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Chris Sanderson

@sandersonchrisj.bsky.social

PhD Linguistics Candidate at Lancaster University Working in the ESRC Centre for Corpus Approaches to Social Science on the UKRI-funded Public Discourses of Dementia Project.

152 Followers  |  150 Following  |  6 Posts  |  Joined: 07.11.2024  |  2.2668

Latest posts by sandersonchrisj.bsky.social on Bluesky

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LiveAI demo fails on the first prompt at Meta Connect 2025. #Meta #AI #LiveAI

18.09.2025 00:34 — 👍 4378    🔁 985    💬 324    📌 1428
Screenshot of the guardian profile on Threads

Screenshot of the guardian profile on Threads

Screenshot of guardian posts on threads

Screenshot of guardian posts on threads

Millions of followers ≠ engagement. @theguardian.com has 1.4m followers on Threads with almost no engagement. On Bluesky, links can get 3–4x more clicks than likes.

The real question isn’t “how many followers do you have?” but “what kind of engagement do you get?”

28.08.2025 09:28 — 👍 3849    🔁 433    💬 98    📌 47
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I'm performing at Edinburgh Fringe! 🥳

Come along and watch if you happen to be around this week! :)

11.08.2025 08:57 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Met Office: Extreme weather the UK's new normal The UK has a notably different climate compared with just a few decades ago, the Met Office says.

The thing about "new normals" is that until the whole global economy gets off of fossil fuels, new normals will soon become old normals. These are snapshots on an upward climbs not a stable new resting place at the top of a hill and... www.bbc.com/news/article...

14.07.2025 12:43 — 👍 37    🔁 9    💬 1    📌 1
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Thanks to everyone who listened to one of my talks. Glad they're are both done now! It's been so nice to meet new people and learn about their research. Having a great time and looking forward to the final panel! #CL2025

03.07.2025 11:44 — 👍 18    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
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The Misleading Panic over Misinformation People can’t agree on how to define misinformation and its related terms, making regulation nearly impossible. Instead, free expression serves as a better tool for discovering truth.

🧵 THREAD: Why the Cato Institute’s new paper on “misinformation panic” is dangerously wrong, and why it completely misunderstands the real crisis we face.
www.cato.org/policy-analy...

27.06.2025 06:50 — 👍 1717    🔁 760    💬 80    📌 167

Please stop with lazy/disrespectful headlines about Archaeologists stumbling, being puzzled etc. They did not stumble, it was discovered as part of a road scheme. Most archaeology is recovered as part of planning & development process which includes monitoring for archaeology🏺 #archaeology

25.06.2025 17:00 — 👍 105    🔁 16    💬 13    📌 4
Help Sheet: Resisting AI Mania in Schools K-12 educators are under increasing pressure to use—and have students use—a wide range of AI tools. (The term “AI” is used loosely here, just as it is by many purveyors and boosters.) Even those who envision benefits to schools of this fast-evolving category of tech should approach the well-funded AI-in-education campaign with skepticism and caution. Some of the primary arguments for teachers actively using AI tools and introducing students to AI as early as kindergarten, however, are questionable or fallacious. What follows are four of the most common arguments and rebuttals with links to sources. I have not attempted balance, in part because so much pro-AI messaging is out there and discussion of risks and costs is often minimized in favor of hope or resignation. -ALF Argument: “Schools need to prepare students for the jobs of the future.” The skills employers seek haven’t changed much over the decades—and include a lot of “soft skills” like initiative, problem-solving, communication, and critical thinking. Early research is showing that using generative AI can degrade these key skills: An MIT study showed adults using chatGPT to help write an essay “had the lowest brain engagement and ‘consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.’” Critically, “ChatGPT users got lazier with each subsequent essay, often resorting to copy-and-paste by the end of the study.” A business school found those who used AI tools often had worse critical thinking skills “mediated by increased cognitive offloading. Younger participants exhibited higher dependence on AI tools and lower critical thinking scores.” Another study revealed those using “ChatGPT engaged less in metacognitive activities…For instance, learners in the AI group frequently looped back to ChatGPT for feedback rather than reflecting independently. This dependency not only undermines critical thinking but also risks long-term skill stagnation.” …

