Jeffrey M. Binder
@jbinder.bsky.social
Author of Language and the Rise of the Algorithm (U. Chicago Press, 2022). Intellectual historian/programmer, currently working in applied ML but still a humanities person at heart. PhD from CUNY. Opinions my own.
“Large language models like ChatGPT produce shallow, unoriginal ‘predictive text-y ideas’ and I worry that my students and others will increasingly believe that that’s okay—that there’s nothing better than that to aspire to.”
NEW: I was happy to have a small role in preparing this just-dropped AAUP report on “Artificial Intelligence and the Academic Professions.” It includes a smart overview
of the threats, analysis of collected survey data, and action items. www.aaup.org/reports-publ...
of the threats, analysis of collected survey data, and action items. www.aaup.org/reports-publ...
Artificial Intelligence and Academic Professions
Executive SummaryEducational technology, or ed-tech, including artificial intelligence (AI), continues to become more integrated into teaching and research in higher education, with minimal oversight.
www.aaup.org
August 3, 2025 at 3:57 PM
“Large language models like ChatGPT produce shallow, unoriginal ‘predictive text-y ideas’ and I worry that my students and others will increasingly believe that that’s okay—that there’s nothing better than that to aspire to.”
Reposted by Jeffrey M. Binder
I do not see how we’re going to have productive academic discussions of "AI" until we stop accepting the marketing that lumps all machine learning methods & technologies into one amorphous thing called "AI"—so we get minimalist & maximalist responses that echo that marketing—we don’t have to do this
January 22, 2025 at 5:03 PM
I do not see how we’re going to have productive academic discussions of "AI" until we stop accepting the marketing that lumps all machine learning methods & technologies into one amorphous thing called "AI"—so we get minimalist & maximalist responses that echo that marketing—we don’t have to do this
Reposted by Jeffrey M. Binder
This is your annual reminder that Sun Ra made a Christmas song www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEpF...
Sun Ra presents The Qualities - It's Christmas Time (1960)
A holiday tribute to Sun Ra fea, Doo Wop produced by Sun Ra on Saturn Records, 1960. Written by Alton Abraham and Sun Ra.
www.youtube.com
December 26, 2023 at 1:01 AM
This is your annual reminder that Sun Ra made a Christmas song www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEpF...
Reposted by Jeffrey M. Binder
Is it possible for numbers to get too big? We’ll tell you about a shocking new development, after this.
A newly discovered prime number contains 41,024,320 digits. To put that in perspective, the estimated number of atoms in the observable universe has 80 digits. 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-...
How a Record-Breaking Prime Number with 41 Million Digits Was Discovered
The discovery of a new prime number highlights the rising price of mathematical gold
www.scientificamerican.com
November 1, 2024 at 9:21 PM
Is it possible for numbers to get too big? We’ll tell you about a shocking new development, after this.
Reposted by Jeffrey M. Binder
The Theories and Methodologies cluster on #criticalAI co-edited for PMLA by @ritaraley.bsky.social and myself is now online, open access. it consists of eight interventions by leading voices, as well as our framing essay “AI and the University as a Service.” www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
FirstView | PMLA | Cambridge Core
PMLA - Brent Hayes Edwards
www.cambridge.org
October 12, 2024 at 1:54 PM
The Theories and Methodologies cluster on #criticalAI co-edited for PMLA by @ritaraley.bsky.social and myself is now online, open access. it consists of eight interventions by leading voices, as well as our framing essay “AI and the University as a Service.” www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
My book made it to the Chicago Manual of Style! I don't know how I'm going to top this.
September 24, 2024 at 12:17 AM
My book made it to the Chicago Manual of Style! I don't know how I'm going to top this.
If you see this, quote skeet with a famous landmark you’ve seen.
September 17, 2024 at 1:46 PM
If you see this, quote skeet with a famous landmark you’ve seen.
Thinking of the time when I bought two CDs from a stand at the WFMU record fair—"Momentum" by Monolake and "Jonathan Sings!" by Jonathan Richman—and the seller seemed to have trouble comprehending that the same person could want both of these albums.
September 8, 2024 at 1:10 PM
Thinking of the time when I bought two CDs from a stand at the WFMU record fair—"Momentum" by Monolake and "Jonathan Sings!" by Jonathan Richman—and the seller seemed to have trouble comprehending that the same person could want both of these albums.
I’ve been noticing a tendency among LLM enthusiasts to blame the prompt, not the model, whenever things go wrong. It’s snake oil salesman stuff: if my potion doesn’t cure your wounds, you just didn’t have enough faith. It makes the effectiveness of the technology itself unfalsifiable.
September 6, 2024 at 1:55 PM
I’ve been noticing a tendency among LLM enthusiasts to blame the prompt, not the model, whenever things go wrong. It’s snake oil salesman stuff: if my potion doesn’t cure your wounds, you just didn’t have enough faith. It makes the effectiveness of the technology itself unfalsifiable.
