S. Ashleigh Weeden, PhD
@ashleighweeden.bsky.social
*maybe not here quite so much, as I tend to my grief and growth*
Dr. Weeden. She/Her. Rural Futurist. Feminist. Curious/Furious. Place, power, policy. Obsessed with questions like "why?" and "so what?"
Dr. Weeden. She/Her. Rural Futurist. Feminist. Curious/Furious. Place, power, policy. Obsessed with questions like "why?" and "so what?"
Reposted by S. Ashleigh Weeden, PhD
Very bad. Very stupid. You heard it here first.
November 23, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Very bad. Very stupid. You heard it here first.
Reposted by S. Ashleigh Weeden, PhD
It’s blowing my mind that schools, universities, public services would run headlong into this. We spent 15 years documenting black boxes. This is a black box in a black hole!
I don't understand how anyone can watch how blatantly Grok is manipulated to answer the way ownership desires it to and then act like the other LLM chatbots couldn't possibly be similarly but less obviously compromised to produce responses in whatever way corporate interests and priorities dictate.
November 23, 2025 at 11:16 PM
It’s blowing my mind that schools, universities, public services would run headlong into this. We spent 15 years documenting black boxes. This is a black box in a black hole!
Reposted by S. Ashleigh Weeden, PhD
Problem: AI needs massive amounts of power to thrive. Nuclear makes lots of power. Nuclear takes a long long time to do safely.
Proposed solution that I'm sure will have no unpleasant consequences: Use AI to speed up the construction of new nuclear plants.
Proposed solution that I'm sure will have no unpleasant consequences: Use AI to speed up the construction of new nuclear plants.
Power Companies Are Using AI To Build Nuclear Power Plants
Tech companies are betting big on nuclear energy to meet AIs massive power demands and they're using that AI to speed up the construction of new nuclear power plants.
www.404media.co
November 14, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Problem: AI needs massive amounts of power to thrive. Nuclear makes lots of power. Nuclear takes a long long time to do safely.
Proposed solution that I'm sure will have no unpleasant consequences: Use AI to speed up the construction of new nuclear plants.
Proposed solution that I'm sure will have no unpleasant consequences: Use AI to speed up the construction of new nuclear plants.
Reposted by S. Ashleigh Weeden, PhD
Will PRIVATIZING Canadian MEDICARE WORK?
Researchers compared 25 wealthy countries.
The more each relies on FOR-PROFIT COMPANIES to deliver healthcare
...the WORSE LIFE EXPECTANCY gets.
www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...
Researchers compared 25 wealthy countries.
The more each relies on FOR-PROFIT COMPANIES to deliver healthcare
...the WORSE LIFE EXPECTANCY gets.
www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...
November 22, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Will PRIVATIZING Canadian MEDICARE WORK?
Researchers compared 25 wealthy countries.
The more each relies on FOR-PROFIT COMPANIES to deliver healthcare
...the WORSE LIFE EXPECTANCY gets.
www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...
Researchers compared 25 wealthy countries.
The more each relies on FOR-PROFIT COMPANIES to deliver healthcare
...the WORSE LIFE EXPECTANCY gets.
www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...
Reposted by S. Ashleigh Weeden, PhD
And people still look me square in the face and deadass ask me why women don't report.
"A Regina police officer has pleaded guilty to using police databases to pursue intimate and personal relationships with women. [...] It's not clear how many people Semenchuk may have contacted."
Regina officer pleads guilty to using police databases to pursue women | CBC News
Sergeant Robert Eric Semenchuck remains suspended with pay, as required under the province's Police Act. He has pleaded guilty to breach of trust and unauthorized use of a computer
www.cbc.ca
November 21, 2025 at 5:25 PM
And people still look me square in the face and deadass ask me why women don't report.
Stumbled on this great piece from @anthonymoser.com in the strangest of ways (LinkedIn comment rabbit hole), but damn if it doesn't resonate: "I am an AI hater. This is considered rude, but I do not care, because I am a hater."
(I could pull quote pretty much everything, so just go and read it)
(I could pull quote pretty much everything, so just go and read it)
I Am An AI Hater
I am an AI hater. This is considered rude, but I do not care, because I am a hater.
anthonymoser.github.io
November 21, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Stumbled on this great piece from @anthonymoser.com in the strangest of ways (LinkedIn comment rabbit hole), but damn if it doesn't resonate: "I am an AI hater. This is considered rude, but I do not care, because I am a hater."
(I could pull quote pretty much everything, so just go and read it)
(I could pull quote pretty much everything, so just go and read it)
Reposted by S. Ashleigh Weeden, PhD
Don’t threaten me with a good time.
AI advocates have warned that if every author in the class action filed a claim, it would "financially ruin" the entire industry.
Authors celebrate “historic” settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action
Advocates fear such settlements will “financially ruin” the AI industry.
arstechnica.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Don’t threaten me with a good time.
Reposted by S. Ashleigh Weeden, PhD
“While the AI industry claims its models can “think,” “reason,” and “learn,” their supposed achievements rest on marketing hype and stolen intellectual labor. In reality, AI erodes academic freedom, weakens critical reading, and subordinates the pursuit of knowledge to corporate interests.”
