Erin LeDell
@ledell.bsky.social
Chief Scientist @ Distributional.com @dbnlAI.bsky.social #MLSky #StatSky
Founder @ datascientific.com
Founder wimlds.org & co-founder rladies.org
PhD @ UC Berkeley
🏡 🌈 Oakland, California.
Founder @ datascientific.com
Founder wimlds.org & co-founder rladies.org
PhD @ UC Berkeley
🏡 🌈 Oakland, California.
Pinned
Erin LeDell
@ledell.bsky.social
· Nov 20
Get to know Erin LeDell, Chief Scientist at Distributional
We’re excited to announce that Erin LeDell has joined Distributional as Chief Scientist.
distributional.com
📣 I wanted to share some exciting career news -- I have joined Distributional as the Chief Scientist! My role includes a mix of scientific leadership and product strategy.
Follow me and @dbnlai.bsky.social if you want more updates about the world of #AITesting! #MLSky #StatSky
Follow me and @dbnlai.bsky.social if you want more updates about the world of #AITesting! #MLSky #StatSky
Reposted by Erin LeDell
1. LLM-generated code tries to run code from online software packages. Which is normal but
2. The packages don’t exist. Which would normally cause an error but
3. Nefarious people have made malware under the package names that LLMs make up most often. So
4. Now the LLM code points to malware.
2. The packages don’t exist. Which would normally cause an error but
3. Nefarious people have made malware under the package names that LLMs make up most often. So
4. Now the LLM code points to malware.
LLMs hallucinating nonexistent software packages with plausible names leads to a new malware vulnerability: "slopsquatting."
LLMs can't stop making up software dependencies and sabotaging everything
: Hallucinated package names fuel 'slopsquatting'
www.theregister.com
April 12, 2025 at 11:43 PM
1. LLM-generated code tries to run code from online software packages. Which is normal but
2. The packages don’t exist. Which would normally cause an error but
3. Nefarious people have made malware under the package names that LLMs make up most often. So
4. Now the LLM code points to malware.
2. The packages don’t exist. Which would normally cause an error but
3. Nefarious people have made malware under the package names that LLMs make up most often. So
4. Now the LLM code points to malware.
Reposted by Erin LeDell
Altman and Jony Ive have a warped idea of democratization @emilymbender.bsky.social and I take on the ridiculous marketing video which came out of OpenAI several months ago in Ep. 58 of our podcast.
December 25, 2025 at 1:04 AM
Altman and Jony Ive have a warped idea of democratization @emilymbender.bsky.social and I take on the ridiculous marketing video which came out of OpenAI several months ago in Ep. 58 of our podcast.
Reposted by Erin LeDell
This is an incredible image of comet 3I/ATLAS, taken by Satoru Murata ICQ Comet Observations group on 16 November 2025 from western New Mexico.
Structure within the major dust tail from the comet is clearly visible, together with two smaller jets trailing the nucleus and maybe even an anti-tail.
Structure within the major dust tail from the comet is clearly visible, together with two smaller jets trailing the nucleus and maybe even an anti-tail.
November 24, 2025 at 11:50 PM
This is an incredible image of comet 3I/ATLAS, taken by Satoru Murata ICQ Comet Observations group on 16 November 2025 from western New Mexico.
Structure within the major dust tail from the comet is clearly visible, together with two smaller jets trailing the nucleus and maybe even an anti-tail.
Structure within the major dust tail from the comet is clearly visible, together with two smaller jets trailing the nucleus and maybe even an anti-tail.
Reposted by Erin LeDell
The way python and R foster inclusion directly contributes to their success: joyful places to exist, a steady flow of new maintainers, and a delightful collection of niche tools empowered by wildly different expertise coming together
Watch the new python documentary for more on PSF’s work here
Watch the new python documentary for more on PSF’s work here
October 28, 2025 at 12:20 AM
The way python and R foster inclusion directly contributes to their success: joyful places to exist, a steady flow of new maintainers, and a delightful collection of niche tools empowered by wildly different expertise coming together
Watch the new python documentary for more on PSF’s work here
Watch the new python documentary for more on PSF’s work here
Reposted by Erin LeDell
A speech about what drives me, how science and open source are bitter victories, unable to make improve the world if society does not embrace them for the better:
gael-varoquaux.info/personnal/a-...
gael-varoquaux.info/personnal/a-...
