Ryan McGrady
@antisomniac.bsky.social
The internet, YouTube, Wikipedia, NYC, birds, media... Sr Research Fellow at UMass Amherst Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure, Media Cloud.
Places:
rhododendrites.com
Rhododendrites @ Wikipedia/Instagram/Threads
Antisomniac @ Mastodon.social
Places:
rhododendrites.com
Rhododendrites @ Wikipedia/Instagram/Threads
Antisomniac @ Mastodon.social
Pinned
With Grokipedia, Top-Down Control of Knowledge Is New Again | TechPolicy.Press
Ryan McGrady asks, who is Grokipedia for, other than its owner?
www.techpolicy.press
I have a piece in @techpolicypress.bsky.social today: With Grokipedia, Top-Down Control of Knowledge Is New Again
Trying to consider the nature of the project and its vision of neutrality vs. @wikipedia.org's (without getting into e.g. article comparisons).
www.techpolicy.press/with-grokipe...
Trying to consider the nature of the project and its vision of neutrality vs. @wikipedia.org's (without getting into e.g. article comparisons).
www.techpolicy.press/with-grokipe...
Reposted by Ryan McGrady
Key points in new Cornell Tech research:
56% of Grokipedia entries carry the Wikipedia CC license, suggesting wholesale ingestion
Grokipedia’s top 100 sources include fewer news outlets and more UGC (e.g. LinkedIn scraping)
Grokipedia has fewer citations overall, making it harder to check sources
56% of Grokipedia entries carry the Wikipedia CC license, suggesting wholesale ingestion
Grokipedia’s top 100 sources include fewer news outlets and more UGC (e.g. LinkedIn scraping)
Grokipedia has fewer citations overall, making it harder to check sources
Grokipedia cites a Nazi forum and fringe conspiracy websites
A site-wide comparison with Wikipedia sheds light on what Elon Musk is trying to do
indicator.media
November 13, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Key points in new Cornell Tech research:
56% of Grokipedia entries carry the Wikipedia CC license, suggesting wholesale ingestion
Grokipedia’s top 100 sources include fewer news outlets and more UGC (e.g. LinkedIn scraping)
Grokipedia has fewer citations overall, making it harder to check sources
56% of Grokipedia entries carry the Wikipedia CC license, suggesting wholesale ingestion
Grokipedia’s top 100 sources include fewer news outlets and more UGC (e.g. LinkedIn scraping)
Grokipedia has fewer citations overall, making it harder to check sources
The Wikipedia Signpost republished this Grokipedia essay today (from @techpolicypress.bsky.social last week). Signpost is the unofficial (but sorta official) newspaper of the English Wiki community, and is reliably useful for all things Wikipedia "Inside Baseball." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...
Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2025-11-10/Opinion - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 10, 2025 at 10:51 PM
The Wikipedia Signpost republished this Grokipedia essay today (from @techpolicypress.bsky.social last week). Signpost is the unofficial (but sorta official) newspaper of the English Wiki community, and is reliably useful for all things Wikipedia "Inside Baseball." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...
Nice piece from @columjournreview.bsky.social / Tow Center on the broad importance of news data access via the recent @mediacloud.bsky.social conference (still bummed I couldn't make it) www.cjr.org/tow_center/w...
Why economists and doctors are monitoring local news.
A reflection on the New(s) Knowledge Symposium.
www.cjr.org
November 10, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Nice piece from @columjournreview.bsky.social / Tow Center on the broad importance of news data access via the recent @mediacloud.bsky.social conference (still bummed I couldn't make it) www.cjr.org/tow_center/w...
Reposted by Ryan McGrady
US knowledge infrastructure is under attack, write Dean Jackson and Sam Woolley, as part of a series of provocations ahead of a symposium at the University of Pittsburgh's Communication Technology Research Lab (CTRL) on threats to knowledge and democracy. The assault is complex and multidirectional.
The United States is on the Cusp of a Digital Dark Age | TechPolicy.Press
The first in a series of provocations, Dean Jackson and Sam Woolley write that the current assault on knowledge infrastructure is complex and multidirectional.
www.techpolicy.press
November 10, 2025 at 3:16 PM
US knowledge infrastructure is under attack, write Dean Jackson and Sam Woolley, as part of a series of provocations ahead of a symposium at the University of Pittsburgh's Communication Technology Research Lab (CTRL) on threats to knowledge and democracy. The assault is complex and multidirectional.
Reposted by Ryan McGrady
Another in our series, Seeing the Digital Sphere: The Case for Public Platform Data. This week’s elections show how central social media has become to campaigns with politicians on nearly every platform. But as Josephine Lukito and Kaitlyn Dowling explain, access to this data is shrinking.
