Sarah Thelen
@thelen.bsky.social
teacher, historian, instructional designer, wanderer and noticer
Reposted by Sarah Thelen
doing historiography again
June 19, 2025 at 10:08 PM
doing historiography again
Reposted by Sarah Thelen
i just find this so bizarre. searching through texts and doing the reading for myself is how i actually think through ideas! trying to put together a sentence is how i figure out what i actually want to say!
Everyone Is Using A.I. for Everything. Is That Bad?
www.nytimes.com
June 18, 2025 at 12:55 AM
i just find this so bizarre. searching through texts and doing the reading for myself is how i actually think through ideas! trying to put together a sentence is how i figure out what i actually want to say!
Reposted by Sarah Thelen
For me, what makes most of the works of history that I consider great are those that offer a glimpse into the unique mind and obsessions of people who have sifted through and curated a large number of sources, and made compelling and often idiosyncratic choices about what to highlight./9
June 16, 2025 at 11:45 AM
For me, what makes most of the works of history that I consider great are those that offer a glimpse into the unique mind and obsessions of people who have sifted through and curated a large number of sources, and made compelling and often idiosyncratic choices about what to highlight./9
Reposted by Sarah Thelen
if you ask it for a thing that looks like an answer, it gives you a thing that looks like an answer
if you ask it for a thing that looks like a source, it gives you thing that looks like a source
if you tell it that it's wrong and ask it for a thing that looks like an apology, that's what you get
if you ask it for a thing that looks like a source, it gives you thing that looks like a source
if you tell it that it's wrong and ask it for a thing that looks like an apology, that's what you get
Predictive text models do not ever "answer your question"
They predict what an answer to your question would probably look like.
Which is very, very, very different
They predict what an answer to your question would probably look like.
Which is very, very, very different
I don’t think it can be emphasized enough that large language models were never intended to do math or know facts; literally all they do is attempt to sound like the text they’re given, which may or may not include math or facts. They don’t do logic or fact checking — they’re just not built for that
June 16, 2025 at 7:32 PM
if you ask it for a thing that looks like an answer, it gives you a thing that looks like an answer
if you ask it for a thing that looks like a source, it gives you thing that looks like a source
if you tell it that it's wrong and ask it for a thing that looks like an apology, that's what you get
if you ask it for a thing that looks like a source, it gives you thing that looks like a source
if you tell it that it's wrong and ask it for a thing that looks like an apology, that's what you get
Reposted by Sarah Thelen
This means as a historian or political commentator, you spend quite a lot of time having to explain “yes, I know, I’m not saying it SHOULD be like this, I’m saying it IS like this,” unless you couch everything you say in fluffy adverbs (“Unfortunately…”), and often it happens even if you do.
June 10, 2025 at 8:28 AM
This means as a historian or political commentator, you spend quite a lot of time having to explain “yes, I know, I’m not saying it SHOULD be like this, I’m saying it IS like this,” unless you couch everything you say in fluffy adverbs (“Unfortunately…”), and often it happens even if you do.
Reposted by Sarah Thelen
To wrap up, some key distinctions I use to do my work:
Public vs. audience
Journalism vs. the media
Truth-seeking vs. refuge-seeking
Political vs. politicized
Issues vs. troubles
Ritual vs. transmission
Expect vs. predict
Subscription vs. membership
"When in doubt, draw a distinction." 25/
Public vs. audience
Journalism vs. the media
Truth-seeking vs. refuge-seeking
Political vs. politicized
Issues vs. troubles
Ritual vs. transmission
Expect vs. predict
Subscription vs. membership
"When in doubt, draw a distinction." 25/
April 26, 2025 at 7:36 PM
To wrap up, some key distinctions I use to do my work:
Public vs. audience
Journalism vs. the media
Truth-seeking vs. refuge-seeking
Political vs. politicized
Issues vs. troubles
Ritual vs. transmission
Expect vs. predict
Subscription vs. membership
"When in doubt, draw a distinction." 25/
Public vs. audience
Journalism vs. the media
Truth-seeking vs. refuge-seeking
Political vs. politicized
Issues vs. troubles
Ritual vs. transmission
Expect vs. predict
Subscription vs. membership
"When in doubt, draw a distinction." 25/
Reposted by Sarah Thelen
"Gen AI is early 1900s spiritualism for digital moderns" prediction stays winning
April 20, 2025 at 5:34 PM
"Gen AI is early 1900s spiritualism for digital moderns" prediction stays winning
Reposted by Sarah Thelen
How Irish booksellers feel about the arrival of Amazon.ie: ‘It’s a very real danger to the industry’. Bookshops offer something that an exclusively online retailer cannot, but they may need support to compete against a corporate giant, writes Tim Groenland
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
Amazon.ie: Low Prices in Electronics, Books, Sports Equipment & more
Sign up to Amazon Prime for unlimited free delivery. Low prices at Amazon on electronics, books, music, video games, home & garden and much more.
