John Gallagher

Waking at 4:30 means that 8 am feels like the afternoon

F) people assume LLMs have a world model when what they are actually is more like massive search engines using gradient decent.

Look these machines are useful. No doubt. An openly sourced free academically built LLM is my ideal. I hope we get it.

E) I want the output to be cited; how marvelous would it be if they cited but that likely reveals their IP violations.

A) I don’t see this. B) Claude is a better programmer than me. C) The argument I see is around people’s ability to think being degraded. D) people‘s lived experience means they can’t trust the output so it actually doesn’t make them more efficient, it just raises their boss’ expectations.

“dad did you eat the entire wheel of Brie!?”

Remember in 2024 all those papers that began with an introduction and then *reveals like a magician* it was AI? That was when our college seniors were sophomores.

"I don't want to shame students. I want to shame Jeff Bezos" is something I said during a presentation I gave today. But really that's my politics when it comes to GenAI: recognize the social and cultural force of AI boosterism. Soft on people, hard on structure (and billionaires).

Here is my response to the idea of AI writing a literature review.

bsky.app/profile/john...

genuine question: what does “do“ mean here? That’s a very general verb, operationalizing multiple actions.

You know, I think I vaguely remember you doing something like this (like, 1.5 decades ago?!)

One of the things that works well for improving student writing: real-time live editing (RTLE). Students email you their writing. Then put it up on a screen; everyone sits close. Narrate as you edit the paragraph. Students find this helpful. We rarely SEE people write or narrative their choices.

I love the "ziploc squeezy beef"

YouTube video by Noel Deyzel Bro eats beef out a bag😭 #mealprep

www.youtube.com/shorts/zJlzy...

YouTube video by Noel Deyzel Bro eats beef out a bag😭 #mealprep

www.youtube.com/shorts/zJlzy...

Quote: "You're new here, ain'tcha, kid? Well, on some days the sandwiches contain a dead scorpion. ... Not every day,
but some days-that's why it's hell, kid."

This remains my all time favorite farside

There’s something supremely addictive about original data collection

Dear Diary,

It's week 7 of the semester. I've given up sugar. I promise I'm not eating a slice of pizza at 9 am.

My fourth grader discovered Terry Pratchett. It's lovely.

Thank you!

Thank you!

The Managerial Model of AI writing Introduction

New blog post up! Please share and subscribe.

"The Managerial Model of AI writing"

meresophistry.substack.com/p/the-manage...

Blueberry scones. That’s the post.

What the best books about time travel that you think would teach well to undergrads?

Michelle Obama started an exercise initiative for kids and the Republicans acted apoplectic about it for years

I know pointing out the hypocrisy is pointless—I know it

But if any Democrat even hinted that Americans might should *maybe* consider changing their habits in the slightest way

Fox News hosts would have been performatively hosing down steaks on air 24/7 for at least a month

I think there are some lessons to take from the research lab group approach

My not-related to my field academic take: capitalism is a myth sold to us by simply a reclassification of feudalism. I’ve read Marx, Beckert, Woods, Hobsbawn, Sweezy, Federici, Wang, Weber, Harvey, etc. I’m not convinced feudalism ever really left us. Maybe BECAUSE I read all of them.

Inbox 0 as of 6:54 am.

*Throws laptop into Mordor*

My lunch