Étienne Brown
@etiennebrown.bsky.social
Philosophy prof. living in the fog. Co-organizer of PhilMod.org. Currently at San José State University. Starting in July: Associate Prof. at the University of Ottawa (Canada).
Reposted by Étienne Brown
I'm putting together a slide illustrating how generative AI is being forced on people even though they don't want it, and this is sort of funny.
Here's are Google's autocomplete suggestions for "google gemini how to", and Bing's autocomplete suggestions for for "microsoft copilot how to".
Here's are Google's autocomplete suggestions for "google gemini how to", and Bing's autocomplete suggestions for for "microsoft copilot how to".
March 2, 2025 at 6:41 PM
I'm putting together a slide illustrating how generative AI is being forced on people even though they don't want it, and this is sort of funny.
Here's are Google's autocomplete suggestions for "google gemini how to", and Bing's autocomplete suggestions for for "microsoft copilot how to".
Here's are Google's autocomplete suggestions for "google gemini how to", and Bing's autocomplete suggestions for for "microsoft copilot how to".
Reposted by Étienne Brown
Yesterday UCM Philosophy hosted @etiennebrown.bsky.social (San José State) for his talk "Recommended Selves: Authenticity and Algorithmic Filtering"
#philsky #philsci
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDYz...
#philsky #philsci
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDYz...
Étienne Brown: "Recommended Selves: Authenticity and Algorithmic Filtering"
YouTube video by UC Merced Philosophy
www.youtube.com
February 9, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Yesterday UCM Philosophy hosted @etiennebrown.bsky.social (San José State) for his talk "Recommended Selves: Authenticity and Algorithmic Filtering"
#philsky #philsci
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDYz...
#philsky #philsci
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDYz...
I’m convinced by Rose’s argument. Gamified platforms fool us into thinking our well-liked posts are useful political interventions. Getting involved in local politics seems like a better alternative.
You Can’t Post Your Way Out of Fascism
Authoritarians and tech CEOs now share the same goal: to keep us locked in an eternal doomscroll instead of organizing against them, Janus Rose writes.
www.404media.co
February 8, 2025 at 4:56 PM
I’m convinced by Rose’s argument. Gamified platforms fool us into thinking our well-liked posts are useful political interventions. Getting involved in local politics seems like a better alternative.
Reposted by Étienne Brown
NEW — DOGE now has full access to HHS Payment Management System, I’ve learned.
The system distributes almost $1 trillion per year in grants (largest in the govt) and supports all of NIH, CDC + many other public health initiatives. Musk guy Luke Farritor is actively delaying payments to recipients.
The system distributes almost $1 trillion per year in grants (largest in the govt) and supports all of NIH, CDC + many other public health initiatives. Musk guy Luke Farritor is actively delaying payments to recipients.
February 5, 2025 at 6:00 PM
NEW — DOGE now has full access to HHS Payment Management System, I’ve learned.
The system distributes almost $1 trillion per year in grants (largest in the govt) and supports all of NIH, CDC + many other public health initiatives. Musk guy Luke Farritor is actively delaying payments to recipients.
The system distributes almost $1 trillion per year in grants (largest in the govt) and supports all of NIH, CDC + many other public health initiatives. Musk guy Luke Farritor is actively delaying payments to recipients.
I sit on SJSU's AI Advisory Committee. SJSU is part of CSU. We had no input into that decision. My colleagues and students had even less. Decisions about the role of AI in education are currently being made without those who provide and receive it.
OpenAI and the CSU system bring AI to 500,000 students & faculty
The largest deployment of ChatGPT to date will expand the use of AI in education and help the United States build an AI-ready workforce.
openai.com
February 4, 2025 at 9:06 PM
I sit on SJSU's AI Advisory Committee. SJSU is part of CSU. We had no input into that decision. My colleagues and students had even less. Decisions about the role of AI in education are currently being made without those who provide and receive it.
Reposted by Étienne Brown
Time for an emergency session of Intro to Early Modern Philosophy?
February 2, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Time for an emergency session of Intro to Early Modern Philosophy?
I'm finding a lot of valuable independent journalism on here, but is there an app that could replace my reliance on, say, the NYT news app? I'm thinking of independent journalism without the social media part.
January 31, 2025 at 5:25 PM
I'm finding a lot of valuable independent journalism on here, but is there an app that could replace my reliance on, say, the NYT news app? I'm thinking of independent journalism without the social media part.
