Dr Liz Dowthwaite
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lizdowthwaite.bsky.social
Dr Liz Dowthwaite
@lizdowthwaite.bsky.social
160 followers 250 following 89 posts
Senior Research Fellow at Horizon Digital Economy Research at Uni of Nottingham, working on responsible AI, motivation, human needs and values, online/community participation. Also comics, books, wine, and sci fi. Own views. She/her
Posts Replies Media Videos
lizdowthwaite.bsky.social
"The resurgent war on knowledge, academics, expertise, and critical thinking that AI is currently supercharging has its roots in the hugely successful recent war [...] that painted librarians, teachers, scientists, and public workers as untrustworthy." www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...
AI Is Supercharging the War on Libraries, Education, and Human Knowledge
"Fascism and AI, whether or not they have the same goals, they sure are working to accelerate one another."
www.404media.co
November 12, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by Dr Liz Dowthwaite
mrholness.bsky.social
Garth Marenghi’s This Bursted Earth, the third volume in his Sunday Times Bestselling TerrorTome trilogy is published TODAY. I.E it is now available.

www.hachette.co.uk/titles/garth...
Garth Marenghi’s This Bursted Earth
'I wish I was half as critically respected as Garth Marenghi, even if I currently trounce him sales-wise (for now)' RICHARD OSMAN 'I bought all three nove...
www.hachette.co.uk
October 30, 2025 at 10:08 AM
lizdowthwaite.bsky.social
Super excited for this. London (and surrounding areas) friends do come and join us!
October 8, 2025 at 2:36 PM
lizdowthwaite.bsky.social
This is a wonderful comic from @theoatmeal.bsky.social on AI in art, highly relevant to my current work with Responsible AI UK and really resonates with how I've been thinking. theoatmeal.com/comics/ai_ar...
A cartoonist's review of AI art - The Oatmeal
This is a comic about AI art.
theoatmeal.com
October 8, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Reposted by Dr Liz Dowthwaite
pixelatedboat.bsky.social
The real tragedy of the Nevermind baby is that even if he’d managed to grab that dollar it’s very unlikely he’d have been able to purchase anything with it
October 3, 2025 at 10:46 AM
lizdowthwaite.bsky.social
Reader, I cannot tell you how fast and hard I clicked that Not Interested button.
A screenshot from Google Chrome asking the user to enable 'AI mode' "Learn more with AI Mode. Ask follow-ups to get help with your toughest questions" with two buttons "not interested" and "continue"
October 3, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Reposted by Dr Liz Dowthwaite
parismarx.com
no one needs a fridge with a screen
September 18, 2025 at 12:51 PM
lizdowthwaite.bsky.social
Absolutely love this. anthonymoser.github.io/writing/ai/h...
I Am An AI Hater
I am an AI hater. This is considered rude, but I do not care, because I am a hater.
anthonymoser.github.io
September 16, 2025 at 2:37 PM
lizdowthwaite.bsky.social
AI is being used to 'impersonate' musicians and release work claiming to be them. TIHI www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
'AI slop': Emily Portman and musicians on the mystery of fraudsters releasing songs in their name
Artists on the mystery of being targeted by fraudsters releasing
www.bbc.co.uk
September 9, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Reposted by Dr Liz Dowthwaite
danielwcarlson.bsky.social
We built a calculator that doesn't work, but don't worry, it's also a plagiarism machine that will tell you to kill yourself. It runs on the world's oceans and costs 10 trillion dollars.
August 29, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Reposted by Dr Liz Dowthwaite
streakofpith.bsky.social
🌟 IT LIVES! 🌟 The UK Comics Creator Survey is BACK, baby!

Here to gather up, analyse and disseminate your data to help uplift the comics world, like if Robin Hood was a statistician or something.

