Woodrow Hartzog

@hartzog.bsky.social

11K followers 1.2K following 12 posts

Andrew R. Randall Professor of Law at Boston University School of Law. Author of "Privacy's Blueprint" (2018) and co-author of "Breached!" (2022). Posting mainly about privacy, tech and the law.

Videos

Political science 32%

Computer science 24%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Pinned

Woodrow Hartzog @hartzog.bsky.social · Jan 12

I've just posted my latest essay w/ @jessicasilbey.bsky.social, titled "How AI Destroys Institutions." We argue that AI systems are designed in ways that degrade & are likely to destroy our crucial civic institutions like the rule of law, universities & a free press. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

How AI Destroys Institutions

Civic institutions—the rule of law, universities, and a free press—are the backbone of democratic life. They are the mechanisms through which complex societies

papers.ssrn.com

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog, Gary Marcus

John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 16h

@garymarcus.bsky.social: LLMs still hallucinate and continue to make boneheaded errors, and this Caltech / Stanford paper is yet another suggesting that this is inherent. Even LLMs marketed as offering "reasoning" systems have major problems with reasoning. garymarcus.substack.com/p/breaking-l...

BREAKING: LLM “reasoning” continues to be deeply flawed

A new review underscores the breadth of the problem, and shows that close to a trillion dollars hasn’t changed that

garymarcus.substack.com

Reposted by Jason Mittell, Amanda Lotz, Mary Bosworth , and 27 more Jason Mittell, Amanda Lotz, Mary Bosworth, Nandita Sharma, Margaret Mitchell, Will Jennings, Peter Thorne, Steven French, David Feldman, Martin Tomko, Peter Campbell, Jacob Montgomery, Joseph Schafer, Paul E. Smaldino, Linda Martín Alcoff, Melanie C. Green, Michael Zimmer, Stephen D. Murphy, Graham Webster, Juan Moreno‐Cruz, Samantha Brennan, Michael D. McDonald, Jessica Vitak, Woodrow Hartzog, Sam Kamin, Meredith Farkas, Magda Teter, Evan Roberts, David Neilson, Kevin Grant

WeRateDogs @weratedogs.com · 18h

we need to talk about that Ring Super Bowl ad

Reposted by Rebecca Tushnet, Woodrow Hartzog

Craig Silverman @craigsilverman.bsky.social · 23h

"Crying girls will make you rich."

That's the actual pitch from a marketer selling packages of emotional videos that brands use to flood TikTok with undisclosed ads.

I just published an investigation into industrial UGC campaigns. What I found is troubling. 🧵 indicator.media/p/crying-gir...

“Crying girls will make you rich”: How marketers trick users with mass-produced "organic" content

Indicator analyzed UGC campaigns that generated over 2 billion TikTok views and found rampant violations of disclosure rules.

indicator.media

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Shannon Vallor, Scott L. Greer , and 4 more Joanna Bryson, Shannon Vallor, Scott L. Greer, Andrew K Przybylski, David S. Cohen, Woodrow Hartzog, Larry W. Hunter

Luc Rocher @rocher.lc · 1d

⚠️ Despite all the hype, chatbots still make terrible doctors. Out today is the largest user study of language models for medical self-diagnosis. We found that chatbots provide inaccurate and inconsistent answers, and that people are better off using online searches or their own judgment.

Banner image with screenshot of scientific article from nature Medicine, as well as two panels from the study method and results

Woodrow Hartzog @hartzog.bsky.social · 1d

AI continues to go just great.

Sam Cole @samleecole.bsky.social · 1d

one chatbot told a participant in this study to go lay down in the dark when he was presenting with a brain hemorrhage... what are we even doing

www.404media.co/chatbots-hea...

Chatbots Make Terrible Doctors, New Study Finds

Chatbots provided incorrect, conflicting medical advice, researchers found: “Despite all the hype, AI just isn't ready to take on the role of the physician.”

www.404media.co

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog

Sam Cole @samleecole.bsky.social · 1d

one chatbot told a participant in this study to go lay down in the dark when he was presenting with a brain hemorrhage... what are we even doing

www.404media.co/chatbots-hea...