AI Is Hollowing Out Higher Education
Olivia Guest & Iris van Rooij urge teachers and scholars to reject tools that commodify learning, deskill students, and promote illiteracy.
www.project-syndicate.org
November 15, 2025 at 5:24 PM
“While the AI industry claims its models can “think,” “reason,” and “learn,” their supposed achievements rest on marketing hype and stolen intellectual labor. In reality, AI erodes academic freedom, weakens critical reading, and subordinates the pursuit of knowledge to corporate interests.”
Reposted by S. Ashleigh Weeden, PhD
Latest episode of Sandy and Nora is out! We have the conversation that Canada needs to be having: what is with this obsession with war? War is bad, actually.
sandyandnora.com/episode-350-...
sandyandnora.com/episode-350-...
Episode 350 – Actually, war is bad.
In this episode, Sandy and Nora take a hard look at war and remind listeners that it is very, very bad.
sandyandnora.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Latest episode of Sandy and Nora is out! We have the conversation that Canada needs to be having: what is with this obsession with war? War is bad, actually.
sandyandnora.com/episode-350-...
sandyandnora.com/episode-350-...
Reposted by S. Ashleigh Weeden, PhD
New from me & @bhaggart.bsky.social on the Canadian govt's bad AI plans: a rushed industry-heavy consultation, obsession with data centres & GenAI, & little focus on AI regulation. What of public trust & a digital governance capacity? policyoptions.irpp.org/2025/11/ai-r...
Canada’s AI strategy risks democracy and digital sovereignty
The government's plan overlooks rising U.S. authoritarianism, data sovereignty and the risk of outsourcing public services to tech firms.
policyoptions.irpp.org
November 18, 2025 at 5:39 PM
New from me & @bhaggart.bsky.social on the Canadian govt's bad AI plans: a rushed industry-heavy consultation, obsession with data centres & GenAI, & little focus on AI regulation. What of public trust & a digital governance capacity? policyoptions.irpp.org/2025/11/ai-r...
Framing it this way isn't helpful. This is something being *done to* rural people. The dynamics described are crafted by centralized govts + corps with urbanized extractive bias - not rural communities. Punching down on rural places both misses the real problem and harms progressive agendas...
Quetion for rural Alberta? support a dying industry that leaves a toxic wasteland that has no funding for cleanup, or support a growing clean responsible industry that pays its bills?
Tough one.
Tough one.
Rural Alberta's $70-million question: Will renewable energy revenue keep growing?
Rural Alberta is experiencing something remarkable — a steady, reliable stream of revenue that doesn’t depend on oil prices, doesn’t require new taxes and keeps flowing year after year. In 2025, wind ...
ca.news.yahoo.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Framing it this way isn't helpful. This is something being *done to* rural people. The dynamics described are crafted by centralized govts + corps with urbanized extractive bias - not rural communities. Punching down on rural places both misses the real problem and harms progressive agendas...
Reposted by S. Ashleigh Weeden, PhD
Editors have a really hard job, and the good ones can make something unreadable readable, and the great ones can make something unreadable into something good. But they're basically invisible, until someone tries to write without one.
November 17, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Editors have a really hard job, and the good ones can make something unreadable readable, and the great ones can make something unreadable into something good. But they're basically invisible, until someone tries to write without one.
Reposted by S. Ashleigh Weeden, PhD
I’m trying to decide if I‘ve accidentally taken acid, or if it’s reality itself that’s breaking down.
Nicki Minaj is set to speak at the United Nations on behalf of the Trump administration.
November 17, 2025 at 8:59 PM
I’m trying to decide if I‘ve accidentally taken acid, or if it’s reality itself that’s breaking down.
Reposted by S. Ashleigh Weeden, PhD
POV: you are a young woman celebrating a recent academic success
November 17, 2025 at 7:20 PM
POV: you are a young woman celebrating a recent academic success
Reposted by S. Ashleigh Weeden, PhD
You love to see it, Malden!
Love to see community action against this AI nonsense! neighborhoodview.org/2025/11/13/d...
November 14, 2025 at 1:37 PM
You love to see it, Malden!
Reposted by S. Ashleigh Weeden, PhD
Some of the most interesting conversations I've had lately have stemmed from work convened, supported, or contracted by the Canadian Standards Association - giving me a little boosts of optimism amongst... *waving broadly*
November 13, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Some of the most interesting conversations I've had lately have stemmed from work convened, supported, or contracted by the Canadian Standards Association - giving me a little boosts of optimism amongst... *waving broadly*
Reposted by S. Ashleigh Weeden, PhD
NEW RELEASE FROM @btlbooks.com: Women United by @peggynash.bsky.social
Based on the firsthand stories of dozens of women leaders in the Canadian Auto Workers, Women United examines what workplaces were like for pioneering women in the labour movement.
Order your copy: btlbooks.com/book/wo...
Based on the firsthand stories of dozens of women leaders in the Canadian Auto Workers, Women United examines what workplaces were like for pioneering women in the labour movement.
