Richard
@rwpickard.bsky.social
Reader, tree-hugger, teacher, preserver of foodstuffs. Canadian.
Deleter of rwpickard from Twitter/X.
http://boughtbooks.blogspot.com
Deleter of rwpickard from Twitter/X.
http://boughtbooks.blogspot.com
Pinned
Richard
@rwpickard.bsky.social
· Aug 30
Neighbourhood radical: A story about "AI"
Last night, at a kind neighbour's gentle garden party, I found myself calling for revolution and telling someone to choose which side they'd...
boughtbooks.blogspot.com
Re-upping this post, just to make my feelings about AI unmistakeable. #noAI #againstAI
boughtbooks.blogspot.com/2025/05/neig...
boughtbooks.blogspot.com/2025/05/neig...
Reposted by Richard
Note to political leaders - stop AI overhype.
Today's letter from 73 scientists led by my colleague @krisshrishak.bsky.social to Ursula von der Leyen demands that she retract her budget speech non-scientific AI statement that parroted tech CEO hype.
www.mlex.com/mlex/article...
Today's letter from 73 scientists led by my colleague @krisshrishak.bsky.social to Ursula von der Leyen demands that she retract her budget speech non-scientific AI statement that parroted tech CEO hype.
www.mlex.com/mlex/article...
European Commission asked by 73 scientists to withdraw 'AI hype' statement | MLex | Specialist news and analysis on legal risk and regulation
MLex Summary: Seventy-three scientists from Europe, the UK and North America asked the European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen to withdraw a statement claiming AI would reach human-level ...
www.mlex.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Note to political leaders - stop AI overhype.
Today's letter from 73 scientists led by my colleague @krisshrishak.bsky.social to Ursula von der Leyen demands that she retract her budget speech non-scientific AI statement that parroted tech CEO hype.
www.mlex.com/mlex/article...
Today's letter from 73 scientists led by my colleague @krisshrishak.bsky.social to Ursula von der Leyen demands that she retract her budget speech non-scientific AI statement that parroted tech CEO hype.
www.mlex.com/mlex/article...
Reposted by Richard
Folks in British #naturewriting circles: some time ago there were skeets about who to read who wasn't Callum Robinson. I've just finished Ingrained (it was good enough, but), and I've been unable to find those old skeets. Anyone else got them? #booksky
November 9, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Folks in British #naturewriting circles: some time ago there were skeets about who to read who wasn't Callum Robinson. I've just finished Ingrained (it was good enough, but), and I've been unable to find those old skeets. Anyone else got them? #booksky
Folks in British #naturewriting circles: some time ago there were skeets about who to read who wasn't Callum Robinson. I've just finished Ingrained (it was good enough, but), and I've been unable to find those old skeets. Anyone else got them? #booksky
November 9, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Folks in British #naturewriting circles: some time ago there were skeets about who to read who wasn't Callum Robinson. I've just finished Ingrained (it was good enough, but), and I've been unable to find those old skeets. Anyone else got them? #booksky
Reposted by Richard
I see @oxfordunipress.bsky.social are cancelling independent scholars and researchers. I couldn't have written #RecoveringDorothy without an individual subscription and this is going to make similar work impossible for me going forward, including contributions to scholarly editions. What BS.
October 30, 2025 at 12:03 PM
I see @oxfordunipress.bsky.social are cancelling independent scholars and researchers. I couldn't have written #RecoveringDorothy without an individual subscription and this is going to make similar work impossible for me going forward, including contributions to scholarly editions. What BS.
Reposted by Richard
Tech guys six months ago: haha yes we’re cutting all this WASTEFUL spending by eliminating medical research and USAID
Tech guys now: yes I think taxpayers will be excited to bailout my non consensual pornography machine
Tech guys now: yes I think taxpayers will be excited to bailout my non consensual pornography machine
November 8, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Tech guys six months ago: haha yes we’re cutting all this WASTEFUL spending by eliminating medical research and USAID
Tech guys now: yes I think taxpayers will be excited to bailout my non consensual pornography machine
Tech guys now: yes I think taxpayers will be excited to bailout my non consensual pornography machine
Reposted by Richard
Proposal: from here forward, anyone proposing to move, or move a business in protest of a future elxn result must put their assets in a trustee-controlled escrow account, or professional media will refuse to report the threat.
Big Apple billionaire John Catsimatidis planned to move his business to New Jersey if Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor. Now he’s reconsidering.
Supermarket Billionaire Reacts To Mamdani’s Win
Big Apple billionaire John Catsimatidis planned to move his business to New Jersey if Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor. Now he’s reconsidering.
www.forbes.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Proposal: from here forward, anyone proposing to move, or move a business in protest of a future elxn result must put their assets in a trustee-controlled escrow account, or professional media will refuse to report the threat.
Reposted by Richard
I read somewhere that it should actually be called Simulated Intelligence. It makes immediately clear what it actually is.
