Alison P
@aeparker80.bsky.social
Cats and maths. Girly swots FTW!! Was a pure mathematician now doing OR. All opinions my own. RT’s are bookmarks not endorsements.
I am teh oldz. Done all except for 9 (which is anti-social as noted).
November 9, 2025 at 10:30 AM
I am teh oldz. Done all except for 9 (which is anti-social as noted).
Could not have said it better. I mean I would rather live in Australia but this economic migrant needs to stay put for the moment.
I hate to pull the immigrant card, but as an immigrant, it feels awful when elected MPs say I ‘need to go home’ and propose stripping me and all other immigrants of all our legal rights to live here. No, anywhere immigrants move is their home. The UK is my home.
October 21, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Could not have said it better. I mean I would rather live in Australia but this economic migrant needs to stay put for the moment.
Reposted by Alison P
No?
It’s actually:
1. I’ve invested barely any time in learning how it actually works and I believe it’s magic wand/substitute for a human.
2. I’ve invested time learning how it actually works & see some use cases but if it looks like magic it’s bc there’s a lot of human labor behind the curtain.
It’s actually:
1. I’ve invested barely any time in learning how it actually works and I believe it’s magic wand/substitute for a human.
2. I’ve invested time learning how it actually works & see some use cases but if it looks like magic it’s bc there’s a lot of human labor behind the curtain.
There are basically only two positions in the debate about AI.
1. I’ve barely invested any time in learning how to use it effectively. AI sucks.
2. I’ve invested in learning how to use this tool. Holy cow, it’s transformational.
Position #1 has lower barriers to entry.
1. I’ve barely invested any time in learning how to use it effectively. AI sucks.
2. I’ve invested in learning how to use this tool. Holy cow, it’s transformational.
Position #1 has lower barriers to entry.
October 17, 2025 at 5:40 AM
No?
It’s actually:
1. I’ve invested barely any time in learning how it actually works and I believe it’s magic wand/substitute for a human.
2. I’ve invested time learning how it actually works & see some use cases but if it looks like magic it’s bc there’s a lot of human labor behind the curtain.
It’s actually:
1. I’ve invested barely any time in learning how it actually works and I believe it’s magic wand/substitute for a human.
2. I’ve invested time learning how it actually works & see some use cases but if it looks like magic it’s bc there’s a lot of human labor behind the curtain.
Reposted by Alison P
@catvalente.bsky.social spitting facts for generations!
October 10, 2025 at 6:54 PM
@catvalente.bsky.social spitting facts for generations!
Reposted by Alison P
I cannot understand what these people think the purpose of human life is?
It is *not* "pursue joy, deal justly, love well, try to understand as much and see as much of this beautiful world and of the deepness, richness and variety of human culture and experience as you can before you die"?
It is *not* "pursue joy, deal justly, love well, try to understand as much and see as much of this beautiful world and of the deepness, richness and variety of human culture and experience as you can before you die"?
How is this repeatedly made into a policy issue - by *all* parties - when the blunt fact of the matter is that grown adults who are obliged to pay for their own education, and relentlessly pursued to repay their loans, should be able to study whatever the fuck they want.
October 8, 2025 at 8:22 AM
I cannot understand what these people think the purpose of human life is?
It is *not* "pursue joy, deal justly, love well, try to understand as much and see as much of this beautiful world and of the deepness, richness and variety of human culture and experience as you can before you die"?
It is *not* "pursue joy, deal justly, love well, try to understand as much and see as much of this beautiful world and of the deepness, richness and variety of human culture and experience as you can before you die"?
Reposted by Alison P
"In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits."
www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws
In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...
www.computerworld.com
September 21, 2025 at 12:50 PM
"In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits."
www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
Reposted by Alison P
Just out - new educational animation films about Autistic Experiences that I have been working on with @thrivingautistic.bsky.social team - would love to hear your feedback!
Lightbulb Moments: Being Autistic
youtu.be/3O6hy-usIug?...
Lightbulb Moments: Being Autistic
youtu.be/3O6hy-usIug?...
Lightbulb Moments: Being Autistic
YouTube video by Thriving Autistic
youtu.be
September 20, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Just out - new educational animation films about Autistic Experiences that I have been working on with @thrivingautistic.bsky.social team - would love to hear your feedback!
Lightbulb Moments: Being Autistic
youtu.be/3O6hy-usIug?...
Lightbulb Moments: Being Autistic
youtu.be/3O6hy-usIug?...
Reposted by Alison P
In Which Nadine Amuses a Dragon and Makes Autumn Happen
August 30, 2025 at 12:37 PM
In Which Nadine Amuses a Dragon and Makes Autumn Happen
Reposted by Alison P
Their memorials are history. Ours are political. Because as always, there are two sexualities - straight, and political.
Two genders - male, and political.
Two religions - Christian, and political.
Two races - white, and political.
Two genders - male, and political.
Two religions - Christian, and political.
Two races - white, and political.
Workers under cover of night removed a rainbow crosswalk outside of the former Pulse nightclub, apparently as part of state and federal transportation officials’ aim to wipe “political banners” from public roadways. www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/08/21/r...
Rainbow crosswalk outside Pulse nightclub removed overnight
“We did everything according to state law, everything was compliant,” said Patty Sheehan, the city’s first openly gay elected official. “FDOT never moves that quickly with anything.R…
www.orlandosentinel.com
August 22, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Their memorials are history. Ours are political. Because as always, there are two sexualities - straight, and political.
Two genders - male, and political.
Two religions - Christian, and political.
Two races - white, and political.
Two genders - male, and political.
Two religions - Christian, and political.
Two races - white, and political.
Reposted by Alison P
Your semi-regular plug for Dr Nerdlove (www.doctornerdlove.com) who is *amazing* at offering compassionate, practical advice that is not shy about calling out toxic masculinity and implicit misogyny and working to decouple masculinity from both of them.
August 2, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Your semi-regular plug for Dr Nerdlove (www.doctornerdlove.com) who is *amazing* at offering compassionate, practical advice that is not shy about calling out toxic masculinity and implicit misogyny and working to decouple masculinity from both of them.
Reposted by Alison P
That's how you can tell human authors from AI.
AI will put in some em dashes, then apologise and take them out when told off.
Human authors will climb the filing cabinet, hissing, and defend their right to em dashes with a loaded stapler.
AI will put in some em dashes, then apologise and take them out when told off.
Human authors will climb the filing cabinet, hissing, and defend their right to em dashes with a loaded stapler.
Em dashes, like anything, should be used in moderation. Check first with your editor if em dashes are right for you. 😉
#WriteSky #WritingTips
#WriteSky #WritingTips
August 1, 2025 at 11:11 AM
That's how you can tell human authors from AI.
AI will put in some em dashes, then apologise and take them out when told off.
Human authors will climb the filing cabinet, hissing, and defend their right to em dashes with a loaded stapler.
AI will put in some em dashes, then apologise and take them out when told off.
Human authors will climb the filing cabinet, hissing, and defend their right to em dashes with a loaded stapler.
Reposted by Alison P
I watched this (youtu.be/TMoz3gSXBcY?...) on the abuse of LLMs & 'vibe physics' by @acollierastro.bsky.social - well worth a watch! - and I was struck by how the back 15 minutes (the 'thought train') also summed up neatly what it has been like to be a public-facing historian, even before LLMs.1/
vibe physics
YouTube video by Angela Collier
youtu.be
July 25, 2025 at 9:59 PM
I watched this (youtu.be/TMoz3gSXBcY?...) on the abuse of LLMs & 'vibe physics' by @acollierastro.bsky.social - well worth a watch! - and I was struck by how the back 15 minutes (the 'thought train') also summed up neatly what it has been like to be a public-facing historian, even before LLMs.1/
I want one!!
I’ve been out of this color for a minute but I finally found a decent dupe thanks to @mostlybree.kitrocha.com so it’s back! 🧶 #yarn #knitting #crochet
measuredandslow.studio/shop/aumyiin...
measuredandslow.studio/shop/aumyiin...
July 22, 2025 at 4:06 PM
I want one!!
Noting for good recs
Really loved Dept Q and need something else absorbing to distract me from my troubles.
What you got?
What you got?
July 10, 2025 at 5:17 AM
Noting for good recs
Reposted by Alison P
Meredith has always been a G, but it's still exceptionally weird and very refreshing hearing from a tech exec who can see through all of this AI bullshit for what it is at its foundation: a backdoor surveillance tool.
Worth a watch:
Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.
Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.
June 28, 2025 at 5:14 AM
Meredith has always been a G, but it's still exceptionally weird and very refreshing hearing from a tech exec who can see through all of this AI bullshit for what it is at its foundation: a backdoor surveillance tool.
Reposted by Alison P
As promised, here are the slides I shared with students to convince them to NOT use chatGPT and other artificial stupidity.
