Jessica M. Elliott
@jmelliott.bsky.social
Associate professor of medieval history. Working on Jewish-Christian interaction, religious conversion, and attitudes toward converts in medieval France and Italy. She/her.
Pinned
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
there’s only like two sentences between “excel is incredibly important to worldwide business” and “we have a 57% accuracy rate”! What are we doing!
![Microsoft has taken a gradual approach to adding Al elements to Excel, particularly because the data it handles powers some of the most important parts of businesses worldwide. "[Agent Mode] lets you build sheets that are auditable, refreshable, and verifiable," Chauhan says. "We have spent a ton of time making sure that the validation loop on all of these sub-agents is pretty tight."
Microsoft says its Agent Mode in Excel has an accuracy rate of 57.2 percent in SpreadsheetBench, a benchmark for evaluating an Al model's ability to edit real world spreadsheets. This result places Agent Mode above Shortcut.ai, ChatGPT agent with xIsx support, and Claude Files Opus 4.1. It's still behind the human accuracy of 71.3 percent, though.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:sbiggn5vgn5dzf5cgt7mconf/bafkreifmgob5h3zxv6yu4m52rzctgmfkjruwuudo54rkbj2mq6htxvyjcy@jpeg)
October 1, 2025 at 5:14 PM
there’s only like two sentences between “excel is incredibly important to worldwide business” and “we have a 57% accuracy rate”! What are we doing!
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
if you aren’t super tuned into COVID news it is unlikely you know just how easily the newest variant spreads.
vaccinate. mask. act like it is 2021. or you are probably going to get it. (ask me how i know!)
vaccinate. mask. act like it is 2021. or you are probably going to get it. (ask me how i know!)
October 1, 2025 at 5:22 PM
if you aren’t super tuned into COVID news it is unlikely you know just how easily the newest variant spreads.
vaccinate. mask. act like it is 2021. or you are probably going to get it. (ask me how i know!)
vaccinate. mask. act like it is 2021. or you are probably going to get it. (ask me how i know!)
I just need everybody to stop making things worse for one goddamn minute so we can all catch our breath
Microsoft launches ‘vibe working’ in Excel and Word
Microsoft launches ‘vibe working’ in Excel and Word
Vibe working is all about Office’s new Agent Mode.
buff.ly
October 1, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I just need everybody to stop making things worse for one goddamn minute so we can all catch our breath
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
feels like we're living through some kind of cultural gas leak
Microsoft launches ‘vibe working’ in Excel and Word
Microsoft launches ‘vibe working’ in Excel and Word
Vibe working is all about Office’s new Agent Mode.
buff.ly
October 1, 2025 at 4:52 PM
feels like we're living through some kind of cultural gas leak
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.
October 1, 2025 at 2:38 PM
We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
it is worth mentioning that many of these laws are written so broadly as to define any discussion of LGBT topics as pornographic
Ohio’s new age verification law targeting porn goes into effect today, which means people will either have to use a VPN or submit their IDs to use Bluesky. This is Project 2025 in action. The goal is to limit freedom and make it harder to access anything remotely progressive
October 1, 2025 at 3:07 PM
it is worth mentioning that many of these laws are written so broadly as to define any discussion of LGBT topics as pornographic
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
As always: the primary goal of disinformation isn't to make you believe the fake thing.
It's to make you believe that everything is fake, so you shouldn't even bother attempting to discern truth.
It's to make you believe that everything is fake, so you shouldn't even bother attempting to discern truth.
Fabricating “evidence” of crimes is one use. You know the reactions to political violence? Soon false accusations will have video that appeals real to anyone not looking closely. And maybe to them too.
But another problem is people dismissing real evidence because they think anything could be fake.
But another problem is people dismissing real evidence because they think anything could be fake.
OpenAI employees are very excited about how well their new AI tool can create fake videos of people doing crimes and have definitely thought through all the implications of this
October 1, 2025 at 1:30 AM
As always: the primary goal of disinformation isn't to make you believe the fake thing.
It's to make you believe that everything is fake, so you shouldn't even bother attempting to discern truth.
It's to make you believe that everything is fake, so you shouldn't even bother attempting to discern truth.
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
The basic infrastructures that allow women to be participants in public life—birth control & abortion access, no fault divorce, childcare access & affordability, civil rights law in employment and public accommodations, the minimal efforts to mitigate sexual and domestic violence—are all crumbling.
September 30, 2025 at 2:29 PM
The basic infrastructures that allow women to be participants in public life—birth control & abortion access, no fault divorce, childcare access & affordability, civil rights law in employment and public accommodations, the minimal efforts to mitigate sexual and domestic violence—are all crumbling.
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
This whole section really.
September 28, 2025 at 10:59 PM
This whole section really.
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
A lot of people think that every international student admitted means one fewer spot for domestic students, when the opposite is more likely true - the tuition revenue international students bring allows public universities to provide substantial discounts to domestic students, improving access.