A national recognition; but science and open source are bitter victories
I have recently been awarded France’s national order of merit, for my career, in science, in open source, and around AI. The speech that I gave carries messages important to me (French below;...
gael-varoquaux.info
October 10, 2025 at 11:37 AM
A speech about what drives me, how science and open source are bitter victories, unable to make improve the world if society does not embrace them for the better:
gael-varoquaux.info/personnal/a-...
gael-varoquaux.info/personnal/a-...
Reposted by Erin LeDell
For those who want to know about how I chop vegetables between meetings, or grind my coffee, have I got the article for you www.businessinsider.com/day-in-the-l...
I'm the president of Signal. I love dance music in the mornings, night yoga, and acting like a tourist — here's a day in my life.
Meredith Whittaker wakes up by 6 am whether she's in New York or Paris and checks her Signal, where the entire company operates and communicates.
www.businessinsider.com
October 14, 2025 at 6:24 AM
For those who want to know about how I chop vegetables between meetings, or grind my coffee, have I got the article for you www.businessinsider.com/day-in-the-l...
Reposted by Erin LeDell
TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
🧵
🧵
The official home of the Python Programming Language
www.python.org
October 27, 2025 at 2:47 PM
TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
🧵
🧵
Reposted by Erin LeDell
Lilac-breasted Roller
Lillabrystet Ellekrage
Coracias caudatus
#birds #birding #Kenya #photography #nature #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #wildlife #ornithology #birdphotography #animalphotography
Lillabrystet Ellekrage
Coracias caudatus
#birds #birding #Kenya #photography #nature #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #wildlife #ornithology #birdphotography #animalphotography
October 20, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Lilac-breasted Roller
Lillabrystet Ellekrage
Coracias caudatus
#birds #birding #Kenya #photography #nature #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #wildlife #ornithology #birdphotography #animalphotography
Lillabrystet Ellekrage
Coracias caudatus
#birds #birding #Kenya #photography #nature #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #wildlife #ornithology #birdphotography #animalphotography
Reposted by Erin LeDell
Look at that. And New Mexico is not a rich state. Just one that figured out some priorities.
Governor announces New Mexico will now provide free universal child care
Governor announces New Mexico will now provide free universal child care
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – New Mexico is becoming the first state in the U.S. to offer free early childhood education to every family in the state. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced a universal ch…
www.krqe.com
September 9, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Look at that. And New Mexico is not a rich state. Just one that figured out some priorities.
Reposted by Erin LeDell
Meta trained a special “aggregator” model that learns how to combine and reconcile different answers into a more accurate final one, instead of relying on simple majority voting or reward model ranking on multiple model answers.
September 9, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Meta trained a special “aggregator” model that learns how to combine and reconcile different answers into a more accurate final one, instead of relying on simple majority voting or reward model ranking on multiple model answers.
Reposted by Erin LeDell
Simpering cowards one and all.
This is almost unbearable to watch.
This is almost unbearable to watch.
Incredible clip of tech CEOs fawning over Donald Trump. Someone store this clip in the underground archive vault
September 6, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Simpering cowards one and all.
This is almost unbearable to watch.
This is almost unbearable to watch.
Reposted by Erin LeDell
Hallucinations are accidentally created by evals
They come from post-training. Reasoning models hallucinate more because we do more rigorous post-training on them
The problem is we reward them for being confident
cdn.openai.com/pdf/d04913be...
They come from post-training. Reasoning models hallucinate more because we do more rigorous post-training on them
The problem is we reward them for being confident
cdn.openai.com/pdf/d04913be...
September 6, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Hallucinations are accidentally created by evals
They come from post-training. Reasoning models hallucinate more because we do more rigorous post-training on them
The problem is we reward them for being confident
cdn.openai.com/pdf/d04913be...
They come from post-training. Reasoning models hallucinate more because we do more rigorous post-training on them
The problem is we reward them for being confident
cdn.openai.com/pdf/d04913be...
Reposted by Erin LeDell
Plugging something into the tiny computer that you keep in your pocket. That one that has all your passwords, information, and location.. and giving control away to a random ai and company you know nothing about…
September 4, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Plugging something into the tiny computer that you keep in your pocket. That one that has all your passwords, information, and location.. and giving control away to a random ai and company you know nothing about…
Reposted by Erin LeDell
A nasal spray reduced the risk of Covid infections in a double blind, placebo controlled randomized trial
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
September 2, 2025 at 3:16 PM
A nasal spray reduced the risk of Covid infections in a double blind, placebo controlled randomized trial
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Reposted by Erin LeDell
Exactly. Keep the pressure on. Trump will not stick with anyone he thinks may be dragging him further down. That was the beginning of his distancing from Elon.
Keep the pressure on. RFK must go.