November 7, 2025 at 6:19 PM
I read somewhere that it should actually be called Simulated Intelligence. It makes immediately clear what it actually is.
Reposted by Richard
Good morning! AI is being force-fed to you by a handful of billionaires who will lose a bunch of money if they fail to convince you that you need it. You do not need it 🫶
November 6, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Good morning! AI is being force-fed to you by a handful of billionaires who will lose a bunch of money if they fail to convince you that you need it. You do not need it 🫶
Hot take: If the project of "critical AI" means finding a way to purchase and work with the marginally least toxic LLM product, and making room for the slop machine on campus, it isn't genuinely "critical."
What am I missing? Resistance is an option, no? #resistAI
What am I missing? Resistance is an option, no? #resistAI
November 7, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Hot take: If the project of "critical AI" means finding a way to purchase and work with the marginally least toxic LLM product, and making room for the slop machine on campus, it isn't genuinely "critical."
What am I missing? Resistance is an option, no? #resistAI
What am I missing? Resistance is an option, no? #resistAI
Reposted by Richard
Very proud to have worked on this statement of the Modern Language Association with @annamillsoer.bsky.social and other colleagues on the MLA’s task force on AI in Research and Teaching. It is a direct call for faculty input into Ed Tech decision-making, especially AI: www.mla.org/Resources/Ad... 🧵
November 4, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Very proud to have worked on this statement of the Modern Language Association with @annamillsoer.bsky.social and other colleagues on the MLA’s task force on AI in Research and Teaching. It is a direct call for faculty input into Ed Tech decision-making, especially AI: www.mla.org/Resources/Ad... 🧵
I'm not used to thinking of the @modernlanguage.bsky.social as friends of the revolution or whatnot, but their statement against AI in higher education was a good start.
My language is much more colourful, mind, but small steps! #resistAI #againstAI www.mla.org/Resources/Ad...
My language is much more colourful, mind, but small steps! #resistAI #againstAI www.mla.org/Resources/Ad...
Statement on Educational Technologies and AI Agents
The following statement of endorsement was drafted by the MLA Task Force on AI in Research and Teaching. The Executive Council approved it as an MLA statement in October 2025.Software, specifically le...
www.mla.org
November 6, 2025 at 3:58 PM
I'm not used to thinking of the @modernlanguage.bsky.social as friends of the revolution or whatnot, but their statement against AI in higher education was a good start.
My language is much more colourful, mind, but small steps! #resistAI #againstAI www.mla.org/Resources/Ad...
My language is much more colourful, mind, but small steps! #resistAI #againstAI www.mla.org/Resources/Ad...
Anyway, my goal isn't inbox zero (which is for psychopaths). It's drafts folder zero (which, on the evidence, seems impossible in my current state and also the world's).
November 6, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Anyway, my goal isn't inbox zero (which is for psychopaths). It's drafts folder zero (which, on the evidence, seems impossible in my current state and also the world's).
One of my favourite days of the semester: #shelfies day! I've got my first-year comp students wandering the university library on a scavenger hunt as I type, so here's a thread of thoughts 🧵 1/
November 5, 2025 at 10:32 PM
One of my favourite days of the semester: #shelfies day! I've got my first-year comp students wandering the university library on a scavenger hunt as I type, so here's a thread of thoughts 🧵 1/
Reposted by Richard
Remember when Aaron Swartz downloaded JSTOR archives that he had full legal rights to download and the FBI hounded him literally to death for it? Anyway,
NEW: Common Crawl, the massive archiver of the web, has gotten cozy with AI companies and is providing paywalled articles for training data. They’re also lying to publishers who have asked for material to be removed. “The robots are people too,” CC’s exec director told us when we asked about this.
The Nonprofit Feeding the Entire Internet to AI Companies
Common Crawl claims to provide a public benefit, but it lies to publishers about its activities.
www.theatlantic.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Remember when Aaron Swartz downloaded JSTOR archives that he had full legal rights to download and the FBI hounded him literally to death for it? Anyway,
Reposted by Richard
Reposted by Richard
"The risk to our country is not that Canadians will be too cautious in embracing AI, but that our government will act too rashly, tying our democracy, prosperity, security, sovereignty and collective well-being to a questionable product and its reckless promoters."
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government is ramping up its drive for AI glory while deepening an alignment with Canada’s own “tech bros” movement. Christopher Holcroft writes. #canpoli
Say Hi to Tech Bro Carney | The Tyee
As his government heedlessly embraces artificial intelligence, the threats to Canadians are clear.
thetyee.ca
November 3, 2025 at 3:18 PM
"The risk to our country is not that Canadians will be too cautious in embracing AI, but that our government will act too rashly, tying our democracy, prosperity, security, sovereignty and collective well-being to a questionable product and its reckless promoters."
