Dr Matt Barnard
@matthewbarnard.phd
Cat-owning philosophy academic | existentialism | phenomenology | new project: philosophy of AI
- https://matthewbarnard.phd/
UCU NEC/HEC UK Elected Representative
- https://matthewbarnard.phd/
UCU NEC/HEC UK Elected Representative
Reposted by Dr Matt Barnard
Dons #UCU HEC member hat. UK academics on teaching-focused/teaching-only contracts: how, if at all, does your employer support you in doing research? Are there any good local policies on this I should be aware of? My DMs are open and confidentiality assured. #UKHE #academicsky
November 10, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Dons #UCU HEC member hat. UK academics on teaching-focused/teaching-only contracts: how, if at all, does your employer support you in doing research? Are there any good local policies on this I should be aware of? My DMs are open and confidentiality assured. #UKHE #academicsky
Reposted by Dr Matt Barnard
I genuinely think there is a case that anyone using an AI product of this kind should face a short prison sentence. It's vandalism, just like painting on a wall or smashing a bus stop.
And you don’t even need an actually good bit of tech, which “Objector” may or may not be, to do this! If you just ask the free version of any genAI to do something plausible it still louses up everyone else’s productivity to work out it is bollocks!
The automated problem factory!
November 9, 2025 at 5:20 PM
I genuinely think there is a case that anyone using an AI product of this kind should face a short prison sentence. It's vandalism, just like painting on a wall or smashing a bus stop.
Reposted by Dr Matt Barnard
Martin Tyler voice: “LABOUROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”
November 4, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Martin Tyler voice: “LABOUROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”
Reposted by Dr Matt Barnard
My critical analysis of the anti-trans astroturf group, the LGB Alliance, has just been published in the special edition of the Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies. I recommend the whole special edition - it's open access, no pay wall.
bulletin.appliedtransstudies.org/article/4/1-...
bulletin.appliedtransstudies.org/article/4/1-...
Astro-TERFs - Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies
In the backlash against trans rights in the UK since the late 2010s,
the LGB Alliance has been implicated as a leading exponent of the new
moral panic, typified by its newspaper campaign against GRA r...
bulletin.appliedtransstudies.org
November 4, 2025 at 7:42 PM
My critical analysis of the anti-trans astroturf group, the LGB Alliance, has just been published in the special edition of the Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies. I recommend the whole special edition - it's open access, no pay wall.
bulletin.appliedtransstudies.org/article/4/1-...
bulletin.appliedtransstudies.org/article/4/1-...
Reposted by Dr Matt Barnard
And because the Right are entirely predictable and completely incompetent at stats they took that to mean “51% of people in adverts are black”
And that’s NOT FAIR because only 4% of the UK population is black so they’re taking WHITE acting jobs (or words to that effect…🙄)
3/
And that’s NOT FAIR because only 4% of the UK population is black so they’re taking WHITE acting jobs (or words to that effect…🙄)
3/
November 2, 2025 at 7:09 PM
And because the Right are entirely predictable and completely incompetent at stats they took that to mean “51% of people in adverts are black”
And that’s NOT FAIR because only 4% of the UK population is black so they’re taking WHITE acting jobs (or words to that effect…🙄)
3/
And that’s NOT FAIR because only 4% of the UK population is black so they’re taking WHITE acting jobs (or words to that effect…🙄)
3/
Reposted by Dr Matt Barnard
One of the best threads I’ve ever read. Such a smart, thorough debunking that the bunkers should just admit defeat, go home and never bunk again.
Let’s take a look at the whole “there are too many black people on TV” thing, shall we?
After Pochin claimed Black people in TV adverts “made her mad”, all her supporters tried to use 👇🏼 as their excuse for why she was somehow justified in her overt racism.
Spoiler - she isn’t! 🤨
🧵
1/22
After Pochin claimed Black people in TV adverts “made her mad”, all her supporters tried to use 👇🏼 as their excuse for why she was somehow justified in her overt racism.
Spoiler - she isn’t! 🤨
🧵
1/22
November 3, 2025 at 7:23 PM
One of the best threads I’ve ever read. Such a smart, thorough debunking that the bunkers should just admit defeat, go home and never bunk again.