Keep the pressure on. RFK must go.
Leaving aside the typical histrionics, this seems to be Trump beginning to distance himself from Kennedy (who’s “ripping apart” CDC), and inviting mainstream physicians and scientists to defend the vaccines, so Trump can then say, I got them to explain it better and vaccines are OK.
September 1, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Exactly. Keep the pressure on. Trump will not stick with anyone he thinks may be dragging him further down. That was the beginning of his distancing from Elon.
Keep the pressure on. RFK must go.
Keep the pressure on. RFK must go.
Reposted by Erin LeDell
It's fine if this is all seven overvalued companies in an AI trenchcoat, right?
Right?
Right?
U.S. STOCK MARKET REACHES MOST EXPENSIVE LEVEL IN HISTORY, OVERTAKING DOT-COM ERA AND 1929 PRE-DEPRESSION PEAK
September 1, 2025 at 7:21 PM
It's fine if this is all seven overvalued companies in an AI trenchcoat, right?
Right?
Right?
Reposted by Erin LeDell
"When in doubt, don't ask ChatGPT for health advice."
A man who sought to remove salt from his diet asked ChatGPT for an alternative. He ended up poisoning himself and going to a hospital
Man Follows ChatGPT's Advice and Poisons Himself
An older man learned the hard way that ChatGPT isn't to be trusted with health advice after the toxic chatbot landed him in the hospital.
futurism.com
August 13, 2025 at 2:30 AM
"When in doubt, don't ask ChatGPT for health advice."
Reposted by Erin LeDell
“The AI in the study probably prompted doctors to become over-reliant on its recommendations, ‘leading to clinicians becoming less motivated, less focused, and less responsible when making cognitive decisions without AI assistance,’ the scientists said in the paper.”
AI Eroded Doctors’ Ability to Spot Cancer Within Months in Study
Artificial intelligence, touted for its potential to transform medicine, led to some doctors losing skills after just a few months in a new study.
www.bloomberg.com
August 12, 2025 at 11:41 PM
“The AI in the study probably prompted doctors to become over-reliant on its recommendations, ‘leading to clinicians becoming less motivated, less focused, and less responsible when making cognitive decisions without AI assistance,’ the scientists said in the paper.”
Reposted by Erin LeDell
Somebody on LinkedIn said what we're all thinking.
August 10, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Somebody on LinkedIn said what we're all thinking.
Reposted by Erin LeDell
I have some academic lady friends I’ve known for 20+yrs. This industry can be so cold, competitive, and selfish, but these women are so kind, generous, steadfast, and fun. We’ll sometimes get busy and go months without chatting, then reconnect as if no time has passed. I’m so grateful for them…
August 10, 2025 at 6:22 PM
I have some academic lady friends I’ve known for 20+yrs. This industry can be so cold, competitive, and selfish, but these women are so kind, generous, steadfast, and fun. We’ll sometimes get busy and go months without chatting, then reconnect as if no time has passed. I’m so grateful for them…
Reposted by Erin LeDell
"Capitalism is temporary. Dykes are forever"
Seen in NYC
Seen in NYC
July 13, 2025 at 12:07 AM
"Capitalism is temporary. Dykes are forever"
Seen in NYC
Seen in NYC
Reposted by Erin LeDell
Anyway just saying
Haha, so chatgpt's new agent feature has a warning that if you send the agent to do stuff, it may give bad people access to your data. Necessary, I guess, but if this is true it'd make it fairly useless, no?
I mean to me the main use case would be giving it access to sites requiring login.
I mean to me the main use case would be giving it access to sites requiring login.
July 27, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Anyway just saying
Reposted by Erin LeDell
What--and I say this with my chest--the hell are we doing here people
AI-assistant caused DATA LOSS, destroyed projects, user files and a production database: issued faulty commands, overwriting data; another ignored freeze directives, fabricated test data, and dropped a live database. anuraag2601.github.io/gemini_cli_d... www.theregister.com/2025/07/21/r...
July 25, 2025 at 12:14 PM
What--and I say this with my chest--the hell are we doing here people
Reposted by Erin LeDell
Maybe if your country is the wealthiest in the world but the richest tenth of the country have two thirds of the wealth and the bottom 50% only have 2.5% of the wealth, you don't have the wealthiest country in the world, you just have feudalism.
July 23, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Maybe if your country is the wealthiest in the world but the richest tenth of the country have two thirds of the wealth and the bottom 50% only have 2.5% of the wealth, you don't have the wealthiest country in the world, you just have feudalism.
Reposted by Erin LeDell
