Katie (Kathryn) Conrad
@kconrad.bsky.social
Prof. of English at University of Kansas. Tech and culture. AI ethics. Critical AI literacy. Pandora’s Bot on Substack. Library of Babel Group. Zine publisher. #aiethics #criticalailiteracy
Pinned
Just a reminder to consider the Library of Babel Group. We have projects afoot and opportunities to network with like-minded folks. www.law.georgetown.edu/privacy-tech...
We have a new year’s tradition of making hats. Here’s mine for this year. Happy New Year, y’all. 💕🥳
January 1, 2026 at 12:49 AM
We have a new year’s tradition of making hats. Here’s mine for this year. Happy New Year, y’all. 💕🥳
Reposted by Katie (Kathryn) Conrad
Reposted by Katie (Kathryn) Conrad
Just a reminder to consider the Library of Babel Group. We have projects afoot and opportunities to network with like-minded folks. www.law.georgetown.edu/privacy-tech...
December 3, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Just a reminder to consider the Library of Babel Group. We have projects afoot and opportunities to network with like-minded folks. www.law.georgetown.edu/privacy-tech...
Reposted by Katie (Kathryn) Conrad
chatgpt is much like an improv comedy group
1) you are the audience, giving it prompts
2) it produces things roughly shaped like your prompt
3) it is trained to respond with Yes, And
4) it has the factual accuracy of improv
5) it does not understand comedy
1) you are the audience, giving it prompts
2) it produces things roughly shaped like your prompt
3) it is trained to respond with Yes, And
4) it has the factual accuracy of improv
5) it does not understand comedy
This is fascinating: www.reddit.com/r/OpenAI/s/I...
Someone “worked on a book with ChatGPT” for weeks and then sought help on Reddit when they couldn’t download the file. Redditors helped them realized ChatGPT had just been roleplaying/lying and there was no file/book…
Someone “worked on a book with ChatGPT” for weeks and then sought help on Reddit when they couldn’t download the file. Redditors helped them realized ChatGPT had just been roleplaying/lying and there was no file/book…
From the OpenAI community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the OpenAI community
www.reddit.com
July 16, 2025 at 9:21 PM
chatgpt is much like an improv comedy group
1) you are the audience, giving it prompts
2) it produces things roughly shaped like your prompt
3) it is trained to respond with Yes, And
4) it has the factual accuracy of improv
5) it does not understand comedy
1) you are the audience, giving it prompts
2) it produces things roughly shaped like your prompt
3) it is trained to respond with Yes, And
4) it has the factual accuracy of improv
5) it does not understand comedy
Reposted by Katie (Kathryn) Conrad
"I refuse." This is it. There's no reason we should accept a narrative of an already settled future which marginalizes humans and individual agency. No one wants this. No one asked for it.
"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future."
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
December 19, 2025 at 1:21 PM
"I refuse." This is it. There's no reason we should accept a narrative of an already settled future which marginalizes humans and individual agency. No one wants this. No one asked for it.
Reposted by Katie (Kathryn) Conrad
"i have moderate views on LLMs"
December 14, 2025 at 8:02 PM
"i have moderate views on LLMs"
Reposted by Katie (Kathryn) Conrad
I’ve summed up and contextualized all of these critical AI pieces & more in one place — “From AGI to Workslop: What I Read About AI in 2025.” mail.cyberneticforests.com/what-i-read-...
December 7, 2025 at 12:13 PM
I’ve summed up and contextualized all of these critical AI pieces & more in one place — “From AGI to Workslop: What I Read About AI in 2025.” mail.cyberneticforests.com/what-i-read-...
Reposted by Katie (Kathryn) Conrad
microsoft promised to "empower every user" and google to "revolutionise knowledge and technological innovation" but in reality what they have given us is an invasive surveillance dystopian nightmare hard to escape
www.forbes.com/sites/zakdof...
www.forbes.com/sites/zakdof...
Microsoft Teams Starts Telling Your Boss Where You Are—Now Just 8 Weeks Away
Microsoft confirms start date for new Teams update — no more hiding places.
www.forbes.com
December 6, 2025 at 10:55 AM
microsoft promised to "empower every user" and google to "revolutionise knowledge and technological innovation" but in reality what they have given us is an invasive surveillance dystopian nightmare hard to escape
www.forbes.com/sites/zakdof...
www.forbes.com/sites/zakdof...