Reposted by Dr Matt Barnard
It's not in this article but the government asserts that the sandwich was thrown at "point blank range", which implies subway sandwiches have defined effective weapon ranges of varying lethality, and I would like to see the government's chart of these ranges.
Trial Begins for Man Accused of Lobbing a Sandwich at a Federal Agent www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/u...
Trial Begins for Man Accused of Lobbing a Sandwich at a Federal Agent
www.nytimes.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:14 PM
It's not in this article but the government asserts that the sandwich was thrown at "point blank range", which implies subway sandwiches have defined effective weapon ranges of varying lethality, and I would like to see the government's chart of these ranges.
Reposted by Dr Matt Barnard
More than five years in the making, my paper about the metaphysics of pregnancy is out today, open-access in PPR 🧵1/7
doi.org/10.1111/phpr...
doi.org/10.1111/phpr...
Lady Parts and Baby Parts: What Is a Fetus?
A common-sense view of mammalian pregnancy treats the fetus as (a) an organism and (b) co-extensive with the approximately baby-shaped entity developing in the uterus. In this paper, I draw on metabo...
doi.org
October 30, 2025 at 12:30 PM
More than five years in the making, my paper about the metaphysics of pregnancy is out today, open-access in PPR 🧵1/7
doi.org/10.1111/phpr...
doi.org/10.1111/phpr...
Reposted by Dr Matt Barnard
Really interesting thread on the use of ChatGPT as tutor for #students
If you want to implement an AI tutor, you need to study it’s performance in naturalistic settings with the kinds of context windows that student learners will provide. You can’t begin with a well formulated question about a single topic.
Students don’t know how to formulate questions well at first.
Students don’t know how to formulate questions well at first.
October 30, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Really interesting thread on the use of ChatGPT as tutor for #students
So true. Everything about the apps makes you treat it as a conversation partner, but if you stick in the same chat for too long it breaks down. If only these app were designed around what the technology *is* rather than what they’re trying to convince VC funders it is.
Sounds great in principal. But as I’ve been exploring how this actually works, it reveals an under-discussed failure mode. ChatGPT 5.0, for example, is readily confused by the context of an ongoing chat and midway through fails to answer easy questions that it can get at the start of a new session.
October 30, 2025 at 11:01 AM
So true. Everything about the apps makes you treat it as a conversation partner, but if you stick in the same chat for too long it breaks down. If only these app were designed around what the technology *is* rather than what they’re trying to convince VC funders it is.
Reposted by Dr Matt Barnard
Genuinely delighted to download a PhD thesis from a university repository where the author has neglected to remove the words "BITCH THIS IS YOUR THESIS" from the filename.
October 30, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Genuinely delighted to download a PhD thesis from a university repository where the author has neglected to remove the words "BITCH THIS IS YOUR THESIS" from the filename.
Our Annual Conference next year is on the question “is there still a god that can save us?”.
This marks the 50th Anniversary of Heidegger’s death, but non-Heideggerian submissions also welcome and encouraged!
It’s with the Uni of Sussex so looking forward to visiting Brighton!
1/4
This marks the 50th Anniversary of Heidegger’s death, but non-Heideggerian submissions also welcome and encouraged!
It’s with the Uni of Sussex so looking forward to visiting Brighton!
1/4
Abstract Submission Open Now for "#Heidegger 50 years on: Is There Still a God That Can Save Us?"
BSP Annual Conference 2026 with the Philosophy Department, University of Sussex, UK
Brighton UK | 21 – 23 May 2026
www.thebsp.org.uk/2025/10/27/b...
#phenomenology #philosophy #BSP26
BSP Annual Conference 2026 with the Philosophy Department, University of Sussex, UK
Brighton UK | 21 – 23 May 2026
www.thebsp.org.uk/2025/10/27/b...
#phenomenology #philosophy #BSP26
October 28, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Our Annual Conference next year is on the question “is there still a god that can save us?”.
