Thiago Krause
@thiagokrause.bsky.social
Associate Professor of History & African American Studies, Wayne State University. Brazilian historian in the US. Interested in LLMs for research and wary of its impacts on learning and society. Opinions are my own and do not reflect my employer. PT/ENG.
Really good @newyorker.com piece about data centers.
Inside the Data Centers That Train A.I. and Drain the Electrical Grid
A data center, which can use as much electricity as Philadelphia, is the new American factory, creating the future and propping up the economy. How long can this last?
www.newyorker.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Really good @newyorker.com piece about data centers.
Reposted by Thiago Krause
“What is civilisation? I don’t know. I can’t define it in abstract terms, yet. But I think I can recognise it when I see it. And I’m looking at it now.” -Kenneth Clark
24/7 cake vending machine in the middle of nowhere. Maximum Poland.
November 9, 2025 at 10:32 AM
“What is civilisation? I don’t know. I can’t define it in abstract terms, yet. But I think I can recognise it when I see it. And I’m looking at it now.” -Kenneth Clark
It’s interesting that LLM slop has been proliferating in legal circles and science academic publishing - but not so far in the humanities. I assume it’s because fewer people use it, but also because the close-reading ethos of the humanities makes it unthinkable.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/b...
Vigilante Lawyers Expose the Rising Tide of A.I. Slop in Court Filings
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:09 AM
It’s interesting that LLM slop has been proliferating in legal circles and science academic publishing - but not so far in the humanities. I assume it’s because fewer people use it, but also because the close-reading ethos of the humanities makes it unthinkable.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/b...
Reposted by Thiago Krause
As the owner of an independent bookstore, I must ask all of y'all to do the opposite of this forever and ever, amen.
I am not allowed to buy more books until I read the ones I already own
November 8, 2025 at 9:17 PM
As the owner of an independent bookstore, I must ask all of y'all to do the opposite of this forever and ever, amen.
Things are not that bad in my experience - very few students actually complain about their grades to me, maybe because I give extensive feedback, or because I’m also guilty of inflating grades - but the piece does capture some existing phenomena.
Why Students Are Obsessed With ‘Points Taken Off’
Students and professors are in a drawn-out battle over grade inflation. It may never end.
www.theatlantic.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Things are not that bad in my experience - very few students actually complain about their grades to me, maybe because I give extensive feedback, or because I’m also guilty of inflating grades - but the piece does capture some existing phenomena.
“on Reddit, r/MyBoyfriendisAI has more than 85,000 members championing human-A.I. connections, with many sharing giddy recollections of the day their chatbot proposed marriage.”
Hard not to see this as a symptom of an extremely sick society.
Hard not to see this as a symptom of an extremely sick society.
Inside Three Longterm Relationships With A.I. Chatbots (Gift Article)
Three people on the joys and anxieties of A.I. romances.
www.nytimes.com
November 6, 2025 at 8:23 AM
“on Reddit, r/MyBoyfriendisAI has more than 85,000 members championing human-A.I. connections, with many sharing giddy recollections of the day their chatbot proposed marriage.”
Hard not to see this as a symptom of an extremely sick society.
Hard not to see this as a symptom of an extremely sick society.
Reposted by Thiago Krause
JOB(s)
Princeton is hiring some early-career fellows/visiting scholars in African American Studies
networks.h-net.org/jobs/69306/p...
networks.h-net.org/jobs/69306/p...
Princeton University - Postdoctoral Research Associate in African American Studies | H-Net
networks.h-net.org
November 5, 2025 at 5:32 PM
JOB(s)
Reposted by Thiago Krause
The Modern Language Association "Calls upon law- and policymakers, LMS vendors, and companies offering agent-based AI browsers to cooperate... to prevent misuse and to ensure that academic institutions have the ability and option to block agentic AI when needed." 1/
www.mla.org/Resources/Ad...
www.mla.org/Resources/Ad...
Statement on Educational Technologies and AI Agents
The following statement of endorsement was drafted by the MLA Task Force on AI in Research and Teaching. The Executive Council approved it as an MLA statement in October 2025.Software, specifically le...
www.mla.org
November 4, 2025 at 10:51 PM
The Modern Language Association "Calls upon law- and policymakers, LMS vendors, and companies offering agent-based AI browsers to cooperate... to prevent misuse and to ensure that academic institutions have the ability and option to block agentic AI when needed." 1/
www.mla.org/Resources/Ad...
www.mla.org/Resources/Ad...