TL;DR? AI is evil, unsustainable and stupid, and I'd much rather they use their own brains, make their own mistakes, and actually learn something. 🪄
TL;DR? AI is evil, unsustainable and stupid, and I'd much rather they use their own brains, make their own mistakes, and actually learn something. 🪄
February 23, 2025 at 1:45 PM
As promised, here are the slides I shared with students to convince them to NOT use chatGPT and other artificial stupidity.
TL;DR? AI is evil, unsustainable and stupid, and I'd much rather they use their own brains, make their own mistakes, and actually learn something. 🪄
TL;DR? AI is evil, unsustainable and stupid, and I'd much rather they use their own brains, make their own mistakes, and actually learn something. 🪄
Reposted by Alison P
Target-rich environment, this speech.
1/n
1/n
Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry
Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry
Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.
buff.ly
May 26, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Target-rich environment, this speech.
1/n
1/n
Ooh we should have done this!! But I gave up reading student comments years ago 🤷🏻♀️ (comments bear no relation to teaching quality! As noted further down the thread)
currently at the university whine & wine, where we read our student evals, do dramatic readings of the bad ones & boo people who got no bad ones
in my YA Lit class we read a book where a character killed himself for being gay
so I talked about being gay
that was apparently very inappropriate
in my YA Lit class we read a book where a character killed himself for being gay
so I talked about being gay
that was apparently very inappropriate
May 24, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Ooh we should have done this!! But I gave up reading student comments years ago 🤷🏻♀️ (comments bear no relation to teaching quality! As noted further down the thread)
Nobody outside academia appreciates what it’s like inside. I could no longer recruit with a clear conscience.
thinking again about how unwelcome and inappropriate it is to find our jobs
now also supposed to comprise counselor and border guard… as well as teacher, manager, researcher, editor, writer, fixer. these things are not compatible! the conflicts of interest are not resolvable!
now also supposed to comprise counselor and border guard… as well as teacher, manager, researcher, editor, writer, fixer. these things are not compatible! the conflicts of interest are not resolvable!
May 23, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Nobody outside academia appreciates what it’s like inside. I could no longer recruit with a clear conscience.
Reposted by Alison P
Still learning how but. 1. Sure this is true and 2. Suspect it waaay harder for women to do.
May 23, 2025 at 3:52 AM
Still learning how but. 1. Sure this is true and 2. Suspect it waaay harder for women to do.
No one stuck up for me either when I got ill. Uni’s are ableist hells.
May 22, 2025 at 5:05 AM
No one stuck up for me either when I got ill. Uni’s are ableist hells.
Reposted by Alison P
That + perpetual pandemic + fascistic resurgence + institutional collapse + realizing that we'll never work up to the privileged positions our mentors held, contrasted w/ the pervasive failing upward of profoundly incompetent men (who also remind us of a career's worth of sexist indignities :)
May 9, 2025 at 1:37 AM
That + perpetual pandemic + fascistic resurgence + institutional collapse + realizing that we'll never work up to the privileged positions our mentors held, contrasted w/ the pervasive failing upward of profoundly incompetent men (who also remind us of a career's worth of sexist indignities :)
Reposted by Alison P
Hellooooo I'm sure you've seen people suggest it's totally harmless to generate the odd AI image just for a bit of fun but let's take the theft from artists out of the equation...it uses the same amount of power to create five AI images as it does to boil the water for a mug of coffee.
May 11, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Hellooooo I'm sure you've seen people suggest it's totally harmless to generate the odd AI image just for a bit of fun but let's take the theft from artists out of the equation...it uses the same amount of power to create five AI images as it does to boil the water for a mug of coffee.
Reposted by Alison P
Each time you ask an AI chatbot a question, it sends a request to a data center and strains an increasingly scarce resource: water.
A 🧵on our investigation into how the data centers that power AI are increasingly being built in highly water-stressed places:
www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
A 🧵on our investigation into how the data centers that power AI are increasingly being built in highly water-stressed places:
www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
The AI Boom Is Draining Water From the Areas That Need It Most
A Bloomberg News analysis finds that roughly two thirds of new data centers built or in development in the US since 2022 are in places with high levels of water stress.
www.bloomberg.com
May 8, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Each time you ask an AI chatbot a question, it sends a request to a data center and strains an increasingly scarce resource: water.
A 🧵on our investigation into how the data centers that power AI are increasingly being built in highly water-stressed places:
www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
A 🧵on our investigation into how the data centers that power AI are increasingly being built in highly water-stressed places:
www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
Reposted by Alison P
also you all need to see this, because this is something I don't think *anybody* could predict for where this ad goes
May 6, 2025 at 1:17 PM
also you all need to see this, because this is something I don't think *anybody* could predict for where this ad goes