Rebecca Ackermann
@rebackermann.bsky.social
Writing about art, culture & tech for MIT Tech Review, Vox, Esquire & more | I have eclectic interests
Reposted by Rebecca Ackermann
Remember that Intuit (the owner of Turbotax) lobbied extensively to kill Direct File, which did tax filing for free and somehow managed to make a good and intuitive user experience without AI.
TurboTax is about to be integrated into ChatGPT, where customers will be guided through tasks tied to their tax filings or financial profile by the AI chatbot.
TurboTax owner Intuit is also paying OpenAI more than $100 million a year to power AI agents.
TurboTax owner Intuit is also paying OpenAI more than $100 million a year to power AI agents.
November 18, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Remember that Intuit (the owner of Turbotax) lobbied extensively to kill Direct File, which did tax filing for free and somehow managed to make a good and intuitive user experience without AI.
Reposted by Rebecca Ackermann
What’s driving Romancelandia’s success, and can other genres successfully emulate it? Spoiler alert: There’s a phenomenon called “an open-elite network.” @rebackermann.bsky.social for @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/books/2025/1...
The Publishing Industry’s Most Swoon-Worthy Genre
Tight-knit but open-armed fans have made romance an especially hot commodity.
www.theatlantic.com
October 14, 2025 at 7:41 PM
What’s driving Romancelandia’s success, and can other genres successfully emulate it? Spoiler alert: There’s a phenomenon called “an open-elite network.” @rebackermann.bsky.social for @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/books/2025/1...
Reposted by Rebecca Ackermann
The tight-knit but open-armed community that supports romance novels has become unignorable, enviable—and exceedingly difficult to replicate, Rebecca Ackermann writes.
Romance Fiction’s Secret Weapon
Tight-knit but open-armed fans have made it an especially hot genre.
bit.ly
October 7, 2025 at 5:15 PM
The tight-knit but open-armed community that supports romance novels has become unignorable, enviable—and exceedingly difficult to replicate, Rebecca Ackermann writes.
Reposted by Rebecca Ackermann
Reposted by Rebecca Ackermann
I’m still not over the fact that there was an extremely popular award-winning movie over a decade ago about the perils of falling in love with a chatbot and a company decided to make the chatbot in the image of the movie’s chatbot and now quite a few people have decided to date it
June 23, 2025 at 4:47 AM
I’m still not over the fact that there was an extremely popular award-winning movie over a decade ago about the perils of falling in love with a chatbot and a company decided to make the chatbot in the image of the movie’s chatbot and now quite a few people have decided to date it
Reposted by Rebecca Ackermann
A lot of people say generative AI shouldn't infringe on copyright. These researchers actually tried to do it. The result: an 8 terabyte dataset of text that's openly licensed or in the public domain & 7 B parameter model that performs as well as Meta's Llama 7B www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Analysis | AI firms say they can’t respect copyright. These researchers tried.
A new effort using only openly licensed data may have implications on thorny policy disputes around copyright and AI
www.washingtonpost.com
June 5, 2025 at 5:44 PM
A lot of people say generative AI shouldn't infringe on copyright. These researchers actually tried to do it. The result: an 8 terabyte dataset of text that's openly licensed or in the public domain & 7 B parameter model that performs as well as Meta's Llama 7B www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Rebecca Ackermann
I started a spreadsheet of Bay Area NEA Grantees for FY23–FY25. So far, there's ~85 arts orgs whose funding was likely withdrawn without any reimbursements going out. I'm expecting 3x that number when I get to the terminated grants.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Bay Area NEA Grantees
docs.google.com
May 7, 2025 at 1:37 AM
I started a spreadsheet of Bay Area NEA Grantees for FY23–FY25. So far, there's ~85 arts orgs whose funding was likely withdrawn without any reimbursements going out. I'm expecting 3x that number when I get to the terminated grants.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
For @technologyreview.com I wrote about how the names we give generative machines really matter.
April 14, 2025 at 5:06 PM
For @technologyreview.com I wrote about how the names we give generative machines really matter.
I wrote about what we gain & lose when we let machines make art for us (& about @vauhinivara.bsky.social’s eerie new book) www.technologyreview.com/2025/04/11/1...
How AI is interacting with our creative human processes
Three books examine what we gain and lose when we let machines create.
www.technologyreview.com
April 12, 2025 at 1:51 PM
I wrote about what we gain & lose when we let machines make art for us (& about @vauhinivara.bsky.social’s eerie new book) www.technologyreview.com/2025/04/11/1...
