Stuart Watt
@morungos.bsky.social
Cognitive/social scientist and occasional coder. Umquhile Mancunian. Purveyor of Jurassic Park memes. Writes on modernization and technology. Consciously uncoupling from corporate shenanigans. Halifax, Nova Scotia
https://morungos.com/
https://morungos.com/
Passing the Dark Peak and you know what? it’s dark.
November 18, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Passing the Dark Peak and you know what? it’s dark.
Reposted by Stuart Watt
In today's @halifaxexaminer.ca Morning File, I reach back to Jerry Mander's book Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television, for a critique of gen AI. Also, stories by @suzannerent.bsky.social, @mmughees.bsky.social & @dartjam.bsky.social.
www.halifaxexaminer.ca/morning-file...
www.halifaxexaminer.ca/morning-file...
Technologies are not neutral, and AI is no different - Halifax Examiner
"We have not yet learned to think of technology as having ideology incorporated into its very form."
www.halifaxexaminer.ca
November 17, 2025 at 5:35 PM
In today's @halifaxexaminer.ca Morning File, I reach back to Jerry Mander's book Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television, for a critique of gen AI. Also, stories by @suzannerent.bsky.social, @mmughees.bsky.social & @dartjam.bsky.social.
www.halifaxexaminer.ca/morning-file...
www.halifaxexaminer.ca/morning-file...
Reposted by Stuart Watt
the new Frankenstein movie offers great parallels to the current top down discourse around AI
In the age of AI, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein gets the monster right:
-Preening college dropout founder desperate to troll and provoke
-Secures financing from war profiteer
-Unethically harvests key materials for startup from people living and dead without consent
-Takes 0 responsibility
-Preening college dropout founder desperate to troll and provoke
-Secures financing from war profiteer
-Unethically harvests key materials for startup from people living and dead without consent
-Takes 0 responsibility
Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein' gets the monster right for the age of AI
Too bad he lets the founders off easy.
www.bloodinthemachine.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:23 PM
the new Frankenstein movie offers great parallels to the current top down discourse around AI
Excellent stuff, although maybe we could collectively have been more vocal about this being the strategy years ago. I’m convinced this is the key to their whole business model.
Here’s what I wrote back then — hugely inspired by Bender et al.’s work.
morungos.com/2023/06/05/r...
Here’s what I wrote back then — hugely inspired by Bender et al.’s work.
morungos.com/2023/06/05/r...
November 13, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Excellent stuff, although maybe we could collectively have been more vocal about this being the strategy years ago. I’m convinced this is the key to their whole business model.
Here’s what I wrote back then — hugely inspired by Bender et al.’s work.
morungos.com/2023/06/05/r...
Here’s what I wrote back then — hugely inspired by Bender et al.’s work.
morungos.com/2023/06/05/r...
Reposted by Stuart Watt
Two modest proposals:
Start calling people who are paid to have particular opinions sophists again.
Stop sharing, writing for, and participating in anything to do with the institute for arts and ideas (dunno who funds it, but what it's doing is putting a *philosophy* shine on reactionary thought)
Start calling people who are paid to have particular opinions sophists again.
Stop sharing, writing for, and participating in anything to do with the institute for arts and ideas (dunno who funds it, but what it's doing is putting a *philosophy* shine on reactionary thought)
November 13, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Two modest proposals:
Start calling people who are paid to have particular opinions sophists again.
Stop sharing, writing for, and participating in anything to do with the institute for arts and ideas (dunno who funds it, but what it's doing is putting a *philosophy* shine on reactionary thought)
Start calling people who are paid to have particular opinions sophists again.
Stop sharing, writing for, and participating in anything to do with the institute for arts and ideas (dunno who funds it, but what it's doing is putting a *philosophy* shine on reactionary thought)
Reposted by Stuart Watt
#NovaScotia
Federal investigation probes grocery store competition in #Halifax
Superstore, Sobeys examined for use of legal documents that restrict land for competitors
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Federal investigation probes grocery store competition in #Halifax
Superstore, Sobeys examined for use of legal documents that restrict land for competitors
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Federal investigation probes grocery store competition in Halifax | CBC News
Since last year, an investigation into the ability of new grocers to set up in the Halifax Regional Municipality has been quietly ticking along under Competition Bureau Canada.
www.cbc.ca
November 12, 2025 at 11:35 AM
#NovaScotia
Federal investigation probes grocery store competition in #Halifax
Superstore, Sobeys examined for use of legal documents that restrict land for competitors
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Federal investigation probes grocery store competition in #Halifax
Superstore, Sobeys examined for use of legal documents that restrict land for competitors
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
This is going to be interesting. Language models are memorizers — that’s how they work. This makes them into infringement engines. Please let this position hold, and we might just save copyright.