Order your copy: btlbooks.com/book/wo...
November 13, 2025 at 12:00 AM
NEW RELEASE FROM @btlbooks.com: Women United by @peggynash.bsky.social
Based on the firsthand stories of dozens of women leaders in the Canadian Auto Workers, Women United examines what workplaces were like for pioneering women in the labour movement.
Order your copy: btlbooks.com/book/wo...
Based on the firsthand stories of dozens of women leaders in the Canadian Auto Workers, Women United examines what workplaces were like for pioneering women in the labour movement.
Order your copy: btlbooks.com/book/wo...
Reposted by S. Ashleigh Weeden, PhD
READ THIS!
www.canadianaffairs.news/2025/11/12/o...
$200K to litigate a case against a social assistance recipient who *may* have received $10K in CERB overpayments is not an "inefficiency", but collecting unpaid taxes on luxury yachts or planes *is* a waste of bureaucratic time?
MAKE IT MAKE SENSE
www.canadianaffairs.news/2025/11/12/o...
$200K to litigate a case against a social assistance recipient who *may* have received $10K in CERB overpayments is not an "inefficiency", but collecting unpaid taxes on luxury yachts or planes *is* a waste of bureaucratic time?
MAKE IT MAKE SENSE
Op-Ed: Ottawa's costly pursuit of the poor
The government cites inefficiency as a reason to end taxes on vacant homes and yachts — yet keeps pouring money into futile litigation over pandemic-era benefits
www.canadianaffairs.news
November 13, 2025 at 6:16 PM
READ THIS!
www.canadianaffairs.news/2025/11/12/o...
$200K to litigate a case against a social assistance recipient who *may* have received $10K in CERB overpayments is not an "inefficiency", but collecting unpaid taxes on luxury yachts or planes *is* a waste of bureaucratic time?
MAKE IT MAKE SENSE
www.canadianaffairs.news/2025/11/12/o...
$200K to litigate a case against a social assistance recipient who *may* have received $10K in CERB overpayments is not an "inefficiency", but collecting unpaid taxes on luxury yachts or planes *is* a waste of bureaucratic time?
MAKE IT MAKE SENSE
Reposted by S. Ashleigh Weeden, PhD
The moral failing in attempting to prove Hitler was the victim of a genetic something-something is the same as the moral failing in claiming Trump is mentally ill. Their acts are those of conscious adults who’ve justified them in writing — they’re very fundamentally victimizers, not victims
"The research will probably provoke controversy, both for its having been done and for its findings."
Absolutely atrocious decision by everyone involved to do this research. The findings add nothing to historical understanding or political prevention, and hold immense potential to do harm.
Absolutely atrocious decision by everyone involved to do this research. The findings add nothing to historical understanding or political prevention, and hold immense potential to do harm.
Exclusive: Adolf Hitler’s DNA has been sequenced by scientists
It has:
- shown he had a disorder which impacted his sexual development
- debunked rumours about his ancestry
- shown a high likelihood that he had a neurodivergent condition and/or bipolar disorder
www.thetimes.com/article/e728...
It has:
- shown he had a disorder which impacted his sexual development
- debunked rumours about his ancestry
- shown a high likelihood that he had a neurodivergent condition and/or bipolar disorder
www.thetimes.com/article/e728...
November 12, 2025 at 7:24 PM
The moral failing in attempting to prove Hitler was the victim of a genetic something-something is the same as the moral failing in claiming Trump is mentally ill. Their acts are those of conscious adults who’ve justified them in writing — they’re very fundamentally victimizers, not victims
This sent me down a rabbit hole... Teachers in my world: are we doing this in Ontario/Canadian schools too?! It would... explain a lot about what is showing up in the writing of post-secondary students...
ever since I learned about three-cueing I've developed infinitely more patience for replies on social media. mfers literally do not know how to read. people are walking around conjuring random meanings into words they don't know, and they don't know a lot of words. it's crazy
November 12, 2025 at 7:23 PM
This sent me down a rabbit hole... Teachers in my world: are we doing this in Ontario/Canadian schools too?! It would... explain a lot about what is showing up in the writing of post-secondary students...
Reposted by S. Ashleigh Weeden, PhD
Precisely why it’s so gross to see the government not only legitimizing the scammy crypto industry, but saying it will benefit the very people who will likely be some of its biggest victims.
Sports betting and crypto are not the same but there are some massive overlaps.
Sports betting and crypto are not the same but there are some massive overlaps.
“The consequences extend beyond lost money. Hazardous gambling is correlated with increased rates of anxiety and depression, and young men who engage in it are more likely to slide into a full-blown gambling addiction. Boys who frequently gamble miss more classes, perform worse in school”
The rise of sports betting is a growing public health crisis
Sports betting is more addictive than ever, and millions of young Americans are paying the price.
www.statnews.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Precisely why it’s so gross to see the government not only legitimizing the scammy crypto industry, but saying it will benefit the very people who will likely be some of its biggest victims.
Sports betting and crypto are not the same but there are some massive overlaps.
Sports betting and crypto are not the same but there are some massive overlaps.