Amy Sample Ward
@amysampleward.bsky.social
they/them | Co-author of "The Tech that Comes Next: How Changemakers, Philanthropists, and Technologists can build an equitable world" with Afua Bruce | CEO at NTEN | Still believe a better world is possible.
No words, so many feelings.
I don’t want to formulate words yet, but my friend Alice Wong, @sfdirewolf.bsky.social of the Disability Visibility Project, has passed.
Here are the words she left behind:
www.instagram.com/p/DREMDNBjnq...
Here are the words she left behind:
www.instagram.com/p/DREMDNBjnq...
Alice Wong on Instagram: "ID: Yellow background with black text "This is Alice's friend Sandy Ho, posting. Per Alice's wishes, this message is being shared at the time of her passing. Hi everyone, it ...
423 likes, 73 comments - alicatsamurai on November 14, 2025: "ID: Yellow background with black text "This is Alice's friend Sandy Ho, posting. Per Alice's wishes, this message is being shared at the t...
www.instagram.com
November 15, 2025 at 6:18 AM
No words, so many feelings.
Reposted by Amy Sample Ward
This is real news. Reporters, please report on it.
ELEVEN former top FCC officials, Republican and Democratic, came together to condemn FCC Chairman Carr's abuses of power and efforts to suppress legal speech.
It's not just Jimmy Kimmel. The FCC's jawboning and chill on legal speech is ongoing.
ELEVEN former top FCC officials, Republican and Democratic, came together to condemn FCC Chairman Carr's abuses of power and efforts to suppress legal speech.
It's not just Jimmy Kimmel. The FCC's jawboning and chill on legal speech is ongoing.
Government has no business policing media for viewpoint bias or balance. The FCC must repeal its news distortion policy, urges a bipartisan group of 11 former FCC Chairs, Commissioners & other top officials in a petition we filed today with @protectdemocracy.org
protectdemocracy.org/work/fcc-new...
protectdemocracy.org/work/fcc-new...
November 13, 2025 at 4:54 PM
This is real news. Reporters, please report on it.
ELEVEN former top FCC officials, Republican and Democratic, came together to condemn FCC Chairman Carr's abuses of power and efforts to suppress legal speech.
It's not just Jimmy Kimmel. The FCC's jawboning and chill on legal speech is ongoing.
ELEVEN former top FCC officials, Republican and Democratic, came together to condemn FCC Chairman Carr's abuses of power and efforts to suppress legal speech.
It's not just Jimmy Kimmel. The FCC's jawboning and chill on legal speech is ongoing.
Reposted by Amy Sample Ward
My latest column for the Chronicle of Higher Ed is now live. It's an argument for including AI-critical voices in campus conversations and policymaking workgroups, and I'm proud to get this dissenting piece into the mainstream genAI/higher ed discourse. Please read and share if you're so inclined 🙂
Advice | Sometimes We Resist AI for Good Reasons
Why higher ed needs to listen to the contrarians in setting policies on using tools like ChatGPT in faculty work.
www.chronicle.com
September 24, 2025 at 5:47 PM
My latest column for the Chronicle of Higher Ed is now live. It's an argument for including AI-critical voices in campus conversations and policymaking workgroups, and I'm proud to get this dissenting piece into the mainstream genAI/higher ed discourse. Please read and share if you're so inclined 🙂
Reposted by Amy Sample Ward
#NonprofitRadio is offering fresh perspectives on the #nonprofit landscape, featuring insights on the influence of AI and more, with @gtak.bsky.social and @amysampleward.bsky.social. Check it out here: tony.ma/NonprofitRad...
September 23, 2025 at 3:12 PM
#NonprofitRadio is offering fresh perspectives on the #nonprofit landscape, featuring insights on the influence of AI and more, with @gtak.bsky.social and @amysampleward.bsky.social. Check it out here: tony.ma/NonprofitRad...
Reposted by Amy Sample Ward
Suppose you tried to solve math problems by rolling dice to get the answer
Sometimes, the dice will give the correct answer. Other times, not.
If you were to insist that the wrong answers were the *dice* malfunctioning, people would rightly mock the shit out of you.
Sometimes, the dice will give the correct answer. Other times, not.
If you were to insist that the wrong answers were the *dice* malfunctioning, people would rightly mock the shit out of you.
September 15, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Suppose you tried to solve math problems by rolling dice to get the answer
Sometimes, the dice will give the correct answer. Other times, not.
If you were to insist that the wrong answers were the *dice* malfunctioning, people would rightly mock the shit out of you.
Sometimes, the dice will give the correct answer. Other times, not.
