Téa Smith
@teasmith.au
I don't accept the T & Cs ◦ I know 3 things ◦ Wholly unimpressed ◦ Human-Centred ◦ I write, talk (& joke) about Tech, Policy, Law & Social Impact of Tech.
tealou.79 on Signal.
tealou.79 on Signal.
Pinned
Téa Smith
@teasmith.au
· Oct 13
You just don't understand how AI works, bro
It's been a long couple of years.
open.substack.com
I wrote a quick thing about AI this morning and I figured I should post it. I didn't edit, but I hope you like it.
More coming.
open.substack.com/pub/tealou/p...
More coming.
open.substack.com/pub/tealou/p...
Hearty laugh in the direction of Suno and Udio.
Maybe these guys should have hired some people over 40 who have worked with the music industry and they wouldn't have encountered such a completely predictable consequences.
Good lord.
Maybe these guys should have hired some people over 40 who have worked with the music industry and they wouldn't have encountered such a completely predictable consequences.
Good lord.
November 11, 2025 at 4:18 AM
Hearty laugh in the direction of Suno and Udio.
Maybe these guys should have hired some people over 40 who have worked with the music industry and they wouldn't have encountered such a completely predictable consequences.
Good lord.
Maybe these guys should have hired some people over 40 who have worked with the music industry and they wouldn't have encountered such a completely predictable consequences.
Good lord.
Today marks 50 years since the Whitlam dismissal AND Remembrance Day.
Both are a reminder of how every day people pay the price for the whims of a few, who can't seem to just... play fair.
RIP Gough. Lest We Forget. And STFU Fascists.
Both are a reminder of how every day people pay the price for the whims of a few, who can't seem to just... play fair.
RIP Gough. Lest We Forget. And STFU Fascists.
November 10, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Today marks 50 years since the Whitlam dismissal AND Remembrance Day.
Both are a reminder of how every day people pay the price for the whims of a few, who can't seem to just... play fair.
RIP Gough. Lest We Forget. And STFU Fascists.
Both are a reminder of how every day people pay the price for the whims of a few, who can't seem to just... play fair.
RIP Gough. Lest We Forget. And STFU Fascists.
Remembering how Mr @actualbenfolds.bsky.social wrote this after the 9/11 hysteria.
Can't help but think about it this week. Like all real Catholics, I know God's not real, but...
Anyway, his uncanny ability to be Téa's inner world in song form...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F5-...
Can't help but think about it this week. Like all real Catholics, I know God's not real, but...
Anyway, his uncanny ability to be Téa's inner world in song form...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F5-...
Ben Folds - Jesusland
YouTube video by BenFoldsVEVO
www.youtube.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Remembering how Mr @actualbenfolds.bsky.social wrote this after the 9/11 hysteria.
Can't help but think about it this week. Like all real Catholics, I know God's not real, but...
Anyway, his uncanny ability to be Téa's inner world in song form...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F5-...
Can't help but think about it this week. Like all real Catholics, I know God's not real, but...
Anyway, his uncanny ability to be Téa's inner world in song form...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F5-...
I’m so happy for you, Americans.
You deserve so much better and I’m legit filled with warm feelings of hope that you find your mojo and oust those lunatics.
Love to you all.
You deserve so much better and I’m legit filled with warm feelings of hope that you find your mojo and oust those lunatics.
Love to you all.
November 5, 2025 at 10:35 AM
I’m so happy for you, Americans.
You deserve so much better and I’m legit filled with warm feelings of hope that you find your mojo and oust those lunatics.
Love to you all.
You deserve so much better and I’m legit filled with warm feelings of hope that you find your mojo and oust those lunatics.
Love to you all.
The hardest part about a new laptop is choosing a new sticker. It seems apt that I picked this one in honour of my JD graduation. Sorry @actualbenfolds.bsky.social you’re stuck on the MacBook. It’s been real.