Got the Elden Ring DLC—and just like that, my acid reflux is back
June 22, 2024 at 10:35 PM
Got the Elden Ring DLC—and just like that, my acid reflux is back
Reposted by Jeffrey M. Binder
This bit, and particularly the last sentence I’ve highlighted, is exactly where that “ChatGPT is Bullshit” paper would have benefited from engagement with a discipline that actually looks at questions like meaning, an intention, namely, literary theory. See critinq.wordpress.com/2023/06/26/a...
June 16, 2024 at 3:09 PM
This bit, and particularly the last sentence I’ve highlighted, is exactly where that “ChatGPT is Bullshit” paper would have benefited from engagement with a discipline that actually looks at questions like meaning, an intention, namely, literary theory. See critinq.wordpress.com/2023/06/26/a...
One thing I didn’t anticipate in my book is the sudden schism between “machine learning” and “AI” as professional affinities. Not only stuff like XGBoost, but even BERT-style transformers are now called “classical machine learning” by people into prompt engineering, RAG, etc.
June 10, 2024 at 1:29 PM
One thing I didn’t anticipate in my book is the sudden schism between “machine learning” and “AI” as professional affinities. Not only stuff like XGBoost, but even BERT-style transformers are now called “classical machine learning” by people into prompt engineering, RAG, etc.
If you see this, post something orange.
May 26, 2024 at 1:36 AM
If you see this, post something orange.
Google AI summaries are still not appearing for me, even though I went into "Search Labs" and enabled the feature. Am I blacklisted as a known nitpicker?
May 25, 2024 at 3:40 PM
Google AI summaries are still not appearing for me, even though I went into "Search Labs" and enabled the feature. Am I blacklisted as a known nitpicker?
post a *perfect* album from the 90s that isn’t nirvana, pearl jam, soundgarden, or alice in chains
May 22, 2024 at 1:41 AM
post a *perfect* album from the 90s that isn’t nirvana, pearl jam, soundgarden, or alice in chains
Reposted by Jeffrey M. Binder
This Instagrammable library @ the OpenAI HQ is such a fascinating Benjaminian inversion: how does *automated* reproduction (or, in Ted Chiang’s words, blurry xeroxing or lossy compression) transform the cult + exhibition value of datasets + libraries, the latter staged here to enhance the aura of AI
The Old-Fashioned Library at the Heart of the A.I. Boom
OpenAI may be changing how the world interacts with language. But inside headquarters, there is a homage to the written word: a library.
www.nytimes.com
May 18, 2024 at 10:25 PM
This Instagrammable library @ the OpenAI HQ is such a fascinating Benjaminian inversion: how does *automated* reproduction (or, in Ted Chiang’s words, blurry xeroxing or lossy compression) transform the cult + exhibition value of datasets + libraries, the latter staged here to enhance the aura of AI
Saw my first wild cybertruck just now. Reminds me of those things where someone makes a realistic version of a child’s drawing (with a side of gamer aesthetic).
May 17, 2024 at 10:28 PM
Saw my first wild cybertruck just now. Reminds me of those things where someone makes a realistic version of a child’s drawing (with a side of gamer aesthetic).
Reposted by Jeffrey M. Binder
People, one week left before the ACH2024 proposal due!
This is a good day to consider attending ACH2024! The proposal due is on May 20th. We're inviting abstract submissions on a wide range of topics exploring the intersection of technology and humanities. Submit your abstract today and be part of the conversation! ach2024.ach.org
ACH2024 – November 6-8, 2024
ach2024.ach.org
May 13, 2024 at 12:25 PM
People, one week left before the ACH2024 proposal due!
I couldn’t see the aurora from where I am, but at least I got to witness windows95man
i just feel like more of you need to be aware of finland's eurovision contestant, who calls himself windows95man
May 11, 2024 at 11:30 PM
I couldn’t see the aurora from where I am, but at least I got to witness windows95man
Reposted by Jeffrey M. Binder
Love what google is up to these days
May 9, 2024 at 4:43 AM
Love what google is up to these days
New Homespring command just dropped
www.nytimes.com/2024/04/03/u...
www.nytimes.com/2024/04/03/u...
100,000 Live Salmon Spilled Off a Truck. Most Landed in a Creek and Lived.
A tanker carrying young salmon crashed. But most of the fish flopped into a creek and “hit the water running,” a wildlife official said.
www.nytimes.com
April 9, 2024 at 3:08 AM
New Homespring command just dropped
www.nytimes.com/2024/04/03/u...
www.nytimes.com/2024/04/03/u...
A hell of a way to start a book
February 19, 2024 at 4:45 PM
A hell of a way to start a book
Reposted by Jeffrey M. Binder
We don’t talk enough about how Duolingo, as an attempt to undo the confusion of tongues that mankind was cursed with for building the Tower of Babel, is an affront to God
February 15, 2024 at 8:23 AM
We don’t talk enough about how Duolingo, as an attempt to undo the confusion of tongues that mankind was cursed with for building the Tower of Babel, is an affront to God