPT
October 14, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Of course they are. So the ads are coming to ChatGPT as predicted. Should be fun. Or not.🍿😎 #ShopGPT
‘Even if we could make AI systems…transparent, capable of explaining their reasoning in lucid prose, this does not cure the underlying democratic deficit; a decision explained is still a decision imposed. Without a clear path for recourse, human agency dissolves into statistical abstraction.’💥
“The path to tyranny is often paved by individuals who ‘obey in advance,’ anticipating what authoritarian leaders want & preemptively meeting them halfway to avoid conflict. In the age of AI, this phenomenon appears poised to occur at an algorithmic scale.”
—Andrew Sorota
#AI #democracy
—Andrew Sorota
#AI #democracy
Rescuing Democracy From The Quiet Rule Of AI | NOEMA
Our gravest AI risk isn’t runaway superintelligence but our cultural readiness to surrender collective judgment to algorithmic systems.
www.noemamag.com
October 13, 2025 at 5:46 PM
‘Even if we could make AI systems…transparent, capable of explaining their reasoning in lucid prose, this does not cure the underlying democratic deficit; a decision explained is still a decision imposed. Without a clear path for recourse, human agency dissolves into statistical abstraction.’💥
To my surprise, but for a while now, the @financialtimes.com has increasingly become an important since critical AI info source, but it’s also an expensive one. anyone having tips or infos on whether some (or your?) Unis provide access to it? If so, I can better pitch it to @univie.ac.at
Measuring risk in the AI financing boom on.ft.com/3ISA09n | opinion
Measuring risk in the AI financing boom
A shift towards debt raises the potential fallout from the data centre spending spree
on.ft.com
October 13, 2025 at 5:38 PM
To my surprise, but for a while now, the @financialtimes.com has increasingly become an important since critical AI info source, but it’s also an expensive one. anyone having tips or infos on whether some (or your?) Unis provide access to it? If so, I can better pitch it to @univie.ac.at
Reposted by Eugenia Stamboliev
This is both fascinating & frightening. There is a demand for images that show and confirm what people already know and believe to be true, and AI slop meets that demand—with visual content that emblematically visualizes what the headlines report. One could call it synthetic hypervisualization
1/
1/
That TikTok account has a few fake videos of reporters getting detained. They make these videos because it’s a big story in the news. Real reporters are getting arrested. And so people are making AI videos to get engagement on TikTok.
October 11, 2025 at 8:18 AM
This is both fascinating & frightening. There is a demand for images that show and confirm what people already know and believe to be true, and AI slop meets that demand—with visual content that emblematically visualizes what the headlines report. One could call it synthetic hypervisualization
1/
1/
‚Some researchers see this behaviour as a serious threat, whereas others call it hype. So should these episodes really cause alarm, or is it foolish to treat LLMs as malevolent masterminds?‘ I am torn here 🫤 a/ legally, murder plotting requires intent&accountability
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
AI models that lie, cheat and plot murder: how dangerous are LLMs really?
Tests of large language models reveal that they can behave in deceptive and potentially harmful ways. What does this mean for the future?
www.nature.com
October 9, 2025 at 8:54 PM
‚Some researchers see this behaviour as a serious threat, whereas others call it hype. So should these episodes really cause alarm, or is it foolish to treat LLMs as malevolent masterminds?‘ I am torn here 🫤 a/ legally, murder plotting requires intent&accountability
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Lots of things wrong here, from the maybe realness to the only toolness (?). I don’t get why fake women equally have to embody fake beauty standards, which real women have been tortured with forever a/ now, get resold as standardised womenness.
#syntethicdiscrimination
variety.com/2025/film/gl...
#syntethicdiscrimination
variety.com/2025/film/gl...
AI Actress Tilly Norwood Draws Backlash From Melissa Barrera, Lukas Gage and More Hollywood Names as Creator Defends Her as a ‘New Tool’ and ‘Not a Replacement for a Human Being’
Tilly Norwood's creator has responded to the angry backlash against the AI actress, saying she's 'not a replacement for a human being'
variety.com
September 30, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Lots of things wrong here, from the maybe realness to the only toolness (?). I don’t get why fake women equally have to embody fake beauty standards, which real women have been tortured with forever a/ now, get resold as standardised womenness.
#syntethicdiscrimination
variety.com/2025/film/gl...
#syntethicdiscrimination
variety.com/2025/film/gl...
Surprise surprise, hm, not really. www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws
In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...
www.computerworld.com
September 21, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Surprise surprise, hm, not really. www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
#CreativeSurveillanceHacks
Love the (analogue) #hacking twist, hate that we need this…
conemagazine.com/culture/capa...
Love the (analogue) #hacking twist, hate that we need this…
conemagazine.com/culture/capa...
“Opacity Is a Right”: How Cap_able Uses Fashion to Fool Facial Recognition Technology - CONE Magazine
Adversarial fashion by Cap_able shields identities from facial recognition and AI surveillance, merging privacy with style.
conemagazine.com
August 24, 2025 at 9:30 AM
#CreativeSurveillanceHacks
Love the (analogue) #hacking twist, hate that we need this…
conemagazine.com/culture/capa...
Love the (analogue) #hacking twist, hate that we need this…
conemagazine.com/culture/capa...
Reposted by Eugenia Stamboliev
everyone who believes that AI will fix democracy: Read this piece by @himself.bsky.social @hahrie.bsky.social
knightcolumbia.org/content/ai-a...
knightcolumbia.org/content/ai-a...
AI and Democratic Publics
knightcolumbia.org
August 19, 2025 at 2:24 PM
everyone who believes that AI will fix democracy: Read this piece by @himself.bsky.social @hahrie.bsky.social
knightcolumbia.org/content/ai-a...
knightcolumbia.org/content/ai-a...
