Rev. AJ van Tine
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revajvt.bsky.social
Rev. AJ van Tine
@revajvt.bsky.social
410 followers 190 following 290 posts
Unitarian Universalist minister living and serving in Rochester, NY. He/him.
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Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
benjaminjriley.bsky.social
Grateful to The Verge for publishing my essay on why large-language models are not going to achieve general intelligence nor push the scientific frontier.

www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
Is language the same as intelligence? The AI industry desperately needs it to be
The AI boom is based on a fundamental mistake.
www.theverge.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:49 PM
revajvt.bsky.social
“LLMs are simply tools that emulate the communicative function of language, not the separate and distinct cognitive process of thinking and reasoning.” Looked up the Verge article cited here and it’s so so good.”
ali-alkhatib.com ali alkhatib @ali-alkhatib.com · 15h
h/t @robertfreundlaw.bsky.social

holy shit, an accurate legal critique of LLMs. LLMs don't reason because they're just stitching together plausible-looking sentences indifferent to the content
What happens when ChatGPT cites to a real case but misstates what the case stands for? That doesn't fly for Judge Behm in Michigan. The court says that while a litigant could make the same error based on faulty reasoning, LLMs can't, because they can't reason. And while a litigant might get away with similar overstatements because they could, perhaps, reason their way to showing how a case's stated holding might extend to novel situations, an LLM does not reason in the way a litigant must. To put it in a slightly different way, LLMs do not perform the metacognitive processes that are necessary to comply with Rule 11. When an LLM overstates a holding of a case, it is just piecing together a plausible-looking sentence
December 3, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
ali-alkhatib.com
h/t @robertfreundlaw.bsky.social

holy shit, an accurate legal critique of LLMs. LLMs don't reason because they're just stitching together plausible-looking sentences indifferent to the content
What happens when ChatGPT cites to a real case but misstates what the case stands for? That doesn't fly for Judge Behm in Michigan. The court says that while a litigant could make the same error based on faulty reasoning, LLMs can't, because they can't reason. And while a litigant might get away with similar overstatements because they could, perhaps, reason their way to showing how a case's stated holding might extend to novel situations, an LLM does not reason in the way a litigant must. To put it in a slightly different way, LLMs do not perform the metacognitive processes that are necessary to comply with Rule 11. When an LLM overstates a holding of a case, it is just piecing together a plausible-looking sentence
December 3, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
luckytran.com
Reminder: It's never too late to start wearing a mask again
December 3, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
chantzy.bsky.social
A friend with a new baby asked guests to mask in order to hold her baby. A relative refused to mask & broke down in tears about her "restrictions"

As a reminder, babies <6 months have the 2nd highest hospitalization rate from Covid after adults 75+ & are too young to be vaxxed
December 2, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
robinjames.bsky.social
This cross-pollination IS how new ideas happen. EVERY field needs humanistic thinking, that's why they call PhDs "Doctors of Philosophy"
neilpollyticks.bsky.social Neil PollyTicks Campbell 🦜 @neilpollyticks.bsky.social · 2d
Alt text for those who need it. This is amazing.
Saved by Stoppard Sir, In 1993 my wife and I went to see the first production of Arcadia by Tom Stoppard (obituary, Dec I), and in the interval I experienced a Damascene conversion. As a clinical scientist I was trying to understand the enigma of the behaviour of breast cancer, the assumption being that it grew in a linear trajectory spitting off metastases on its way. In the first act of Arcadia, Thomasina asks her tutor, Septimus: "If there is an equation for a curve like a bell, there must be an equation for one like a bluebell, and if a bluebell, why not a rose?" With that Stoppard explains chaos theory, which better explains the behaviour of breast cancer. At the point of diagnosis, the cancer must have already scattered cancer cells into the circulation that nest latent in distant organs. The consequence of that hypothesis was the birth of "adjuvant systemic chemotherapy", ", and rapidly we saw a striking fall of the curve that illustrated patients' survival. Stoppard never learnt how many lives he saved by writing Arcadia. Michael Baum Professor emeritus of surgery; visiting professor of medical humanities, UCL r.
December 2, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
jakemgrumbach.bsky.social
Some new evidence that the 911 non-police mobile crisis response program in Eugene, OR is a helpful criminal justice policy

yotamshemtov.github.io/files/cahoot...
December 1, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
katelynburns.com
For my newsletter, I wrote about that college essay scandal that's gone viral and what everyone is seeming to miss:

It's about ATTACKING TRANS PEOPLE!!!

www.burnsnotice.com/that-viral-e...
That Viral Essay Scandal is (SURPRISE!) Actually About Trans People
A shoddy Oklahoma University essay went viral. Cis people think this is about conservatives whining for better grades. Trans people see a planned attack on a trans academic. (Note for free subscriber...
www.burnsnotice.com
December 1, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
bbkogan.bsky.social
It’s in fact extremely easy to give away money in a way that helps people.

Stuff like this is just what you say when you don’t actually want to help others.
On Philanthropy NIKHIL KAMATH: So what do you think of philanthropy? ELON MUSK: Yeah, I think we should. Well, I mean, I agree with love of humanity and I think we should try to do things that help our fellow human beings. But it's very hard. If you care about the reality of goodness rather than simply the perception of it, it's very difficult to give away money well. So I have a large foundation, but I don't put my name on it and I don't, in fact, I say I don't want my name on anything. But the biggest challenge I find with my foundation is trying to give money away in a way that is truly beneficial to people. It's very easy to give money away to get the appearance of goodness. It is very difficult to give money away for the reality of goodness. Very difficult.
December 1, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
jakemgrumbach.bsky.social
Has this been posted yet
2+7= _ I caNnot aNswer this qwestion, as it is agaiNst My reLigious principles. ٠١٨٨ IT'S WORTH A SHOT. aMI, 7 january 1986 NAITION
December 1, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
jakemgrumbach.bsky.social
The Krugman blog today on affordability gets at exactly what I think is happening, and what's missed in the vibecession debates

paulkrugman.substack.com/p/affordabil...
Moreover, I would argue that three important concepts that are especially poorly captured by standard economic numbers underlie people’s perceptions of affordability: economic inclusion, security, and fairness. By economic inclusion I mean the ability to purchase the goods and services that allow someone to feel like a member in full standing of American society. By security I mean a feeling based not just on current real income, but also an assurance that severe hardship isn’t just a stretch of bad luck away. Lastly I would also argue that perceptions of affordability are often intertwined with perceptions of fairness: people are especially upset about high prices when they feel that they are being taken advantage of.
November 30, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
astrokatie.com
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
November 28, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
broadwaybabyto.bsky.social
Call your elected officials. Get loud. Tell them you’re demanding public health leaders follow the science.

The science says that the COVID vaccine is not only safe, but it saves lives.

Long Covid has surpassed asthma as the most common chronic illness in children.

The kids deserve protection
luckytran.com Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 4d
In a new leaked memo, the FDA outlined plans to make it much harder to get new vaccines approved, claiming, without sharing evidence, that the COVID vaccines have killed at least 10 children.

This is so reckless. The science shows us that COVID vaccines have saved millions of lives.
Subject: Deaths in children due to COVID-19 vaccines and CBER’s path forward Dear Team CBER, I am writing to report that OBPV career staff have found that at least 10 children have died after and because of receiving COVID-19 vaccination. These deaths arerelated to vaccination (likely/probable/possible attribution made by staff). That number is certainly an underestimate due to underreporting, and inherent bias in attribution. …. For the first time, the US FDA will acknowledge that COVID-19 vaccines have killed American children. Healthy young children who faced tremendously low risk of death were coerced, at the behest of the Biden administration, via school and work mandates, to receive a vaccine that could result in death. In many cases, such mandates were harmful. It is difficult to read cases where kids aged 7 to 16 may be dead as a result of covid vaccines. …. Putting these facts together, it is horrifying to consider that the US vaccine regulation, including our actions, may have harmed more children than we saved. This requires humility and introspection. Vinay Prasad MD MPH CBER Director, CMSO US FDA
November 29, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
thatcovidlife.bsky.social
CNN: Covid-19 may increase the risk of heart attacks, strokes and deaths for three years after an infection, study suggests #ThatCovidLife #CovidIsNotOver
Covid may increase the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and deaths for three years after an infection, a new study suggests | CNN
Covid-19 continues to be a powerful risk factor for future heart attacks and strokes for almost three years following the infection, a large new study suggests.
edition.cnn.com
November 28, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
statsepi.bsky.social
"Many feel they're snuggling with a real person. Scientists* say it's time to consider whether they are onto something."