Amazon.ie
April 16, 2025 at 6:04 AM
How Irish booksellers feel about the arrival of Amazon.ie: ‘It’s a very real danger to the industry’. Bookshops offer something that an exclusively online retailer cannot, but they may need support to compete against a corporate giant, writes Tim Groenland
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
Reposted by Sarah Thelen
Hi! Are you a US researcher who spent time thinking about humans? Then your work is in danger of censorship and loss. I'm here to walk you through basic self-archiving.
Maybe you think I am being hyperbolic. You only worked on bacteria! Not your problem. Do me a favor and join me anyway.
Maybe you think I am being hyperbolic. You only worked on bacteria! Not your problem. Do me a favor and join me anyway.
April 9, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Hi! Are you a US researcher who spent time thinking about humans? Then your work is in danger of censorship and loss. I'm here to walk you through basic self-archiving.
Maybe you think I am being hyperbolic. You only worked on bacteria! Not your problem. Do me a favor and join me anyway.
Maybe you think I am being hyperbolic. You only worked on bacteria! Not your problem. Do me a favor and join me anyway.
Reposted by Sarah Thelen
New chapter out by me where I argue that people who claim to collaborate with LLMs are mistaken about the role of the bots, and that they're weak ass tools rather than serving the role of an actual collaborator academic.oup.com/edited-volum...
How Not to Collaborate with Large Language Models: The Current Impossibility of Social Cognition with AI Systems | Oxford Intersections: AI in Society | Oxford Academic
academic.oup.com
April 8, 2025 at 5:34 PM
New chapter out by me where I argue that people who claim to collaborate with LLMs are mistaken about the role of the bots, and that they're weak ass tools rather than serving the role of an actual collaborator academic.oup.com/edited-volum...
Some really great advice here
If you're seeing encouragement/demands to do alt text and you're overwhelmed or confused about how to do it and you're worried you're going to do it wrong...
this thread is for you.
First: prompt questions to get you started.
this thread is for you.
First: prompt questions to get you started.
Alt text prompt Qs:
What would someone who can't see the image need to know about it in order to take part in the conversation? What is it about this image that made you choose it? What are the important details someone who could see the image would take away from it?
(Not for images of text.)
What would someone who can't see the image need to know about it in order to take part in the conversation? What is it about this image that made you choose it? What are the important details someone who could see the image would take away from it?
(Not for images of text.)
February 25, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Some really great advice here
Reposted by Sarah Thelen
The HEA has published Ten Considerations for Generative AI Adoption in Irish Higher Education, which provide a foundation for institutions to shape policies and practices around generative AI.
hub.teachingandlearning.ie/ten-consider...
hub.teachingandlearning.ie/ten-consider...
February 24, 2025 at 9:46 AM
The HEA has published Ten Considerations for Generative AI Adoption in Irish Higher Education, which provide a foundation for institutions to shape policies and practices around generative AI.
hub.teachingandlearning.ie/ten-consider...
hub.teachingandlearning.ie/ten-consider...
Reposted by Sarah Thelen
Universities — including the schools that most aggressively shut down student activism — are now fully panicking because the Trump administration is about to shut down all kinds of funding for research and more. Too bad they made it clear that their students shouldn’t speak up and speak out.
February 6, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Universities — including the schools that most aggressively shut down student activism — are now fully panicking because the Trump administration is about to shut down all kinds of funding for research and more. Too bad they made it clear that their students shouldn’t speak up and speak out.