If you were to insist that the wrong answers were the *dice* malfunctioning, people would rightly mock the shit out of you.
Reposted by Amy Sample Ward
🧵 We’re offering free Know Your Rights trainings for Oregon businesses, nonprofits, and community groups. This is to help you get ready in case of encounters with ICE. Sign up today! forms.office.com/r/VEwBPu3sqv
September 10, 2025 at 8:19 PM
🧵 We’re offering free Know Your Rights trainings for Oregon businesses, nonprofits, and community groups. This is to help you get ready in case of encounters with ICE. Sign up today! forms.office.com/r/VEwBPu3sqv
Reposted by Amy Sample Ward
HRDAG stands firmly with the human rights community in insisting that encryption is not optional — it is fundamental to the defense of truth.
Any attempt to ban or backdoor encryption technology is a threat to the human rights community.
hrdag.substack.com/p/without-en...
Any attempt to ban or backdoor encryption technology is a threat to the human rights community.
hrdag.substack.com/p/without-en...
Without Encryption My Work Wouldn’t Be Possible
Our work isn’t always popular. It can infuriate those in power who want to cover up incriminating truths about the past and current trends in state violence. So when I think about HRDAG’s threat model...
hrdag.substack.com
September 3, 2025 at 5:26 PM
HRDAG stands firmly with the human rights community in insisting that encryption is not optional — it is fundamental to the defense of truth.
Any attempt to ban or backdoor encryption technology is a threat to the human rights community.
hrdag.substack.com/p/without-en...
Any attempt to ban or backdoor encryption technology is a threat to the human rights community.
hrdag.substack.com/p/without-en...
Reposted by Amy Sample Ward
Nonprofit Resources of the Week – 8/30/25 nonprofitlawblog.com/nonprofit-re... - federal bars on funding, foreign influence using nonprofits, generative governance, strategic planning, damage to CDC, Voting Rights Act, Ed Sullivan (?) #nonprofits #nonprofitlaw #climatechange #equity #justice
Nonprofit Resources of the Week – 8/30/25
Notable Nonprofit Posts, Articles, & Other Resources: DHS moves to bar aid groups from serving undocumented immigrants (Brianna Sacks, Washington Post) [Ed. This dubious prohibition targets non…
nonprofitlawblog.com
August 30, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Nonprofit Resources of the Week – 8/30/25 nonprofitlawblog.com/nonprofit-re... - federal bars on funding, foreign influence using nonprofits, generative governance, strategic planning, damage to CDC, Voting Rights Act, Ed Sullivan (?) #nonprofits #nonprofitlaw #climatechange #equity #justice
Reposted by Amy Sample Ward
apropos of everything here is a campaign @fightforthefuture.org has been running for months www.stoponlineidchecks.org
ONLINE ID CHECKS WILL RUIN THE INTERNET
www.stoponlineidchecks.org
August 22, 2025 at 11:41 PM
apropos of everything here is a campaign @fightforthefuture.org has been running for months www.stoponlineidchecks.org
I love any opportunity to talk about the ethical and equitable questions that adopting, building with, and investing in AI should bring up for all of us. And grateful to get to do that in AI for Nonprofits, out today from @cherylcontee.bsky.social + Darian Heyman: www.ai4np.org #NPTech #AI4NP
AI FOR NONPROFITS
AI4NP.org is a shared knowledge exchange to help nonprofits ethically and effectively adopt AI.
www.ai4np.org
July 29, 2025 at 11:57 PM
I love any opportunity to talk about the ethical and equitable questions that adopting, building with, and investing in AI should bring up for all of us. And grateful to get to do that in AI for Nonprofits, out today from @cherylcontee.bsky.social + Darian Heyman: www.ai4np.org #NPTech #AI4NP
Reposted by Amy Sample Ward
Don't miss an all new #NonprofitRadio! It's the 750th podcast episode featuring special guests Claire Meyerhoff of The Planned Giving Agency; show associate producer, Kate Martignetti; musician, Scott Stein; @amysampleward.bsky.social; and @gtak.bsky.social: tony.ma/NonprofitRad...
July 29, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Don't miss an all new #NonprofitRadio! It's the 750th podcast episode featuring special guests Claire Meyerhoff of The Planned Giving Agency; show associate producer, Kate Martignetti; musician, Scott Stein; @amysampleward.bsky.social; and @gtak.bsky.social: tony.ma/NonprofitRad...
Reposted by Amy Sample Ward
A badly misguided court order in a copyright lawsuit requires OpenAI to store all consumer ChatGPT conversations indefinitely—even if a user tries to delete them.