It is extraordinary that the best work I've ever read offering a hollistic view of the eighteenth-century sugar market, largely transcending methodological nationalism, was written in 1946 by Alice Canabrava, the first woman to become a professor of Economic History in Brazil
"O Açúcar nas Antilhas"
"O Açúcar nas Antilhas"
November 4, 2025 at 3:26 PM
It is extraordinary that the best work I've ever read offering a hollistic view of the eighteenth-century sugar market, largely transcending methodological nationalism, was written in 1946 by Alice Canabrava, the first woman to become a professor of Economic History in Brazil
"O Açúcar nas Antilhas"
"O Açúcar nas Antilhas"
“His imaginative storytelling techniques, well known to readers of his previous books Will in the World and The Swerve, often threaten to push him [Greenblatt] into the realm of historical fiction”
“Imaginative storytelling techniques,” 😅
I liked that burn.
“Imaginative storytelling techniques,” 😅
I liked that burn.
The Stubborn Myth of the Literary Genius
What two new books on the English Renaissance reveal about the appeal of speculative history
www.theatlantic.com
November 3, 2025 at 11:36 PM
“His imaginative storytelling techniques, well known to readers of his previous books Will in the World and The Swerve, often threaten to push him [Greenblatt] into the realm of historical fiction”
“Imaginative storytelling techniques,” 😅
I liked that burn.
“Imaginative storytelling techniques,” 😅
I liked that burn.
Reposted by Thiago Krause
Interested in resources to help students learn what "counts" as an argument when interpreting a text. Because they're accustomed to more empirical modes of argument, they struggle with the difference between "interpret" and "just say your opinion." Any resources that outline this in a helpful way?
November 3, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Interested in resources to help students learn what "counts" as an argument when interpreting a text. Because they're accustomed to more empirical modes of argument, they struggle with the difference between "interpret" and "just say your opinion." Any resources that outline this in a helpful way?
Great book, I’m really enjoying it! Even relevant for today, on the relationship between free trade, labor, and state power.
November 3, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Great book, I’m really enjoying it! Even relevant for today, on the relationship between free trade, labor, and state power.
Reposted by Thiago Krause
I rashly promised to bring in a "fun" primary source for our optional extra class on my first-year Early Modern World module tomorrow.
I've got a couple ideas but what's your favorite #EarlyModern source to throw at first-years? Max 1-2 pages. Any topic! 🗃️
I've got a couple ideas but what's your favorite #EarlyModern source to throw at first-years? Max 1-2 pages. Any topic! 🗃️
November 3, 2025 at 12:31 PM
I rashly promised to bring in a "fun" primary source for our optional extra class on my first-year Early Modern World module tomorrow.
I've got a couple ideas but what's your favorite #EarlyModern source to throw at first-years? Max 1-2 pages. Any topic! 🗃️
I've got a couple ideas but what's your favorite #EarlyModern source to throw at first-years? Max 1-2 pages. Any topic! 🗃️
Usually not a pleasant experience for professors, and I assume not for the students as well…
The Helicopter Parent Goes to College
Hovering moms and dads used to keep tabs from a distance. Now they’re touching down.
www.theatlantic.com
November 2, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Usually not a pleasant experience for professors, and I assume not for the students as well…
Every time I read Douglass I get the chills, just one of the best writers I've ever read. I need to choose a two-page extract of one of his speeches to discuss in class, but it is impossible: everything is just so damn good that I want them to read it all and bask on Douglass' moral clarity!
The Significance of Emancipation in the West Indies: An Address Delivered in Canandaigua, New York, On August 3, 1857 · Digital Edition · Frederick Douglass Papers Project
frederickdouglasspapersproject.com
November 2, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Every time I read Douglass I get the chills, just one of the best writers I've ever read. I need to choose a two-page extract of one of his speeches to discuss in class, but it is impossible: everything is just so damn good that I want them to read it all and bask on Douglass' moral clarity!
A propos of nothing: I was today years old when I found out (through @adamtooze.bsky.social’s Chartbook linking this obituary) that Hayden White got his BA in History at Wayne State University, and briefly taught here! 😱
Hayden White, Who Explored How History Is Made, Dies at 89 (Published 2018)
www.nytimes.com
November 2, 2025 at 12:49 PM
A propos of nothing: I was today years old when I found out (through @adamtooze.bsky.social’s Chartbook linking this obituary) that Hayden White got his BA in History at Wayne State University, and briefly taught here! 😱
Reposted by Thiago Krause
“Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it’s because it is hard.”
William Zinsser #NationalAuthorsDay
William Zinsser #NationalAuthorsDay
November 1, 2025 at 2:42 PM
“Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it’s because it is hard.”