There is More Online Election Discourse than Ever, But Researchers See Less | TechPolicy.Press
Josephine Lukito and Kaitlyn Dowling explore why public social media data is vital for transparent elections and accountability in the digital campaign era.
www.techpolicy.press
November 7, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Another in our series, Seeing the Digital Sphere: The Case for Public Platform Data. This week’s elections show how central social media has become to campaigns with politicians on nearly every platform. But as Josephine Lukito and Kaitlyn Dowling explain, access to this data is shrinking.
Reposted by Ryan McGrady
And check out the Coalition for Independent Technology Research's recent report, "The State of Independent Technology Research 2025: Power in Numbers." independenttechresearch.org/citr-report-...
The State of Independent Technology Research 2025
A report on the struggle to keep public-interest technology research alive—and the growing Coalition working to protect it.
independenttechresearch.org
November 9, 2025 at 5:35 PM
And check out the Coalition for Independent Technology Research's recent report, "The State of Independent Technology Research 2025: Power in Numbers." independenttechresearch.org/citr-report-...
Revising this finding based on my understanding of the method: "the heaviest AI users are *self-styled* 'thought leadership writers'" Though unsure how valuable a non-random study by a ghostwriting company (whose writers by definition do not get credit/blame for their AI use) is.
Bleakly hilarious state of affairs that "the heaviest AI users are thought leadership writers (84%)."
November 9, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Revising this finding based on my understanding of the method: "the heaviest AI users are *self-styled* 'thought leadership writers'" Though unsure how valuable a non-random study by a ghostwriting company (whose writers by definition do not get credit/blame for their AI use) is.
If you're in NYC and haven't seen one of these Depths of Wikipedia shows, they're very funny and very charming. Not the typical kind of "Inside Baseball" Wikipedia event I'd normally be talking about -- very much a Wikipedia-based comedy show for a general audience.
If you want to chuckle about odd/delightful corners of wikipedia and hear a bunch of very funny lore behind the scenes, you should come to my show Monday in NYC! Hasn't sold out yet and anything could happen—maybe years of practicing the worm will pay off, truly who knows!!!
November 8, 2025 at 10:39 PM
If you're in NYC and haven't seen one of these Depths of Wikipedia shows, they're very funny and very charming. Not the typical kind of "Inside Baseball" Wikipedia event I'd normally be talking about -- very much a Wikipedia-based comedy show for a general audience.
Reposted by Ryan McGrady
🚨 New paper drop!
How does a social movement once started out powerful somehow turn into a partisan battle?
In our new publication in @icsjournal.bsky.social, we answer this question by analyzing 83 million #MeToo tweets from 2017–2020. 1/
How does a social movement once started out powerful somehow turn into a partisan battle?
In our new publication in @icsjournal.bsky.social, we answer this question by analyzing 83 million #MeToo tweets from 2017–2020. 1/
November 7, 2025 at 5:28 PM
🚨 New paper drop!
How does a social movement once started out powerful somehow turn into a partisan battle?
In our new publication in @icsjournal.bsky.social, we answer this question by analyzing 83 million #MeToo tweets from 2017–2020. 1/
How does a social movement once started out powerful somehow turn into a partisan battle?
In our new publication in @icsjournal.bsky.social, we answer this question by analyzing 83 million #MeToo tweets from 2017–2020. 1/
These montages are peak Daily Show. But why stop there? Here's NYPost in 2006, for example: nypost.com/2006/11/05/d...
November 8, 2025 at 2:56 PM
These montages are peak Daily Show. But why stop there? Here's NYPost in 2006, for example: nypost.com/2006/11/05/d...
Reposted by Ryan McGrady
Online platforms shape what we know, how we connect & who gets heard. In partnership with KGI, we are launching a new series, Seeing the Digital Sphere: The Case for Public Platform Data. The series starts today, with an essay from Leticia Bode & Peter Chapman.
www.techpolicy.press/seeing-the-d...
www.techpolicy.press/seeing-the-d...
November 6, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Online platforms shape what we know, how we connect & who gets heard. In partnership with KGI, we are launching a new series, Seeing the Digital Sphere: The Case for Public Platform Data. The series starts today, with an essay from Leticia Bode & Peter Chapman.
www.techpolicy.press/seeing-the-d...
www.techpolicy.press/seeing-the-d...
Reposted by Ryan McGrady
In contrast with Wikipedia’s mission to “set knowledge free,” Elon Musk's "competitor" Grokipedia represents “the use of technological power to re-exert top-down authority over information and knowledge," @antisomniac.bsky.social writes. www.techpolicy.press/with-grokipe...
