Sam Tobin-Hochstadt
@samth.bsky.social
Associate Professor, IU Computer Science ·
Core Developer, @racketlang.bsky.social ·
Member, TC39 ·
Handler, Gravymaker ·
Bike Advocate, Bloomington IN
Core Developer, @racketlang.bsky.social ·
Member, TC39 ·
Handler, Gravymaker ·
Bike Advocate, Bloomington IN
The ACM does take money from conferences but the actual answer is the cost of giving everyone lots of coffee.
February 9, 2026 at 10:07 PM
The ACM does take money from conferences but the actual answer is the cost of giving everyone lots of coffee.
The point is that she rejected skepticism about something unique for humans generally as insulting to her specifically; the host did not say anything about her in particular.
February 3, 2026 at 11:08 PM
The point is that she rejected skepticism about something unique for humans generally as insulting to her specifically; the host did not say anything about her in particular.
I think what happened is that Bender ten years ago had views about language and meaning that were not consensus but were still mainstream. But the existence of current LLMs either falsifies those views or means that LLMs are conscious. And since she doesn't like either option she's gone for yelling.
Emily Bender just keeps responding in pretty weird ways about me, now saying the reason I'm complaining here is that she asked to be treated as fully human. (1/4)
February 3, 2026 at 8:45 PM
I think what happened is that Bender ten years ago had views about language and meaning that were not consensus but were still mainstream. But the existence of current LLMs either falsifies those views or means that LLMs are conscious. And since she doesn't like either option she's gone for yelling.
I think the AI community making a concerted effort to post more here despite the hostility has helped a lot.
February 3, 2026 at 1:55 PM
I think the AI community making a concerted effort to post more here despite the hostility has helped a lot.
Yeah although again they could have more. Unfortunately there's not anything that seriously ranks public universities past about #25 to get a more accurate judgment here (US News ranks Rutgers-Camden ahead of Colorado).
February 3, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Yeah although again they could have more. Unfortunately there's not anything that seriously ranks public universities past about #25 to get a more accurate judgment here (US News ranks Rutgers-Camden ahead of Colorado).
Poverty in the Pale of Settlement/the Nazi Anschluss/the potato famine/something lost in the mists of the 17th century
Genuinely curious: If your family is American, what brought them here?
Mine: religious nuttery & primogeniture
Mine: religious nuttery & primogeniture
February 3, 2026 at 3:47 AM
Poverty in the Pale of Settlement/the Nazi Anschluss/the potato famine/something lost in the mists of the 17th century
I don't think you can read Computing Machinery and Intelligence and think anything other than that he was looking forward exactly to this.
February 3, 2026 at 3:36 AM
I don't think you can read Computing Machinery and Intelligence and think anything other than that he was looking forward exactly to this.
UIC has done a lot in the past 20 years but Illinois could absolutely support another state university of the prestige of Purdue/Michigan State/Iowa State, which UIC is not at currently.
February 3, 2026 at 3:14 AM
UIC has done a lot in the past 20 years but Illinois could absolutely support another state university of the prestige of Purdue/Michigan State/Iowa State, which UIC is not at currently.
California is the one place that has meaningfully created new universities in the post war era.
February 3, 2026 at 3:12 AM
California is the one place that has meaningfully created new universities in the post war era.
In general, "why can't we make new prestigious universities" is an under-explored question.
February 3, 2026 at 2:51 AM
In general, "why can't we make new prestigious universities" is an under-explored question.
Illinois and Ohio should have a second flagship-level university the way Indiana and Michigan and Iowa do.
February 3, 2026 at 2:49 AM
Illinois and Ohio should have a second flagship-level university the way Indiana and Michigan and Iowa do.
Insufficient investment by northeastern states in public universities between 1800 and 1950.
February 3, 2026 at 2:29 AM
Insufficient investment by northeastern states in public universities between 1800 and 1950.
He actually said subsequently that he cooks a lot -- I think he has ideologically-driven sympathy for people who complain about affordability and thus assumes they must be on to something.
February 2, 2026 at 9:52 PM
He actually said subsequently that he cooks a lot -- I think he has ideologically-driven sympathy for people who complain about affordability and thus assumes they must be on to something.