Calling it now: they’ll launch stablecoins as the new war bonds
April 9, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Calling it now: they’ll launch stablecoins as the new war bonds
Reposted by Rebecca Ackermann
So it’s over then, works for me
OpenAI declares AI race “over” if training on copyrighted works isn’t fair use
National security hinges on unfettered access to AI training data, OpenAI says.
arstechnica.com
March 13, 2025 at 8:20 PM
So it’s over then, works for me
An AI model that can write you say? Wonder who it learned how to do that from (& if these fair use cases are ever going to get settled) www.esquire.com/entertainmen...
Is AI the Bitter End—or the Lucrative Future—of Book Publishing?
As the law fights to catch up to Big Tech, the future of books hangs in the balance. Are writers doomed by “the biggest rip-off in creative history” or could AI offer new ways of making a living?
www.esquire.com
March 13, 2025 at 11:24 PM
An AI model that can write you say? Wonder who it learned how to do that from (& if these fair use cases are ever going to get settled) www.esquire.com/entertainmen...
Automated firing systems? El*n hardly invented the approach that many companies are already employing.
February 25, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Automated firing systems? El*n hardly invented the approach that many companies are already employing.
Reposted by Rebecca Ackermann
Monitoring technology is increasing the power imbalance between companies and workers. New policies and protections may be necessary to correct the balance of power.
Your boss is watching
Monitoring technology is increasing the power imbalance between companies and workers. Protections lag far behind.
www.technologyreview.com
February 25, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Monitoring technology is increasing the power imbalance between companies and workers. New policies and protections may be necessary to correct the balance of power.
Most bosses don’t need a 5 things email. They already know exactly what you’re doing. ter.li/326z8h
Your boss is watching
Monitoring technology is increasing the power imbalance between companies and workers. Protections lag far behind.
ter.li
February 25, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Most bosses don’t need a 5 things email. They already know exactly what you’re doing. ter.li/326z8h
What happens when workers are reduced to productivity metrics? I wrote about surveillance tech & the datafication of work for @technologyreview.com
February 24, 2025 at 9:11 PM
What happens when workers are reduced to productivity metrics? I wrote about surveillance tech & the datafication of work for @technologyreview.com
Reposted by Rebecca Ackermann
The definitive design thinking piece imo (from @rebackermann.bsky.social) www.technologyreview.com/2023/02/09/1...
Design thinking was supposed to fix the world. Where did it go wrong?
www.technologyreview.com
February 21, 2025 at 5:55 PM
The definitive design thinking piece imo (from @rebackermann.bsky.social) www.technologyreview.com/2023/02/09/1...
Every current & former tech worker has had to write the kind of email El*n is demanding & knows its true purpose.
February 24, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Every current & former tech worker has had to write the kind of email El*n is demanding & knows its true purpose.
Dove deep into workplace monitoring tech and came out the other side concerned about the widening power gap between workers and companies (oh & AI too) ter.li/326z8h
Your boss is watching
Monitoring technology is increasing the power imbalance between companies and workers. Protections lag far behind.
ter.li
February 24, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Dove deep into workplace monitoring tech and came out the other side concerned about the widening power gap between workers and companies (oh & AI too) ter.li/326z8h
STILL! Come on!
So frustrating when life refuses to become art yet.
December 23, 2023 at 3:04 PM
STILL! Come on!
Reposted by Rebecca Ackermann
"This was a huge surprise when we first noticed it"
...
it doesn't have to be a surprise...
...
it doesn't have to be a surprise...
We plagiarized your plagiarism so we could put plagiarism in your plagiarism.
December 9, 2023 at 7:46 PM
"This was a huge surprise when we first noticed it"
...
it doesn't have to be a surprise...
...
it doesn't have to be a surprise...
So frustrating when life refuses to become art yet.
November 30, 2023 at 3:29 PM
So frustrating when life refuses to become art yet.
Reposted by Rebecca Ackermann
The continued public presence of Larry Summers really puts the lie to the concept of cancellation
November 22, 2023 at 1:06 PM
The continued public presence of Larry Summers really puts the lie to the concept of cancellation
Feeling parenting feelings today so thought I’d repost 🍋
An enormous honor to see my short story “Lemon Season” in the new issue of @kenyonreview.bsky.social !! Thank you to the brilliant KR team ✨ kenyonreview.org/piece/lemon-...
October 26, 2023 at 5:15 PM
Feeling parenting feelings today so thought I’d repost 🍋
Reposted by Rebecca Ackermann
at least 500 people killed in the Israeli air strike on a hospital in Gaza today, with 3000 deaths in Gaza since the bombing began, news still coming in: www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblo...
Hundreds of casualties as Israel hits Gaza hospital sheltering thousands
Israeli air strike hits the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City where thousands are seeking safety and treatment.
www.aljazeera.com
October 17, 2023 at 5:59 PM
at least 500 people killed in the Israeli air strike on a hospital in Gaza today, with 3000 deaths in Gaza since the bombing began, news still coming in: www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblo...