Tobias Flattery
@tobiasflattery.bsky.social
Philosophy professor @ Wake Forest University. Writes and teaches in technology ethics, history of philosophy. Notre Dame alum.
https://sites.google.com/view/tobiasflattery/home
#philosophy #philsky #techethics #AIethics #ai #robots #philtech #leibniz
https://sites.google.com/view/tobiasflattery/home
#philosophy #philsky #techethics #AIethics #ai #robots #philtech #leibniz
Pinned
New open-access publication!
"Deepfakes and Dishonesty" in Philosophy & Technology
When is deepfaking dishonest? We offer a philosophical account to help answer that question. Tobias did most of the work on this one, and kindly let me tag along.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
"Deepfakes and Dishonesty" in Philosophy & Technology
When is deepfaking dishonest? We offer a philosophical account to help answer that question. Tobias did most of the work on this one, and kindly let me tag along.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
“Deepfakes and Dishonesty” - Philosophy & Technology
Deepfakes raise various concerns: risks of political destabilization, depictions of persons without consent and causing them harms, erosion of trust in video and audio as reliable sources of evidence,...
link.springer.com
If you haven’t seen it already, do check out our new paper on deepfakes and dishonesty! #techethics #aiethics #ai #ethics
How is this ok?? I know Academia.edu has been annoying lately, but, really? Turning academic papers into comics? And without consent? Or maybe it’s just a dishonest clickbait subject line. #academicsky #ai
November 1, 2025 at 12:54 PM
How is this ok?? I know Academia.edu has been annoying lately, but, really? Turning academic papers into comics? And without consent? Or maybe it’s just a dishonest clickbait subject line. #academicsky #ai
Sometimes academics get email notifications for conferences or workshops that, when shown only partially, sound like very different sorts of events. #academicsky
October 31, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Sometimes academics get email notifications for conferences or workshops that, when shown only partially, sound like very different sorts of events. #academicsky
PSA for undergrads & grad students: never ever lose your notes from college and/or grad school. Keep 'em in a vault. Keep 'em in an undying shared folder. Years later you might want--or need!--those notes. If you can't find them, you'll rend your garments & gnash your teeth. #highered #academicsky
October 20, 2025 at 9:34 PM
PSA for undergrads & grad students: never ever lose your notes from college and/or grad school. Keep 'em in a vault. Keep 'em in an undying shared folder. Years later you might want--or need!--those notes. If you can't find them, you'll rend your garments & gnash your teeth. #highered #academicsky
A sequence of events: handed back exams at the end of class; considered eating banana; applied hand sanitizer first; learned immediately that multiple fingers suffered paper cuts from handing back exams. 😑
#academicsky
#academicsky
October 15, 2025 at 7:28 PM
A sequence of events: handed back exams at the end of class; considered eating banana; applied hand sanitizer first; learned immediately that multiple fingers suffered paper cuts from handing back exams. 😑
#academicsky
#academicsky
😂
October 6, 2025 at 11:12 AM
😂
Pandora sphinx moth! Ran into this fantastic moth at a medical center. Just chillin on the window, looking awesome. #entomology
October 4, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Pandora sphinx moth! Ran into this fantastic moth at a medical center. Just chillin on the window, looking awesome. #entomology
Is it just me, or is Adobe Acrobat becoming dreadful? Typically I use other PDF readers, but I needed Acrobat for something. Upon opening it, multiple additional window frames pop up, one by one (not simult.), pushing me to use AI assistance, AI summaries, etc. I just want to print! #academicsky #ai
September 29, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Is it just me, or is Adobe Acrobat becoming dreadful? Typically I use other PDF readers, but I needed Acrobat for something. Upon opening it, multiple additional window frames pop up, one by one (not simult.), pushing me to use AI assistance, AI summaries, etc. I just want to print! #academicsky #ai
Looks like a flooded road might be coming up in 1.8 miles? (If you know, you know.) #philsky #academicsky
September 26, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Looks like a flooded road might be coming up in 1.8 miles? (If you know, you know.) #philsky #academicsky
Is there new, groundbreaking research showing that using headphones or earbuds will cause one’s head to melt, or immediate infertility, or one’s appendages to fall off? I’m trying to understand why so many people (not just young) are playing videos aloud on their phones in public. #academicsky
September 25, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Is there new, groundbreaking research showing that using headphones or earbuds will cause one’s head to melt, or immediate infertility, or one’s appendages to fall off? I’m trying to understand why so many people (not just young) are playing videos aloud on their phones in public. #academicsky
Reposted by Tobias Flattery
It is UK publication day for "The Magic Kingdom and the Meaning of Life" (from @politybooks.bsky.social). I guess it's a strange time for a book about Disney to arrive in the world, but this project means a lot to me, and I'm really proud of it. www.wiley.com/en-ie/The+Ma...