William Zinsser #NationalAuthorsDay
William Zinsser #NationalAuthorsDay
“The walls of the Panopticon are closing all around us — and the managerial eye is becoming at once ever more penetrating and ever less discerning.”
Do we need a LLM trained on Foucault’s writings to analyze this dystopian scenarios?
Do we need a LLM trained on Foucault’s writings to analyze this dystopian scenarios?
AI is likely to turbocharge the worst trends in management (via Bloomberg Opinion)
How AI Will Indulge Bosses’ Most Toxic Instincts
The most important question that companies face in deploying Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not technological but organizational: Should they use AI to increase the power of high-up managers or liberate front-line workers? I suspect that the bulk of them will give the wrong answer to the question — and that we will be dealing with the consequences of their mistakes for decades to come, not just economically, as companies lose their creative flair, but also politically, as professional elites jo
bloom.bg
November 1, 2025 at 11:21 AM
“The walls of the Panopticon are closing all around us — and the managerial eye is becoming at once ever more penetrating and ever less discerning.”
Do we need a LLM trained on Foucault’s writings to analyze this dystopian scenarios?
Do we need a LLM trained on Foucault’s writings to analyze this dystopian scenarios?
This long read is interesting, bizarre, disturbing, and deeply, deeply misguided.
www.wired.com/story/ai-the...
www.wired.com/story/ai-the...
The Haunting Story of Two People—and Their Bots—on Therapy’s New Frontier
As millions confide in ChatGPT about their most intimate problems, these relationships are even stranger, more moving, and more insidious than we've imagined.
www.wired.com
November 1, 2025 at 10:44 AM
This long read is interesting, bizarre, disturbing, and deeply, deeply misguided.
www.wired.com/story/ai-the...
www.wired.com/story/ai-the...
Reposted by Thiago Krause
Shares in chicken-frying robot maker rise after three men were seen eating chicken. This is what markets news is now.
www.ft.com/content/b003...
www.ft.com/content/b003...
The AI bubble has reached its ‘fried chicken’ phase
This is fine
www.ft.com
October 31, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Shares in chicken-frying robot maker rise after three men were seen eating chicken. This is what markets news is now.
www.ft.com/content/b003...
www.ft.com/content/b003...
“The most pressing question, then, is how to keep our agency intact: how to remain the authors of the systems that are now poised to take on so much of our thinking”
Worth, it perhaps a tad optimistic.
Worth, it perhaps a tad optimistic.
The Age of De-Skilling
Will AI stretch our minds—or stunt them?
www.theatlantic.com
October 31, 2025 at 8:53 AM
“The most pressing question, then, is how to keep our agency intact: how to remain the authors of the systems that are now poised to take on so much of our thinking”
Worth, it perhaps a tad optimistic.
Worth, it perhaps a tad optimistic.
Do apply - it's a wonderful opportunity, and the team is great. Up to 3,000 pounds for three weeks of research at the British Library.
"Our themes for this round centre on maps, popular music, the age of revolutions or the novel in the Americas, but all topics will be considered."
"Our themes for this round centre on maps, popular music, the age of revolutions or the novel in the Americas, but all topics will be considered."
Eccles Institute Visiting Fellowships: applications now open
The Eccles Institute for the Americas and Oceania at the British Library is inviting applications for its 2026–2027 Visiting Fellowship programme.
www.bl.uk
October 30, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Do apply - it's a wonderful opportunity, and the team is great. Up to 3,000 pounds for three weeks of research at the British Library.
"Our themes for this round centre on maps, popular music, the age of revolutions or the novel in the Americas, but all topics will be considered."
"Our themes for this round centre on maps, popular music, the age of revolutions or the novel in the Americas, but all topics will be considered."
“Higher education aims to create cognitively mature adults, which in turn requires us to ensure students learn to read, think and write all on their own.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...
Opinion | Why Even Basic A.I. Use Is So Bad for Students
www.nytimes.com
October 29, 2025 at 11:32 PM
“Higher education aims to create cognitively mature adults, which in turn requires us to ensure students learn to read, think and write all on their own.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...
Hah! My article with Chris Ebert (CUNY) got accepted at the AHR. Research started in January 2020. I presented the first draft in 2023, we did a lot more archival research and submitted it in May 2024, got a R&R in January, and resubmitted in July. Thanks to everyone who helped along the way!
October 29, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Hah! My article with Chris Ebert (CUNY) got accepted at the AHR. Research started in January 2020. I presented the first draft in 2023, we did a lot more archival research and submitted it in May 2024, got a R&R in January, and resubmitted in July. Thanks to everyone who helped along the way!