September 29, 2025 at 8:18 PM
A lot of people think that every international student admitted means one fewer spot for domestic students, when the opposite is more likely true - the tuition revenue international students bring allows public universities to provide substantial discounts to domestic students, improving access.
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
I’m always saying that!
Eric Trump: "You're sitting there saying, 'Why can't I send hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bitcoin overseas instantly or receive it instantly with virtually no fees?' Bitcoin is the way of the future."
September 29, 2025 at 6:11 PM
I’m always saying that!
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
🚨BREAKING: Minutes after Missouri Governor signs new rigged congressional map, my law firm filed a lawsuit on behalf of affected voters. The lawsuit seeks to block implementation of the redrawn congressional map. www.democracydocket.com/cases/missou...
🚨 Healey v. State of Missouri
Learn more here.
www.democracydocket.com
September 28, 2025 at 10:59 PM
🚨BREAKING: Minutes after Missouri Governor signs new rigged congressional map, my law firm filed a lawsuit on behalf of affected voters. The lawsuit seeks to block implementation of the redrawn congressional map. www.democracydocket.com/cases/missou...
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
Can't we just get healthcare
September 28, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Can't we just get healthcare
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
Every good programmer I know has been saying this to me for months; meanwhile every not-great programmer I know has been trying to outsource their work to ai, causing more issues/delays than they if did it themselves.
A lot of these tools only seem good to people who are not great at their jobs.
A lot of these tools only seem good to people who are not great at their jobs.
“In a new report, management consultants Bain & Company found that despite being ‘one of the first areas to deploy generative AI,’ the ‘savings have been unremarkable’ in programming.”
AI Coding Is Massively Overhyped, Report Finds
The AI industry's claims about AI coding assistants boosting productivity significantly appear to be massively overblown, per a new report.
futurism.com
September 28, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Every good programmer I know has been saying this to me for months; meanwhile every not-great programmer I know has been trying to outsource their work to ai, causing more issues/delays than they if did it themselves.
A lot of these tools only seem good to people who are not great at their jobs.
A lot of these tools only seem good to people who are not great at their jobs.
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
It is, far and away, the most challenging thing I’ve encountered since entering the academy. And that is saying a lot. I might be working on this but I keep putting it aside because I’m not medicated enough to describe how demoralizing it all is.
We have allowed the lazy, grifting Silicon Valley charlatans into the front door, & in doing so, we have learned just how many of our own colleagues & administrators simply are not interested in the actual business of education. It's incredibly demoralizing.
bsky.app/profile/mcop...
bsky.app/profile/mcop...
Thanks so much for your reporting on this, Ben. I just got an email from my campus's IT office triumphantly advertising free student access to four different AI models -- at the same time as we have a hiring freeze, caps on grad enrollment, and a 7% budget cut -- and wanted to scream.
September 27, 2025 at 9:29 PM
It is, far and away, the most challenging thing I’ve encountered since entering the academy. And that is saying a lot. I might be working on this but I keep putting it aside because I’m not medicated enough to describe how demoralizing it all is.
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
The fundamental problem with the HBR-business/tech genre of AI studies is they all start from the premise that "learning" = "transfer of content" and thus "learning" is measured by "quantifiable restatement of said content," and that's just...not how learning works
September 27, 2025 at 3:44 PM
The fundamental problem with the HBR-business/tech genre of AI studies is they all start from the premise that "learning" = "transfer of content" and thus "learning" is measured by "quantifiable restatement of said content," and that's just...not how learning works
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
Three-year VAP in Medieval Middle East/Islamic History at Colby's History Department
jobs.chronicle.com/job/37887745...
jobs.chronicle.com/job/37887745...
Visiting Assistant Professor of Medieval Middle East-3 year - Waterville, Maine, United States job with Colby College | 37887745
Description
Visiting Assistant Professor in Middle East/Islamic History
The Department of History at Colby College invites applications for
a...
jobs.chronicle.com
September 27, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Three-year VAP in Medieval Middle East/Islamic History at Colby's History Department
jobs.chronicle.com/job/37887745...
jobs.chronicle.com/job/37887745...
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
It's pretty wild to me that investigators have uncovered that anti-trans campaigns are largely funded by the fossil fuel industry, and that the presumed motivations are pretty directly to redirect the public conversation away from climate change... and that this isn't bigger news.
September 27, 2025 at 1:42 AM
It's pretty wild to me that investigators have uncovered that anti-trans campaigns are largely funded by the fossil fuel industry, and that the presumed motivations are pretty directly to redirect the public conversation away from climate change... and that this isn't bigger news.
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
The thing regular people don’t often grasp about ‘academic freedom’ is that if you don’t allow experts to research & teach in their fields of expertise, guided by their professional judgment & decades of training, you have effectively given up on the concept of knowledge & shut down your university
Universities are moving rapidly to comply with laws that don't exist.