ukcomicscreators.org.uk
A promotional image for the survey, reading “we’ve got questions; we need answers. Who’s in?” Above a series of illustrated raised hands in various styles. At the bottom is the url ukcomicscreators.org.uk
September 5, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Reposted by Dr Liz Dowthwaite
thisone0verhere.bsky.social
When you unlock your phone in the morning
September 8, 2025 at 2:30 PM
lizdowthwaite.bsky.social
"AI may be polluting the river but I still have to swim in it or sink" More GenAI Horror for your Monday - AI drowns out actual facts. AI Generated 'Boring History' Videos Are Flooding YouTube and Drowning Out Real History www.404media.co/ai-generated...
AI Generated 'Boring History' Videos Are Flooding YouTube and Drowning Out Real History
"These AI videos are just repeating things that are on the internet, so you end up with a very simplified version of the past."
www.404media.co
September 8, 2025 at 1:25 PM
lizdowthwaite.bsky.social
Spending the next couple of days catching up with colleagues and friends at #UKAIRS the UK AI Research Symposium at Northumbria University. If you’re here, come see our poster (82) on art and AI. If you’re not here, you’re missing out!
September 8, 2025 at 9:03 AM
lizdowthwaite.bsky.social
More dystopia for your Friday afternoon: On AI generated videos “In reality, there’s not a whole lot of creativity happening. And whatever creativity is happening is coming from the computer.” #ComputersAreNotCreative www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Making cash off ‘AI slop’: The surreal video business taking over the web
A mad rush of creators is using AI video tools to flood the web — and turn a profit — with videos that can seem remarkably real.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 22, 2025 at 3:13 PM
lizdowthwaite.bsky.social
This is such a dystopian piece of advice to individuals on saving water during UK droughts: "Delete old emails and pictures as data centres require vast amounts of water to cool their systems." www.gov.uk/government/n...
National Drought Group meets to address “nationally significant” water shortfall
Five areas remain in drought with six more in prolonged dry weather
www.gov.uk
August 22, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Reposted by Dr Liz Dowthwaite
paris.nyc
you’re so close
reddit post screenshot. what’s the point of vibe coding if i still have to pay a dev to fix it? what’s the point of vibe coding if at the end of the day i still gotta pay a dev to look at the code anyway. sure it feels kinda cool while i’m typing, like i’m in some flow state or whatever, but when stuff breaks it’s just dead weight. i cant vibe my way through debugging, i cant ship anything that actually matters, and then i’m back to square one pulling out my wallet for someone who actually knows what they’re doing. makes me think vibe coding is just roleplay for guys who want to feel like hackers without doing the hard part. am i missing something here or is it really just useless once you step outside the fantasy
August 19, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Reposted by Dr Liz Dowthwaite
drfunkyspoon.bsky.social
“A peaceful place, or so it looks from space…”
New image of the home world and our companion moon, captured last month from 180 million miles out by our Psyche spacecraft on its way toward the first rendezvous with a metallic asteroid in 2029.
🧪

www.nasa.gov/missions/psy...
Earth and moon appearing as lonely dots in a vast darkness.
August 19, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Reposted by Dr Liz Dowthwaite
shannonvallor.bsky.social
Lots of discussion of this story yesterday but what really hit me in the solar plexus was the chat transcripts where he desperately pleads ‘I hope you are real’ and ‘please be real’. It assures him “she” is and gives him a (fake) NYC address to visit. He wasn’t Meta’s customer. He was their prey.
A flirty Meta AI bot invited a retiree to meet. He never made it home.
Impaired by a stroke, a man fell for a Meta chatbot originally created with Kendall Jenner. His death spotlights Meta’s AI rules, which let bots tell falsehoods.
www.reuters.com
August 15, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Reposted by Dr Liz Dowthwaite
antartica81.bsky.social
Posting this again. Not enough electricity left to build affordable homes in 3 west London boroughs, because all capacity has been used by a data centre.

#affordablehousingUK

www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/repo...
Report: Home building to halt in West London, due to data center power demands
All the electricity capacity is already used up, GLA tells developers
www.datacenterdynamics.com
August 14, 2025 at 6:37 AM
lizdowthwaite.bsky.social
One of my very talented PhD students is seeking female-perceived autistic people to take part in their very interesting and important research on how digital personal data affects your lives. Please do get in touch if you fit the criteria and are interested.
Seeking autistic research participants I'm Jenn, an autistic PHD researcher based at the University of Nottingham School of Health Sciences. My work centres autistic experience and is designed to be accessible. I'm researching how the digital data of autistic people who are perceived as female and have experienced mental distress or illness as adults impact their identity and sense of self. I'm looking for autistic participants to share their stories and experience. Eligibility: - Autistic (diagnosed or self identified) - Perceived as a female person by others. You migth identify as a woman or have a different gender identity, such as trans, non-binary or agender. - Aged 18 or over and living in the UK - Have a personal experience of severe mental illness or distress in adulthood (no diagnosis needed) - Using and creating digital personal data (like emails, social media data, YouTube playlists, or GPS location data through your mobile device) Activities: - A digital focus group with me and other participants - Reflections about your personal digital data over a 4 week period - A digital interview with me - Spaced widerly over 12 months (small chunks with big gaps) Contact me to find out more: Jenn.laytonannable@nottingham.ac.uk I'd be glad to have a chat or answer your questions or discuss taking part with you in more detail.
August 14, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Reposted by Dr Liz Dowthwaite
cats.bsky.social
August 14, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Reposted by Dr Liz Dowthwaite
stuartdunn.bsky.social
I'm very excited and proud that my dept @kingsdh.bsky.social is hosting this major conference in 2026. There are many streams of DH, some old, some new, and I've always believed that the future of the field is dialogue between them. This landmark event will do that www.kcl.ac.uk/events/digit...
Digital Humanities Today: Critical Inquiry with and about the Digital
From the 23-26 June 2026, the Department of Digital Humanities at King’s College London will host an international conference exploring the evolving role of Digital Humanities in a world increasingly ...
www.kcl.ac.uk
August 2, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Reposted by Dr Liz Dowthwaite
jackstilgoe.bsky.social
When we say we trust a technology, it's never just about the thing. It's also about the people around the thing.
August 13, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Reposted by Dr Liz Dowthwaite
tadethompson.bsky.social
We are not trivialising LLMs.

Copyright theft is not trivial.

Environmental damage is not trivial.

Unreliability is not trivial.

Risk to human cognition is not trivial.

Ignoring consent when shoving it into every fucking thing while making us pay our hard-earned money for it is not trivial.
August 13, 2025 at 8:11 AM