Nuanced, cool-headed take on recent content moderation changes at Meta by the inimitable Jeff Howard.
Étienne Brown on LinkedIn: Content Moderation Makeover: Meta’s Changes Are a Mixed Bag
Nuanced, cool-headed take on recent content moderation changes at Meta by the inimitable Jeff Howard.
Contrary to most takes I've read, Jeff argues that…
www.linkedin.com
January 31, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Nuanced, cool-headed take on recent content moderation changes at Meta by the inimitable Jeff Howard.
Reposted by Étienne Brown
In an unprecedented move, research-grant reviews have been suspended indefinitely at the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research
https://go.nature.com/4gc0Bc5
https://go.nature.com/4gc0Bc5
‘Never seen anything like this’: Trump’s team halts NIH meetings and travel
In an unprecedented move, research-grant reviews have been suspended indefinitely at the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research.
go.nature.com
January 24, 2025 at 1:08 PM
In an unprecedented move, research-grant reviews have been suspended indefinitely at the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research
https://go.nature.com/4gc0Bc5
https://go.nature.com/4gc0Bc5
Reposted by Étienne Brown
A paper that understands its responsibility, in a country that knows it when it sees it.
Impressive from Die Zeit. Refuses to show the salute, but calls it out for what it so obviously was.
Headline: “A Hitler Salute is a Hitler Salute is a Hitler Salute”
Impressive from Die Zeit. Refuses to show the salute, but calls it out for what it so obviously was.
Headline: “A Hitler Salute is a Hitler Salute is a Hitler Salute”
January 21, 2025 at 5:50 PM
A paper that understands its responsibility, in a country that knows it when it sees it.
Impressive from Die Zeit. Refuses to show the salute, but calls it out for what it so obviously was.
Headline: “A Hitler Salute is a Hitler Salute is a Hitler Salute”
Impressive from Die Zeit. Refuses to show the salute, but calls it out for what it so obviously was.
Headline: “A Hitler Salute is a Hitler Salute is a Hitler Salute”
Reposted by Étienne Brown
Not to bang a tired drum BUT the fact that the divestiture law has made TikTok so desperate to suck up to Trump in order to stay in business is WHY THESE KINDS OF LAWS SHOULD TRIGGER VERY SIGNIFICANT FIRST AMENDMENT SCRUTINY even if they directly target only property relations, not speech per se
3 things about this message that greeted millions of Americans on TikTok today:
1) the shamelessness of Trump who just U-turned on his opposition to TikTok.
2) the shamelessness of these tech companies, sucking up to Trump.
3) the fecklessness of Biden who gave Trump this win.
1) the shamelessness of Trump who just U-turned on his opposition to TikTok.
2) the shamelessness of these tech companies, sucking up to Trump.
3) the fecklessness of Biden who gave Trump this win.
January 19, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Not to bang a tired drum BUT the fact that the divestiture law has made TikTok so desperate to suck up to Trump in order to stay in business is WHY THESE KINDS OF LAWS SHOULD TRIGGER VERY SIGNIFICANT FIRST AMENDMENT SCRUTINY even if they directly target only property relations, not speech per se
Reposted by Étienne Brown
I don't mind being rejected by a journal. What I resent is being rejected for good reasons.
January 14, 2025 at 11:50 AM
I don't mind being rejected by a journal. What I resent is being rejected for good reasons.
Thanks again to @beaudoin.social for this essential thread. For me, the worry with decentralization is not that it will lead to echo chambers but that it will make it harder to curb the circulation of dangerous speech.
"Bluesky moderation lists create echo chambers."
A short thread about decentralized moderation on Bluesky and why it changes everything.* 🧵
*Based on nearly a thousand hours spent exploring the platform's code.
A short thread about decentralized moderation on Bluesky and why it changes everything.* 🧵
*Based on nearly a thousand hours spent exploring the platform's code.
January 17, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Thanks again to @beaudoin.social for this essential thread. For me, the worry with decentralization is not that it will lead to echo chambers but that it will make it harder to curb the circulation of dangerous speech.
There is so much opacity about moderation and algo. recommendation that it’s hard to overstate how important this is.
6/ Are we seeing a rise in hate speech? Distressing images? Fragmented groups? We no longer have to rely on "internal studies" conducted by the company owning the platform. Independent researchers can shed light on these issues.
January 17, 2025 at 6:43 AM
There is so much opacity about moderation and algo. recommendation that it’s hard to overstate how important this is.
