Scott Rosenberg
@wordyard.com
Webbin' so long. Axios editor. Author of some tech books.
This morning, took a trip on a boat to an island via "Through This Fire Across from Peter Balkan," the new album from @themountaingoats.bsky.social. It's a musical-of-sorts, about three shipwreck survivors who find themselves stranded and starving on some faraway beach....
November 7, 2025 at 8:04 PM
This morning, took a trip on a boat to an island via "Through This Fire Across from Peter Balkan," the new album from @themountaingoats.bsky.social. It's a musical-of-sorts, about three shipwreck survivors who find themselves stranded and starving on some faraway beach....
Reposted by Scott Rosenberg
Talking to the youths in 2025: did you know that "podcast" comes from a pun on "broadcast" plus the Apple iPod, a precursor to the iPhone that only played music
Talking to the youths in 2045: did you know that "tweet" comes from a pun on Twitter, a precursor to various shortform social media
Talking to the youths in 2045: did you know that "tweet" comes from a pun on Twitter, a precursor to various shortform social media
September 27, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Talking to the youths in 2025: did you know that "podcast" comes from a pun on "broadcast" plus the Apple iPod, a precursor to the iPhone that only played music
Talking to the youths in 2045: did you know that "tweet" comes from a pun on Twitter, a precursor to various shortform social media
Talking to the youths in 2045: did you know that "tweet" comes from a pun on Twitter, a precursor to various shortform social media
Reposted by Scott Rosenberg
Waiting for Godot: The Hunt for Godot is the recently announced newest installment of the Godotverse. The long awaited sidequel follows Godot's adventures during the events of the original play.
September 26, 2025 at 3:57 AM
Waiting for Godot: The Hunt for Godot is the recently announced newest installment of the Godotverse. The long awaited sidequel follows Godot's adventures during the events of the original play.
There are so many *different* ways AI is going to usher in utopia, and AI leaders have kept very busy over the last three years predicting future paradises. Here's my brief guide to the AI manifesto literature, in Axios today www.axios.com/2025/09/23/a...
Shield your eyes: A guide to AI's many dazzling futures
Manifestos by Sam Altman, Mark Zuckerberg and other AI leaders promise paradise on earth.
www.axios.com
September 23, 2025 at 7:37 PM
There are so many *different* ways AI is going to usher in utopia, and AI leaders have kept very busy over the last three years predicting future paradises. Here's my brief guide to the AI manifesto literature, in Axios today www.axios.com/2025/09/23/a...
Reposted by Scott Rosenberg
if "grandpa with fox on in the background" made you sad, wait until you meet "grandpa who watches 2000 daily reels of slop algorithmically targeted at his worst impulses and fears"
September 4, 2025 at 2:15 PM
if "grandpa with fox on in the background" made you sad, wait until you meet "grandpa who watches 2000 daily reels of slop algorithmically targeted at his worst impulses and fears"
Reposted by Scott Rosenberg
I'm looking for stories about how AI is killing creative work, and I'd love to hear from you—artists, writers, illustrators, actors, designers, editors, voice actors and narrators—if your job or practice has been hit. This is going to be a big one.
AIKilledMyJob@pm.me
AIKilledMyJob@pm.me
September 3, 2025 at 10:27 PM
I'm looking for stories about how AI is killing creative work, and I'd love to hear from you—artists, writers, illustrators, actors, designers, editors, voice actors and narrators—if your job or practice has been hit. This is going to be a big one.
AIKilledMyJob@pm.me
AIKilledMyJob@pm.me
Reposted by Scott Rosenberg
Having covered mass shootings for almost 20 years now, the things that so many have in common—and how we can prevent them absent, you know, sane gun laws—are best explained in this piece by @markfollman.bsky.social : www.motherjones.com/criminal-jus...
Lessons from a mass shooter's mother
A decade after her son committed a massacre, Chin Rodger is on a quest to help prevent the next tragedy.
www.motherjones.com
August 27, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Having covered mass shootings for almost 20 years now, the things that so many have in common—and how we can prevent them absent, you know, sane gun laws—are best explained in this piece by @markfollman.bsky.social : www.motherjones.com/criminal-jus...
