John Symons
LightNews LightNews
banner
johnfsymons.bsky.social
John Symons
@johnfsymons.bsky.social
420 followers 250 following 18 posts

Professor of Philosophy,
Director, Center for Cyber Social Dynamics at University of Kansas.

Videos
Philosophy 27%
Computer science 14%
Posts Replies Media Videos

johnfsymons.bsky.social
John Symons @johnfsymons.bsky.social · Jul 10
Bravo Syed
smusab.bsky.social Syed AbuMusab @smusab.bsky.social · Jul 6
Now with all the official stuff taken care of, I can freely share that I was fortunate enough to secure a TT position for Fall '25 at the University of Texas-Arlington. Very thankful to @johnfsymons.bsky.social @sarahrobins.bsky.social, Brad Cokelet, @coreymaley.net & KU Phil. #philtech #philsky

Reposted by John Symons

smusab.bsky.social
Syed AbuMusab @smusab.bsky.social · Jul 6
Now with all the official stuff taken care of, I can freely share that I was fortunate enough to secure a TT position for Fall '25 at the University of Texas-Arlington. Very thankful to @johnfsymons.bsky.social @sarahrobins.bsky.social, Brad Cokelet, @coreymaley.net & KU Phil. #philtech #philsky

Reposted by John Symons

ramonalvarado.bsky.social
Ramón Alvarado @ramonalvarado.bsky.social · Jun 18
Can we have close relationships with AI? In this new DatOS episode, Oluwaseun Sanwoolu walks us through her paper (w @johnfsymons.bsky.social) on why we are simply mistaken if we think we can. Hint: it’s our human limitations that make things special.

youtu.be/2vw3XVZV4Ps?...
Why AI Can’t Be Your Friend. DatOS Ep. 6: Oluwaseun Sanwoolu
YouTube video by Ramón Alvarado
youtu.be

johnfsymons.bsky.social
John Symons @johnfsymons.bsky.social · Apr 19
Super proud of my former student Ramón Alvarado discussing ethics of AI in public facing and highly accessible ways. He elegantly models how philosophy can be conducted at the highest levels of excellence while still being accessible and urgently relevant.
ramonalvarado.bsky.social Ramón Alvarado @ramonalvarado.bsky.social · Apr 19
I was in a Portland local news show abt #AI. Managed to name-drop recent papers from @johnfsymons.bsky.social and Oluwaseun Sanwoolu as well as the brand new @sayash.bsky.social and @randomwalker.bsky.social paper “AI as Normal Technology”.

#AIethics #philtech

youtu.be/cH7DU1ORGRI?...
Straight Talk | The promises and perils of AI
YouTube video by KGW News
youtu.be

Reposted by John Symons

ramonalvarado.bsky.social
Ramón Alvarado @ramonalvarado.bsky.social · Apr 19
I was in a Portland local news show abt #AI. Managed to name-drop recent papers from @johnfsymons.bsky.social and Oluwaseun Sanwoolu as well as the brand new @sayash.bsky.social and @randomwalker.bsky.social paper “AI as Normal Technology”.

#AIethics #philtech

youtu.be/cH7DU1ORGRI?...
Straight Talk | The promises and perils of AI
YouTube video by KGW News
youtu.be

johnfsymons.bsky.social
John Symons @johnfsymons.bsky.social · Apr 15
I had the chance to talk about philosophy & AI w Ben Yelin about close personal relationships, social agency & AI. My part starts at min 26It's an introduction to some of the recent work that I've done together with Oluwaseun Damilola Sanwoolu and Syed Abumusab. open.spotify.com/episode/6lqZ...
Caveat Live: FBI and KU Cybersecurity Conference.
Caveat · Episode
open.spotify.com

johnfsymons.bsky.social
John Symons @johnfsymons.bsky.social · Mar 18
Lovely visit to University of Oregon. A delight to see Ramón and to talk philosophy with his brilliant and lively departmental community
ramonalvarado.bsky.social Ramón Alvarado @ramonalvarado.bsky.social · Mar 14
An incredibly thought -provoking colloquium lecture by my friend @johnfsymons.bsky.social. Inverting Latour’s adage that technology is society made durable, John suggests it is societal norms that make technology robust. W/o proper social imaginaries, tech’s solutions fall apart.