Reposted by Sarah Thelen
I have been soft lobbying for the ALA to change Banned Books Week to Freedom to Read / Readers’ Choice week for like a decade bc of this very impression. Having a banned book is not a positive thing. It’s an attack.
Just an FYI for people who may be new to the book banning stuff, when your books are banned it does not mean you’re on “the right side.” It means that your art (and probably you too) is being targeted by right wing extremists for erasure. It means you are being silenced. It’s NOT GOOD.
January 26, 2025 at 8:00 PM
I have been soft lobbying for the ALA to change Banned Books Week to Freedom to Read / Readers’ Choice week for like a decade bc of this very impression. Having a banned book is not a positive thing. It’s an attack.
Fascinating!
Next time you are on EEBO or ECCO and see a thumbprint in the corner, remember it is likely the hands of women digitizing books in London basements during the blitz. They didnt know if the books would survive.
January 27, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Fascinating!
Reposted by Sarah Thelen
I was writing about deterrence today and remembered my favourite way of explaining it
January 26, 2025 at 5:58 PM
I was writing about deterrence today and remembered my favourite way of explaining it
Reposted by Sarah Thelen
Channel your inner Amelia Bedelia
The fascists should find it hard TO DO EVERYTHING. They should not be able to find people to work for them. People should act like they are invisible. You did not hear them. You did not get that email. Oooh, did you ask for a pencil? I thought you said stencil.
January 25, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Channel your inner Amelia Bedelia
History is never as straightforward as some people want it to be
“I thought the AI chatbots would do a lot better,” said del Rio-Chanona, corresponding author of the study and assistant professor at UCL. “History is often viewed as facts, but sometimes interpretation is necessary to make sense of it.”
Where does one even start....🗃️
www.earth.com/news/ai-stru...
Where does one even start....🗃️
www.earth.com/news/ai-stru...
AI struggles to understand human history and fails miserably when tested
The study, which is the first of its kind, evaluates the historical knowledge of leading AI models such as ChatGPT-4, Llama, and Gemini.
www.earth.com
January 23, 2025 at 8:24 PM
History is never as straightforward as some people want it to be
Reposted by Sarah Thelen
Studying and teaching history is a form of resistance. 🗃️
January 22, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Studying and teaching history is a form of resistance. 🗃️
Unfortunately, the pedestrian crossing by me is *more* dangerous than cruising in the middle of the street
I'm lucky enough to be able to walk to work. Lately I've been going out of my way so I can cross at the pedestrian crossing because people are driving SO dangerously it's scary trying to cross busy roads. We have to create more viable public transport options in Ireland. This is insane like.
January 18, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Unfortunately, the pedestrian crossing by me is *more* dangerous than cruising in the middle of the street
Reposted by Sarah Thelen
anyway it's probably fine, it is definitely reasonable to have a machine that lies confidently about things you may not be certain about. a program that's baked into the OS and designed to be turned to for help when you're stuck and uncertain SHOULD randomly make shit up, including references,
November 22, 2023 at 10:46 PM
anyway it's probably fine, it is definitely reasonable to have a machine that lies confidently about things you may not be certain about. a program that's baked into the OS and designed to be turned to for help when you're stuck and uncertain SHOULD randomly make shit up, including references,
From _Clio Wired_ (2011)::
"The danger is ... that as the Web goes down the well-worn road of radio, tv, and cable, in which large 'infotainment' conglomerates come to dominate the wires, 'choice' becomes narrowly defined as the competition between two or three very similar 'products.'"
"The danger is ... that as the Web goes down the well-worn road of radio, tv, and cable, in which large 'infotainment' conglomerates come to dominate the wires, 'choice' becomes narrowly defined as the competition between two or three very similar 'products.'"
January 13, 2025 at 10:10 PM
From _Clio Wired_ (2011)::
"The danger is ... that as the Web goes down the well-worn road of radio, tv, and cable, in which large 'infotainment' conglomerates come to dominate the wires, 'choice' becomes narrowly defined as the competition between two or three very similar 'products.'"
"The danger is ... that as the Web goes down the well-worn road of radio, tv, and cable, in which large 'infotainment' conglomerates come to dominate the wires, 'choice' becomes narrowly defined as the competition between two or three very similar 'products.'"