John Gallagher
@johnrgallagher.bsky.social
Using qualitative & computational methods to study writers on the internet. I study how machine learning experts communicate. I study the interaction between writers & audiences. Professor @ University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign
It’s usually not the military in the streets. it’s the quiet neighbors quietly reporting.
November 11, 2025 at 3:22 AM
It’s usually not the military in the streets. it’s the quiet neighbors quietly reporting.
The glory to Inbox 0
November 11, 2025 at 2:01 AM
The glory to Inbox 0
My phone autocorrects “I’m” to “AI”
It’s devastating.
It’s devastating.
my LMS grading platform keeps autocorrecting “academic writing” to “academic writhing”
fair enough
fair enough
November 11, 2025 at 1:11 AM
My phone autocorrects “I’m” to “AI”
It’s devastating.
It’s devastating.
Reposted by John Gallagher
my LMS grading platform keeps autocorrecting “academic writing” to “academic writhing”
fair enough
fair enough
November 11, 2025 at 12:56 AM
my LMS grading platform keeps autocorrecting “academic writing” to “academic writhing”
fair enough
fair enough
what is the best version/edition of Middlemarch?
November 10, 2025 at 4:17 AM
what is the best version/edition of Middlemarch?
One of my hobbies is reading arduous history books (nerd). In many of them, they discuss the perpetual fear of famine. Not like “we can’t afford food” but like “there is no food, not even for the rich.”
It is genuinely hard for most people to grasp how poor the past was.
November 9, 2025 at 9:19 PM
One of my hobbies is reading arduous history books (nerd). In many of them, they discuss the perpetual fear of famine. Not like “we can’t afford food” but like “there is no food, not even for the rich.”
I asked one of my kids what snacks were wanted for this week.
The answer: “I like wet food better.”
The answer: “I like wet food better.”
November 9, 2025 at 9:16 PM
I asked one of my kids what snacks were wanted for this week.
The answer: “I like wet food better.”
The answer: “I like wet food better.”
It provides CONTENT GENRE knowledge. that’s what LLMs are modeling.
This is a cool paper showing that first-gen college students don't realize a lot of unwritten rules that lead to success (the value of internships, student clubs, letters from professors).
But giving them access to an LLM for guidance significantly closes the gap. mgcuna.github.io/website/JMP_...
But giving them access to an LLM for guidance significantly closes the gap. mgcuna.github.io/website/JMP_...
November 9, 2025 at 3:31 PM
It provides CONTENT GENRE knowledge. that’s what LLMs are modeling.
Reposted by John Gallagher
Whenever I read about this company, I think of Aaron Swartz and become incandescent
"Common Crawl’s executive director, Rich Skrenta, has publicly made the case that AI models should be able to access anything on the internet. 'The robots are people too,' he told me."
bitch no they not
bitch no they not
The Company Quietly Funneling Paywalled Articles to AI Developers
“You shouldn’t have put your content on the internet if you didn’t want it to be on the internet,” Common Crawl’s executive director says.
www.theatlantic.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Whenever I read about this company, I think of Aaron Swartz and become incandescent
I feel like there are bad consequences to reading so many AI written or AI-influenced texts. I’m maladjusted now to reading everything. Caustic consequences.
November 9, 2025 at 3:10 PM
I feel like there are bad consequences to reading so many AI written or AI-influenced texts. I’m maladjusted now to reading everything. Caustic consequences.
Reposted by John Gallagher
Really think this Shtetl Optimized piece by Harvey Lederman is worth reading: scottaaronson.blog?p=9030
Not sure it's an optimistic future, but it is a future that is still joyful
Not sure it's an optimistic future, but it is a future that is still joyful
ChatGPT and the Meaning of Life: Guest Post by Harvey Lederman
Scott Aaronson’s Brief Foreword: Harvey Lederman is a distinguished analytic philosopher who moved from Princeton to UT Austin a few years ago. Since his arrival, he’s become one of my …
scottaaronson.blog
November 9, 2025 at 6:43 AM
Really think this Shtetl Optimized piece by Harvey Lederman is worth reading: scottaaronson.blog?p=9030
Not sure it's an optimistic future, but it is a future that is still joyful
Not sure it's an optimistic future, but it is a future that is still joyful
About two years ago I started using TTYL in my texting conversations to end a thread so that my friends know when I’m done (usually back at work). All of my friends now use it with each other. Success!
