Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
@ranjodhdhaliwal.com
Critical Media Theory + Science and Technology Studies + Literature + CS.
Associate Prof. of DH, AI, and Media somewhere.
VP, @litsciarts.org
📚: Computation, Political Economy, Infrastructures, History, Games, Design, SF.
☭.
Not a professional account.
Associate Prof. of DH, AI, and Media somewhere.
VP, @litsciarts.org
📚: Computation, Political Economy, Infrastructures, History, Games, Design, SF.
☭.
Not a professional account.
Pinned
.@zentralwerkstatt.org and I co-wrote this piece on why you are (probably) doing AI criticism wrong as a humanist and why we, in Critical AI Studies, need to do better methodologically than 'So I asked ChatGPT a question and now I have thoughts...'
Now available on arXiv at doi.org/10.48550/arX...
Now available on arXiv at doi.org/10.48550/arX...
Reposted by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
“there are only 7 full-time book critics left in the US: three at NYT ( Jacobs, Garner, Szalai), 2 at WaPo(Rothfeld, Charles), 1 each at WSJ (Sacks), NY mag (Chu), Slate (Miller)
more people have walked on the moon than write book reviews for a living”
worldliteraturetoday.org/2025/septemb...
more people have walked on the moon than write book reviews for a living”
worldliteraturetoday.org/2025/septemb...
Criticism Is Literature. Why Is It Vanishing?, by Adam Morgan
What do the best book reviews do? What is the current state of the critical ecosystem? Chicago Review of Books founder Adam Morgan takes stock of book reviewing in the US.
worldliteraturetoday.org
December 23, 2025 at 4:53 PM
“there are only 7 full-time book critics left in the US: three at NYT ( Jacobs, Garner, Szalai), 2 at WaPo(Rothfeld, Charles), 1 each at WSJ (Sacks), NY mag (Chu), Slate (Miller)
more people have walked on the moon than write book reviews for a living”
worldliteraturetoday.org/2025/septemb...
more people have walked on the moon than write book reviews for a living”
worldliteraturetoday.org/2025/septemb...
Reposted by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
Now published in print: "The Legality of Logistics: On Techno-Orientalism and Geopolitics in Semiconductor Production" in IEEE Annals of the History of Computing as a part of this special issue 'Automation by Design' co-edited by @cperold.bsky.social , Gerardo Con Diaz, and @justcode.bsky.social .
December 22, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Now published in print: "The Legality of Logistics: On Techno-Orientalism and Geopolitics in Semiconductor Production" in IEEE Annals of the History of Computing as a part of this special issue 'Automation by Design' co-edited by @cperold.bsky.social , Gerardo Con Diaz, and @justcode.bsky.social .
Now published in print: "The Legality of Logistics: On Techno-Orientalism and Geopolitics in Semiconductor Production" in IEEE Annals of the History of Computing as a part of this special issue 'Automation by Design' co-edited by @cperold.bsky.social , Gerardo Con Diaz, and @justcode.bsky.social .
December 22, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Now published in print: "The Legality of Logistics: On Techno-Orientalism and Geopolitics in Semiconductor Production" in IEEE Annals of the History of Computing as a part of this special issue 'Automation by Design' co-edited by @cperold.bsky.social , Gerardo Con Diaz, and @justcode.bsky.social .
Reposted by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
Our special issue is out! "Automation by Design: Politics, Culture & Landscape in an Age of Machines That Learn"! Eds. Colette Perold, me, Gerardo Con Diaz. Authors: David Dunning, Christos Karampatsos, Polyxeni Malisova, Eliza Pertigkiozoglou, Jason Ludwig, Megan Wiessner, & Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
December 19, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Our special issue is out! "Automation by Design: Politics, Culture & Landscape in an Age of Machines That Learn"! Eds. Colette Perold, me, Gerardo Con Diaz. Authors: David Dunning, Christos Karampatsos, Polyxeni Malisova, Eliza Pertigkiozoglou, Jason Ludwig, Megan Wiessner, & Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
Reposted by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
"literary-critical inferences cannot be identical, but cannot be an interpretive free-for-all or just statistically approximated hearsay. AI cannot suffer the downstream consequences of faked comprehension+wrongful inferences in its body."
Nan Z Da
newleftreview.org/issues/ii155...
Nan Z Da
newleftreview.org/issues/ii155...
Nan Z. Da, Literary Criticism in the Age of AI, NLR 155, September–October 2025
Critical analyses of AI usually adopt a stance of defensive humanism. Instead, Nan Da interrogates its mode of reasoning. How do LLMs make the step from data to inference—and what does it mean when th...
newleftreview.org
December 22, 2025 at 2:25 PM
"literary-critical inferences cannot be identical, but cannot be an interpretive free-for-all or just statistically approximated hearsay. AI cannot suffer the downstream consequences of faked comprehension+wrongful inferences in its body."