(Yes no more Mac - what?! - I moved to Linux full time)
(Yes no more Mac - what?! - I moved to Linux full time)
November 5, 2025 at 6:57 AM
The hardest part about a new laptop is choosing a new sticker. It seems apt that I picked this one in honour of my JD graduation. Sorry @actualbenfolds.bsky.social you’re stuck on the MacBook. It’s been real.
(Yes no more Mac - what?! - I moved to Linux full time)
(Yes no more Mac - what?! - I moved to Linux full time)
If you get frustrated having to spend years debunking one idiot, try being a Federal Court judge, and kneel before our God.
X Corp v eSafety - the 3 year lawsuit that could've been an email. PS My fave genre is tech being obliterated by Australian judges.
jade.io/article/1145...
X Corp v eSafety - the 3 year lawsuit that could've been an email. PS My fave genre is tech being obliterated by Australian judges.
jade.io/article/1145...
X Corp v eSafety Commissioner [2025] FCAFC 99 - BarNet Jade
The smart way to search, annotate and share Australian legal judgments, decisions and statutes!
jade.io
November 5, 2025 at 1:04 AM
If you get frustrated having to spend years debunking one idiot, try being a Federal Court judge, and kneel before our God.
X Corp v eSafety - the 3 year lawsuit that could've been an email. PS My fave genre is tech being obliterated by Australian judges.
jade.io/article/1145...
X Corp v eSafety - the 3 year lawsuit that could've been an email. PS My fave genre is tech being obliterated by Australian judges.
jade.io/article/1145...
Reposted by Téa Smith
Premium newsletter: Meta, Google, Amazon and Microsoft need $2 Trillion in AI revenue by 2030 or they've wasted their capex. The massive cost of building data centers and constant decay in value of expensive-to-run GPUs may make AI profits impossible to achieve.
www.wheresyoured.at/big-tech-2tr/
www.wheresyoured.at/big-tech-2tr/
Big Tech Needs $2 Trillion In AI Revenue By 2030 or They Wasted Their Capex
As I've established again and again, we are in an AI bubble, and no, I cannot tell you when the bubble will pop, because we're in the stupidest financial era since the great financial crisis — though,...
www.wheresyoured.at
October 31, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Premium newsletter: Meta, Google, Amazon and Microsoft need $2 Trillion in AI revenue by 2030 or they've wasted their capex. The massive cost of building data centers and constant decay in value of expensive-to-run GPUs may make AI profits impossible to achieve.
www.wheresyoured.at/big-tech-2tr/
www.wheresyoured.at/big-tech-2tr/
Yes please.
China's Xi pushes for global AI body at APEC in counter to US reut.rs/3Jz0lcH
China's Xi pushes for global AI body at APEC in counter to US
Chinese President Xi Jinping took centrestage at a meeting of APEC leaders on Saturday to push a proposal for a global body to govern artificial intelligence and position China as an alternative to the United States on trade cooperation.
reut.rs
November 1, 2025 at 5:07 AM
Yes please.
I refuse to engage with anyone who is detached from reality, evidence, truth and the physical world. I am done with people living in a fantasy land, whether it be AI, parasocial relationships, or religion.
I'm here, in the world, asking/begging you to see things as they are.
I'm here, in the world, asking/begging you to see things as they are.
November 1, 2025 at 1:49 AM
I refuse to engage with anyone who is detached from reality, evidence, truth and the physical world. I am done with people living in a fantasy land, whether it be AI, parasocial relationships, or religion.
I'm here, in the world, asking/begging you to see things as they are.
I'm here, in the world, asking/begging you to see things as they are.
People really should take the win, because people are now embracing pronouns after years of complaining about it.
I mean, it's for AI singers and not humans, but take the win
(Looking forward to AI bot armies cancelling AI critics for misgendering, though. That's gunna be "fun".)