How's the mass rollout of AI going? My new 2-parter in Axios. Part 1: bot-vs-bot dynamics will bring new kinds of friction and over-optimization that, paradoxically, will make sharing ideas and buying goods online *less* efficient. www.axios.com/2025/08/22/a...
AI bots will soon overrun humans on the internet
Interactions between bots will dominate the new era, transforming everyday encounters into markets or arms races.
www.axios.com
August 25, 2025 at 2:52 PM
How's the mass rollout of AI going? My new 2-parter in Axios. Part 1: bot-vs-bot dynamics will bring new kinds of friction and over-optimization that, paradoxically, will make sharing ideas and buying goods online *less* efficient. www.axios.com/2025/08/22/a...
Reposted by Scott Rosenberg
Can folks do me a favor?
I was on Bluesky early & it was great. Mostly. I hit the eject button in January.
I came back, many colleagues are here, but still don’t know I am.
I co-created Halt and Catch Fire. I write TV & comics.
Here’s two favorite set photos.
Repost? I am in the wilderness.
I was on Bluesky early & it was great. Mostly. I hit the eject button in January.
I came back, many colleagues are here, but still don’t know I am.
I co-created Halt and Catch Fire. I write TV & comics.
Here’s two favorite set photos.
Repost? I am in the wilderness.
August 24, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Can folks do me a favor?
I was on Bluesky early & it was great. Mostly. I hit the eject button in January.
I came back, many colleagues are here, but still don’t know I am.
I co-created Halt and Catch Fire. I write TV & comics.
Here’s two favorite set photos.
Repost? I am in the wilderness.
I was on Bluesky early & it was great. Mostly. I hit the eject button in January.
I came back, many colleagues are here, but still don’t know I am.
I co-created Halt and Catch Fire. I write TV & comics.
Here’s two favorite set photos.
Repost? I am in the wilderness.
Smart thoughts from Suleyman about how problematic it is to project consciousness onto the computer programs we call AIs; "seemingly conscious AI" is a useful phrase. BUT has he read Weizenbaum? If not, why? If so, why not mention? mustafa-suleyman.ai/seemingly-co...
We must build AI for people; not to be a person
Personal site of Mustafa Suleyman, AI pioneer and author.
mustafa-suleyman.ai
August 22, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Smart thoughts from Suleyman about how problematic it is to project consciousness onto the computer programs we call AIs; "seemingly conscious AI" is a useful phrase. BUT has he read Weizenbaum? If not, why? If so, why not mention? mustafa-suleyman.ai/seemingly-co...
Reposted by Scott Rosenberg
Come January I will have been full time in AI and robotics for fifty years. I've lived through and been part of most of their history, and know their pre-me history pretty well. I'm the old guy in therapy here...
August 18, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Come January I will have been full time in AI and robotics for fifty years. I've lived through and been part of most of their history, and know their pre-me history pretty well. I'm the old guy in therapy here...
Reposted by Scott Rosenberg
Mass shootings are preventable. The one in NYC is no exception—all the more tragic given the shooter's long-known troubled history.
I wrote a book (and then again recently, a cover story) about how we can do more to stop these. And I'll keep writing about it... www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/n... 1/x
I wrote a book (and then again recently, a cover story) about how we can do more to stop these. And I'll keep writing about it... www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/n... 1/x
Before Park Ave. Shooting, Nevada Police Had Gunman Committed
www.nytimes.com
August 6, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Mass shootings are preventable. The one in NYC is no exception—all the more tragic given the shooter's long-known troubled history.
I wrote a book (and then again recently, a cover story) about how we can do more to stop these. And I'll keep writing about it... www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/n... 1/x
I wrote a book (and then again recently, a cover story) about how we can do more to stop these. And I'll keep writing about it... www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/n... 1/x
Reposted by Scott Rosenberg
Every reputable expert I know considers mRNA vaccine technology to be one of the most revolutionary advances in medicine in our lifetimes. Its inventors won the Nobel Prize in 2023. Shutting it down now is pointless self-harm to humanity.