There is an interesting tension in the philosophy of moderation between decentralization (i.e. customize your own personal public sphere) and democratization (same speech rules for everyone, but made democratically). This thread about decentralization is informative!
"Bluesky moderation lists create echo chambers."
A short thread about decentralized moderation on Bluesky and why it changes everything.* 🧵
*Based on nearly a thousand hours spent exploring the platform's code.
A short thread about decentralized moderation on Bluesky and why it changes everything.* 🧵
*Based on nearly a thousand hours spent exploring the platform's code.
January 17, 2025 at 6:14 AM
There is an interesting tension in the philosophy of moderation between decentralization (i.e. customize your own personal public sphere) and democratization (same speech rules for everyone, but made democratically). This thread about decentralization is informative!
Reposted by Étienne Brown
"Bluesky moderation lists create echo chambers."
A short thread about decentralized moderation on Bluesky and why it changes everything.* 🧵
*Based on nearly a thousand hours spent exploring the platform's code.
A short thread about decentralized moderation on Bluesky and why it changes everything.* 🧵
*Based on nearly a thousand hours spent exploring the platform's code.
January 13, 2025 at 10:07 AM
"Bluesky moderation lists create echo chambers."
A short thread about decentralized moderation on Bluesky and why it changes everything.* 🧵
*Based on nearly a thousand hours spent exploring the platform's code.
A short thread about decentralized moderation on Bluesky and why it changes everything.* 🧵
*Based on nearly a thousand hours spent exploring the platform's code.
I’m still as amazed as I was six years ago (when I started) by my chair who collects scheduling preferences from all faculty members every semester before building the course schedule.
Today I simplified the online form I use to collect faculty course scheduling preferences & constraints from 24 “sections” to 11, please clap.
January 16, 2025 at 5:59 AM
I’m still as amazed as I was six years ago (when I started) by my chair who collects scheduling preferences from all faculty members every semester before building the course schedule.
@davidmoscrop.com is convincing me that Carney is not the guy for the Canadian Left. But if not him, who? What is the NDP doing? Isn't this their moment to shine? I'm disappointed that Canadians are basically conceding to Poilievre by acting as if white smoke is already coming out of the chimney.
Is Mark Carney the Liberals' saviour — or just more of the same?
Carney is accomplished and plainly has tremendous capacity. He’s also a technocrat and a mild reformer who is very much of and within the boundaries of the status quo.
www.nationalobserver.com
January 12, 2025 at 10:27 PM
@davidmoscrop.com is convincing me that Carney is not the guy for the Canadian Left. But if not him, who? What is the NDP doing? Isn't this their moment to shine? I'm disappointed that Canadians are basically conceding to Poilievre by acting as if white smoke is already coming out of the chimney.
Reposted by Étienne Brown
Instagram begins randomly showing users AI-generated images of themselves
🔗 www.404media.co/instagram-be...
🔗 www.404media.co/instagram-be...
January 7, 2025 at 2:17 AM
Instagram begins randomly showing users AI-generated images of themselves
🔗 www.404media.co/instagram-be...
🔗 www.404media.co/instagram-be...
It’s not going to be his unless we let him have it. Why help him win by giving the impression that his victory is inevitable?
It's Pierre Poilievre's Canada Now
The Trump-like Conservative leader is riding an anti-establishment wave—and will almost certainly become PM this year.
time.com
January 12, 2025 at 5:40 PM
It’s not going to be his unless we let him have it. Why help him win by giving the impression that his victory is inevitable?
Why are so many Canadian Liberals dropping out of the race to lead the party? Did the recent American election not teach us that it's bad not to have a primary?
January 12, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Why are so many Canadian Liberals dropping out of the race to lead the party? Did the recent American election not teach us that it's bad not to have a primary?
The best place to develop your toddler's fine motor skills is the taqueria.
January 11, 2025 at 9:46 PM
The best place to develop your toddler's fine motor skills is the taqueria.
Ma réflexion ce matin dans Le Devoir sur ce qui m'inquiète le plus dans les changements à la modération des contenus chez Meta.
Sur Facebook et Instagram, la haine coulera bientôt comme un long fleuve tranquille
Mark Zuckerberg octroie à ses usagers un permis de calomnier les plus vulnérables de nos sociétés.
www.ledevoir.com
January 11, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Ma réflexion ce matin dans Le Devoir sur ce qui m'inquiète le plus dans les changements à la modération des contenus chez Meta.