I mean, it's for AI singers and not humans, but take the win
(Looking forward to AI bot armies cancelling AI critics for misgendering, though. That's gunna be "fun".)
November 1, 2025 at 12:34 AM
People really should take the win, because people are now embracing pronouns after years of complaining about it.
I mean, it's for AI singers and not humans, but take the win
(Looking forward to AI bot armies cancelling AI critics for misgendering, though. That's gunna be "fun".)
I mean, it's for AI singers and not humans, but take the win
(Looking forward to AI bot armies cancelling AI critics for misgendering, though. That's gunna be "fun".)
No matter how much you think things are bad, and you intuit what's coming, and you try to warn people, and those people then swarm to attack you... you are never prepared for it all happening.
This is the worst case scenario I have been warning about for years. Stock up on toilet paper.
This is the worst case scenario I have been warning about for years. Stock up on toilet paper.
This is the video. Definitely AI. And Fox News is just... treating it like it's real.
October 31, 2025 at 11:44 PM
No matter how much you think things are bad, and you intuit what's coming, and you try to warn people, and those people then swarm to attack you... you are never prepared for it all happening.
This is the worst case scenario I have been warning about for years. Stock up on toilet paper.
This is the worst case scenario I have been warning about for years. Stock up on toilet paper.
I need to create a Leaderboard of my favourite genres on X, because Woke Right out-Woking the Woke is getting up there, along with Good things as Bad things and Bad Things as Good Things, Zohran Derangement Syndrome, and of course, the Nordic Viking Warrior Nerd Braveheart speeches
October 31, 2025 at 11:16 PM
I need to create a Leaderboard of my favourite genres on X, because Woke Right out-Woking the Woke is getting up there, along with Good things as Bad things and Bad Things as Good Things, Zohran Derangement Syndrome, and of course, the Nordic Viking Warrior Nerd Braveheart speeches
Can't see how this will be abused at all
Especially on Bluesky
Brilliant idea guys. I was just about to finally move over.... aaaaaaaand hard pass, unless you are also penalising users who downvote en masse as well, no thanks. Pass.
Especially on Bluesky
Brilliant idea guys. I was just about to finally move over.... aaaaaaaand hard pass, unless you are also penalising users who downvote en masse as well, no thanks. Pass.
October 31, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Can't see how this will be abused at all
Especially on Bluesky
Brilliant idea guys. I was just about to finally move over.... aaaaaaaand hard pass, unless you are also penalising users who downvote en masse as well, no thanks. Pass.
Especially on Bluesky
Brilliant idea guys. I was just about to finally move over.... aaaaaaaand hard pass, unless you are also penalising users who downvote en masse as well, no thanks. Pass.
Reposted by Téa Smith
Jimmy Wales on Elon Musk’s attacks on Wikipedia:
“I don’t think he has the power he thinks he has, or that a lot of people think he has, to damage Wikipedia. We’ll be here in a hundred years and he won’t. As long as we stay Wikipedia, people will still love us.” 🎁 www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/m...
“I don’t think he has the power he thinks he has, or that a lot of people think he has, to damage Wikipedia. We’ll be here in a hundred years and he won’t. As long as we stay Wikipedia, people will still love us.” 🎁 www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/m...
The Culture Wars Came for Wikipedia. Jimmy Wales Is Staying the Course.
www.nytimes.com
October 19, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Jimmy Wales on Elon Musk’s attacks on Wikipedia:
“I don’t think he has the power he thinks he has, or that a lot of people think he has, to damage Wikipedia. We’ll be here in a hundred years and he won’t. As long as we stay Wikipedia, people will still love us.” 🎁 www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/m...