Reposted by Richard
I get why it’s confusing, but “everything an LLM says is a lie, including the truth” is, I think, a good frame for dealing with them.
November 2, 2025 at 6:44 PM
I get why it’s confusing, but “everything an LLM says is a lie, including the truth” is, I think, a good frame for dealing with them.
Reposted by Richard
i’ve said this before but lemme say it again. it makes absolutely 0 sense to talk about “misuse” of llms because there is no clear use or purpose for llms to begin with. genAI is a purposeless tech floating around looking for uptake
1/
1/
November 2, 2025 at 2:17 PM
i’ve said this before but lemme say it again. it makes absolutely 0 sense to talk about “misuse” of llms because there is no clear use or purpose for llms to begin with. genAI is a purposeless tech floating around looking for uptake
1/
1/
Joel Blit should be ashamed of himself for writing this where people can see it: "the real question is not whether Canada can nurture a few AI champions, but whether farmers, teachers, small business owners, and entrepreneurs in every corner of the country can put AI to work for them" #resistAI
November 2, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Joel Blit should be ashamed of himself for writing this where people can see it: "the real question is not whether Canada can nurture a few AI champions, but whether farmers, teachers, small business owners, and entrepreneurs in every corner of the country can put AI to work for them" #resistAI
Reposted by Richard
This is what I find with my students, too. 90% of them think that AI is net bad, and none argue with my intro lecture about the objective harms of AI. And yet we get emails in our inbox from the university twice a month promoting AI tools.
‘Study after study shows that students want to develop these critical thinking skills, are not lazy, and large numbers of them would be in favor of banning ChatGPT and similar tools in universities’, says @olivia.science www.ru.nl/en/research/...
‘Opposing the inevitability of AI at universities is possible and necessary’ | Radboud University
Since the widespread release of ChatGPT in December of 2022, AI has taken over much of the world by storm – including academia. Most of this happened with very little pushback, despite a myriad of iss...
www.ru.nl
November 1, 2025 at 10:36 PM
This is what I find with my students, too. 90% of them think that AI is net bad, and none argue with my intro lecture about the objective harms of AI. And yet we get emails in our inbox from the university twice a month promoting AI tools.
Reposted by Richard
for what it's worth, don't consent to Canada's devolution into militarism and colonial violence against Indigenous people and the land - send a message NOW to tell Carney that the people refuse his destructive budget: actionnetwork.org/letters/budg...
Take action to demand a budget for the people!
This Tuesday November 4th, the Carney government will drop their new budget. It is expected to be a devastating budget that will steal tens of billions of dollars from health, education, public servic...
actionnetwork.org
November 1, 2025 at 4:33 AM
for what it's worth, don't consent to Canada's devolution into militarism and colonial violence against Indigenous people and the land - send a message NOW to tell Carney that the people refuse his destructive budget: actionnetwork.org/letters/budg...
Reposted by Richard
AI is not popular, and AI users are unpleasant asshats pivot-to-ai.com/2025/10/15/a...
AI is not popular, and AI users are unpleasant asshats
Some AI papers have a finding so good you just want to quote it everywhere. But many turn out to be trash. They’ve got bad statistics, they’ve got bad methodology, they’re really sales pieces, or t…
pivot-to-ai.com
October 19, 2025 at 2:41 PM
AI is not popular, and AI users are unpleasant asshats pivot-to-ai.com/2025/10/15/a...
"if you have to choose a “pedia” to trust, you might choose the one assembled by a bunch of pedantic nerds saying 'well, ACTUALLY' to each other until the heat death of the universe, over the one assembled by an LLM controlled by an insecure Nazi salute-throwing billionaire" #resistAI #againstAI
John Scalzi reviews Grokipedia compared to WIkipedia, based on the articles about himself. The WIkipedia one does OK actually, the Grokipedia one does not.
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/10/30/a...
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/10/30/a...
A Review of Grokipedia, Using Myself as Test Subject
What? You didn’t know that Grokipedia exists? Well, it does, and it’s Elon Musk’s attempt to run Wikipedia out of town on a rail: An “AI”-generated compendium of infor…
whatever.scalzi.com
November 1, 2025 at 12:03 AM
"if you have to choose a “pedia” to trust, you might choose the one assembled by a bunch of pedantic nerds saying 'well, ACTUALLY' to each other until the heat death of the universe, over the one assembled by an LLM controlled by an insecure Nazi salute-throwing billionaire" #resistAI #againstAI
Reposted by Richard
I wonder how the employees of Overstory Media feel about having their tech bro founder call the company "a failure" in his little newsletter, while they continue to show up at work and try to bring in readers, workers and advertisers?
October 31, 2025 at 2:29 PM
I wonder how the employees of Overstory Media feel about having their tech bro founder call the company "a failure" in his little newsletter, while they continue to show up at work and try to bring in readers, workers and advertisers?