The Magic Kingdom and the Meaning of Life: A Philosopher Visits Disney World
What truths and life lessons can we take away from a seemingly trivial theme park in Orlando, Florida? <br /><br />Father and philosopher Adam Kadlac reflects on his own visits to Walt Disney World, a...
www.wiley.com
September 19, 2025 at 6:17 PM
It is UK publication day for "The Magic Kingdom and the Meaning of Life" (from @politybooks.bsky.social). I guess it's a strange time for a book about Disney to arrive in the world, but this project means a lot to me, and I'm really proud of it. www.wiley.com/en-ie/The+Ma...
Interested in the ethics of AI-generated art? Check out this short video on the awesome work my undergrad research advisee, Ashley Li, has been doing at @wakeforest.bsky.social! (There's a bit in there about my work, but Ashley's the star of this show!) #aiethics #ai #academicsky
What counts as art in the age of AI? 🎨🤖
Ashley Li (’26) is exploring the ethics of AI-generated art, deepfakes and digital technologies alongside faculty mentor Dr. Tobias Flattery of the Department of Philosophy.
Watch: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fB4P_6SSt3U
#WFUresearch #ProHumanitate
Ashley Li (’26) is exploring the ethics of AI-generated art, deepfakes and digital technologies alongside faculty mentor Dr. Tobias Flattery of the Department of Philosophy.
Watch: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fB4P_6SSt3U
#WFUresearch #ProHumanitate
Undergraduate Research Spotlight: Ashley Li ('26)
YouTube video by Wake Forest University
www.youtube.com
September 23, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Interested in the ethics of AI-generated art? Check out this short video on the awesome work my undergrad research advisee, Ashley Li, has been doing at @wakeforest.bsky.social! (There's a bit in there about my work, but Ashley's the star of this show!) #aiethics #ai #academicsky
Getting some love from the @wakeforest.bsky.social news folks, about my interview on the Deacs.AI podcast! #aiethics #academicsky
Should you say “please” and “thank you” to a chatbot? | Inside WFU
Should you say “please” and “thank you” to a chatbot? Sit down with WFU colleagues Ryan Scholl (Information Systems) and philosophy professor Tobias Flattery on this Deacs.AI episode to explore the cu...
inside.wfu.edu
September 22, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Getting some love from the @wakeforest.bsky.social news folks, about my interview on the Deacs.AI podcast! #aiethics #academicsky
I mentioned Descartes's dualism as an unrelated aside during a day on logic in my moral problems course. After class, a student asked me to recommend a good translation of Descartes. I emailed him this photo. This week, he brought his new copy to class to show me. Life is good. #philsky #academicsky
September 18, 2025 at 7:19 PM
I mentioned Descartes's dualism as an unrelated aside during a day on logic in my moral problems course. After class, a student asked me to recommend a good translation of Descartes. I emailed him this photo. This week, he brought his new copy to class to show me. Life is good. #philsky #academicsky
Concerned about AI in higher ed & society? Or excited? Or somewhere in the middle? You might find my interview on the Deacs.AI podcast interesting! We talk about AI in higher ed, AIs & consciousness, robot rights, AI friends, and more. #aiethics #academicsky #ai
I Think, Therefore AI Am?
