CK
@bluespinner.bsky.social
Liberal. Music lover. Writer (fiction - different genres - and I also wrote about music). Here to talk about politics, music and other people's work. On the bird site as seaspinner since 2011.
Reposted by CK
Re-upping for the people who quite sensibly stay off social media during the weekend: Watch as multiple "AI" fail a simple factual query!
Today in "Don't Trust AI to Tell You Facts": How several different "AI" programs messed up the simple fact of to whom I dedicated a book, and what that means for how much you should trust "AI" to tell you the truth about things (spoiler: not much at all):
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/13/a...
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/13/a...
“AI”: A Dedicated Fact-Failing Machine, or, Yet Another Reason Not to Trust It For Anything
I search my name on a regular basis, not only because I am an ego monster (although I try not to pretend that I’m not) but because it’s a good way for me to find reviews, end-of-the-yea…
whatever.scalzi.com
December 15, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Re-upping for the people who quite sensibly stay off social media during the weekend: Watch as multiple "AI" fail a simple factual query!
Reposted by CK
A marvelous tour d’horizon from @eryk.bsky.social about the various strands of critical thinking (i.e. hype-free) about AI. Huge thanks Eryk for doing this. Very helpful. Here’s one of my favorite bits.
December 7, 2025 at 1:00 PM
A marvelous tour d’horizon from @eryk.bsky.social about the various strands of critical thinking (i.e. hype-free) about AI. Huge thanks Eryk for doing this. Very helpful. Here’s one of my favorite bits.
Reposted by CK
Pretty sure real science is actually reading the papers, thinking very deeply, and more, before writing, not generating literature review-like objects with no authorial intent or legwork
Today @anthropic.com released PubMed integration for Claude. No hallucinations. Just real science, real data. As a beta tester, this has been game changing— a supercharged research tool. Here are 6 prompts that will transform how you search the literature. A 🧵
www.anthropic.com/news/claude-...
www.anthropic.com/news/claude-...
Claude for Life Sciences
Discover how Claude accelerates life sciences research with new scientific connectors, skills, and improved performance for drug discovery and clinical work.
www.anthropic.com
October 20, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Pretty sure real science is actually reading the papers, thinking very deeply, and more, before writing, not generating literature review-like objects with no authorial intent or legwork
Reposted by CK
Remember our mantra:
Don't Engage, Just Block.
Don't Engage, Just Block.
October 17, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Remember our mantra:
Don't Engage, Just Block.
Don't Engage, Just Block.
Reposted by CK
Enjoyed writing this short but sweet [altho not necessarily in message] piece for @projectsyndicate.bsky.social w @irisvanrooij.bsky.social:
> While the AI industry claims its models can “think,” “reason,” and “learn,” their supposed achievements rest on marketing hype & stolen intellectual labor
🧵
> While the AI industry claims its models can “think,” “reason,” and “learn,” their supposed achievements rest on marketing hype & stolen intellectual labor
🧵
Tech companies want us to outsource all cognitive labor to their models. Instead, academics must defend universities by barring toxic, addictive AI technologies from classrooms, argue @olivia.science and @irisvanrooij.bsky.social .
bit.ly/48FNcJj
bit.ly/48FNcJj
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.
bit.ly
October 17, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Enjoyed writing this short but sweet [altho not necessarily in message] piece for @projectsyndicate.bsky.social w @irisvanrooij.bsky.social:
> While the AI industry claims its models can “think,” “reason,” and “learn,” their supposed achievements rest on marketing hype & stolen intellectual labor
🧵
> While the AI industry claims its models can “think,” “reason,” and “learn,” their supposed achievements rest on marketing hype & stolen intellectual labor
🧵
Reposted by CK
I love this.
A writer is a world trapped in a person.
October 16, 2025 at 10:07 PM
I love this.
Reposted by CK
Respect to those who got here first.
October 13, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Respect to those who got here first.
Reposted by CK
A "great tree" in human history. Her passing is hard in such difficult times, but her existence opens the way for a 1000 others, all inspired and made possible by her having been.
We'll miss you, Dr.Goodall... but my goodness, you have spun so much good with your time on Earth!
We'll miss you, Dr.Goodall... but my goodness, you have spun so much good with your time on Earth!
Of all the best and kindest humans to ever live, Jane Goodall is near the top of my list.
Rest in Peace, you beautiful soul.
On behalf of the earth, I thank you
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...
Rest in Peace, you beautiful soul.
On behalf of the earth, I thank you
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...
Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91
www.nytimes.com
October 1, 2025 at 9:44 PM
A "great tree" in human history. Her passing is hard in such difficult times, but her existence opens the way for a 1000 others, all inspired and made possible by her having been.
We'll miss you, Dr.Goodall... but my goodness, you have spun so much good with your time on Earth!
We'll miss you, Dr.Goodall... but my goodness, you have spun so much good with your time on Earth!