“I’m emotionally shellshocked right now,” said one professor in the Texas Tech system. “What does it say about academic freedom? It says we don’t have it.” The professor spoke by phone from the inside of a car to avoid being overheard by colleagues.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...
September 27, 2025 at 11:41 AM
The thing regular people don’t often grasp about ‘academic freedom’ is that if you don’t allow experts to research & teach in their fields of expertise, guided by their professional judgment & decades of training, you have effectively given up on the concept of knowledge & shut down your university
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
My department is hiring an associate/full professor of Early Modern/Modern Jewish History. Please apply and please share within your networks. I have been told to say we're very interested in the early early modern.
Note: I am not involved in the search but am happy to answer general questions.
Note: I am not involved in the search but am happy to answer general questions.
Tenured Associate/Full Professor in History, Deinard Chair in Early Modern/Modern Jewish History in Minneapolis, MN for University of Minnesota
Exciting opportunity in Minneapolis, MN for University of Minnesota as a Tenured Associate/Full P...
careers.historians.org
September 22, 2025 at 4:09 PM
My department is hiring an associate/full professor of Early Modern/Modern Jewish History. Please apply and please share within your networks. I have been told to say we're very interested in the early early modern.
Note: I am not involved in the search but am happy to answer general questions.
Note: I am not involved in the search but am happy to answer general questions.
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
At my institution, the Teaching and Learning Center's programs are now primarily focused on integrating AI into teaching.
This includes their funded workshops. These used to be on different topics, and are one of the only ways for adjuncts to get some extra cash. Now they're almost all AI.
This includes their funded workshops. These used to be on different topics, and are one of the only ways for adjuncts to get some extra cash. Now they're almost all AI.
September 22, 2025 at 2:33 PM
At my institution, the Teaching and Learning Center's programs are now primarily focused on integrating AI into teaching.
This includes their funded workshops. These used to be on different topics, and are one of the only ways for adjuncts to get some extra cash. Now they're almost all AI.
This includes their funded workshops. These used to be on different topics, and are one of the only ways for adjuncts to get some extra cash. Now they're almost all AI.
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
To be clear: this entire “we’ve got to run more pro-lifers” insanity is because literally a week ago polling showed that Democrats would prefer politicians like AOC and Mamdani over Jefferies and Schumer by, let me emphasize this, a 20 point fucking margin.
www.politico.com/news/2025/09...
www.politico.com/news/2025/09...
Poll: Capitalism is out … and socialism is in
The movement is gaining popularity among Democrats, a left-leaning group found.
www.politico.com
September 22, 2025 at 11:34 AM
To be clear: this entire “we’ve got to run more pro-lifers” insanity is because literally a week ago polling showed that Democrats would prefer politicians like AOC and Mamdani over Jefferies and Schumer by, let me emphasize this, a 20 point fucking margin.
www.politico.com/news/2025/09...
www.politico.com/news/2025/09...
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
Earlier this year, ProPublica found that the sepsis rate in second-trimester pregnancy loss hospitalizations increased by more than 50% under Texas’ abortion ban.
Here’s how we did our analysis.
(Published Feb. 2025)
Here’s how we did our analysis.
(Published Feb. 2025)
Texas Won’t Study How Its Abortion Ban Impacts Women, So We Did
Since Texas banned abortion, no one has studied the statewide effects on pregnant women experiencing complications. Here’s how we sifted through data on millions of pregnancy hospitalizations and anal...
www.propublica.org
September 21, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Earlier this year, ProPublica found that the sepsis rate in second-trimester pregnancy loss hospitalizations increased by more than 50% under Texas’ abortion ban.
Here’s how we did our analysis.
(Published Feb. 2025)
Here’s how we did our analysis.
(Published Feb. 2025)
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
Lemme spell it out. Trump's only leverage over Jimmy Kimmel and ABC came from FCC regulation. His direct power over H1-B visas gives him similar leverage over tech, higher ed, and others.
Critical part of the President's new $100,000 charge for H1-B visas: The Administration can also offer a $100,000 discount to any person, company, or industry that it wants. Replacing rules with arbitrary discretion.
Want visas? You know who to call and who to flatter.
Want visas? You know who to call and who to flatter.
September 20, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Lemme spell it out. Trump's only leverage over Jimmy Kimmel and ABC came from FCC regulation. His direct power over H1-B visas gives him similar leverage over tech, higher ed, and others.
Reposted by Jessica M. Elliott
Critical part of the President's new $100,000 charge for H1-B visas: The Administration can also offer a $100,000 discount to any person, company, or industry that it wants. Replacing rules with arbitrary discretion.
Want visas? You know who to call and who to flatter.
Want visas? You know who to call and who to flatter.
September 20, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Critical part of the President's new $100,000 charge for H1-B visas: The Administration can also offer a $100,000 discount to any person, company, or industry that it wants. Replacing rules with arbitrary discretion.
Want visas? You know who to call and who to flatter.
Want visas? You know who to call and who to flatter.