Matt Seybold
@mattseybold.bsky.social
American Vandal Pod | Prof of AmLit & Twain Studies + Director of Media Studies, Elmira College | Resident Scholar @MarkTwain.bsky.social | Political Economy of Mass Media
TheAmericanVandal.substack.com
MattSeybold.com
buymeacoffee.com/americanvandalpod
TheAmericanVandal.substack.com
MattSeybold.com
buymeacoffee.com/americanvandalpod
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"You have to use it. You have to trust it.": Forced Adoption of AI is The Subtext of Davos
Authoritarianism is the AI Bailout; But If AI Doesn't Need a Bailout, Does it Need Authoritarianism?
theamericanvandal.substack.com
I watched a bunch of AI sessions at the WEF so you wouldn’t have to.
But you should read this.
But you should read this.
One thing AI has definitely revolutionized is the Dunning-Kruger Effect. It’s now just a vertical line tilted at an obtuse angle.
January 31, 2026 at 2:06 PM
One thing AI has definitely revolutionized is the Dunning-Kruger Effect. It’s now just a vertical line tilted at an obtuse angle.
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college.
African-American Culture & The Korean War
7 Lamps of Literature
Poets of The Interregnum
Physics For Artists
Mark Twain
African-American Culture & The Korean War
7 Lamps of Literature
Poets of The Interregnum
Physics For Artists
Mark Twain
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college.
Jewish American and African American Literature
Constitutional Theory
The Enlightenment
Revolution and Romanticism
and... an early Cultural Studies course!! ✊
Jewish American and African American Literature
Constitutional Theory
The Enlightenment
Revolution and Romanticism
and... an early Cultural Studies course!! ✊
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college
Race and Identity in LatAm
Stalinism
German Philosophy from Kant to Freud
Post-Soviet Russia
Classics of American Literature
Race and Identity in LatAm
Stalinism
German Philosophy from Kant to Freud
Post-Soviet Russia
Classics of American Literature
January 31, 2026 at 3:08 AM
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college.
African-American Culture & The Korean War
7 Lamps of Literature
Poets of The Interregnum
Physics For Artists
Mark Twain
African-American Culture & The Korean War
7 Lamps of Literature
Poets of The Interregnum
Physics For Artists
Mark Twain
For the record, henceforth if you describe “networking” to me as a necessary professional skill, just know, in my head, I’m thinking of Jeffrey Epstein tremendous “networking” acumen. Fair warning.
January 31, 2026 at 2:58 AM
For the record, henceforth if you describe “networking” to me as a necessary professional skill, just know, in my head, I’m thinking of Jeffrey Epstein tremendous “networking” acumen. Fair warning.
I have been in college classrooms continuously for almost 30 years now & I sincerely don’t believe the aggregate student commitment to “doing the reading” or watching the whole film has changed much at all.
January 31, 2026 at 1:26 AM
I have been in college classrooms continuously for almost 30 years now & I sincerely don’t believe the aggregate student commitment to “doing the reading” or watching the whole film has changed much at all.
You’re going to be tempted to read about the Epstein dump.
Will your attention change anything?
I spent 20 minutes with them today.
I have not fallen off the wagon in 16 years. I haven’t even thought about getting high since 2022.
20 minutes.
I spent the next hour on the phone with my sponsor.
Will your attention change anything?
I spent 20 minutes with them today.
I have not fallen off the wagon in 16 years. I haven’t even thought about getting high since 2022.
20 minutes.
I spent the next hour on the phone with my sponsor.
January 31, 2026 at 12:43 AM
You’re going to be tempted to read about the Epstein dump.
Will your attention change anything?
I spent 20 minutes with them today.
I have not fallen off the wagon in 16 years. I haven’t even thought about getting high since 2022.
20 minutes.
I spent the next hour on the phone with my sponsor.
Will your attention change anything?
I spent 20 minutes with them today.
I have not fallen off the wagon in 16 years. I haven’t even thought about getting high since 2022.
20 minutes.
I spent the next hour on the phone with my sponsor.
lmao learn to closeread
among everything else this week dunno if you heard but coding is over. huge opp for humanities folks. should be megaphoning 'learning to think never goes out of style'
January 30, 2026 at 10:16 PM
lmao learn to closeread
Reposted by Matt Seybold
To understand the logic behind these warehouses and this new horrific carceral regime, you can’t do better than Ruthie Gilmore’s The Golden Gulag.
It is fitting that the US edition of concentration camps are going to be situated in disused warehouses (former data centres?): www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
ICE Begins Buying ‘Mega’ Warehouse Detention Centers Across US
Plans for such centers and jails in nearly two dozen communities have sparked protests over suitability, proximity to homes and schools.
www.bloomberg.com
January 30, 2026 at 4:33 PM
To understand the logic behind these warehouses and this new horrific carceral regime, you can’t do better than Ruthie Gilmore’s The Golden Gulag.