Reposted by CK
People who coax chatbots into sensible answers are basically opening and closing the fridge until it contains something you wanna eat, yes, eventually you get hungrier & eat the stuff in there. But what changed was your cognition. The fridge stayed the same. You changed your mind about the contents.
October 1, 2025 at 9:55 PM
People who coax chatbots into sensible answers are basically opening and closing the fridge until it contains something you wanna eat, yes, eventually you get hungrier & eat the stuff in there. But what changed was your cognition. The fridge stayed the same. You changed your mind about the contents.
Reposted by CK
"Scenes are about the clash of desires. Just as the end of your script signifies the conclusion of a one-way journey, so must every scene end in a way that indicates change and asks questions that can only be answered by forward motion into the next scene." www.writtenby.com/career-craft...
How Do I Know My Script is Finished?
Javier Grillo-Marxuach shares his angst and his checklist.
www.writtenby.com
September 23, 2025 at 5:30 PM
"Scenes are about the clash of desires. Just as the end of your script signifies the conclusion of a one-way journey, so must every scene end in a way that indicates change and asks questions that can only be answered by forward motion into the next scene." www.writtenby.com/career-craft...
Reposted by CK
Watching the reactions to the Kimmel reinstatement here, all I can do is plead with everyone who sees themselves as part of ”the left” to stop & breathe for a second. Let’s not allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good, or for the good to be anything other than the start. But we have to breathe.
September 23, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Watching the reactions to the Kimmel reinstatement here, all I can do is plead with everyone who sees themselves as part of ”the left” to stop & breathe for a second. Let’s not allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good, or for the good to be anything other than the start. But we have to breathe.
Reposted by CK
Obituary: Libertarianism, 13, Dies in Argentina Chainsaw Accident
www.thenerdreich.com/libertariani...
www.thenerdreich.com/libertariani...
Libertarianism, 13, Dies in Argentina Chainsaw Accident
It was preceded in death by conservatism, which fell to a terminal case of fascism in 2016.
www.thenerdreich.com
September 23, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Obituary: Libertarianism, 13, Dies in Argentina Chainsaw Accident
www.thenerdreich.com/libertariani...
www.thenerdreich.com/libertariani...
Reposted by CK
I don't think it's extreme to say that NATO should knock Russian drones & planes out of the sky if they cross into NATO airspace. Defending NATO countries from a belligerent Russia is literally the point of NATO.
September 21, 2025 at 6:32 PM
I don't think it's extreme to say that NATO should knock Russian drones & planes out of the sky if they cross into NATO airspace. Defending NATO countries from a belligerent Russia is literally the point of NATO.
Reposted by CK
Getting close to 50k views and I'm wondering is it just everybody is scared to say this and pleased I did? Because if there's so many of us who agree, trust me I'd know if 1k people disagreed with me let alone 50k, why are we letting AI ruin our universities?
Together we can turn back the tide.
Together we can turn back the tide.
Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
September 21, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Getting close to 50k views and I'm wondering is it just everybody is scared to say this and pleased I did? Because if there's so many of us who agree, trust me I'd know if 1k people disagreed with me let alone 50k, why are we letting AI ruin our universities?
Together we can turn back the tide.
Together we can turn back the tide.
Reposted by CK
Can't cancel this, Mr. President!
September 19, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Can't cancel this, Mr. President!
Reposted by CK
Hey @theatlantic.com. Can we have a word? I don’t understand your decision to run Mike Solana’s ridiculous take on Abundance. I mean, his whole premise is that the Democrats have a problem with folks being okay with violence. WTAF? And not a word about his relationship to the Antichrist? Do better.
The Most Opinionated Man in America
Mike Solana, a Peter Thiel protégé, has made his Pirate Wires newsletter a must-read among the anti-woke investor class—and a window into what the most powerful people in tech really think.
www.theatlantic.com
September 8, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Hey @theatlantic.com. Can we have a word? I don’t understand your decision to run Mike Solana’s ridiculous take on Abundance. I mean, his whole premise is that the Democrats have a problem with folks being okay with violence. WTAF? And not a word about his relationship to the Antichrist? Do better.
Reposted by CK
We have to work out how to tear down the Berlin Wall MAGA has built around the news they hear. The daily shit-show America is living through right now barely leaks a breeze into the right-wing news cycle. In Platonic terms, they are watching a projection inside a Cave & think that’s real life.
September 7, 2025 at 7:46 PM
We have to work out how to tear down the Berlin Wall MAGA has built around the news they hear. The daily shit-show America is living through right now barely leaks a breeze into the right-wing news cycle. In Platonic terms, they are watching a projection inside a Cave & think that’s real life.
Reposted by CK
In September 1996, early in a misbegotten youth — though not nearly as misbegotten, I should say for the record, as Liam Gallagher‘s — my friend Gary and I attended an Oasis concert at Jones Beach, on Long Island.