With Grokipedia, Top-Down Control of Knowledge Is New Again | TechPolicy.Press
Ryan McGrady asks, who is Grokipedia for, other than its owner?
www.techpolicy.press
November 6, 2025 at 2:47 PM
In contrast with Wikipedia’s mission to “set knowledge free,” Elon Musk's "competitor" Grokipedia represents “the use of technological power to re-exert top-down authority over information and knowledge," @antisomniac.bsky.social writes. www.techpolicy.press/with-grokipe...
Tough Conversations in Academia, episode #79: "It's fun to play with ChatGPT to see what it can do, but if your methodology section includes 'then we dumped the data into ChatGPT' and the study isn't *about* ChatGPT... that's not ideal, my dude." Stay tuned for #80 on the punctuating "right?"
November 6, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Tough Conversations in Academia, episode #79: "It's fun to play with ChatGPT to see what it can do, but if your methodology section includes 'then we dumped the data into ChatGPT' and the study isn't *about* ChatGPT... that's not ideal, my dude." Stay tuned for #80 on the punctuating "right?"
Reposted by Ryan McGrady
Elon Musk’s Grokipedia is one of many experiments designed to replace human-generated writing with LLMs. But Ryan McGrady says its defining feature is its use of technological power to re-exert top-down authority over information and knowledge. Who is Grokipedia for, he asks, other than its owner?
With Grokipedia, Top-Down Control of Knowledge Is New Again | TechPolicy.Press
Ryan McGrady asks, who is Grokipedia for, other than its owner?
www.techpolicy.press
November 3, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Elon Musk’s Grokipedia is one of many experiments designed to replace human-generated writing with LLMs. But Ryan McGrady says its defining feature is its use of technological power to re-exert top-down authority over information and knowledge. Who is Grokipedia for, he asks, other than its owner?
Reposted by Ryan McGrady
I have a piece in @techpolicypress.bsky.social today: With Grokipedia, Top-Down Control of Knowledge Is New Again
Trying to consider the nature of the project and its vision of neutrality vs. @wikipedia.org's (without getting into e.g. article comparisons).
www.techpolicy.press/with-grokipe...
Trying to consider the nature of the project and its vision of neutrality vs. @wikipedia.org's (without getting into e.g. article comparisons).
www.techpolicy.press/with-grokipe...
With Grokipedia, Top-Down Control of Knowledge Is New Again | TechPolicy.Press
Ryan McGrady asks, who is Grokipedia for, other than its owner?
www.techpolicy.press
November 3, 2025 at 4:47 PM
I have a piece in @techpolicypress.bsky.social today: With Grokipedia, Top-Down Control of Knowledge Is New Again
Trying to consider the nature of the project and its vision of neutrality vs. @wikipedia.org's (without getting into e.g. article comparisons).
www.techpolicy.press/with-grokipe...
Trying to consider the nature of the project and its vision of neutrality vs. @wikipedia.org's (without getting into e.g. article comparisons).
www.techpolicy.press/with-grokipe...
Reposted by Ryan McGrady
Elon Musk’s Grokipedia is one of many experiments designed to replace human-generated writing with LLMs. But Ryan McGrady argues that its defining feature is its use of technological power to re-exert top-down authority over information and knowledge.
buff.ly/odvgs4q
buff.ly/odvgs4q
November 4, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Elon Musk’s Grokipedia is one of many experiments designed to replace human-generated writing with LLMs. But Ryan McGrady argues that its defining feature is its use of technological power to re-exert top-down authority over information and knowledge.
buff.ly/odvgs4q
buff.ly/odvgs4q
Err @gizmodo.com FYI the headline/first line is incorrect on a basic factual level. Wales didn't lock anything. Another user entirely did that, and a few days before Wales got involved. gizmodo.com/wikipedia-ga...
Wikipedia Article on Gaza Genocide Locked by Jimmy Wales Over Alleged Bias
Wales says the entry needs a more
gizmodo.com
November 4, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Err @gizmodo.com FYI the headline/first line is incorrect on a basic factual level. Wales didn't lock anything. Another user entirely did that, and a few days before Wales got involved. gizmodo.com/wikipedia-ga...
I have a piece in @techpolicypress.bsky.social today: With Grokipedia, Top-Down Control of Knowledge Is New Again
Trying to consider the nature of the project and its vision of neutrality vs. @wikipedia.org's (without getting into e.g. article comparisons).
www.techpolicy.press/with-grokipe...
Trying to consider the nature of the project and its vision of neutrality vs. @wikipedia.org's (without getting into e.g. article comparisons).
www.techpolicy.press/with-grokipe...
With Grokipedia, Top-Down Control of Knowledge Is New Again | TechPolicy.Press
Ryan McGrady asks, who is Grokipedia for, other than its owner?
www.techpolicy.press
November 3, 2025 at 4:47 PM
I have a piece in @techpolicypress.bsky.social today: With Grokipedia, Top-Down Control of Knowledge Is New Again
Trying to consider the nature of the project and its vision of neutrality vs. @wikipedia.org's (without getting into e.g. article comparisons).
www.techpolicy.press/with-grokipe...