The problem is the voters! MGP and other people like her with terrible analysis of our current situation do well in swing districts because the voters in those districts also have ridiculous views on our situation.
January 31, 2026 at 3:02 PM
The problem is the voters! MGP and other people like her with terrible analysis of our current situation do well in swing districts because the voters in those districts also have ridiculous views on our situation.
Reposted by Sam Tobin-Hochstadt
Portland Maine 01/30/2026
January 31, 2026 at 1:45 AM
Portland Maine 01/30/2026
Reposted by Sam Tobin-Hochstadt
i wish people would stop talking about AI being built on "theft".
that's not what theft is.
if someone steals your car, the problem isn't that they now also have a car that looks like yours, it's that you don't have one anymore.
that's not what theft is.
if someone steals your car, the problem isn't that they now also have a car that looks like yours, it's that you don't have one anymore.
January 30, 2026 at 3:02 PM
i wish people would stop talking about AI being built on "theft".
that's not what theft is.
if someone steals your car, the problem isn't that they now also have a car that looks like yours, it's that you don't have one anymore.
that's not what theft is.
if someone steals your car, the problem isn't that they now also have a car that looks like yours, it's that you don't have one anymore.
I was just telling Carlo Angiuli that "type safety" is a bad term and we shouldn't use it.
January 31, 2026 at 3:52 AM
I was just telling Carlo Angiuli that "type safety" is a bad term and we shouldn't use it.
I feel like moltbook is by far the least interesting thing about clawdbot and mostly demonstrates that people have no intuition about what recursive processes can do.
January 31, 2026 at 3:31 AM
I feel like moltbook is by far the least interesting thing about clawdbot and mostly demonstrates that people have no intuition about what recursive processes can do.
I'm not 100% convinced of that -- I don't think you can understand Harry's attitude towards his enemies without seeing him as a Christ figure.
January 29, 2026 at 2:58 PM
I'm not 100% convinced of that -- I don't think you can understand Harry's attitude towards his enemies without seeing him as a Christ figure.
It's not the incomes of the college students that's relevant, it's the job density ("job" for the students). It's totally infeasible to have convenient single-car commuting to a large university campus no matter anyone's land use decisions.
January 29, 2026 at 4:47 AM
It's not the incomes of the college students that's relevant, it's the job density ("job" for the students). It's totally infeasible to have convenient single-car commuting to a large university campus no matter anyone's land use decisions.
My most charitable interpretation is that you can't understand the books without understanding Christianity and that understanding has diminished among the left wing online commentator set.
January 29, 2026 at 4:11 AM
My most charitable interpretation is that you can't understand the books without understanding Christianity and that understanding has diminished among the left wing online commentator set.
How could you read the books and think that government corruption and racism are not major themes?!?
I think this is like the Harry/Hermione shippers who were shocked that a relationship telegraphed in the first book happened--they haven't read any other books and don't know how to understand them.
I think this is like the Harry/Hermione shippers who were shocked that a relationship telegraphed in the first book happened--they haven't read any other books and don't know how to understand them.
January 29, 2026 at 4:05 AM
How could you read the books and think that government corruption and racism are not major themes?!?
I think this is like the Harry/Hermione shippers who were shocked that a relationship telegraphed in the first book happened--they haven't read any other books and don't know how to understand them.
I think this is like the Harry/Hermione shippers who were shocked that a relationship telegraphed in the first book happened--they haven't read any other books and don't know how to understand them.
I think "we're going to violently overthrow the fascists and then I'm going to lead the defense of our new state" is a pretty common trajectory for radicals.
January 29, 2026 at 3:49 AM
I think "we're going to violently overthrow the fascists and then I'm going to lead the defense of our new state" is a pretty common trajectory for radicals.
The actual plot of the books is that the do nothing government fails to recognize the threat of the fascists and students and intellectuals have to form a violent underground resistance movement!
January 29, 2026 at 3:35 AM
The actual plot of the books is that the do nothing government fails to recognize the threat of the fascists and students and intellectuals have to form a violent underground resistance movement!