Joe Slater
@drjoeslater.bsky.social
Lecturer in moral/political philosophy at @uofglasgow.bsky.social. Likes drinking tea and board games. Does research on myriad topics, including philosophy of sport, AI, and normative ethics.
[He/him]
[He/him]
Pinned
Joe Slater
@drjoeslater.bsky.social
· Jan 20
Re-posting this now that one of them is a heart attack away from being the most powerful person in the world... Awkward...
#PhilSky
#PhilSky
Reposted by Joe Slater
When asylum seekers are demonised I feel the need to point out that people like me are the children of asylum seekers (in my case my father came to England on the Kindertransport and my mother’s family fled pograms in Poland and Ukraine). Go home when safe? Hmmmmmmm….
November 15, 2025 at 9:40 AM
When asylum seekers are demonised I feel the need to point out that people like me are the children of asylum seekers (in my case my father came to England on the Kindertransport and my mother’s family fled pograms in Poland and Ukraine). Go home when safe? Hmmmmmmm….
Reposted by Joe Slater
NEW: Global fossil fuel use will peak before 2030 – unless 'stated policies' are abandoned
Contra some terrible news coverage, IEA World Energy Outlook shows coal near peak, oil peaking by 2030 & gas by 2035 (see chart)
What's going on? 🧵 + cool charts
www.carbonbrief.org/iea-fossil-f...
Contra some terrible news coverage, IEA World Energy Outlook shows coal near peak, oil peaking by 2030 & gas by 2035 (see chart)
What's going on? 🧵 + cool charts
www.carbonbrief.org/iea-fossil-f...
November 12, 2025 at 9:02 AM
NEW: Global fossil fuel use will peak before 2030 – unless 'stated policies' are abandoned
Contra some terrible news coverage, IEA World Energy Outlook shows coal near peak, oil peaking by 2030 & gas by 2035 (see chart)
What's going on? 🧵 + cool charts
www.carbonbrief.org/iea-fossil-f...
Contra some terrible news coverage, IEA World Energy Outlook shows coal near peak, oil peaking by 2030 & gas by 2035 (see chart)
What's going on? 🧵 + cool charts
www.carbonbrief.org/iea-fossil-f...
Just went to a really great talk by @shannonvallor.bsky.social. It was so rich and made so much sense of a lot of the (increasingly) dominant views regarding generative AI. #PhilTech
November 11, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Just went to a really great talk by @shannonvallor.bsky.social. It was so rich and made so much sense of a lot of the (increasingly) dominant views regarding generative AI. #PhilTech
Reposted by Joe Slater
While we’re at it maybe also treat inheritances as taxable income spread over, say, 10 years.
As many have pointed out absurd that we tax income earned through labour more heavily than other forms of income and acquired wealth.
As many have pointed out absurd that we tax income earned through labour more heavily than other forms of income and acquired wealth.
Laws are bent for the rich.
Wages taxed at marginal rates of 20% – 45% plus national insurance contributions (NIC).
Capital gains taxed at 18% to 32%, no NIC .
Dividends taxed at 8.75% to 39.35%, no NIC.
All income must be taxed at the same rate.
Wages taxed at marginal rates of 20% – 45% plus national insurance contributions (NIC).
Capital gains taxed at 18% to 32%, no NIC .
Dividends taxed at 8.75% to 39.35%, no NIC.
All income must be taxed at the same rate.
Nothing will change until the political system is freed from the clutches of corporations and the super-rich
The law is being used to enforce existing power structures for the benefit of the few
leftfootforward.org
November 11, 2025 at 9:26 AM
While we’re at it maybe also treat inheritances as taxable income spread over, say, 10 years.
As many have pointed out absurd that we tax income earned through labour more heavily than other forms of income and acquired wealth.
As many have pointed out absurd that we tax income earned through labour more heavily than other forms of income and acquired wealth.