Trying to consider the nature of the project and its vision of neutrality vs. @wikipedia.org's (without getting into e.g. article comparisons).
www.techpolicy.press/with-grokipe...
Reposted by Ryan McGrady
Elon Musk’s Grokipedia is one of many experiments designed to replace human-generated writing with LLMs. But Ryan McGrady says its defining feature is its use of technological power to re-exert top-down authority over information and knowledge. Who is Grokipedia for, he asks, other than its owner?
With Grokipedia, Top-Down Control of Knowledge Is New Again | TechPolicy.Press
Ryan McGrady asks, who is Grokipedia for, other than its owner?
www.techpolicy.press
November 3, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Elon Musk’s Grokipedia is one of many experiments designed to replace human-generated writing with LLMs. But Ryan McGrady says its defining feature is its use of technological power to re-exert top-down authority over information and knowledge. Who is Grokipedia for, he asks, other than its owner?
All headlines, even @mcsweeneys.net headlines, are 2017 headlines again. www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/hi-...
Hi, It’s Me, Wikipedia, and I Am Ready for Your Apology
“Wikipedia, the constantly changing knowledge base created by a global free-for-all of anonymous users, now stands as the leading force for the dum...
www.mcsweeneys.net
November 2, 2025 at 4:30 PM
All headlines, even @mcsweeneys.net headlines, are 2017 headlines again. www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/hi-...
Doomer visions are fundamentally about language and persuasion, not maximizing paperclips. Very, very old challenges for humans, now wrapped in technical complexity that leads us to debate silly things like the subjective experience of bicycles instead of focusing on e.g. trust.
Hinton has been talking about “maternal instincts” in AI, but that’s a symptom of a larger issue: he worries about AI’s power to persuade us, even as he believes in what it tells him. mail.cyberneticforests.com/thoughts-on-...
Thoughts on Hinton
On Consciousness in Programs
Geoffrey Hinton recently won a Nobel Prize for his work on backpropagation, a foundational piece of research that contributed to the emergence of contemporary artificial ...
mail.cyberneticforests.com
November 2, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Doomer visions are fundamentally about language and persuasion, not maximizing paperclips. Very, very old challenges for humans, now wrapped in technical complexity that leads us to debate silly things like the subjective experience of bicycles instead of focusing on e.g. trust.
How long must we wait in the trajectory of slopular culture before the use of AI-generated Studio Ghibli portraits is intelligible as ironically funny?
November 2, 2025 at 2:07 PM
How long must we wait in the trajectory of slopular culture before the use of AI-generated Studio Ghibli portraits is intelligible as ironically funny?
I fell into the trap: starting with "please RT" ensures nobody RTs. Spencer still needs a few more survey responses. Help to shape an important tool!
Please RT! Critical discourse about social media frequently emphasizes the role (& opacity) of recommendation/filtering systems. My @idpiumass.bsky.social colleague @slane.bsky.social is developing a "loyal client" that aggregates your social media feeds & gives you control. He needs your help! 1/2
November 1, 2025 at 8:42 PM
I fell into the trap: starting with "please RT" ensures nobody RTs. Spencer still needs a few more survey responses. Help to shape an important tool!
Folks, I've made it. Namechecked by @caseynewton.bsky.social @kevinroose.com on Hard Fork! Well, ok, not so much by name as "some scholar who said...". But still maybe more exciting than the original quote.
November 1, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Folks, I've made it. Namechecked by @caseynewton.bsky.social @kevinroose.com on Hard Fork! Well, ok, not so much by name as "some scholar who said...". But still maybe more exciting than the original quote.
Notes on Grokipedia:
Trying to do "neutral encyclopedia" means defining neutrality. Wikipedia defines it as not a platonic ideal of balance or objective reality but faithfully and proportionally summarizing what the best sources say, without adding personal opinions or ideas. [1/9]
Trying to do "neutral encyclopedia" means defining neutrality. Wikipedia defines it as not a platonic ideal of balance or objective reality but faithfully and proportionally summarizing what the best sources say, without adding personal opinions or ideas. [1/9]
October 28, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Notes on Grokipedia:
Trying to do "neutral encyclopedia" means defining neutrality. Wikipedia defines it as not a platonic ideal of balance or objective reality but faithfully and proportionally summarizing what the best sources say, without adding personal opinions or ideas. [1/9]
Trying to do "neutral encyclopedia" means defining neutrality. Wikipedia defines it as not a platonic ideal of balance or objective reality but faithfully and proportionally summarizing what the best sources say, without adding personal opinions or ideas. [1/9]