Chatbots Make Terrible Doctors, New Study Finds

Chatbots provided incorrect, conflicting medical advice, researchers found: “Despite all the hype, AI just isn't ready to take on the role of the physician.”

www.404media.co

Reposted by Cas Mudde, Joanna Bryson, Elizabeth Sharrow , and 7 more Cas Mudde, Joanna Bryson, Elizabeth Sharrow, John R. Hutchinson, Steve Peers, Smith, Manuel Puppis, Ann Bartow, Woodrow Hartzog, Andrew Guthrie Ferguson

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 2d

Here's that Ring #SuperBowl commercial:

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog, Manisha Sinha

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 4d

“These surveillance tools are an authoritarian’s dream…”

ICE’s growing surveillance state - The Boston Globe

ICE has constructed a digital dragnet that captures and retains massive amounts of data about all of us, citizens and noncitizens alike.

www.bostonglobe.com

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog

Troy Wolverton @troywolv.bsky.social · 8d

Generative and other kinds of AI have numerous harmful effects. In a recent paper, Boston University professors @hartzog.bsky.social and @jessicasilbey.bsky.social identify and highlight a new concern: AI is sabotaging democracy by destroying the institutions that undergird it.

Researchers: How AI undermining democracy

Paper argues tech threatens democratic foundations.

www.sfexaminer.com

Reposted by Meredith Broussard, Woodrow Hartzog

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 8d

“The company launched its Search Party feature in September and, despite some misgivings about it being enabled by default (and concerns around privacy and relationships with law enforcement), the company is taking a victory lap with a Super Bowl commercial.”

Now anyone can tap Ring doorbells to search for lost dogs

Ring says Search Party helps find more than one missing pet a day.

www.theverge.com

Woodrow Hartzog @hartzog.bsky.social · 9d

Exactly.

Woodrow Hartzog @hartzog.bsky.social · 11d

This is, by far, the best thing I have read on the topic: discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10...

discovery.ucl.ac.uk

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Alan Richardson, Woodrow Hartzog

Shannon Vallor @shannonvallor.bsky.social · 11d

Sure, it was the model that was ‘reckless.’

Maggie Harrison Dupré @mharrisondupre.bsky.social · 11d

OpenAI says it's going to retire GPT-4o. Again.

This time, the move to sunset 4o comes amid a wave of lawsuits alleging that the sycophantic model pushed users into delusional and suicidal spirals, upending lives and causing psychological harm, self-injury, and death.

futurism.com/artificial-i...

Amid Lawsuits, OpenAI Says It Will Retire "Reckless" Model Linked to Deaths

OpenAI will retire GPT-4o, an especially sycophantic version of its chatbot linked in lawsuits to multiple deaths, next month.

futurism.com

Woodrow Hartzog @hartzog.bsky.social · 14d

This is no way to live.

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 14d

😬

Superhuman, the company that makes Grammarly, developed a tool it calls Authorship that’s included with basic accounts. Students can turn it on to surveil themselves on Google Docs or Microsoft Word as they write and playback later. It will show which sections were typed, pasted from another source or generated with AI.

“We’re going to keep track of when you are going to Wikipedia,” said Jenny Maxwell, Superhuman’s head of education. “We’re going to keep track of when Grammarly is making suggestions and you’re taking them, we’re going to keep track of how much time you’ve spent in this paper or how many sessions.”

As many as 5 million Authorship reports were created in the past year alone, she said, though most of the time they aren’t submitted.

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 14d

😬

Reposted by Muki Haklay, Scott L. Greer, Steve Peers , and 4 more Muki Haklay, Scott L. Greer, Steve Peers, Woodrow Hartzog, Urška Demšar, Jack Stilgoe, Aleksandra Urman

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 14d

1. The thing about science that these jokers don't understand is that science cannot be vibe-coded.

Whatever its flaws, the point with vibe coding is that you're trying to quickly make something that sorta works, where you can immediately sorta see if it sorta works and then sorta use it.

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 14d

“The idea is to put ChatGPT front and center inside software that scientists use to write up their work in much the same way that chatbots are now embedded into popular programming editors.

It’s vibe coding, but for science.”

OpenAI’s latest product lets you vibe code science

Prism is a ChatGPT-powered text editor that automates much of the work involved in writing scientific papers.

www.technologyreview.com

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Steve Peers, Leslie Mabon , and 3 more Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Steve Peers, Leslie Mabon, Woodrow Hartzog, Bérénice A. Benayoun, Markus P. Eichhorn

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 14d

OpenAI’s latest product lets you vibe code science

Prism is a ChatGPT-powered text editor that automates much of the work involved in writing scientific papers.

www.technologyreview.com

Woodrow Hartzog @hartzog.bsky.social · 14d

Just saw this. It's fantastic, James. Thank you and it's helpful not just for juniors!