Reposted by Joe Slater
me at the end of class: here's a little speculative exercises; imagine you wake up from cryosleep in 2085. what's the kind of tech-society r/ship you'd like to see around you?
students: no AI
I honestly think students' views are missing from the 'should AI be integrated in classrooms' discussion
students: no AI
I honestly think students' views are missing from the 'should AI be integrated in classrooms' discussion
November 6, 2025 at 6:32 AM
me at the end of class: here's a little speculative exercises; imagine you wake up from cryosleep in 2085. what's the kind of tech-society r/ship you'd like to see around you?
students: no AI
I honestly think students' views are missing from the 'should AI be integrated in classrooms' discussion
students: no AI
I honestly think students' views are missing from the 'should AI be integrated in classrooms' discussion
Travelling down to England tonight (via the sleeper train) for my brother's wedding this weekend. Will be my first time in Essex in years.
November 6, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Travelling down to England tonight (via the sleeper train) for my brother's wedding this weekend. Will be my first time in Essex in years.
There were a couple of typos (my fault) when this first came out. Those have now been fixed, which I think counts as an excuse to repost.
#LLMs #PhilTech
#LLMs #PhilTech
A short piece of mine has just been published in the @justiceeverywhere.bsky.social blog. If you're interested, check it out!
I think I get more nerd points for (only slightly gratuitous) Star Trek references.
justice-everywhere.org/education/ll...
#PhilTech #NerdPoints #PhilSky #StarTrek
I think I get more nerd points for (only slightly gratuitous) Star Trek references.
justice-everywhere.org/education/ll...
#PhilTech #NerdPoints #PhilSky #StarTrek
LLMs can be harmful, even when not making stuff up
This is a guest post by Joe Slater (University of Glasgow). Provided by author It is well known that chatbots powered by LLMs – ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, etc. – sometimes make things up. People have s…
justice-everywhere.org
November 6, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Apropos of nothing...
Y'know how in music, a single/album goes "gold"/"platinum" if it gets enough buys(/streams)? I think academia should have a similar thing for papers. Maybe 100,000 views: Silver, 250,000: Gold and 1,000,000 for Platinum? And (obvs) a fancy prize for the artist/author.
#Academia
Y'know how in music, a single/album goes "gold"/"platinum" if it gets enough buys(/streams)? I think academia should have a similar thing for papers. Maybe 100,000 views: Silver, 250,000: Gold and 1,000,000 for Platinum? And (obvs) a fancy prize for the artist/author.
#Academia
November 2, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Apropos of nothing...
Y'know how in music, a single/album goes "gold"/"platinum" if it gets enough buys(/streams)? I think academia should have a similar thing for papers. Maybe 100,000 views: Silver, 250,000: Gold and 1,000,000 for Platinum? And (obvs) a fancy prize for the artist/author.
#Academia
Y'know how in music, a single/album goes "gold"/"platinum" if it gets enough buys(/streams)? I think academia should have a similar thing for papers. Maybe 100,000 views: Silver, 250,000: Gold and 1,000,000 for Platinum? And (obvs) a fancy prize for the artist/author.
#Academia
Reposted by Joe Slater
Today, someone who has been surfing the AI hype wave to boost his career, got upset by our position paper.
He gave no substantive couinterargument. Just called it “activism”. As if that is an insult.
In a world where techno-fascism hollows out our institutions, I’m a proud scientific activist.
He gave no substantive couinterargument. Just called it “activism”. As if that is an insult.
In a world where techno-fascism hollows out our institutions, I’m a proud scientific activist.
Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia
Under the banner of progress, products have been uncritically adopted or even imposed on users — in past centuries with tobacco and combustion engines, and in the 21st with social media. For these col...
zenodo.org
October 30, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Today, someone who has been surfing the AI hype wave to boost his career, got upset by our position paper.
He gave no substantive couinterargument. Just called it “activism”. As if that is an insult.
In a world where techno-fascism hollows out our institutions, I’m a proud scientific activist.
He gave no substantive couinterargument. Just called it “activism”. As if that is an insult.
In a world where techno-fascism hollows out our institutions, I’m a proud scientific activist.
Glad to be back on dry land. That's enough of the sea life for me, for a while at least.