Reposted by Matt Seybold
“Independent” is doing too much work in this first wave. They are arresting journalists and just like everything else they’ve done, they’re testing the limits of our resistance by starting wt vulnerable margins.
January 30, 2026 at 3:45 PM
“Independent” is doing too much work in this first wave. They are arresting journalists and just like everything else they’ve done, they’re testing the limits of our resistance by starting wt vulnerable margins.
Reposted by Matt Seybold
We have some real C-suite fascism going on. Executives decided that frictionless isn't just what they want in tech. It's what they want in humans, which requires subservience.
"It’s no wonder AI entrepreneurs and investors are flirting with authoritarianism. The technology they are developing creates the same kinds of bubbles of sycophancy and narcissism which are inevitably constructed around tyrants.”
‘They are no longer strategizing for voluntary adoption by those who come to recognize the technology’s utility by electively applying it to the problems they face. They are planning how to cross the chasm by forced adoption.’
By @mattseybold.bsky.social
By @mattseybold.bsky.social
January 29, 2026 at 12:08 PM
We have some real C-suite fascism going on. Executives decided that frictionless isn't just what they want in tech. It's what they want in humans, which requires subservience.
Reposted by Matt Seybold
Here's a gift link:
The Accidental Winners of the War on Higher Ed
Go to a small liberal-arts college if you can.
www.theatlantic.com
January 30, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Here's a gift link:
Reposted by Matt Seybold
Can’t literacy ourselves out of this one, I’m afraid.
"there’s no way that we can become more savvy ... this is not a problem that developing the right skill set is going to solve" @tressiemcphd.bsky.social speaking the things I think some librarians may be afraid to say out loud, but are true nonetheless. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/o...
Opinion | The Internet May Look Different After You Listen to This
www.nytimes.com
January 30, 2026 at 2:09 PM
Can’t literacy ourselves out of this one, I’m afraid.
Reposted by Matt Seybold
Our work will always be done by humans and we will pay humans to do that work for as long as people are willing to pay us for our human work and we will never, ever adopt this shite.
‘They are no longer strategizing for voluntary adoption by those who come to recognize the technology’s utility by electively applying it to the problems they face. They are planning how to cross the chasm by forced adoption.’
By @mattseybold.bsky.social
By @mattseybold.bsky.social
"You have to use it. You have to trust it.": Forced Adoption of AI is The Subtext of Davos
Authoritarianism is the AI Bailout; But If AI Doesn't Need a Bailout, Does it Need Authoritarianism?
theamericanvandal.substack.com
January 29, 2026 at 12:21 PM
Our work will always be done by humans and we will pay humans to do that work for as long as people are willing to pay us for our human work and we will never, ever adopt this shite.
Reposted by Matt Seybold
"It’s no wonder AI entrepreneurs and investors are flirting with authoritarianism. The technology they are developing creates the same kinds of bubbles of sycophancy and narcissism which are inevitably constructed around tyrants.”
‘They are no longer strategizing for voluntary adoption by those who come to recognize the technology’s utility by electively applying it to the problems they face. They are planning how to cross the chasm by forced adoption.’
By @mattseybold.bsky.social
By @mattseybold.bsky.social
"You have to use it. You have to trust it.": Forced Adoption of AI is The Subtext of Davos
Authoritarianism is the AI Bailout; But If AI Doesn't Need a Bailout, Does it Need Authoritarianism?
theamericanvandal.substack.com
January 29, 2026 at 11:58 AM
"It’s no wonder AI entrepreneurs and investors are flirting with authoritarianism. The technology they are developing creates the same kinds of bubbles of sycophancy and narcissism which are inevitably constructed around tyrants.”
Reposted by Matt Seybold
«The unveiled force of Nadella’s statement is: All those who have power over workers and consumers are going to need to use it to make them start accepting and using the Generative AI tools our industry has collectively invested trillions in.»
Microsoft and Blackrock have "have largely given up on organic adoption [of AI] by consumers. They have moved on to a new dream of forced adoption mandated by government and managerial coercion."
Fascinating piece here on what Davos can teach us about the AI industry by @mattseybold.bsky.social
Fascinating piece here on what Davos can teach us about the AI industry by @mattseybold.bsky.social
"You have to use it. You have to trust it.": Forced Adoption of AI is The Subtext of Davos
Authoritarianism is the AI Bailout; But If AI Doesn't Need a Bailout, Does it Need Authoritarianism?
theamericanvandal.substack.com
January 29, 2026 at 4:06 PM
«The unveiled force of Nadella’s statement is: All those who have power over workers and consumers are going to need to use it to make them start accepting and using the Generative AI tools our industry has collectively invested trillions in.»