Nan Z Da
newleftreview.org/issues/ii155...
Nan Z Da
newleftreview.org/issues/ii155...
Reposted by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
"Encoding all of humanity’s skill and know-how into checklists is an enormous, possibly quixotic undertaking, but the frontier labs have billions to spend, and the sheer scale of their demand is reconfiguring the data industry." Really well-reported story here.
AI companies are spending billions hiring humans to produce training data. @haydenfield.bsky.social and I wrote about the explosion in new vendors and what it means for the future of AI development.
Who’s making the most money in AI? It’s not who you think
The fastest growing companies in the world aren’t AI companies, but the startups that supply them with warm bodies.
www.theverge.com
December 15, 2025 at 7:02 PM
"Encoding all of humanity’s skill and know-how into checklists is an enormous, possibly quixotic undertaking, but the frontier labs have billions to spend, and the sheer scale of their demand is reconfiguring the data industry." Really well-reported story here.
Reposted by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
Would be great if legacy media could get around to covering NSPM-7!
December 15, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Would be great if legacy media could get around to covering NSPM-7!
Reposted by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
I still think about this piece from last spring, which explains why the dysfunction and inefficiency are *intentional*. Plus, it’s not merely coincidental that executives for these software companies often sit on university boards.
"Since 2006, Workday, which provides software for payroll, talent management, and expense processing, has been making a mint creating misery where painless processes could be. More than half of the Fortune 500 companies use Workday to pay, hire, onboard, and administer benefits to their employees."
The most hated workplace software on the planet
It creates mountains of busywork for everyone. So why do more than half of the companies in the Fortune 500 use it?
www.businessinsider.com
December 12, 2025 at 4:32 PM
I still think about this piece from last spring, which explains why the dysfunction and inefficiency are *intentional*. Plus, it’s not merely coincidental that executives for these software companies often sit on university boards.
Reposted by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
Windows 98 Plus: Falling Leaves
December 12, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Windows 98 Plus: Falling Leaves
Reposted by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
In my 25yrs in the academy I 👀 the proliferation of expensive enterprise software that shifted the burden of sooo many basic administrative functions — reconciling receipts, paying honoraria, booking travel — from competent, efficient staff to faculty + students. I’d spend entire days on this crap.
Workday project at Washington University hits $266M
Workday project at Washington University hits $266M
Protests force disclosure of costs totaling $16,000 per student over 7 year rollout replacing 80 legacy systems
The total cost of a Workday implementation project at Washington University in St. Louis is set to hit almost $266 million, it was revealed after the project was the subject of protests from students.…
dlvr.it
December 12, 2025 at 4:30 PM
In my 25yrs in the academy I 👀 the proliferation of expensive enterprise software that shifted the burden of sooo many basic administrative functions — reconciling receipts, paying honoraria, booking travel — from competent, efficient staff to faculty + students. I’d spend entire days on this crap.
Reposted by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
Reposted by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
'Skull of St. Thomas Aquinas being transported to Fossanova Abbey.'
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
December 10, 2025 at 5:10 PM
SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
Reposted by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
NEW: an activist has been charged for allegedly wiping a Google Pixel phone before CBP could search it. Search was by a secretive CBP Tactical Terrorism Response Team, which ACLU says "interrogate innocent travelers." We uploaded the indictment here: www.404media.co/man-charged-...
Man Charged for Wiping Phone Before CBP Could Search It
The exact circumstances around the search are not known. But activist Samuel Tunick is charged with deleting data from a Google Pixel before CBP’s Tactical Terrorism Response Team could search it.
www.404media.co
December 9, 2025 at 3:25 PM
NEW: an activist has been charged for allegedly wiping a Google Pixel phone before CBP could search it. Search was by a secretive CBP Tactical Terrorism Response Team, which ACLU says "interrogate innocent travelers." We uploaded the indictment here: www.404media.co/man-charged-...
Reposted by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
A few years ago I had a partner who was a former roboticist. Through her I became acutely aware of how much of public-facing robotics is now is pure theatrical smoke and mirrors horseshit intended to dupe credulous tech press and VCs.
can't stop watching this clip of a tesla Optimus teleoperator taking his headset off before properly logging out the robot
December 8, 2025 at 2:19 PM
A few years ago I had a partner who was a former roboticist. Through her I became acutely aware of how much of public-facing robotics is now is pure theatrical smoke and mirrors horseshit intended to dupe credulous tech press and VCs.