Had a wonderful time at a Philosophy of AI conference in Amsterdam with @hikemix.bsky.social. We're on the ferry back to the UK now, but because of a storm, it's going to be 21 hours(!). Plenty of time to do a bit of work (drinking).
October 26, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Glad to be back on dry land. That's enough of the sea life for me, for a while at least.
Had a wonderful time at a Philosophy of AI conference in Amsterdam with @hikemix.bsky.social. We're on the ferry back to the UK now, but because of a storm, it's going to be 21 hours(!). Plenty of time to do a bit of work (drinking).
October 25, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Had a wonderful time at a Philosophy of AI conference in Amsterdam with @hikemix.bsky.social. We're on the ferry back to the UK now, but because of a storm, it's going to be 21 hours(!). Plenty of time to do a bit of work (drinking).
A short piece of mine has just been published in the @justiceeverywhere.bsky.social blog. If you're interested, check it out!
I think I get more nerd points for (only slightly gratuitous) Star Trek references.
justice-everywhere.org/education/ll...
#PhilTech #NerdPoints #PhilSky #StarTrek
I think I get more nerd points for (only slightly gratuitous) Star Trek references.
justice-everywhere.org/education/ll...
#PhilTech #NerdPoints #PhilSky #StarTrek
LLMs can be harmful, even when not making stuff up
This is a guest post by Joe Slater (University of Glasgow). Provided by author It is well known that chatbots powered by LLMs – ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, etc. – sometimes make things up. People have s…
justice-everywhere.org
October 20, 2025 at 9:33 AM
A short piece of mine has just been published in the @justiceeverywhere.bsky.social blog. If you're interested, check it out!
I think I get more nerd points for (only slightly gratuitous) Star Trek references.
justice-everywhere.org/education/ll...
#PhilTech #NerdPoints #PhilSky #StarTrek
I think I get more nerd points for (only slightly gratuitous) Star Trek references.
justice-everywhere.org/education/ll...
#PhilTech #NerdPoints #PhilSky #StarTrek
Two fixed-term teaching posts at Glasgow: both over 3 years, with open AOS. As I'm someone on a fixed-term teaching post at Glasgow, if you've got any questions, feel free to get in touch!
www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/lecturer...
#PhilJobs #Philosophy
www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/lecturer...
#PhilJobs #Philosophy
Lecturers in Philosophy (LTS)
College of Arts and HumanitiesSchool of Humanities Lecturers in Philosophy (LTS)Vacancy Ref: 184794Salary:Grade 7, £41,064 - £46,049 per annum The University of Glasgow is seeking to appoint two fi...
www.jobs.gla.ac.uk
October 17, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Two fixed-term teaching posts at Glasgow: both over 3 years, with open AOS. As I'm someone on a fixed-term teaching post at Glasgow, if you've got any questions, feel free to get in touch!
www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/lecturer...
#PhilJobs #Philosophy
www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/lecturer...
#PhilJobs #Philosophy
This semester has been relentless, and I'm knackered.
One point that did give me a chuckle, however, was adding Chappell Roan's The Giver to my global poverty playlist (the *further*, further reading).
#Pedagogy
One point that did give me a chuckle, however, was adding Chappell Roan's The Giver to my global poverty playlist (the *further*, further reading).
#Pedagogy
October 17, 2025 at 9:02 AM
This semester has been relentless, and I'm knackered.
One point that did give me a chuckle, however, was adding Chappell Roan's The Giver to my global poverty playlist (the *further*, further reading).
#Pedagogy
One point that did give me a chuckle, however, was adding Chappell Roan's The Giver to my global poverty playlist (the *further*, further reading).
#Pedagogy
Been saying this for a while. Nice to see the BoE catching on.
I've you've got investments in or related to AI (which is a lot of things right now...), you should probably get it out. #AIBubble
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
I've you've got investments in or related to AI (which is a lot of things right now...), you should probably get it out. #AIBubble
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Bank of England warns of growing risk that AI bubble could burst
Possibility of ‘sharp market correction has increased’, says Bank’s financial policy committee
www.theguardian.com
October 8, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Been saying this for a while. Nice to see the BoE catching on.