This marks the 50th Anniversary of Heidegger’s death, but non-Heideggerian submissions also welcome and encouraged!
It’s with the Uni of Sussex so looking forward to visiting Brighton!
1/4
This marks the 50th Anniversary of Heidegger’s death, but non-Heideggerian submissions also welcome and encouraged!
It’s with the Uni of Sussex so looking forward to visiting Brighton!
1/4
Reposted by Dr Matt Barnard
When beds malfunction bc of a DNS failure, I think there's some overly poor/over-optimistic engineering at play. Anybody should be able to sleep even with a failed DNS infrastructure (except for the engineers who screwed it up). PSA: Jailbreak your bed! github.com/throwaway312...
October 23, 2025 at 3:14 PM
When beds malfunction bc of a DNS failure, I think there's some overly poor/over-optimistic engineering at play. Anybody should be able to sleep even with a failed DNS infrastructure (except for the engineers who screwed it up). PSA: Jailbreak your bed! github.com/throwaway312...
Reposted by Dr Matt Barnard
Cnut. He's forgotten about Cnut, who went on pilgrimage to Rome in 1027. Oh, and Edward I, who spent 2 months at the court of Gregory X in 1273. Otherwise, all over the detail, as per.
October 23, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Cnut. He's forgotten about Cnut, who went on pilgrimage to Rome in 1027. Oh, and Edward I, who spent 2 months at the court of Gregory X in 1273. Otherwise, all over the detail, as per.
Reposted by Dr Matt Barnard
deepseek-drops-open-source-model-that-compresses-text-10x-through-images venturebeat.com/ai/deepseek-dr… #AI #DeepSeek
October 22, 2025 at 4:02 PM
deepseek-drops-open-source-model-that-compresses-text-10x-through-images venturebeat.com/ai/deepseek-dr… #AI #DeepSeek
One of my growing pet peeves is the phrase “in the age of AI”. I don’t deny that #GenAI is disruptive, but I also don’t see it as an epochal break with extant information technologies. It’s a clear advancement, but the essence remains the same: beset, extract, distribute, stand in reserve. 1/2
October 22, 2025 at 3:40 PM
One of my growing pet peeves is the phrase “in the age of AI”. I don’t deny that #GenAI is disruptive, but I also don’t see it as an epochal break with extant information technologies. It’s a clear advancement, but the essence remains the same: beset, extract, distribute, stand in reserve. 1/2
No thank you.
OpenAI on Tuesday unveiled Atlas, a free web browser that is designed to work closely with the company’s artificial intelligence technologies, including ChatGPT. Here's what to know.
OpenAI Unveils Atlas Web Browser Built to Work Closely With ChatGPT
The new browser, called Atlas, is designed to work closely with OpenAI products like ChatGPT.
nyti.ms
October 22, 2025 at 10:59 AM
No thank you.
Reposted by Dr Matt Barnard
Professors *never* supply information. Students aren’t paying premium prices for ‘information’ at all. How can people who presumably have attended universities misunderstand their role so badly?
Wow. Just wow.
"Students pay premium prices for information that AI now delivers instantly and for free. A business student can ask ChatGPT to explain supply chain optimization or generate market analysis in seconds. The traditional lecture-and-test model faces its Blockbuster moment."
"Students pay premium prices for information that AI now delivers instantly and for free. A business student can ask ChatGPT to explain supply chain optimization or generate market analysis in seconds. The traditional lecture-and-test model faces its Blockbuster moment."
When Knowledge is Free, What are Professors For?
Higher Education Must Stop Competing with AI on Information and Start Teaching What Machines Can’t Do
www.forbes.com
October 16, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Professors *never* supply information. Students aren’t paying premium prices for ‘information’ at all. How can people who presumably have attended universities misunderstand their role so badly?
Reposted by Dr Matt Barnard
My module of 12 Life Hacks for Mastering Wokery is going great thanks very much
Professors *never* supply information. Students aren’t paying premium prices for ‘information’ at all. How can people who presumably have attended universities misunderstand their role so badly?
Wow. Just wow.