Reposted by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
can't stop watching this clip of a tesla Optimus teleoperator taking his headset off before properly logging out the robot
December 8, 2025 at 9:29 AM
can't stop watching this clip of a tesla Optimus teleoperator taking his headset off before properly logging out the robot
Reposted by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
“Sleeping’s underlying biological need is not a weakness to be remedied, or a limitation to overcome, but a fact of our nature that gives rise to valuable interpersonal and aesthetic activities and is also valuable in itself.”
Sleep is not just a physical need but a delicious pleasure | Aeon Essays
The idea that we should reduce sleep to an efficient minimum in our lives gets something fundamentally wrong
aeon.co
December 7, 2025 at 6:19 PM
“Sleeping’s underlying biological need is not a weakness to be remedied, or a limitation to overcome, but a fact of our nature that gives rise to valuable interpersonal and aesthetic activities and is also valuable in itself.”
Reposted by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
They claim financial exigency, but then turn down $4 million pledges to keep the PhD programs open and disregard financial analyses that point to the real problem—bad real estate deals, spending on consultants, and their own salaries 2/2
December 6, 2025 at 4:24 PM
They claim financial exigency, but then turn down $4 million pledges to keep the PhD programs open and disregard financial analyses that point to the real problem—bad real estate deals, spending on consultants, and their own salaries 2/2
Reposted by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
Holy shit.
Reuters reporting that new admin instructions on visas are if you worked at a platform in trust & safety or content moderation or on fact checking or online safety at an platform you *and your loved ones* are ineligible for H-1B visa.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Reuters reporting that new admin instructions on visas are if you worked at a platform in trust & safety or content moderation or on fact checking or online safety at an platform you *and your loved ones* are ineligible for H-1B visa.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
December 4, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Holy shit.
Reuters reporting that new admin instructions on visas are if you worked at a platform in trust & safety or content moderation or on fact checking or online safety at an platform you *and your loved ones* are ineligible for H-1B visa.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Reuters reporting that new admin instructions on visas are if you worked at a platform in trust & safety or content moderation or on fact checking or online safety at an platform you *and your loved ones* are ineligible for H-1B visa.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Reposted by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
They should invent a university that prioritizes teaching and research
December 2, 2025 at 8:15 PM
They should invent a university that prioritizes teaching and research
Reposted by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
Remember when Aaron Swartz downloaded JSTOR archives that he had full legal rights to download and the FBI hounded him literally to death for it? Anyway,
NEW: Common Crawl, the massive archiver of the web, has gotten cozy with AI companies and is providing paywalled articles for training data. They’re also lying to publishers who have asked for material to be removed. “The robots are people too,” CC’s exec director told us when we asked about this.
The Nonprofit Feeding the Entire Internet to AI Companies
Common Crawl claims to provide a public benefit, but it lies to publishers about its activities.
www.theatlantic.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Remember when Aaron Swartz downloaded JSTOR archives that he had full legal rights to download and the FBI hounded him literally to death for it? Anyway,
Reposted by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
waymo ceo: we plan for fatal crashes and society will learn to accept them
roblox ceo: kids must be preyed upon and victimized as a necessary consequence of scale
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO HEADS ON PIKES
roblox ceo: kids must be preyed upon and victimized as a necessary consequence of scale
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO HEADS ON PIKES
November 21, 2025 at 7:42 PM
waymo ceo: we plan for fatal crashes and society will learn to accept them
roblox ceo: kids must be preyed upon and victimized as a necessary consequence of scale
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO HEADS ON PIKES
roblox ceo: kids must be preyed upon and victimized as a necessary consequence of scale
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO HEADS ON PIKES
Happening today in a few hours!
Amsterdam friends, I am talking about Jameson, pipelining infrastructures, graphical rendering, and supply chain ecologies tomorrow at 1700 at the University of Amsterdam. www.uva.nl/en/shared-co...
Notes on the Infrastructural Unconscious: Computers, Pipelines, and Material Metaphors
Why does our media infrastructure today run on pipelines, both real (oil and gas) and symbolic (instruction, data, rendering)? This guest lecture by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal focuses on the emergence, pr...
www.uva.nl
November 20, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Happening today in a few hours!
Amsterdam friends, I am talking about Jameson, pipelining infrastructures, graphical rendering, and supply chain ecologies tomorrow at 1700 at the University of Amsterdam. www.uva.nl/en/shared-co...
Notes on the Infrastructural Unconscious: Computers, Pipelines, and Material Metaphors
Why does our media infrastructure today run on pipelines, both real (oil and gas) and symbolic (instruction, data, rendering)? This guest lecture by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal focuses on the emergence, pr...
www.uva.nl
November 19, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Amsterdam friends, I am talking about Jameson, pipelining infrastructures, graphical rendering, and supply chain ecologies tomorrow at 1700 at the University of Amsterdam. www.uva.nl/en/shared-co...