I've you've got investments in or related to AI (which is a lot of things right now...), you should probably get it out. #AIBubble
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
I've you've got investments in or related to AI (which is a lot of things right now...), you should probably get it out. #AIBubble
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
It has been a draining and mostly miserable week. But was just informed that a blog post about LLM problems (sculpted from leftovers from another research project) will soon be published by @justiceeverywhere.bsky.social
Huzzah!
Huzzah!
October 2, 2025 at 6:49 PM
It has been a draining and mostly miserable week. But was just informed that a blog post about LLM problems (sculpted from leftovers from another research project) will soon be published by @justiceeverywhere.bsky.social
Huzzah!
Huzzah!
Reposted by Joe Slater
As someone trained in epistemology, my professional take is: we’re so fucking cooked as a society
I spent some time with OpenAI's new AI video app Sora. Not just slop but ragebait, fake crimes and women splattered with white goo. The implications of all of this are horrifying.
October 1, 2025 at 3:40 PM
As someone trained in epistemology, my professional take is: we’re so fucking cooked as a society
In response to student wellbeing concerns, my uni has overhauled its procedures re extenuating circumstances affecting assessment. But it's butchered the process, causing endless stress to staff and students. Ugh.
#Irony #AcademicProblems
#Irony #AcademicProblems
October 1, 2025 at 3:33 PM
In response to student wellbeing concerns, my uni has overhauled its procedures re extenuating circumstances affecting assessment. But it's butchered the process, causing endless stress to staff and students. Ugh.
#Irony #AcademicProblems
#Irony #AcademicProblems
Reposted by Joe Slater
Newsletter: This is The Case Against Generative AI, a comprehensive analysis of a financial collapse built on myths I’ll dispel, the markets’ unhealthy obsession with NVIDIA's growth, and the fact that there is not enough money in the world to fund OpenAI.
www.wheresyoured.at/the-case-aga...
www.wheresyoured.at/the-case-aga...
The Case Against Generative AI
Soundtrack: Queens of the Stone Age - First It Giveth
Before we go any further: This is, for the third time this year, the longest newsletter I've ever written, weighing in somewhere around 18,500 wo...
www.wheresyoured.at
September 29, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Newsletter: This is The Case Against Generative AI, a comprehensive analysis of a financial collapse built on myths I’ll dispel, the markets’ unhealthy obsession with NVIDIA's growth, and the fact that there is not enough money in the world to fund OpenAI.
www.wheresyoured.at/the-case-aga...
www.wheresyoured.at/the-case-aga...
Reposted by Joe Slater
“Get yourself into my navel”, the journals effectively say, “and then I will gaze at you” www.contralytic.co.uk/conversation...
Conversation with Contralytic: Against Identity – Interview with Alexander Douglas
Conversations with Contralytic is a digital series of conversations between the editorial of Contralytic Journal and international academic philosophers on the present, past and future of philosophy. ...
www.contralytic.co.uk
September 19, 2025 at 9:04 AM
“Get yourself into my navel”, the journals effectively say, “and then I will gaze at you” www.contralytic.co.uk/conversation...
Reposted by Joe Slater
The aesthetics here are so spot on that I almost didn't read it --- not wanting to deal with any doomerish crap so early in the morning. But this is hilarious and it keeps on going.
Q. Who aligns the aligners?
A. alignmentalignment.ai
Today I’m humbled to announce an epoch-defining event: the launch of the 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗜 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀.
A. alignmentalignment.ai
Today I’m humbled to announce an epoch-defining event: the launch of the 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗜 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀.
Center for the Alignment of AI Alignment Centers
We align the aligners
alignmentalignment.ai
September 11, 2025 at 2:15 PM
The aesthetics here are so spot on that I almost didn't read it --- not wanting to deal with any doomerish crap so early in the morning. But this is hilarious and it keeps on going.
I joined the @ucuedinburgh.bsky.social picket line this morning to show solidarity and hear first-hand about the devastating plan for £140 million of cuts to jobs and courses
They are asking people to email the university principal to oppose it
They are asking people to email the university principal to oppose it
September 9, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Reposted by Joe Slater