“OpenAI argued its AI models didn’t store/copy specific training data but, rather, reflected what they learned based on the entire training data set. Since the output was generated as a result of user inputs (prompts), it wasn’t the defendants, but the respective user who would be liable for it.”
OpenAI used song lyrics in violation of copyright laws, German court says
MUNICH (Reuters) -OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT violated German copyright laws by reproducing lyrics from songs by best-selling musician Herbert Groenemeyer and others, a court ruled on Tuesday, in a clos...
ca.finance.yahoo.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:57 PM
This is going to be interesting. Language models are memorizers — that’s how they work. This makes them into infringement engines. Please let this position hold, and we might just save copyright.
A delicious calm day on the coast today. But no otters yet.
November 8, 2025 at 9:46 AM
A delicious calm day on the coast today. But no otters yet.
Reposted by Stuart Watt
Today I received my author's copies of Ghosts in Pencil, a one-man's-war story of a working-class Glasgow boy who flew 45 missions as a Lancaster bomb-aimer - from the Battle of Berlin to D-Day in an elite Pathfinder squadron.
On Amazon - or better still, order from a local bookshop.
On Amazon - or better still, order from a local bookshop.
October 9, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Today I received my author's copies of Ghosts in Pencil, a one-man's-war story of a working-class Glasgow boy who flew 45 missions as a Lancaster bomb-aimer - from the Battle of Berlin to D-Day in an elite Pathfinder squadron.
On Amazon - or better still, order from a local bookshop.
On Amazon - or better still, order from a local bookshop.
Yay. Finally made it.
November 2, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Yay. Finally made it.
Copilot backdoored all the things.
Write your developer horror story in 5 words or less. 🎃
We'll go first: Remote code execution.
https://github.blog/open-source/inside-the-breach-that-broke-the-internet-the-untold-story-of-log4shell/
We'll go first: Remote code execution.
https://github.blog/open-source/inside-the-breach-that-broke-the-internet-the-untold-story-of-log4shell/
October 31, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Copilot backdoored all the things.
I am, briefly, for once in Hope.
October 31, 2025 at 7:44 AM
I am, briefly, for once in Hope.
… thus putting them ahead of most politicians.
In a series of experiments, chimpanzees revised their beliefs based on new evidence, shedding light on the evolutionary origins of rational thought.
🔗 www.404media.co/chimps-are-c...
🔗 www.404media.co/chimps-are-c...
Chimps Are Capable of Human-Like Rational Thought, Breakthrough Study Finds
In a series of experiments, chimpanzees revised their beliefs based on new evidence, shedding light on the evolutionary origins of rational thought.
www.404media.co
October 30, 2025 at 10:02 PM
… thus putting them ahead of most politicians.
Reposted by Stuart Watt
‘AI’ thinks I’m a Skunk Cabbage!!
October 30, 2025 at 11:26 AM
‘AI’ thinks I’m a Skunk Cabbage!!
Okay hear me out.
Tech is telling the world they don’t need labour to deliver services.
Therefore, they’re overcharging us, a lot.
Therefore, we should pay them less — even nothing. Use free and open alternatives.
They don’t need tax breaks. Put social support into other sectors.
Tech is telling the world they don’t need labour to deliver services.
Therefore, they’re overcharging us, a lot.
Therefore, we should pay them less — even nothing. Use free and open alternatives.
They don’t need tax breaks. Put social support into other sectors.
October 28, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Okay hear me out.
Tech is telling the world they don’t need labour to deliver services.
Therefore, they’re overcharging us, a lot.
Therefore, we should pay them less — even nothing. Use free and open alternatives.
They don’t need tax breaks. Put social support into other sectors.
Tech is telling the world they don’t need labour to deliver services.
Therefore, they’re overcharging us, a lot.
Therefore, we should pay them less — even nothing. Use free and open alternatives.
They don’t need tax breaks. Put social support into other sectors.
Note the psychology behind this. You might “lose” that 2 day work week if you resist AI. And then loss aversion cuts in.
The modern era sells to us like this constantly, through risk and the fear of missing out. Hence crypto, hence NFTs.
Only by knowing reality can we make informed choices.
The modern era sells to us like this constantly, through risk and the fear of missing out. Hence crypto, hence NFTs.
Only by knowing reality can we make informed choices.