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog

Matt Burgess (WIRED) @mattburgess1.bsky.social · 15d

The UK is planning to drastically increase its use of live facial recognition systems—upping the number of facial recognition vans from 10 to 50

Facial recognition technology to be rolled out nationally and police to also get AI support

The home secretary has set out the government's long-awaited reforms to policing in England and Wales, which aim to reduce the amount of time officers will spend behind their desks - instead of being ...

news.sky.com

Reposted by Meredith Broussard, Jason Mittell, Stacie B. Dusetzina , and 11 more Meredith Broussard, Jason Mittell, Stacie B. Dusetzina, Michael A. Clemens, Lilian Edwards, Rebecca Tushnet, Alan Richardson, Aaron Sojourner, Michael D. McDonald, James Goodwin, Woodrow Hartzog, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Dana Howard, Jeannette Sutton

Charles Ornstein @charlesornstein.bsky.social · 15d

The @usdot.bsky.social, which oversees the safety of airplanes, cars and pipelines, plans to use Google Gemini to draft new regulations. “We don’t need the perfect rule,” said DOT’s top lawyer. “We want good enough.”

Government by AI? Trump Administration Plans to Write Regulations Using Artificial Intelligence

The Transportation Department, which oversees the safety of airplanes, cars and pipelines, plans to use Google Gemini to draft new regulations. “We don’t need the perfect rule,” said DOT’s top lawyer....

www.propublica.org

Woodrow Hartzog @hartzog.bsky.social · 15d

NOT TODAY, SATAN.

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 15d

Today in luxury surveillance.

Your house knows it’s you: inside SF’s era of sentient doors and psychic windows

SF smart homes use facial recognition doors and AI security.

sfstandard.com

Reposted by David Murakami Wood, Woodrow Hartzog

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 15d

Today in luxury surveillance.

Your house knows it’s you: inside SF’s era of sentient doors and psychic windows

SF smart homes use facial recognition doors and AI security.

sfstandard.com

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog

Richard Reisman @rreisman.bsky.social · 23d

The real AI extinction threat, and far more imminent — the extinction of society. Yes, “absolutely everyone should read.” Via @hartzog.bsky.social and @jessicasilbey.bsky.social, via @garymarcus.bsky.social. open.substack.com/pub/garymarc...

How Generative AI is destroying society

An astonishingly lucid new paper that should be read by all

open.substack.com

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog

John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 27d

@hartzog.bsky.social & @jessicasilbey.bsky.social argue that GenAI, by its very design, undercuts the institutions that are core to democracy. It's "anathema to the kind of cooperation, transparency, accountability, and evolution that give vital institutions their purpose and sustainability."

download.ssrn.com

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog, Simon Lester

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 27d

“…the endgame is to record and analyze everything in your life, and that's not hyperbole.”

CES 2026 laid out a Black Mirror future of wearable AI that's always listening, watching, ready to help, and 'knows everything about you.' I'm not enthusiastic

With new AI assistants like Lenovo's Qira, tech brands are laying out the helpful-surveillance endgame that started with smart glasses.

www.androidcentral.com

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog

Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 27d

This new paper by @hartzog.bsky.social and @jessicasilbey.bsky.social makes "one simple point: AI systems are built to function in ways that degrade and are likely to destroy our crucial civic institutions."

Grim but important reading:
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

How AI Destroys Institutions

Civic institutions—the rule of law, universities, and a free press—are the backbone of democratic life. They are the mechanisms through which complex societies

papers.ssrn.com

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog

Data & Society @datasociety.bsky.social · 27d

Ads are starting to show up in chatbot conversations. It's easy to imagine how this "could turn unwelcome or creepy" in exchanges "that feel like intimate personal spaces and that also save gobs of your private data." www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Analysis | Here comes the advertising in AI chatbots

Can you trust AI advice if comes with a promotional pitch for soda?

www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog

Alona Ferber @aloner.bsky.social · 27d

Quite. My resharing my related piece from yesterday >>>

"The fact that Grok can be used to defile images of women and children is not an unfortunate accident of technological progress, but the direct consequence of decision-making, and of an ideology"

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...

Reposted by Woodrow Hartzog

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 28d

“Women and girls are far more reluctant to use AI. This should be no surprise to any of us. Women don’t see this as exciting new technology, but as simply new ways to harass and abuse us and try and push us offline.”