#sts #philtech

Reposted by John Symons

ramonalvarado.bsky.social
Ramón Alvarado @ramonalvarado.bsky.social · Mar 14
An incredibly thought -provoking colloquium lecture by my friend @johnfsymons.bsky.social. Inverting Latour’s adage that technology is society made durable, John suggests it is societal norms that make technology robust. W/o proper social imaginaries, tech’s solutions fall apart.

#sts #philtech

Reposted by John Symons

smusab.bsky.social
Syed AbuMusab @smusab.bsky.social · Feb 21
New Paper Alert: You've heard of lethal autonomous weapons and capital punishment.. what happens when they converge? An anticipatory analysis of how AI could reshape execution debates @reneeasirbu.bsky.social @floridi.bsky.social
#philtech #moralphil #philsky #LawAI papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Execution by Lethal Autonomous Mechanism: How Anti-Capital Punishment Arguments Might Lead to Automated Executions-and Why Such Automation Must Be Prevented
In this paper, we examine the potential integration of artificial intelligence into capital punishment through lethal autonomous mechanisms (LAMs), an extension
papers.ssrn.com

johnfsymons.bsky.social
John Symons @johnfsymons.bsky.social · Jan 25
Recent paper with Oluwaseun Damilola Sanwoolu : "Close Personal Relationships with People and Artifacts? Loneliness, Agent-Relative Obligations, and Artificially Intelligent Companions" is finally accepted for publication at Philosophy &Technology. johnsymons.net/wp-content/upl…
https://johnsymons.net/wp-content/upl…

Reposted by John Symons

irisvanrooij.bsky.social
Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · Dec 26
Scientific Integrity Question

Consider a fictional AI system M, and a scientist S who wishes to use M in their research pipeline (e.g., for analysis and/or interpretation). Functionally, M is not fully understood by S. In your opinion, is it acceptable that S uses M in their research pipeline?

johnfsymons.bsky.social
John Symons @johnfsymons.bsky.social · Dec 10
Nice write up of our History and Philosophy of Materialism volume here news.ku.edu/news/article...
History and philosophy of materialism
A new book offers an in-depth look at materialism, the idea that all facts, events and objects are dependent on or reducible to physical processes. This multi-author work features 31 chapters that exp...
news.ku.edu

johnfsymons.bsky.social
John Symons @johnfsymons.bsky.social · Dec 5
Jack Horner and I will be talking to High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart on "How to interpret quantum supremacy claims"

join online, all talks will be broadcasted at unistuttgart.webex.com/meet/nico.form… reading: What Have Google’s Rand…
Dec 13, 2024
16:00
hlrs.de/event/2024/how 
HTTP Status 400 – Bad Request
https://unistuttgart.webex.com/meet/nico.form…

johnfsymons.bsky.social
John Symons @johnfsymons.bsky.social · Dec 5
Center for Cyber Social Dynamics Lab ( most of us)

johnfsymons.bsky.social
John Symons @johnfsymons.bsky.social · Nov 28
Happy Thanksgiving to all

johnfsymons.bsky.social
John Symons @johnfsymons.bsky.social · Nov 25
Perceptions and attitudes toward artificial intelligence among frontline physicians and physicians’ assistants in Kansas: a cross-sectional survey doi.org/10.1093/jami... #AI #medicine #physician
Validate User
doi.org

johnfsymons.bsky.social
John Symons @johnfsymons.bsky.social · Nov 25
St Nicholas, Lawrence, Kansas

johnfsymons.bsky.social
John Symons @johnfsymons.bsky.social · Nov 22
Lovely to talk to the Computer Science Department at UTEP this morning! Talked about AI, social norms, and institutions among other things. #UTEP #AI #philosophy

johnfsymons.bsky.social
John Symons @johnfsymons.bsky.social · Nov 21
Holy Archangel Michael & All Saints Skete. #orthodoxy

johnfsymons.bsky.social
John Symons @johnfsymons.bsky.social · Nov 19
#nobeard

johnfsymons.bsky.social
John Symons @johnfsymons.bsky.social · Nov 19
youtube.com/live/3r0bpun...

My provocations about Thinking and Writing with AI. My talk begins at the 2 hour point. Posting this as an experiment. #AI #philsky #philosophy
YouTube
Share your videos with friends, family, and the world
youtube.com

johnfsymons.bsky.social
John Symons @johnfsymons.bsky.social · Nov 16
Hello Bluesky!