“I don’t think he has the power he thinks he has, or that a lot of people think he has, to damage Wikipedia. We’ll be here in a hundred years and he won’t. As long as we stay Wikipedia, people will still love us.” 🎁 www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/m...
hahaha oh man gotta love it when our government passes a social media ban that isn't a ban, but then call it a ban, even though it's not a ban
Now they're hiring for a Director of DigitalID when it's not DigitalID
you're not making it easy guys
Now they're hiring for a Director of DigitalID when it's not DigitalID
you're not making it easy guys
October 31, 2025 at 10:24 PM
hahaha oh man gotta love it when our government passes a social media ban that isn't a ban, but then call it a ban, even though it's not a ban
Now they're hiring for a Director of DigitalID when it's not DigitalID
you're not making it easy guys
Now they're hiring for a Director of DigitalID when it's not DigitalID
you're not making it easy guys
I thought I was immune to cults, given I studied them for so many years, but turns out I am not.
I suppose, if I had to be in one, I'd choose @actualbenfolds.bsky.social, and am ride or die with the ol' man. He's good people. An asshole, but good people.
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
I suppose, if I had to be in one, I'd choose @actualbenfolds.bsky.social, and am ride or die with the ol' man. He's good people. An asshole, but good people.
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Ben Folds on taking a stand for artistic freedom after Trump's Kennedy Center takeover
Ben Folds’ piano-powered pop music earned him a cult following and made him one of the most respected songwriters of his generation. He also held an influential role in classical music as artistic adv...
www.pbs.org
October 31, 2025 at 10:17 PM
I thought I was immune to cults, given I studied them for so many years, but turns out I am not.
I suppose, if I had to be in one, I'd choose @actualbenfolds.bsky.social, and am ride or die with the ol' man. He's good people. An asshole, but good people.
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
I suppose, if I had to be in one, I'd choose @actualbenfolds.bsky.social, and am ride or die with the ol' man. He's good people. An asshole, but good people.
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
The absolute narcissism required for one person to think their opinion is superior to a policy/statute, that is painstakingly drafted, widely consulted and scrutinised to the point of frustration.
If you understand anything about policy work in Australia, you'd know you look like an idiot.
If you understand anything about policy work in Australia, you'd know you look like an idiot.
October 31, 2025 at 9:23 PM
The absolute narcissism required for one person to think their opinion is superior to a policy/statute, that is painstakingly drafted, widely consulted and scrutinised to the point of frustration.
If you understand anything about policy work in Australia, you'd know you look like an idiot.
If you understand anything about policy work in Australia, you'd know you look like an idiot.
okay so I finally finish my Juris Doctor (woohoo) in a few weeks, and that means I will have time to do - well - anything.
I am getting a new couple of media projects going, including a "comedy" tech policy show with a panel of people.
Let me know who you'd like me to talk to!
I am getting a new couple of media projects going, including a "comedy" tech policy show with a panel of people.
Let me know who you'd like me to talk to!
October 28, 2025 at 11:32 PM
okay so I finally finish my Juris Doctor (woohoo) in a few weeks, and that means I will have time to do - well - anything.
I am getting a new couple of media projects going, including a "comedy" tech policy show with a panel of people.
Let me know who you'd like me to talk to!
I am getting a new couple of media projects going, including a "comedy" tech policy show with a panel of people.
Let me know who you'd like me to talk to!
Just FYI
Most tech people who have any ethics at all understand that the biggest mistake social media companies made, and why it became evil, was because they went public.
This absolute psychopath knows all of that, and is proceeding anyway. Sam Altman's evil is ...on purpose.
Most tech people who have any ethics at all understand that the biggest mistake social media companies made, and why it became evil, was because they went public.
This absolute psychopath knows all of that, and is proceeding anyway. Sam Altman's evil is ...on purpose.
New: What OpenAI's restructuring really means.
Read more from Sri Muppidi and Aaron Holmes 👇
https://thein.fo/43I2wS5
Read more from Sri Muppidi and Aaron Holmes 👇
https://thein.fo/43I2wS5
What the OpenAI Restructuring Means
OpenAI on Tuesday completed a yearlong restructuring that will allow it to one day go public, when it could raise tens of billions of dollars to help fund its costly artificial intelligence. The compa...
thein.fo
October 28, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Just FYI
Most tech people who have any ethics at all understand that the biggest mistake social media companies made, and why it became evil, was because they went public.