Release from HHS: HHS will wind down its development of the mRNA vaccine development activities under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
August 5, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Every reputable expert I know considers mRNA vaccine technology to be one of the most revolutionary advances in medicine in our lifetimes. Its inventors won the Nobel Prize in 2023. Shutting it down now is pointless self-harm to humanity.
The Tarbell Center is supporting ambitious journalism projects covering AI and I'm helping them judge the submissions. If you've got an idea, there's info here www.tarbellfellowship.org/grants and the deadline is 9/14.
Tarbell Grants
Tarbell Grants offers awards of $1,000 - $15,000 to support journalism on AI and its impacts.
www.tarbellfellowship.org
August 5, 2025 at 10:30 PM
The Tarbell Center is supporting ambitious journalism projects covering AI and I'm helping them judge the submissions. If you've got an idea, there's info here www.tarbellfellowship.org/grants and the deadline is 9/14.
One of the true greats. My parents thought it was fine for me, a tot, to hear his songs about the new math, Vatican II, nuclear proliferation and other adult topics when the headlines they responded to were fresh. They twisted me in a good way for the rest of my life. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/27/a...
Tom Lehrer, Musical Satirist With a Dark Streak, Dies at 97
www.nytimes.com
July 27, 2025 at 5:25 PM
One of the true greats. My parents thought it was fine for me, a tot, to hear his songs about the new math, Vatican II, nuclear proliferation and other adult topics when the headlines they responded to were fresh. They twisted me in a good way for the rest of my life. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/27/a...
Reposted by Scott Rosenberg
What is happening with Epstein Files? Erving Goffman tells us exactly what to expect. Let's learn sociology of The Con! 1/
July 16, 2025 at 8:24 PM
What is happening with Epstein Files? Erving Goffman tells us exactly what to expect. Let's learn sociology of The Con! 1/
Reposted by Scott Rosenberg
Developer: Yeah I reckon the AI coding tools make me about 20% faster
Narrator: The AI tools made them 19% slower
Narrator: The AI tools made them 19% slower
We ran a randomized controlled trial to see how much AI coding tools speed up experienced open-source developers.
The results surprised us: Developers thought they were 20% faster with AI tools, but they were actually 19% slower when they had access to AI than when they didn't.
The results surprised us: Developers thought they were 20% faster with AI tools, but they were actually 19% slower when they had access to AI than when they didn't.
July 10, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Developer: Yeah I reckon the AI coding tools make me about 20% faster
Narrator: The AI tools made them 19% slower
Narrator: The AI tools made them 19% slower
Reposted by Scott Rosenberg
if you start to think only metrics and data make things real, you need to put yourself under more and more intense surveillance to believe that you have a self that's real
These people just live in some other headspace that I can't even fathom. The notion that I need to track my actions to understand myself is mind boggling. That I might want so share all this data with a tech corporation is impossible to conceive.
Today in Luxury Surveillance.
June 12, 2025 at 2:52 PM
if you start to think only metrics and data make things real, you need to put yourself under more and more intense surveillance to believe that you have a self that's real
Reposted by Scott Rosenberg
Five years ago, I wrote about how AI-generated synthetic media threatens to overwhelm the historical record of our era with fabricated artifacts and events, triggering an age of "post-history." Given new developments with Google Veo 3, it's still relevant today
www.fastcompany.com/90549441/how...
www.fastcompany.com/90549441/how...
AI threatens to rewrite history. Here's how to protect it
It’s going to be possible to create utterly fake video of past events, and we need to figure out what to do about that.
www.fastcompany.com
May 30, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Five years ago, I wrote about how AI-generated synthetic media threatens to overwhelm the historical record of our era with fabricated artifacts and events, triggering an age of "post-history." Given new developments with Google Veo 3, it's still relevant today
www.fastcompany.com/90549441/how...
www.fastcompany.com/90549441/how...