Copyright Cases Should Not Threaten Chatbot Users’ Privacy
Like users of all technologies, ChatGPT users deserve the right to delete their personal data. Nineteen U.S. States, the European Union, and a host of other countries already protect users’ right to d...
www.eff.org
June 26, 2025 at 9:41 PM
A badly misguided court order in a copyright lawsuit requires OpenAI to store all consumer ChatGPT conversations indefinitely—even if a user tries to delete them.
Reposted by Amy Sample Ward
Today’s ruling on U.S. vs. Skrmetti clearly demonstrates that trans people are under attack. Don’t let technology make things worse. Here are some recommendations to keep you and your community safe.
Strategies for Resisting Tech-Enabled Violence Facing Transgender People
Today's Supreme Court’s ruling in U.S. v. Skrmetti upholding bans on gender-affirming care for youth makes it clear: trans people are under attack. Threats to trans rights and healthcare are coming fr...
www.eff.org
June 18, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Today’s ruling on U.S. vs. Skrmetti clearly demonstrates that trans people are under attack. Don’t let technology make things worse. Here are some recommendations to keep you and your community safe.
Reposted by Amy Sample Ward
For almost a decade, there's been a lot of (justified) hand-wringing and paper-writing about fairness issues in AI. This case gets to the heart of a very important question - how much of that work has materially improved the lives of real people?
Grateful for this careful & honest investigation.
Grateful for this careful & honest investigation.
New from me @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social + Justin-Casimir Braun:
Amsterdam believed that it could build a #predictiveAI for welfare fraud that would ALSO be fair, unbiased, & a positive case study for #ResponsibleAI. It didn't work.
Our deep dive why: www.technologyreview.com/2025/06/11/1...
Amsterdam believed that it could build a #predictiveAI for welfare fraud that would ALSO be fair, unbiased, & a positive case study for #ResponsibleAI. It didn't work.
Our deep dive why: www.technologyreview.com/2025/06/11/1...
Inside Amsterdam’s high-stakes experiment to create fair welfare AI
The Dutch city thought it could break a decade-long trend of implementing discriminatory algorithms. Its failure raises the question: can these programs ever be fair?
www.technologyreview.com
June 11, 2025 at 10:58 PM
For almost a decade, there's been a lot of (justified) hand-wringing and paper-writing about fairness issues in AI. This case gets to the heart of a very important question - how much of that work has materially improved the lives of real people?
Grateful for this careful & honest investigation.
Grateful for this careful & honest investigation.
Reposted by Amy Sample Ward
The entire modern internet has been built on platforms that don’t believe in asking for consent. What if we started demanding a culture of consent online? www.anildash.com//2025/05/27/...
The Internet of Consent - Anil Dash
A blog about making culture. Since 1999.
www.anildash.com
May 27, 2025 at 2:26 PM
The entire modern internet has been built on platforms that don’t believe in asking for consent. What if we started demanding a culture of consent online? www.anildash.com//2025/05/27/...
Reposted by Amy Sample Ward
3. The narrative of ‘AI futures’ is used to refocus educational outcomes around the automation of intellectual work, stunting the development of young people’s capacities, and preparing them for work that will be precarious, exploitative, and algorithmically disciplined."
May 23, 2025 at 4:48 PM
3. The narrative of ‘AI futures’ is used to refocus educational outcomes around the automation of intellectual work, stunting the development of young people’s capacities, and preparing them for work that will be precarious, exploitative, and algorithmically disciplined."
The Digital Equity Act is an investment in rural America, in veterans, in seniors, in communities of color, & so many more. There's nothing "unconstitutional" about a Congressionally approved effort to increase broadband availability & adoption across the country. www.politifact.com/factchecks/2...
Trump falsely called internet program a racial ‘handout’
President Donald Trump said that the Digital Equity Act is a “handout based on race” and illegal. Congress approved the act to expand broadband access to many groups, not just racial minorities.
www.politifact.com
May 15, 2025 at 4:53 PM
The Digital Equity Act is an investment in rural America, in veterans, in seniors, in communities of color, & so many more. There's nothing "unconstitutional" about a Congressionally approved effort to increase broadband availability & adoption across the country. www.politifact.com/factchecks/2...
Reposted by Amy Sample Ward
New from 404 Media: Republicans are trying to cram a ban on AI regulation into the Budget Reconciliation bill, which would stop states from regulating AI entirely for 10 years.
www.404media.co/republicans-...
www.404media.co/republicans-...
