Woodrow Hartzog

@hartzog.bsky.social

11K followers 1.2K following 6 posts

Andrew R. Randall Professor of Law at Boston University School of Law. Author of "Privacy's Blueprint" (2018) and co-author of "Breached!" (2022). Posting mainly about privacy, tech and the law.

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Political science 32%

Computer science 24%

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Woodrow Hartzog @hartzog.bsky.social · 11d

I've just posted my latest essay w/ @jessicasilbey.bsky.social, titled "How AI Destroys Institutions." We argue that AI systems are designed in ways that degrade & are likely to destroy our crucial civic institutions like the rule of law, universities & a free press. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

How AI Destroys Institutions

Civic institutions—the rule of law, universities, and a free press—are the backbone of democratic life. They are the mechanisms through which complex societies

papers.ssrn.com

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog

Richard Reisman @rreisman.bsky.social · 5d

The real AI extinction threat, and far more imminent — the extinction of society. Yes, “absolutely everyone should read.” Via @hartzog.bsky.social and @jessicasilbey.bsky.social, via @garymarcus.bsky.social. open.substack.com/pub/garymarc...

How Generative AI is destroying society

An astonishingly lucid new paper that should be read by all

open.substack.com

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog

John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 8d

@hartzog.bsky.social & @jessicasilbey.bsky.social argue that GenAI, by its very design, undercuts the institutions that are core to democracy. It's "anathema to the kind of cooperation, transparency, accountability, and evolution that give vital institutions their purpose and sustainability."

download.ssrn.com

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog, Simon Lester

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 9d

“…the endgame is to record and analyze everything in your life, and that's not hyperbole.”

CES 2026 laid out a Black Mirror future of wearable AI that's always listening, watching, ready to help, and 'knows everything about you.' I'm not enthusiastic

With new AI assistants like Lenovo's Qira, tech brands are laying out the helpful-surveillance endgame that started with smart glasses.

www.androidcentral.com

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog

Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 9d

This new paper by @hartzog.bsky.social and @jessicasilbey.bsky.social makes "one simple point: AI systems are built to function in ways that degrade and are likely to destroy our crucial civic institutions."

Grim but important reading:
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

How AI Destroys Institutions

Civic institutions—the rule of law, universities, and a free press—are the backbone of democratic life. They are the mechanisms through which complex societies

papers.ssrn.com

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog

Data & Society @datasociety.bsky.social · 9d

Ads are starting to show up in chatbot conversations. It's easy to imagine how this "could turn unwelcome or creepy" in exchanges "that feel like intimate personal spaces and that also save gobs of your private data." www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Analysis | Here comes the advertising in AI chatbots

Can you trust AI advice if comes with a promotional pitch for soda?

www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog

Alona Ferber @aloner.bsky.social · 9d

Quite. My resharing my related piece from yesterday >>>

"The fact that Grok can be used to defile images of women and children is not an unfortunate accident of technological progress, but the direct consequence of decision-making, and of an ideology"

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 9d

“Women and girls are far more reluctant to use AI. This should be no surprise to any of us. Women don’t see this as exciting new technology, but as simply new ways to harass and abuse us and try and push us offline.”

Use of AI to harm women has only just begun, experts warn

While Grok has introduced belated safeguards to prevent sexualised AI imagery, other tools have far fewer limits

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Shannon Vallor, Woodrow Hartzog, Annette Yoshiko Reed

Anne Lutz Fernandez @lutzfernandez.bsky.social · 10d

An invaluable new report. A "premortem" is exactly what we need.

The risks of AI in schools outweigh the benefits, report says

A new report warns that AI poses a serious threat to children's cognitive development and emotional well-being.

www.npr.org

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog

404 Media @404media.co · 10d

NEW: Completely unredacted Flock audit logs have been released to the public by numerous police departments and in some cases include details on millions of Flock license plate searches made by thousands of police departments from around the country.

Police Unmask Millions of Surveillance Targets Because of Flock Redaction Error

Flock is going after a website called HaveIBeenFlocked.com that has collated public records files released by police.

www.404media.co

Reposted by Shannon Vallor, Woodrow Hartzog

Stanford CIS @stanfordcis.bsky.social · 10d

New paper by @jessicasilbey.bsky.social & @hartzog.bsky.social: How AI Destroys Institutions. AI systems erode expertise and short-circuit decisions, undermining the transparency and accountability that civic institutions need to survive. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

How AI Destroys Institutions

Civic institutions—the rule of law, universities, and a free press—are the backbone of democratic life. They are the mechanisms through which complex societies

papers.ssrn.com

Reposted by Mark Galeotti, Ben H. Ansell, David M. Schultz , and 26 more Mark Galeotti, Ben H. Ansell, David M. Schultz, Andreas Ortmann, Kevin Milligan, Ryan Enos, Henning Finseraas, Oliver Marchart, Kris Inwood, Ingo Rohlfing, Jonathan Hopkin, Paolo Crosetto, Nikolas K. Gvosdev, James O’Sullivan, Robert Wolfe, Stephen D. Murphy, Margot C. Finn, Juan Moreno‐Cruz, Brian Weatherson, Paul Nightingale, Woodrow Hartzog, Anthony Burke, Juanjo Medina, Jack Stilgoe, Ian Bruff, Pádua Fernandes, Peter Gratton, Maksym Polyakov, Daniel Piechowski

Seva @seva.bsky.social · 10d

I just finished a three-year term as an editor at an international relations journal. I began at the start of the LLM era but ended right in the middle of it. Our volume of submissions tripled and our desk reject rate rose to 75%. I have some thoughts.
open.substack.com/pub/hegemon/...