Just a few line breaks and em dashes turn Eno into Emily Dickinson
Although variety's
the spice of life —
A steady rhythm is
the Source —
Simplicity's
the crucial thing
— systemically,
of course
Although variety's
the spice of life —
A steady rhythm is
the Source —
Simplicity's
the crucial thing
— systemically,
of course
May 25, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Just a few line breaks and em dashes turn Eno into Emily Dickinson
Although variety's
the spice of life —
A steady rhythm is
the Source —
Simplicity's
the crucial thing
— systemically,
of course
Although variety's
the spice of life —
A steady rhythm is
the Source —
Simplicity's
the crucial thing
— systemically,
of course
Reposted by Scott Rosenberg
I couldn't sleep last night and started reading this. Now after finishing, I can't recall the last time a piece of journalism changed my perspective on a topic like this did.
Going to be thinking of this @markfollman.bsky.social masterpiece for a while.
www.motherjones.com/criminal-jus...
Going to be thinking of this @markfollman.bsky.social masterpiece for a while.
www.motherjones.com/criminal-jus...
Lessons from a mass shooter's mother
A decade after her son committed a massacre, Chin Rodger is on a quest to help prevent the next tragedy.
www.motherjones.com
May 20, 2025 at 7:02 AM
I couldn't sleep last night and started reading this. Now after finishing, I can't recall the last time a piece of journalism changed my perspective on a topic like this did.
Going to be thinking of this @markfollman.bsky.social masterpiece for a while.
www.motherjones.com/criminal-jus...
Going to be thinking of this @markfollman.bsky.social masterpiece for a while.
www.motherjones.com/criminal-jus...
Reposted by Scott Rosenberg
I suppose I should spell this out at some point but the reason named generation discourse is so unedifyingly circular is that modern American media culture came into existence simultaneous to the demographically real baby boom, so "kids these days" is baked into the fabric of how we see the world
It was the same for Gen X, the whole slacker/disaffected/don’t wanna work/incompetent discourse, same deal. I assume it started with boomers (damn hippies don’t want to work), because all of this is always always always just recapitulating midcentury shit
May 7, 2025 at 12:10 PM
I suppose I should spell this out at some point but the reason named generation discourse is so unedifyingly circular is that modern American media culture came into existence simultaneous to the demographically real baby boom, so "kids these days" is baked into the fabric of how we see the world
Reposted by Scott Rosenberg
we're doing the thing unbreaking.org
Unbreaking — How the administration is breaking the government, and what that means for all of us.
Unbreaking — How the administration is breaking the government, and what that means for all of us.
unbreaking.org
April 23, 2025 at 6:30 PM
we're doing the thing unbreaking.org
Reposted by Scott Rosenberg
These things being thrown into the wood chipper, whether the NIH or the EPA, they aren't cost centers and they aren't even just public goods -- they are public wealth and protectors of public wealth, stuff we inherited from those that built them that keep us all richer in ways big and small.
April 6, 2025 at 1:44 PM
These things being thrown into the wood chipper, whether the NIH or the EPA, they aren't cost centers and they aren't even just public goods -- they are public wealth and protectors of public wealth, stuff we inherited from those that built them that keep us all richer in ways big and small.
Clive's thread is must reading for anyone who wants to understand why people who know anything about programming double over when they hear about the DOGE Social Security plan. Asterisk: if you don't care about screwing up the system/losing payments/breaking things then everything's great!
So, the DOGE kids intend to rewrite the social-security administration's COBOL code-base!
and they want to do it ...
... in *a few months*
I did a huge dive into COBOL a few years ago (www.wealthsimple.com/en-ca/magazi...) ...
... so let me explain why DOGE is *way* over its skis here
1/9
and they want to do it ...
... in *a few months*
I did a huge dive into COBOL a few years ago (www.wealthsimple.com/en-ca/magazi...) ...
... so let me explain why DOGE is *way* over its skis here
1/9
browse by category
www.wealthsimple.com
March 30, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Clive's thread is must reading for anyone who wants to understand why people who know anything about programming double over when they hear about the DOGE Social Security plan. Asterisk: if you don't care about screwing up the system/losing payments/breaking things then everything's great!