November 8, 2025 at 11:56 PM
About two years ago I started using TTYL in my texting conversations to end a thread so that my friends know when I’m done (usually back at work). All of my friends now use it with each other. Success!
We haven’t done enough empirical theorizing about what it means for a person’s psychology to have an online following. What does it do cognitively to the brain when everyday interactions become *expected* to be mediated and broadcast? Especially to weak ties.
November 8, 2025 at 8:14 PM
We haven’t done enough empirical theorizing about what it means for a person’s psychology to have an online following. What does it do cognitively to the brain when everyday interactions become *expected* to be mediated and broadcast? Especially to weak ties.
my conspiracy theory is that the CEOs will apply baseball’s wins above replacement (WAR) metric to knowledge work. There will be a metric at some point that compares your work to an LLM‘s (type token ratio, etc). And if your work isn’t distinctive enough, they’ll fire you.
Recently met someone who was very surprised to hear I didn’t use ChatGPT or any LLM.
I said my job depended on doing distinctive work. That was my selling point. If I started to sound like ChatGPT and turn out what it did, then how on earth could I justify doing it? What would that make me?
I said my job depended on doing distinctive work. That was my selling point. If I started to sound like ChatGPT and turn out what it did, then how on earth could I justify doing it? What would that make me?
November 8, 2025 at 2:15 PM
my conspiracy theory is that the CEOs will apply baseball’s wins above replacement (WAR) metric to knowledge work. There will be a metric at some point that compares your work to an LLM‘s (type token ratio, etc). And if your work isn’t distinctive enough, they’ll fire you.
Simplest sentence or paragraph revision exercise that works for AI or non-AI.
Eliminate all uses of the word "and". Rewrite to make the text argumentative.
That's it. It works surprisingly well.
Eliminate all uses of the word "and". Rewrite to make the text argumentative.
That's it. It works surprisingly well.
November 7, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Simplest sentence or paragraph revision exercise that works for AI or non-AI.
Eliminate all uses of the word "and". Rewrite to make the text argumentative.
That's it. It works surprisingly well.
Eliminate all uses of the word "and". Rewrite to make the text argumentative.
That's it. It works surprisingly well.
Reposted by John Gallagher
me at the end of class: here's a little speculative exercises; imagine you wake up from cryosleep in 2085. what's the kind of tech-society r/ship you'd like to see around you?
students: no AI
I honestly think students' views are missing from the 'should AI be integrated in classrooms' discussion
students: no AI
I honestly think students' views are missing from the 'should AI be integrated in classrooms' discussion
November 6, 2025 at 6:32 AM
me at the end of class: here's a little speculative exercises; imagine you wake up from cryosleep in 2085. what's the kind of tech-society r/ship you'd like to see around you?
students: no AI
I honestly think students' views are missing from the 'should AI be integrated in classrooms' discussion
students: no AI
I honestly think students' views are missing from the 'should AI be integrated in classrooms' discussion
Reposted by John Gallagher
My students yesterday said that all of their profs should ban gen AI use and insist on in-class, blue book exams/papers. Meanwhile, our entire business school redesigned its curriculum to integrate AI into every class. A nightmare all around.
me at the end of class: here's a little speculative exercises; imagine you wake up from cryosleep in 2085. what's the kind of tech-society r/ship you'd like to see around you?
students: no AI
I honestly think students' views are missing from the 'should AI be integrated in classrooms' discussion
students: no AI
I honestly think students' views are missing from the 'should AI be integrated in classrooms' discussion
November 7, 2025 at 12:29 PM
My students yesterday said that all of their profs should ban gen AI use and insist on in-class, blue book exams/papers. Meanwhile, our entire business school redesigned its curriculum to integrate AI into every class. A nightmare all around.
I don't think people should be able to take loans out on their unsold stocks. (This is how the rich become ultra rich because they never pay taxes on either)
November 7, 2025 at 12:41 PM
I don't think people should be able to take loans out on their unsold stocks. (This is how the rich become ultra rich because they never pay taxes on either)
Reposted by John Gallagher
For each additional moral–emotional word in a social media post, the number of shares increases 13%
Our new meta-analysis finds robust evidence of moral contagion (N=4,821,006)
The moral contagion effect is even stronger in larger, pre-registered studies (17%).
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Our new meta-analysis finds robust evidence of moral contagion (N=4,821,006)
The moral contagion effect is even stronger in larger, pre-registered studies (17%).
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
November 5, 2025 at 4:58 PM
For each additional moral–emotional word in a social media post, the number of shares increases 13%
Our new meta-analysis finds robust evidence of moral contagion (N=4,821,006)
The moral contagion effect is even stronger in larger, pre-registered studies (17%).
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Our new meta-analysis finds robust evidence of moral contagion (N=4,821,006)
The moral contagion effect is even stronger in larger, pre-registered studies (17%).
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
I want to start a podcast called the “rhetoric referees” where you just call out dumb podcast takes that go unchallenged.
November 6, 2025 at 1:53 PM
I want to start a podcast called the “rhetoric referees” where you just call out dumb podcast takes that go unchallenged.
I'm tired of socialism for corporations but they get to keep their profits. I hated the 2008 bailouts. I still hold a grudge.
BREAKING: OpenAI is requesting US government support to help guarantee financing for the massive investments in AI chips and data centers it needs for expansion, per Bloomberg.
November 6, 2025 at 1:21 AM
I'm tired of socialism for corporations but they get to keep their profits. I hated the 2008 bailouts. I still hold a grudge.
Reposted by John Gallagher
Adequate: Rewriting the Logics of Success in Rhetoric and Composition, edited by @timothyoleksiak.bsky.social and me, is available for pre-order with a 40% discount with code OLBA26! There's a ton of brilliant writing in here. Please buy it and encourage your library to buy copies too!
November 5, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Adequate: Rewriting the Logics of Success in Rhetoric and Composition, edited by @timothyoleksiak.bsky.social and me, is available for pre-order with a 40% discount with code OLBA26! There's a ton of brilliant writing in here. Please buy it and encourage your library to buy copies too!
Reposted by John Gallagher
Sort of starting to believe that we really do need academic metrics that punish publishing too much
November 3, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Sort of starting to believe that we really do need academic metrics that punish publishing too much
I am teaching Benjamin's "The work of art" this week. I'm irrationally excited. I'm ready to update every passage in the context of GenAI and social media.
“How does the cameraman compare with the painter? To answer this we take recourse to an analogy with a surgical operation.”
“How does the cameraman compare with the painter? To answer this we take recourse to an analogy with a surgical operation.”
November 3, 2025 at 1:00 AM
I am teaching Benjamin's "The work of art" this week. I'm irrationally excited. I'm ready to update every passage in the context of GenAI and social media.
“How does the cameraman compare with the painter? To answer this we take recourse to an analogy with a surgical operation.”
“How does the cameraman compare with the painter? To answer this we take recourse to an analogy with a surgical operation.”
When working construction, I once lost feeling in both hands for a month after jackhammering in a basement while standing in 18 inches of ice water in January. I made a vow that my kids would never work a job that broken their bodies.
“Humans can just go get manual labor jobs if desk jobs are repaired with AI” is both not going to suffice to provide enough jobs and is also going to result in massive societal anger because manual labor jobs often *are terrible*, which is why people have worked hard to avoid them for generations.
Even if society provided the food/shelter level needs for everyone, humans also need to perform useful work just for basic fulfillment. The vast majority of people cannot sit around all day letting AI and robots do everything.
(The definition of “useful work” here is malleable but still essential)
(The definition of “useful work” here is malleable but still essential)
November 2, 2025 at 8:11 PM
When working construction, I once lost feeling in both hands for a month after jackhammering in a basement while standing in 18 inches of ice water in January. I made a vow that my kids would never work a job that broken their bodies.