Republicans Try to Cram Ban on AI Regulation Into Budget Reconciliation Bill
Republicans try to use the Budget Reconciliation bill to stop states from regulating AI entirely for 10 years.
www.404media.co
May 12, 2025 at 2:33 PM
New from 404 Media: Republicans are trying to cram a ban on AI regulation into the Budget Reconciliation bill, which would stop states from regulating AI entirely for 10 years.
www.404media.co/republicans-...
www.404media.co/republicans-...
Reposted by Amy Sample Ward
🗳️ #12: Restore Small Donor Elections
This program makes it possible for grassroots candidates to run. After last year’s cuts, we need to reinvest now so it’s ready for 2026.
This program makes it possible for grassroots candidates to run. After last year’s cuts, we need to reinvest now so it’s ready for 2026.
May 12, 2025 at 2:35 AM
🗳️ #12: Restore Small Donor Elections
This program makes it possible for grassroots candidates to run. After last year’s cuts, we need to reinvest now so it’s ready for 2026.
This program makes it possible for grassroots candidates to run. After last year’s cuts, we need to reinvest now so it’s ready for 2026.
Reposted by Amy Sample Ward
This is so dangerous. LLMs are going to do a piss poor job of translating life-critical information into 70 languages. We already know using machine translation in critical situations -- like asylum proceedings -- have dire consequences.
NEW: California has launched ‘Ask CAL FIRE”, an AI-powered chatbot on @calfire.bsky.social’s website offering wildfire resources and emergency information in 70 languages.
We’re committed to transforming government to more efficiently and effectively serve people.
We’re committed to transforming government to more efficiently and effectively serve people.
May 9, 2025 at 11:03 PM
This is so dangerous. LLMs are going to do a piss poor job of translating life-critical information into 70 languages. We already know using machine translation in critical situations -- like asylum proceedings -- have dire consequences.
Reposted by Amy Sample Ward
Time for another musical digital security PSA. This one is for the 90s kids who need to make their passwords stronger
May 9, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Time for another musical digital security PSA. This one is for the 90s kids who need to make their passwords stronger
NTEN’s work w/ local orgs & their communities has surfaced what “digital equity” really means: The internet is a powerful & necessary tool, but people need affordable and reliable access as well as skills and confident to use it. NTEN will continue to help everyone be part of the digital world.
My full statement on the President “declaring” the bipartisan LAW I wrote, the Digital Equity Act, unconstitutional.
Republicans will have to explain to their constituents why this administration doesn’t believe kids in rural districts should get laptops.
www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murr...
Republicans will have to explain to their constituents why this administration doesn’t believe kids in rural districts should get laptops.
www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murr...
Senator Murray Blasts Trump’s Attack on Resources to Close Digital Divide: “Republicans Will Have to Explain Why Middle Schoolers in Rural Districts Shouldn’t Get Laptops” - Senator Patty Murray
Murray first authored and introduced the Digital Equity Act in 2019 and got it passed into law as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ...
www.murray.senate.gov
May 9, 2025 at 7:01 PM
NTEN’s work w/ local orgs & their communities has surfaced what “digital equity” really means: The internet is a powerful & necessary tool, but people need affordable and reliable access as well as skills and confident to use it. NTEN will continue to help everyone be part of the digital world.
Reposted by Amy Sample Ward
What resources are distributed across the AI value chain, and to whom? Who benefits in the AI value chain, and who is harmed?
In "The Ethics of AI Value Chains", @davidthewid.bsky.social & I address these fundamental questions, now out in Big Data & Society!
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
In "The Ethics of AI Value Chains", @davidthewid.bsky.social & I address these fundamental questions, now out in Big Data & Society!
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
The ethics of AI value chains - Blair Attard-Frost, David Gray Widder, 2025
Researchers, practitioners, and policymakers with an interest in the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI) need more integrative approaches for studying and in...
journals.sagepub.com
May 7, 2025 at 3:04 PM
What resources are distributed across the AI value chain, and to whom? Who benefits in the AI value chain, and who is harmed?
In "The Ethics of AI Value Chains", @davidthewid.bsky.social & I address these fundamental questions, now out in Big Data & Society!
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
In "The Ethics of AI Value Chains", @davidthewid.bsky.social & I address these fundamental questions, now out in Big Data & Society!
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Just putting out there that the work to deliver responsive programs for nonprofit staff that deliver responsive programs to vulnerable and multiply marginalized communities is always hard because we (NTEN) don't want the spotlight. But right now, wow oh wow is it hard. Where are those funders??
April 30, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Just putting out there that the work to deliver responsive programs for nonprofit staff that deliver responsive programs to vulnerable and multiply marginalized communities is always hard because we (NTEN) don't want the spotlight. But right now, wow oh wow is it hard. Where are those funders??