Jacob Pleasants
@jbpleasa
Technoskeptical STEM Educator Co-Director, Civics of Technology
Loved this little bit about how this venture got started. Some real careful thought went into it, I'm sure
Holy hell this is heinous. I wonder if there are window treatments or films that can block the cameras from this.
The headline implies some pretty serious wrongdoing (and evidently there is some!), but then you read deeper and... this. Which pretty much sums up the promises and perils of mass surveillance.
I am not surprised by these results, but they are nevertheless really important to confirm empirically. Kudos to these researchers www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Surprisingly, one of the first articles was using AI for therapy. Author Rhik Samadder took a rather comedic approach, a "look at these wacky times" sort of piece. Light AI fare. Mostly harmless. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
It's worth reading the study. It's a good one. This figure is probably one of the most important findings: people will deny the influence of this tech, even in a lab context where it's kind of obvious the AI bias has been dialed way up!
The latest story about the "Mississippi Miracle" I'd be interested to hear @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social's take on this one! And I continue to wonder how my own state (OK) might try to chase that same "miracle" www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/u...
Great article by Natasha Singer. The appearance of Matter and Space was particularly wild! www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/t...
This was the bit that got me. Look, grifters have always lurked around religious spaces for obvious reasons. It just floors me how brazen this is.
IMO the way you REALLY know that they're spouting bullshit is when they invoke "neuroscience." I would challenge anyone to explain how neuroscience is remotely useful in figuring out how "AI could support learning responsibly."
The CSM report identifies conditions under which AI could be useful, but I wish it provided better guidance than this. I don't necessarily disagree, but I'm not sure that educators can readily tell when these conditions are being met.
Read this in a published research study (about an "intelligent tutoring system") and just can't get it out of my head.
Apparently students are going to absolutely LOVE taking courses that are taught by AI! Professors: Get ready, because AI is coming for your jobs!
The paper cited in this article includes this statement about avoiding anthropomorphism. But when you're assessing the "anxiety" of a piece of software... In the NYTimes article, the lead author says, "If ChatGPT kind of behaves like a human, maybe we can treat it like a human." 😵💫
Dubious, breathless claims about AI and science... www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/t...
I opened Firefox and saw this today. Finally! I've always wanted to make sure that I am fully distracted all the time, especially when I am working or writing! Thanks, Firefox 😍
This is just bizarre. Sort of seems like they want to be the ones to decide which disabilities are the "real ones." But they couldn't figure out how to do that, so they're just blowing it all up? So, some kind of mix of cruel and incompetent?
Check out this fancy new AI Snake Oil we have here! Step right up! You, sir, in the back, yes you! Come right up and slide this Snake Oil right over your ears and into your brain. Yes, that's right, this new Snake Oil connects right in to your synapses for maximum health benefit. Only $699!
I'm also looking at Eryk Salvaggio's critical read of the course and it's pretty spot on mail.cyberneticforests.com/how-does-ope...
Heaven forbid that rebuilding is *delayed* in any way. We need new tinderboxes posthaste!
I felt compelled to read this. I figured it would give me a direct line to the ideology of AI EdTech Hype. My hope is to gain some understanding of how it works. Wish me luck.
Just finished this, and I highly recommend! Helen Phillips creates an unsettling world of surveillance and pervasive advertising. No epic conflict here - just a mother trying to raise a family and live a *human* life in a bewildering world. It's an eerie look at the future we may be heading toward.