I "enjoy" this disconnect between tech titans claiming that AI will have us all eating pastries and working two days a week and the reality of firing people en masse while simultaneously supporting fascists who oppose universal basic income and are actively destroying the social safety net
October 28, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Note the psychology behind this. You might “lose” that 2 day work week if you resist AI. And then loss aversion cuts in.
The modern era sells to us like this constantly, through risk and the fear of missing out. Hence crypto, hence NFTs.
Only by knowing reality can we make informed choices.
The modern era sells to us like this constantly, through risk and the fear of missing out. Hence crypto, hence NFTs.
Only by knowing reality can we make informed choices.
Reposted by Stuart Watt
Yup - that’s exactly how I feel.
"I DON'T NEED YOU TO FUCKING REWRITE WHAT I'VE JUST WRITTEN!"
October 28, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Yup - that’s exactly how I feel.
Double vaccinated yesterday and the arm is a wee bit cranky today. I’ll take it over getting flu and/or Covid.
October 28, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Double vaccinated yesterday and the arm is a wee bit cranky today. I’ll take it over getting flu and/or Covid.
Reposted by Stuart Watt
We have zero plans to put AI in LibreOffice, of course. Our focus is privacy and letting you control your data. Some users want AI features and they can get them via optional extensions made by the community – but we won't put it in the app itself.
October 28, 2025 at 1:14 PM
We have zero plans to put AI in LibreOffice, of course. Our focus is privacy and letting you control your data. Some users want AI features and they can get them via optional extensions made by the community – but we won't put it in the app itself.
Reposted by Stuart Watt
I was just reminded of this excellent piece by @tepski.tech. Highly recommended reading, especially in the IP world:
"Hard Truths About Soft IP" by Amanda Levendowski
People routinely refer to copyright and trademark as “soft IP” to distinguish these practices from another area of intellectual property: patent. But the term reflects implicit biases against copyrigh...
scholarship.law.georgetown.edu
October 27, 2025 at 3:28 PM
I was just reminded of this excellent piece by @tepski.tech. Highly recommended reading, especially in the IP world:
As someone with a deep background in AI who’s worked in oncology and cancer bioinformatics, this is complete horseshit.
Informatics made a massive contribution, sure (before they all got cut) but cancer is not one thing. It’s a disease of aging, basically, and it is whack-a-mole on human biology.
Informatics made a massive contribution, sure (before they all got cut) but cancer is not one thing. It’s a disease of aging, basically, and it is whack-a-mole on human biology.
October 26, 2025 at 7:31 PM
As someone with a deep background in AI who’s worked in oncology and cancer bioinformatics, this is complete horseshit.
Informatics made a massive contribution, sure (before they all got cut) but cancer is not one thing. It’s a disease of aging, basically, and it is whack-a-mole on human biology.
Informatics made a massive contribution, sure (before they all got cut) but cancer is not one thing. It’s a disease of aging, basically, and it is whack-a-mole on human biology.
So we have seven pounds of bouncing baby quinces, lovely and aromatic and ripe. What an aroma!
October 26, 2025 at 5:30 PM
So we have seven pounds of bouncing baby quinces, lovely and aromatic and ripe. What an aroma!
Nom. With that cream, it might be an appley relative of tablet. And if so, double nom.
Me? I’d probably not go with the salt. Call me a heretic, but that is not my thing.
Me? I’d probably not go with the salt. Call me a heretic, but that is not my thing.
This is the best candy I've *ever* made. It compacts a whole bottle of fresh apple cider into a salt-flecked, cinnamon-y, buttery caramel that is so loud with everything awesome about fall, no October is complete without it.
smittenkitchen.com/2012/10/appl...
smittenkitchen.com/2012/10/appl...
October 26, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Nom. With that cream, it might be an appley relative of tablet. And if so, double nom.
Me? I’d probably not go with the salt. Call me a heretic, but that is not my thing.
Me? I’d probably not go with the salt. Call me a heretic, but that is not my thing.
Reposted by Stuart Watt
NEW
The gaming of the American constitution
How a codified “written” constitution is being manipulated by those acting in bad faith
By me, at @prospectmagazine.co.uk
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...
The gaming of the American constitution
How a codified “written” constitution is being manipulated by those acting in bad faith
By me, at @prospectmagazine.co.uk
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...
October 24, 2025 at 10:47 AM
NEW
The gaming of the American constitution
How a codified “written” constitution is being manipulated by those acting in bad faith
By me, at @prospectmagazine.co.uk
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...
The gaming of the American constitution
How a codified “written” constitution is being manipulated by those acting in bad faith
By me, at @prospectmagazine.co.uk
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...