Reposted by Matt Seybold
The college at which I'm employed, which has signed a contract with the AI firm that stole books from 131 colleagues & me, paid a student to write an op-ed for the student paper promoting AI, guided the writing of it, and did not disclose this to the paper. www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026...
College approached and paid student to write op-ed in The Dartmouth
The Dartmouth ran the article on Nov. 17 without knowledge that the College had been involved.
www.thedartmouth.com
January 29, 2026 at 10:40 PM
The college at which I'm employed, which has signed a contract with the AI firm that stole books from 131 colleagues & me, paid a student to write an op-ed for the student paper promoting AI, guided the writing of it, and did not disclose this to the paper. www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026...
Reposted by Matt Seybold
The person who makes an anti-ai search engine today...
Microsoft and Blackrock have "have largely given up on organic adoption [of AI] by consumers. They have moved on to a new dream of forced adoption mandated by government and managerial coercion."
Fascinating piece here on what Davos can teach us about the AI industry by @mattseybold.bsky.social
Fascinating piece here on what Davos can teach us about the AI industry by @mattseybold.bsky.social
"You have to use it. You have to trust it.": Forced Adoption of AI is The Subtext of Davos
Authoritarianism is the AI Bailout; But If AI Doesn't Need a Bailout, Does it Need Authoritarianism?
theamericanvandal.substack.com
January 29, 2026 at 5:47 PM
The person who makes an anti-ai search engine today...
Reposted by Matt Seybold
The university I teach in has given over its weekly staff lunchtime research methods seminars to HOW TO USE THIS FUCKING SHIT.
Attendance isn't great.
Attendance isn't great.
January 29, 2026 at 3:37 PM
The university I teach in has given over its weekly staff lunchtime research methods seminars to HOW TO USE THIS FUCKING SHIT.
Attendance isn't great.
Attendance isn't great.
Reposted by Matt Seybold
Teaching exercise that is helpful with my policy students. Based on the solution, hiring this fella to a fancy position and giving him $$$ in this environment, what is the root of skepticism with higher ed that Yale is attempting to solve? Whose skepticism do they seek to assuage?
OH COME ON. Brooks knows fuck-all about "society at large".
January 29, 2026 at 7:16 PM
Teaching exercise that is helpful with my policy students. Based on the solution, hiring this fella to a fancy position and giving him $$$ in this environment, what is the root of skepticism with higher ed that Yale is attempting to solve? Whose skepticism do they seek to assuage?
The end had come but was not yet in sight.
(from JKG’s “The Great Crash of 1929”)
(from JKG’s “The Great Crash of 1929”)
January 29, 2026 at 6:51 PM
The end had come but was not yet in sight.
(from JKG’s “The Great Crash of 1929”)
(from JKG’s “The Great Crash of 1929”)
Reposted by Matt Seybold
Let me predict what "ideas and projects" the "scholars" associated with this "center" are going to come up with to "help academic institutions regain the public trust": kill higher ed unions, turn everyone into an adjunct, ban ethnic and gender studies, and sell the classroom to AI companies.
January 29, 2026 at 6:12 PM
Let me predict what "ideas and projects" the "scholars" associated with this "center" are going to come up with to "help academic institutions regain the public trust": kill higher ed unions, turn everyone into an adjunct, ban ethnic and gender studies, and sell the classroom to AI companies.
Reposted by Matt Seybold
Reposted by Matt Seybold
We're overjoyed to announce next summer's star-studded line-up of scholars. Join us at Merton College, University of Oxford, 4-12 July 2026, for an unforgettable week of poetry!
November 26, 2025 at 12:06 AM
We're overjoyed to announce next summer's star-studded line-up of scholars. Join us at Merton College, University of Oxford, 4-12 July 2026, for an unforgettable week of poetry!
Reposted by Matt Seybold
Hard not to read all of this bully-alpha-man-forced-outcome shit as a robust rejection of consent discourse.
Microsoft and Blackrock have "have largely given up on organic adoption [of AI] by consumers. They have moved on to a new dream of forced adoption mandated by government and managerial coercion."
Fascinating piece here on what Davos can teach us about the AI industry by @mattseybold.bsky.social
Fascinating piece here on what Davos can teach us about the AI industry by @mattseybold.bsky.social
"You have to use it. You have to trust it.": Forced Adoption of AI is The Subtext of Davos
Authoritarianism is the AI Bailout; But If AI Doesn't Need a Bailout, Does it Need Authoritarianism?
theamericanvandal.substack.com
January 29, 2026 at 3:35 PM
Hard not to read all of this bully-alpha-man-forced-outcome shit as a robust rejection of consent discourse.