There is a need for better moderation systems on the fediverse. But getting people to coordinate to build and adopt such systems is proving to be a challenge.

connectedplaces.online/on-the-coord...

That’s why Nobel laureate Paul Romer (economics) argues that all documents need a digital signature, so that it becomes easier to verify what AI systems make up.

Details in his Lindau Nobel meeting lecture at ca. 8:20 mins.

www.mediatheque.lindau-nobel.org/recordings/4...

i wrote about atproto and why it matters

My "Introduction to #ATProto" blog post that I've been working on for some time is ready 🙂 It goes through things like records, lexicons, DIDs, then PDS/AppView etc. and how it all works together. Let me know if anything is wrong!

More parts later, with the Fedi comparisons & misconceptions etc.

i like the energy/spirit of eurosky obviously and hope it succeeds and accomplishes something, but we’ve been down this road at least once already… there was much that could have been learned from the Free Our Feeds rollout

The way Discover works is by sampling from multiple different “Candidate Groups (CGs).” This can be things like followed users, liked by followed users, social clusters, and topics you’ve voiced interest in.

Agreed, in general I think feeds need more work. There is not enough tools to meaningfully make feeds and the user control over them is non-existent. Right now if you want to do any user side configuration on a feed it would have to be done over some external website. Thats not a viable experience.

🎧 New podcast! I spoke with one entrepreneur building middleware for Bluesky: Rudy Fraser (@rudyfraser.com), the founder of Blacksky Algorithms (@blacksky.app) and a fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. Listen here on your favorite podcast app:

What we can do, as researchers:

For every project, ask: do I need to use an LLM?

Avoid using proprietary LLMs (unless you’re studying them as products). Invest in infrastructure to use open LLMs instead.

Want to hear dozens of amazing AI research talks, develop new interdisciplinary conversations as part of Duke's new Society-Centered AI initiative, or participate in our organization's first hackathon? Check out our www.responsibleaisymposium.com February 28-March 3rd.

Heard it’s gonna snow

It kind of is via Bridgy Fed -- if you follow @ap.brid.gy then people from fedi can follow you, and you can follow accounts there like @thenexusofprivacy.infosec.exchange.ap.brid.gy once they've opted in.

More at fed.brid.gy , and discussion of future plans at techcrunch.com/2024/12/17/b...

bsky is a great transition medium, but we really need platforms that have different communication modalities than microblogging

there are wayyy to many downsides, both personal and societal, to that we've made microblogging the dominant form of global news comms

This is great advice, and I always appreciate it when folks elevate others because it leads to a human-driven "For You" feed instead of one built for engagement metrics.

In chrono feeds, "boost" culture is so important. This is a part of Mastodon's culture as well, and I love it.