Reposted by Eugenia Stamboliev
”Yet behind the scenes, the agency’s slick AI project has been greeted with a shrug — or outright alarm.”
edition.cnn.com/2025/07/23/p...
edition.cnn.com/2025/07/23/p...
FDA’s artificial intelligence is supposed to revolutionize drug approvals. It’s making up nonexistent studies. | CNN Politics
Insiders tell CNN the FDA’s AI is “hallucinating” studies and can’t access key documents. Agency leaders insist the AI is getting better, and use is not mandatory.
edition.cnn.com
August 18, 2025 at 7:43 AM
I wrote something on #syntheticdiscrimination; a form that is rendering existing women invisible online due to the hypervisible, synthetic female imagery made by GenAI and taking over.
Publication👇🏻 (for now, only in German, @unesco.org)
www.unesco.at/fileadmin/us...
Publication👇🏻 (for now, only in German, @unesco.org)
www.unesco.at/fileadmin/us...
August 1, 2025 at 3:01 PM
I wrote something on #syntheticdiscrimination; a form that is rendering existing women invisible online due to the hypervisible, synthetic female imagery made by GenAI and taking over.
Publication👇🏻 (for now, only in German, @unesco.org)
www.unesco.at/fileadmin/us...
Publication👇🏻 (for now, only in German, @unesco.org)
www.unesco.at/fileadmin/us...
Reposted by Eugenia Stamboliev
Great piece on #slopaganda: «Whether it's a self-assured small social media account … or, indeed, a department of the US government, the viewing public isn't the only target of this new form of propaganda. In this manner, the creator also experiences the same reassurance from interactions online.»
This week I wrote about the unstoppable tide of "Slopaganda." Traditional propaganda was not meant to convince, but to assure the public that prior beliefs were popular and accepted. What happens when you allow anyone to create propaganda at the stroke of a keyboard? A supercharged feedback loop.
Journalism in the Age of Slopaganda
How does one stem the tide of disinformation?
readthecatch.ca
July 28, 2025 at 5:39 AM
Great piece on #slopaganda: «Whether it's a self-assured small social media account … or, indeed, a department of the US government, the viewing public isn't the only target of this new form of propaganda. In this manner, the creator also experiences the same reassurance from interactions online.»
#uefa2025 #frauenem #orf nach nur 5 Minuten kommentiert der Sprecher, dass #jennihermoso leider nicht dabei ist ‚die die damals in den Kuss Skandal verwickelt war‘. Nope, nix da. Sie war nicht so verwickelt, sondern wurde von LB belästigt. Solange wir so sprechen, ist alles nur kleine Lappalie.
July 27, 2025 at 4:14 PM
#uefa2025 #frauenem #orf nach nur 5 Minuten kommentiert der Sprecher, dass #jennihermoso leider nicht dabei ist ‚die die damals in den Kuss Skandal verwickelt war‘. Nope, nix da. Sie war nicht so verwickelt, sondern wurde von LB belästigt. Solange wir so sprechen, ist alles nur kleine Lappalie.
‘Power always needs abstraction. To be controlled, reality’s unwieldy complexity needs to be slotted in models, …that allow for standardization and manipulation. Nature and social life are bureaucratically indigestible in their raw form and must be pre-processed to be seen and shaped.’
As we transition from industrial to digital modernity, business tycoons no longer view humans as cogs in machines. Now, as platforms become all-powerful, a new, stealthier form of domination is emerging, @pettertornberg.com & @uitermark.bsky.social argue.
The Ascendance Of Algorithmic Tyranny | NOEMA
As today’s platforms become all-powerful, the metaphors we use to describe our digitally infused world exemplify a new, stealthier form of domination that is emerging.
www.noemamag.com
July 8, 2025 at 8:18 PM
‘Power always needs abstraction. To be controlled, reality’s unwieldy complexity needs to be slotted in models, …that allow for standardization and manipulation. Nature and social life are bureaucratically indigestible in their raw form and must be pre-processed to be seen and shaped.’
Despite darkness, anger or sadness, may there be a rainbow ahead.
June 14, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Despite darkness, anger or sadness, may there be a rainbow ahead.
I am guiding/giving/performing a workshop on #AIethics (my twist), #art (my non-interpretation) and #AIslob (you know, Jesus as shrimp etc). This Saturday afternoon, 14.6, in #Vienna, join if you want 👇🏻🌈
(No prompting, no genius narratives, maybe crayons 🖍️)
www.semmelweisklinik.at/collective-r...
(No prompting, no genius narratives, maybe crayons 🖍️)
www.semmelweisklinik.at/collective-r...
June 11, 2025 at 7:19 PM
I am guiding/giving/performing a workshop on #AIethics (my twist), #art (my non-interpretation) and #AIslob (you know, Jesus as shrimp etc). This Saturday afternoon, 14.6, in #Vienna, join if you want 👇🏻🌈
(No prompting, no genius narratives, maybe crayons 🖍️)
www.semmelweisklinik.at/collective-r...
(No prompting, no genius narratives, maybe crayons 🖍️)
www.semmelweisklinik.at/collective-r...
‚It would be a disaster for our students to have no idea how to effectively use one of the most powerful tools that humanity has ever created,” Brown said. “AI is such a powerful tool for self-education…‘ To me the disaster is utter worldly incompetence and climate collapse, but that’s just me 🤨
June 8, 2025 at 7:32 PM
‚It would be a disaster for our students to have no idea how to effectively use one of the most powerful tools that humanity has ever created,” Brown said. “AI is such a powerful tool for self-education…‘ To me the disaster is utter worldly incompetence and climate collapse, but that’s just me 🤨