Oasis Just Glitched the Algorithm
In September 1996, early in a misbegotten youth — though not nearly as misbegotten, I should say for the record, as Liam Gallagher‘s — my friend Gary and I attended an Oasis concert at Jones Beach, on Long Island.
bit.ly
September 1, 2025 at 3:01 PM
In September 1996, early in a misbegotten youth — though not nearly as misbegotten, I should say for the record, as Liam Gallagher‘s — my friend Gary and I attended an Oasis concert at Jones Beach, on Long Island.
Reposted by CK
ICYMI: The macabre sounding Chamber of Progress—funded by Amazon, Meta, Google, Apple & Twitter/X—says Trump is exactly right. What circle of hell is this? These companies have certainly revealed themselves…& it ain’t pretty.
@knibbs.bsky.social @wired.com
www.wired.com/story/presid...
@knibbs.bsky.social @wired.com
www.wired.com/story/presid...
Trump Says He’s ‘Getting Rid of Woke’ and Dismisses Copyright Concerns in AI Policy Speech
The remarks, which came during a keynote speech at a summit hosted by the All-In Podcast, follow President Donald Trump’s newly released AI Action Plan.
www.wired.com
July 24, 2025 at 1:50 AM
ICYMI: The macabre sounding Chamber of Progress—funded by Amazon, Meta, Google, Apple & Twitter/X—says Trump is exactly right. What circle of hell is this? These companies have certainly revealed themselves…& it ain’t pretty.
@knibbs.bsky.social @wired.com
www.wired.com/story/presid...
@knibbs.bsky.social @wired.com
www.wired.com/story/presid...
Reposted by CK
Trump's pettiness and small-minded vengefulness takes the place of actual policy making. It taints the air in the executive branch like a forgotten bag of trash in a warm house on a summer day—even when you can’t see it, you know it’s there.
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
Presidential Pettiness
Donald Trump seems to have no theory of governance beyond personal gain and retribution.
www.theatlantic.com
July 22, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Trump's pettiness and small-minded vengefulness takes the place of actual policy making. It taints the air in the executive branch like a forgotten bag of trash in a warm house on a summer day—even when you can’t see it, you know it’s there.
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
Reposted by CK
“In short — AI, at least in its present incarnation, is a deeply toxic tree, the fruit of which is poison to our minds and dulls our senses, replacing originality with derivative output based on predictability. It is, almost by definition, a stupidity-producing machine.”
medium.com/@nturkewitz_...
medium.com/@nturkewitz_...
Is AI Making us Stupider? A short take on why that might be the wrong question
by Neil Turkewitz
medium.com
July 22, 2025 at 4:08 PM
“In short — AI, at least in its present incarnation, is a deeply toxic tree, the fruit of which is poison to our minds and dulls our senses, replacing originality with derivative output based on predictability. It is, almost by definition, a stupidity-producing machine.”
medium.com/@nturkewitz_...
medium.com/@nturkewitz_...
Reposted by CK
So much to indict, so little space. This is nothing but the “everyone is doing it/if I didn’t do it, someone else will” defense. I truly hope it gets the derision it deserves.
And of course, it elides the fact that Anthropic itself uses creative works w/o consent to build its products. Bad guy much?
And of course, it elides the fact that Anthropic itself uses creative works w/o consent to build its products. Bad guy much?
July 22, 2025 at 12:33 PM
So much to indict, so little space. This is nothing but the “everyone is doing it/if I didn’t do it, someone else will” defense. I truly hope it gets the derision it deserves.
And of course, it elides the fact that Anthropic itself uses creative works w/o consent to build its products. Bad guy much?
And of course, it elides the fact that Anthropic itself uses creative works w/o consent to build its products. Bad guy much?
Reposted by CK
For anyone who has been following the tragic story of OpenAI whistleblower, Suchir Balaji.
July 22, 2025 at 12:35 PM
For anyone who has been following the tragic story of OpenAI whistleblower, Suchir Balaji.
Reposted by CK
Big news.
The Royal Albert Hall has just become the first 5,000+ capacity arena to permanently adopt the £1 grassroots levy on all commercial rock and pop shows from October 2025 - a move that could raise £300,000 a year to support the foundations of the UK’s live music scene.
The Royal Albert Hall has just become the first 5,000+ capacity arena to permanently adopt the £1 grassroots levy on all commercial rock and pop shows from October 2025 - a move that could raise £300,000 a year to support the foundations of the UK’s live music scene.
July 21, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Big news.
The Royal Albert Hall has just become the first 5,000+ capacity arena to permanently adopt the £1 grassroots levy on all commercial rock and pop shows from October 2025 - a move that could raise £300,000 a year to support the foundations of the UK’s live music scene.
The Royal Albert Hall has just become the first 5,000+ capacity arena to permanently adopt the £1 grassroots levy on all commercial rock and pop shows from October 2025 - a move that could raise £300,000 a year to support the foundations of the UK’s live music scene.