This absolute psychopath knows all of that, and is proceeding anyway. Sam Altman's evil is ...on purpose.
Most tech people who have any ethics at all understand that the biggest mistake social media companies made, and why it became evil, was because they went public.
This absolute psychopath knows all of that, and is proceeding anyway. Sam Altman's evil is ...on purpose.
Every 6 months I come on this app, adrift, waiting and hoping that it will grab me and I will have a reason to stick around...
I will again, ask the question... is Bluesky good yet?
(I mean for normal people who aren't the ones who wrecked Twitter and think they own every website they use)
I will again, ask the question... is Bluesky good yet?
(I mean for normal people who aren't the ones who wrecked Twitter and think they own every website they use)
October 28, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Every 6 months I come on this app, adrift, waiting and hoping that it will grab me and I will have a reason to stick around...
I will again, ask the question... is Bluesky good yet?
(I mean for normal people who aren't the ones who wrecked Twitter and think they own every website they use)
I will again, ask the question... is Bluesky good yet?
(I mean for normal people who aren't the ones who wrecked Twitter and think they own every website they use)
I lament that ChatGPT slop is considered good enough for so many people.
Yes, most jobs are bullshit, but do you value your life, time or reputation at all?
Who puts it out thinking "I'll put my name to this!".
I'll take crippling perfectionism any day over... whatever shit that is.
Seriously.
Yes, most jobs are bullshit, but do you value your life, time or reputation at all?
Who puts it out thinking "I'll put my name to this!".
I'll take crippling perfectionism any day over... whatever shit that is.
Seriously.
October 28, 2025 at 10:34 PM
I lament that ChatGPT slop is considered good enough for so many people.
Yes, most jobs are bullshit, but do you value your life, time or reputation at all?
Who puts it out thinking "I'll put my name to this!".
I'll take crippling perfectionism any day over... whatever shit that is.
Seriously.
Yes, most jobs are bullshit, but do you value your life, time or reputation at all?
Who puts it out thinking "I'll put my name to this!".
I'll take crippling perfectionism any day over... whatever shit that is.
Seriously.
Don't eat poo.
I'm clearly exhausted, but I need to remember why I am putting myself through it.
Make 'em eat poo dirt hair lollies
Posted on LinkedIn
I'm clearly exhausted, but I need to remember why I am putting myself through it.
Make 'em eat poo dirt hair lollies
Posted on LinkedIn
October 24, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Don't eat poo.
I'm clearly exhausted, but I need to remember why I am putting myself through it.
Make 'em eat poo dirt hair lollies
Posted on LinkedIn
I'm clearly exhausted, but I need to remember why I am putting myself through it.
Make 'em eat poo dirt hair lollies
Posted on LinkedIn
The response to this has been wild. I wrote and published it in an hour. Maybe there is still some room for an off the cuff Téa piece yet.
I wrote a quick thing about AI this morning and I figured I should post it. I didn't edit, but I hope you like it.
More coming.
open.substack.com/pub/tealou/p...
More coming.
open.substack.com/pub/tealou/p...
You just don't understand how AI works, bro
It's been a long couple of years.
open.substack.com
October 17, 2025 at 7:52 AM
The response to this has been wild. I wrote and published it in an hour. Maybe there is still some room for an off the cuff Téa piece yet.
Today's LinkedIn post (writing 3 essays in a week so some silly random thoughts).
People think a toaster is sentient. That's kinda funny.
People think a toaster is sentient. That's kinda funny.
October 17, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Today's LinkedIn post (writing 3 essays in a week so some silly random thoughts).
People think a toaster is sentient. That's kinda funny.
People think a toaster is sentient. That's kinda funny.