Podcast Episode · Deacs.AI · 09/16/2025 · 1h 9m
podcasts.apple.com
September 18, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Concerned about AI in higher ed & society? Or excited? Or somewhere in the middle? You might find my interview on the Deacs.AI podcast interesting! We talk about AI in higher ed, AIs & consciousness, robot rights, AI friends, and more. #aiethics #academicsky #ai
Reposted by Tobias Flattery
Wake Forest neuroscientist Kenneth T. Kishida has been named a Wells Fargo Faculty Scholar. His research measuring brain chemistry in real time is transforming how we understand decision-making and mood. #ProHumanitate #WFUResearch https://wakefo.rest/3K3aI8F
Neuroscientist named Wells Fargo Faculty Scholar | Wake Forest News
Wake Forest University has announced that Boswell Presidential Chair in Neuroscience and Society Kenneth T. Kishida is its newest Wells Fargo Faculty Scholar.
news.wfu.edu
September 16, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Wake Forest neuroscientist Kenneth T. Kishida has been named a Wells Fargo Faculty Scholar. His research measuring brain chemistry in real time is transforming how we understand decision-making and mood. #ProHumanitate #WFUResearch https://wakefo.rest/3K3aI8F
Plato has Laches express well why doing philosophy can be hard: "I am really getting annoyed at being unable to express what I think... I still think I know what [X] is, but I can’t understand how it has escaped me just now so that I can’t pin it down in words and say what it is.” #philsky
September 4, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Plato has Laches express well why doing philosophy can be hard: "I am really getting annoyed at being unable to express what I think... I still think I know what [X] is, but I can’t understand how it has escaped me just now so that I can’t pin it down in words and say what it is.” #philsky
Love this: just got a note from a former student--from a class 3 yrs ago!--wanting to chat about Bostrom's simulation argument & current agentic AI systems. Another part of the job that I love! What's the simulation argument? See link! #aiethics #philsky #academicsky
simulation-argument.com/matrix/
simulation-argument.com/matrix/
What's
the probability that we're living in the Matrix?
simulation-argument.com
August 29, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Love this: just got a note from a former student--from a class 3 yrs ago!--wanting to chat about Bostrom's simulation argument & current agentic AI systems. Another part of the job that I love! What's the simulation argument? See link! #aiethics #philsky #academicsky
simulation-argument.com/matrix/
simulation-argument.com/matrix/
Today is no ordinary Monday. It’s Mega-Monday: when the 1st day of college classes falls on a Monday, and a kiddo’s doc appt. Thus, in accordance with the laws of the universe, when I tried to start my car this morning, it broke massively. The sound of the fabric of spacetime imploding. #academicsky
August 25, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Today is no ordinary Monday. It’s Mega-Monday: when the 1st day of college classes falls on a Monday, and a kiddo’s doc appt. Thus, in accordance with the laws of the universe, when I tried to start my car this morning, it broke massively. The sound of the fabric of spacetime imploding. #academicsky
August 22, 2025 at 2:54 PM
I assured the student that I’m indeed alive, not dead. 😁 (I also told the student that I’ve done he same typo myself, even in a few grad school cover letters!) #academicsky
August 22, 2025 at 1:24 PM
I assured the student that I’m indeed alive, not dead. 😁 (I also told the student that I’ve done he same typo myself, even in a few grad school cover letters!) #academicsky
Welp, congrats, North Carolina DMV system. You’re actually worse than the California DMV system. That’s tough to do.
August 16, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Welp, congrats, North Carolina DMV system. You’re actually worse than the California DMV system. That’s tough to do.
That feeling when you’re like so totally prepared for that podcast interview, and you’re pumped about it despite being stressed about putting off some semester prep for it… and then you realize, one hour before the interview, that the interview is next week. Not winning today. 😆🤦♂️ #academicsky
August 15, 2025 at 4:12 PM
That feeling when you’re like so totally prepared for that podcast interview, and you’re pumped about it despite being stressed about putting off some semester prep for it… and then you realize, one hour before the interview, that the interview is next week. Not winning today. 😆🤦♂️ #academicsky
Please don't throw your pets to the wolves... er... tigers or whatever. apnews.com/article/denm...
Denmark zoo asks people to donate their small pets as food for captive predators
The Aalborg zoo says it is trying to mimic the natural food chain of the animals housed there and offers assurances the pets will be “gently euthanized” by trained staff.
apnews.com
August 5, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Please don't throw your pets to the wolves... er... tigers or whatever. apnews.com/article/denm...
Reposted by Tobias Flattery
Feeling this hard today. #AcademicSky
August 2, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Feeling this hard today. #AcademicSky