* no, not real scientists lol
November 27, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
abeba.bsky.social
Large language mistake

Cutting-edge research shows language is not the same as intelligence. The entire AI bubble is built on ignoring it.

www.theverge.com/ai-artificia... great read from @benjaminjriley.bsky.social
Our cognition improves because of language — but it’s not created or defined by it. Take away our ability to speak, and we can still think, reason, form beliefs, fall in love, and move about the world; our range of what we can experience and think about remains vast. But take away language from a large language model, and you are left with literally nothing at all.
November 25, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
indivisible.org
The No Kings Alliance stands with the Starbucks baristas on strike. Don’t shop at Starbucks while workers fight for fair pay, better staffing, and an end to union-busting. Power still belongs to the people who make this country run: nocontractnocoffee.org/#pledge
(next to an images of striking Starbucks employees) NO CONTRACT NO COFFEE BREW CHANGE NoContractNoCoffee.org (No Kings logo)
November 24, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
burrow.bsky.social
I miss when the Internet actually worked
davelevitan.bsky.social Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 9d
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
November 25, 2025 at 2:17 AM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
debpearlstein.bsky.social
"Meta shut down internal research into the mental health effects of Facebook after finding causal evidence that its products harmed users’ mental health...[A] staffer worried that keeping quiet...would be akin to the tobacco industry...'knowing cigs were bad & then keeping that info to themselves.'"
www.reuters.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:05 PM
revajvt.bsky.social
You’d make a wonderful Dread Pirate Roberts, Charlie Brown.
andykarlson.bsky.social Andy Karlson @andykarlson.bsky.social · 10d
Wouldst thou like to live deliciously, Charlie Brown?
jaykaydee.bsky.social Jacob Kramer-Duffield @jaykaydee.bsky.social · 10d
We have such sights to show you, Charlie Brown
November 24, 2025 at 3:49 AM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
luckytran.com
Some vaccines like COVID and flu don’t stop completely stop infection.

But they do reduce the risk of getting infected and greatly reduce severe illness risk.

They are still worth getting.

Since they are not 100% effective it’s also wise to add another layer of protection by wearing a mask.
November 23, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
rincewind.run
evergreen
Tweet from @PPathole Tech enthusiasts: my entire house is smart Tech workers: the only piece of technology in my house is a printer and I keep a gun next to it so I can shoot it if it makes a noise I don’t recognize
November 22, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
altcoast.altgov.info
Wanted to respond to this - from what I see, the CG is NOT reversing policy. They released a memo clarifying their prohibition of these symbols. Dealing with violations will still be on the command level, which is what was changed. Please see my thread for more info:
bsky.app/profile/altc...
November 21, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
theradr.bsky.social
we don't mess with no prison industrial complex 'round here

we here know you ain't the worst thing you ever did

you're gonna be lookin' at five whole steps of fixin' this mess, and we're gonna be here until you do 'em all

... so let's start with fessin' up, eh?
November 20, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by Rev. AJ van Tine
rbreich.bsky.social
Poverty is a policy choice. Concentrated wealth is a policy choice. Inequality is a policy choice. None of it is natural or inevitable. Remember: We have the power to build a system that serves the many, not the powerful few.
November 19, 2025 at 9:01 PM