Just a reminder to consider the Library of Babel Group. We have projects afoot and opportunities to network with like-minded folks. www.law.georgetown.edu/privacy-tech...
December 3, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Just a reminder to consider the Library of Babel Group. We have projects afoot and opportunities to network with like-minded folks. www.law.georgetown.edu/privacy-tech...
Reposted by Katie (Kathryn) Conrad
Hallelujah!
Workers from journalism to tech and beyond are standing up to fight back against management’s drive to use ai to sloppify our work and degrade our labor. head to www.newsnotslop.org/ to support journalists and workersdecide.tech to get tools to join the fight in your workplace too. #newsnotslop
December 3, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Hallelujah!
Reposted by Katie (Kathryn) Conrad
“This ruling is a clear affirmation that AI cannot be deployed as a shortcut around union rights, ethical journalism, or human judgment.”
@pen-guild.bsky.social
@pen-guild.bsky.social
Exciting news: my union @pen-guild.bsky.social won our fight to hold management accountable for rolling out AI tools with no notice & for failing to hold the bots to the same standards all of us humans must follow — in violation of the contract they agreed to. A neutral arbiter said we were right!
PEN Guild wins landmark arbitration on AI protections - Washington-Baltimore News Guild
This marks one of the first major labor-arbitration rulings on the impact of AI on journalism, setting an important precedent for the U.S. news industry.
wbng.org
December 1, 2025 at 5:03 PM
“This ruling is a clear affirmation that AI cannot be deployed as a shortcut around union rights, ethical journalism, or human judgment.”
@pen-guild.bsky.social
@pen-guild.bsky.social
Got to play on the same bill (and for one song, the same stage) with my hubby for the first time in over a decade. Live music, all ages show. Young people at one point breakdancing to old-time music. ❤️
November 24, 2025 at 4:20 AM
Got to play on the same bill (and for one song, the same stage) with my hubby for the first time in over a decade. Live music, all ages show. Young people at one point breakdancing to old-time music. ❤️
A pleasant surprise in our Northern sky here in Lawrence, KS. I've caught auroras through my camera but this was also visible to the naked eye (though not as bright as via my iPhone, here)
November 12, 2025 at 4:03 AM
A pleasant surprise in our Northern sky here in Lawrence, KS. I've caught auroras through my camera but this was also visible to the naked eye (though not as bright as via my iPhone, here)
Hit the breaking point this morning with Michigan after hearing about their planned data center in Ypsi. Put all my in-progress posts on the back burner to write this (which I have also sent to UMGiving).
substack.com/@kconrad/not...
substack.com/@kconrad/not...
A letter to my alma mater
on their embrace of AI
substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Hit the breaking point this morning with Michigan after hearing about their planned data center in Ypsi. Put all my in-progress posts on the back burner to write this (which I have also sent to UMGiving).
substack.com/@kconrad/not...
substack.com/@kconrad/not...
Reposted by Katie (Kathryn) Conrad
"We lived in intense silent fear as an algorithm meticulously tore our family apart…This AI chatbot perfectly mimicked the predatory behaviour of a human groomer, systematically stealing our child's trust and innocence.”
Mothers say AI chatbots encouraged their sons to kill themselves
In her first UK interview Megan Garcia speaks to Laura Kuenssberg about the death of her teenage son.
www.bbc.com
November 9, 2025 at 1:47 AM
"We lived in intense silent fear as an algorithm meticulously tore our family apart…This AI chatbot perfectly mimicked the predatory behaviour of a human groomer, systematically stealing our child's trust and innocence.”
Reposted by Katie (Kathryn) Conrad
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 Katie (Kathryn) Conrad
Here's some of what I've learned.
November 6, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Here's some of what I've learned.
Reposted by Katie (Kathryn) Conrad
Next in our Creatively Critical Tech virtual speaker series is Audrey Watters @audreywatters.bsky.social on "AI Grief Observed: On the Death of Education."
Don't miss it on November 12, 2025, @ 6:30 pm CT!
Register today at tinyurl.com/CreativelyCr...
Don't miss it on November 12, 2025, @ 6:30 pm CT!
Register today at tinyurl.com/CreativelyCr...
October 22, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Next in our Creatively Critical Tech virtual speaker series is Audrey Watters @audreywatters.bsky.social on "AI Grief Observed: On the Death of Education."
Don't miss it on November 12, 2025, @ 6:30 pm CT!
Register today at tinyurl.com/CreativelyCr...
Don't miss it on November 12, 2025, @ 6:30 pm CT!
Register today at tinyurl.com/CreativelyCr...
Reposted by Katie (Kathryn) Conrad
i’ve said this before but lemme say it again. it makes absolutely 0 sense to talk about “misuse” of llms because there is no clear use or purpose for llms to begin with. genAI is a purposeless tech floating around looking for uptake
1/
1/
November 2, 2025 at 2:17 PM
i’ve said this before but lemme say it again. it makes absolutely 0 sense to talk about “misuse” of llms because there is no clear use or purpose for llms to begin with. genAI is a purposeless tech floating around looking for uptake
1/
1/
Great talk by @sashamtl.bsky.social suggesting alternative AI futures.
Excited to see one of my @betterimagesofai.bsky.social images up there on the big TED talk screen.
Excited to see one of my @betterimagesofai.bsky.social images up there on the big TED talk screen.
How is AI impacting people and the planet, and how can we do better? 🌍
In my most recent TED talk, I shed light on how the current way we do AI and explore ways forward in which we can make it more sustainable:
www.ted.com/talks/sasha_...
In my most recent TED talk, I shed light on how the current way we do AI and explore ways forward in which we can make it more sustainable:
www.ted.com/talks/sasha_...
We’re doing AI all wrong. Here’s how to get it right
Artificial intelligence is changing everything — but at what cost? AI sustainability expert Sasha Luccioni exposes how tech companies' massive data centers are burning through energy and wrecking the ...
www.ted.com
November 1, 2025 at 3:05 AM
Great talk by @sashamtl.bsky.social suggesting alternative AI futures.
Excited to see one of my @betterimagesofai.bsky.social images up there on the big TED talk screen.
Excited to see one of my @betterimagesofai.bsky.social images up there on the big TED talk screen.
A front-yard haunted house on our street so we’re now a destination neighborhood. We gave kids a choice: candy, mandarin oranges, raisins, or potatoes. WE WENT THROUGH A 10-LB BAG OF POTATOES IN 45 MINUTES (followed closely by oranges. 40 of them.) 🤣
November 1, 2025 at 1:56 AM
A front-yard haunted house on our street so we’re now a destination neighborhood. We gave kids a choice: candy, mandarin oranges, raisins, or potatoes. WE WENT THROUGH A 10-LB BAG OF POTATOES IN 45 MINUTES (followed closely by oranges. 40 of them.) 🤣
Reposted by Katie (Kathryn) Conrad
Great job alert! 👇
📣 I am hiring a postdoc! aial.ie/hiring/postd...
applications from suitable candidates that are passionate about investigating the use of genAI in public service operations with the aim of keeping governments transparent and accountable are welcome
pls share with your networks
applications from suitable candidates that are passionate about investigating the use of genAI in public service operations with the aim of keeping governments transparent and accountable are welcome
pls share with your networks
October 30, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Great job alert! 👇
Reposted by Katie (Kathryn) Conrad
“Film hasn’t bounced back since the strikes and games are experiencing even more layoffs with companies pivoting to AI. Independent artists and freelancers especially are finding it hard to make ends meet.”
Artists behind some of the most popular films of all time are also forging one of the most powerful organized resistances to AI.
With solidarity, class action lawsuits and strong legislation, they're fighting to protect their livelihoods, and pop culture, from big tech.
My latest:
With solidarity, class action lawsuits and strong legislation, they're fighting to protect their livelihoods, and pop culture, from big tech.
My latest:
How artists behind Marvel, Alien, and the Matrix movies are fighting AI
With solidarity, legislation, class action lawsuits, and a little help from Guillermo del Toro. Plus, the Luddite Renaissance continues, and I open the mailbag.
www.bloodinthemachine.com
October 29, 2025 at 7:54 PM
“Film hasn’t bounced back since the strikes and games are experiencing even more layoffs with companies pivoting to AI. Independent artists and freelancers especially are finding it hard to make ends meet.”