"Students pay premium prices for information that AI now delivers instantly and for free. A business student can ask ChatGPT to explain supply chain optimization or generate market analysis in seconds. The traditional lecture-and-test model faces its Blockbuster moment."
"Students pay premium prices for information that AI now delivers instantly and for free. A business student can ask ChatGPT to explain supply chain optimization or generate market analysis in seconds. The traditional lecture-and-test model faces its Blockbuster moment."
October 18, 2025 at 7:53 AM
My module of 12 Life Hacks for Mastering Wokery is going great thanks very much
Reposted by Dr Matt Barnard
"With the advent of artificial intelligence, the internet transformed from a collaborative space into an extraction zone."
Worth reading this even if you don't know what robots.txt is.
Worth reading this even if you don't know what robots.txt is.
"The protocol taught us that technology can be based on human values like ethics and morality. It showed that voluntary compliance works when all parties benefit."
On robots.txt.
www.heise.de/en/backgroun...
On robots.txt.
www.heise.de/en/backgroun...
Obituary: Farewell to robots.txt (1994-2025)
The voluntary compliance protocol that civilized the internet has departed, bids Henning Fries farewell.
www.heise.de
October 17, 2025 at 10:40 AM
"With the advent of artificial intelligence, the internet transformed from a collaborative space into an extraction zone."
Worth reading this even if you don't know what robots.txt is.
Worth reading this even if you don't know what robots.txt is.
Reposted by Dr Matt Barnard
“Doth thine box rolleth on wheels?”
“It doth not, good sir!”
( Original screengrab by @stevewriteswords.bsky.social )
“It doth not, good sir!”
( Original screengrab by @stevewriteswords.bsky.social )
October 16, 2025 at 10:53 AM
“Doth thine box rolleth on wheels?”
“It doth not, good sir!”
( Original screengrab by @stevewriteswords.bsky.social )
“It doth not, good sir!”
( Original screengrab by @stevewriteswords.bsky.social )
Reposted by Dr Matt Barnard
Several Commons members attended the Academic Freedom conference, co-hosted by @ucu.org.uk and @eduinternational.bsky.social . Report forthcoming, but for now @matildaf.bsky.social and @drdiongeorgiou.bsky.social on 'Academic Freedom and the Knowledge Commons' (2024)
ucucommons.org/2024/03/22/a...
ucucommons.org/2024/03/22/a...
Academic freedom and the knowledge commons
By Matilda Fitzmaurice and Dion Georgiou This article represents an attempt to establish some basic, but contingent, principles on academic freedom. It does not put forward a ‘UCU Commons position’…
ucucommons.org
October 16, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Several Commons members attended the Academic Freedom conference, co-hosted by @ucu.org.uk and @eduinternational.bsky.social . Report forthcoming, but for now @matildaf.bsky.social and @drdiongeorgiou.bsky.social on 'Academic Freedom and the Knowledge Commons' (2024)
ucucommons.org/2024/03/22/a...
ucucommons.org/2024/03/22/a...
Reposted by Dr Matt Barnard
Never before seen levels of "Kant's dumb mistakes are actually expressions of his genius"
Martin Walter, Quellen Kants zur „Luftelectricität“ und zum „Katzentod“ - PhilPapers
This article investigates a puzzling episode in Immanuel Kant’s later life: his repeated references to „air electricity“ and the mysterious mass death of cats (‚Katzentod‘) as potential causes of his ...
philpapers.org
September 20, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Never before seen levels of "Kant's dumb mistakes are actually expressions of his genius"
Reposted by Dr Matt Barnard
Gary Marcus. See his contribution to the recent Royal Society symposium on the 75th anniversary of the of the Turing test for a pretty brutal breakdown of why LLMs are currently configured are never going to be made reliable and therefore safe through scaling. www.youtube.com/live/GmnBTCK...
Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Turing Test
YouTube video by The Royal Society
www.youtube.com
October 15, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Gary Marcus. See his contribution to the recent Royal Society symposium on the 75th anniversary of the of the Turing test for a pretty brutal breakdown of why LLMs are currently configured are never going to be made reliable and therefore safe through scaling. www.youtube.com/live/GmnBTCK...