The Age of Academic Slop is Upon Us

what happens when AI automates "normal science"?

open.substack.com

Woodrow Hartzog @hartzog.bsky.social · 10d

Thanks, Tim!

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog

Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · 10d

HIGHLY recommend this important new paper.

When AI systems obscure the rules of institutions, the legitimacy of those rules degrades. Clarifying the rules and their rationales to the people who are part of or affected by the institution strengthens institutional structure and purpose. In this way, obscure AI “rules” facilitate authoritarianism that relies upon the exercise of power through automation (”just so”) instead of the purposeful and knowing adherence to institutional rules as reasonable and understandable. By obscuring the rules and denying institutional participants the opportunity to consciously follow, consider, iterate, or even resist them, AI systems short-circuit the process by which institutional participants decide which rules are just and effective, and which should be modified or applied only in certain contexts. The unthinking, automatic enforcement of rules has a corrosive and ossifying effect on deliberative governance frameworks that require buy-in for legitimacy, adaptability, and longevity.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Woodrow Hartzog

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 11d

Every future imagined by a tech company is worse than the previous iteration.

Do You Want Your Food Made by a Robot?

E-commerce mogul Marc Lore's Wonder is leaning into automation in a $2 billion effort to do to restaurants what Amazon did to shopping.

www.bloomberg.com

Woodrow Hartzog @hartzog.bsky.social · 11d

.@jessicasilbey.bsky.social & I didn't arrive at this conclusion lightly, but he's the upshot: "In short, current AI systems are a death sentence for civic institutions, and we should treat them as such." papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

How AI Destroys Institutions

Civic institutions—the rule of law, universities, and a free press—are the backbone of democratic life. They are the mechanisms through which complex societies

papers.ssrn.com

Woodrow Hartzog @hartzog.bsky.social · 11d

"The affordances of AI systems have the effect of eroding expertise, short-circuiting decision-making, & isolating people from each other. These systems are anathema to the kind of evolution, transparency, cooperation, and accountability that give vital institutions their purpose & sustainability."

Woodrow Hartzog @hartzog.bsky.social · 15d

Forever and ever, amen.

Reposted by Jessica Vitak

Woodrow Hartzog @hartzog.bsky.social · 15d

There is no such thing as a neutral technology.

Eryk Salvaggio @eryk.bsky.social · 16d

This quote, from Ireland’s media minister Patrick O’Donovan, is why we need to understand that models are no longer merely black boxes, but entire architectures that steer output to specific goals and outputs. More here: www.techpolicy.press/why-musk-is-...

Reposted by Fabián Muniesa, Woodrow Hartzog

Eryk Salvaggio @eryk.bsky.social · 16d

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog

Boston University School of Law @bulaw.bsky.social · 16d

“You should be protected when you walk into a store without having to worry about the thousand different ways in which your personal information is being collected and used against you,” said #BULawProf @hartzog.bsky.social.

Read more ➡️ spr.ly/63324CWExy

Is Wegmans collecting biometric data on Mass. shoppers?

New signage at its New York City stores has customers wondering whether retailers are quietly gathering sensitive information.

spr.ly

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Brendan Nyhan, Peter Campbell , and 5 more Peter Thorne, Brendan Nyhan, Peter Campbell, David S. Cohen, Rebecca Tushnet, Alan Richardson, Woodrow Hartzog, Jesse R. Lasky

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 16d

The National Weather Service used AI to create a forecast for Idaho. Low chances of wind for the nonexistent towns of Cocrerrireod, Orangeotild and Whata Bod www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026...

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 17d

Eight years ago this stuff was the domain of creeps and losers, too toxic for any company to support. Now the world's richest man is being rewarded for it. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Fake-porn videos are being weaponized to harass and humiliate women: ‘Everybody is a potential target’

"Deepfake" creators target both celebrities and everyday women with photos taken from the Web. Even Scarlett Johansson says she's powerless to fight them.

www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Nina Jankowicz, Lisa W. Fazio, Will Jennings , and 6 more Nina Jankowicz, Lisa W. Fazio, Will Jennings, Steve Peers, R. M. Wilson, Dean Eckles, Ann Bartow, Woodrow Hartzog, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 17d

X basically industrialized the creation of fake porn of women who don't consent. Others did it first, but Grok made it normalized and centralized: publicly visible, instantly creatable by anyone, regardless of who's being targeted and dehumanized. Only question now is will X suffer any consequences

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, David R. Miller , and 1 more Richard S.J. Tol, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, David R. Miller, Woodrow Hartzog

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 17d

Amid a big agency push to use AI models in weather prediction, the National Weather Service shared a forecast map riddled with spelling mistakes, non-existent locations and other geographical errors.