Help Sheet: Resisting AI Mania in Schools K-12 educators are under increasing pressure to use—and have students use—a wide range of AI tools. (The term “AI” is used loosely here, just as it is by many purveyors and boosters.) Even those who envision benefits to schools of this fast-evolving category of tech should approach the well-funded AI-in-education campaign with skepticism and caution. Some of the primary arguments for teachers actively using AI tools and introducing students to AI as early as kindergarten, however, are questionable or fallacious. What follows are four of the most common arguments and rebuttals with links to sources. I have not attempted balance, in part because so much pro-AI messaging is out there and discussion of risks and costs is often minimized in favor of hope or resignation. -ALF Argument: “Schools need to prepare students for the jobs of the future.” The skills employers seek haven’t changed much over the decades—and include a lot of “soft skills” like initiative, problem-solving, communication, and critical thinking. Early research is showing that using generative AI can degrade these key skills: An MIT study showed adults using chatGPT to help write an essay “had the lowest brain engagement and ‘consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.’” Critically, “ChatGPT users got lazier with each subsequent essay, often resorting to copy-and-paste by the end of the study.” A business school found those who used AI tools often had worse critical thinking skills “mediated by increased cognitive offloading. Younger participants exhibited higher dependence on AI tools and lower critical thinking scores.” Another study revealed those using “ChatGPT engaged less in metacognitive activities…For instance, learners in the AI group frequently looped back to ChatGPT for feedback rather than reflecting independently. This dependency not only undermines critical thinking but also risks long-term skill stagnation.” …

Argument: “AI is a tool, just like a calculator.” Calculators don’t provide factually wrong answers, but AI tools have. Last year, Google’s AI search returned, among other falsehoods, that cats have gone to the moon, that Barack Obama is Muslim, and that glue goes on pizza. Even though AI tools have and are expected to improve, children in schools shouldn’t be used as tech firms’ guinea pigs for undertested, unregulated products while AI firms engage elected officials in actively resisting regulation. Calculators don’t provide dangerous, even deadly feedback. In one study, a ”chatbot recommended that a user, who said they were recovering from addiction, take a ‘small hit’ of methamphetamine” because, it said, it’s “‘what makes you able to do your job to the best of your ability.’" Users have received threatening messages from chatbots. Calculators don’t pose mental health risks because they aren’t potentially addictive or designed to encourage repeated use. They don’t flatter, direct, or manipulate. Chatbots have been designed this way—and this has led to dreadful mental health outcomes for some, including users in a New York Times report. Alleging a chatbot encouraged their teen to die by suicide, parents in Florida filed a lawsuit against its maker. Calculators don’t lie. Chatbots, however, have misled users. Writer Amanda Guinzberg shared screenshots of interactions with one that she asked to describe several of her essays. It spewed out invented material, showing the chatbot hadn’t actually accessed and processed the essays. After much prodding, it “admitted” it had only acted as though it had done that requested work, spit out mea culpas—and went on to invent or “lie” again. Calculators can’t be used to spread propaganda. AI tools, though, including those meant for schools, should worry us. Law professor Eric Muller’s back-and-forth with SchoolAI’s “Anne Frank” character showed his “helluva time trying to get her to say a bad word about Nazis.” In this er…

Argument: “AI is a tool, just like a calculator.” Calculators don’t provide factually wrong answers, but AI tools have. Last year, Google’s AI search returned, among other falsehoods, that cats have gone to the moon, that Barack Obama is Muslim, and that glue goes on pizza. Even though AI tools have and are expected to improve, children in schools shouldn’t be used as tech firms’ guinea pigs for undertested, unregulated products while AI firms engage elected officials in actively resisting regulation. Calculators don’t provide dangerous, even deadly feedback. In one study, a ”chatbot recommended that a user, who said they were recovering from addiction, take a ‘small hit’ of methamphetamine” because, it said, it’s “‘what makes you able to do your job to the best of your ability.’" Users have received threatening messages from chatbots. Calculators don’t pose mental health risks because they aren’t potentially addictive or designed to encourage repeated use. They don’t flatter, direct, or manipulate. Chatbots have been designed this way—and this has led to dreadful mental health outcomes for some, including users in a New York Times report. Alleging a chatbot encouraged their teen to die by suicide, parents in Florida filed a lawsuit against its maker. Calculators don’t lie. Chatbots, however, have misled users. Writer Amanda Guinzberg shared screenshots of interactions with one that she asked to describe several of her essays. It spewed out invented material, showing the chatbot hadn’t actually accessed and processed the essays. After much prodding, it “admitted” it had only acted as though it had done that requested work, spit out mea culpas—and went on to invent or “lie” again. Calculators can’t be used to spread propaganda. AI tools, though, including those meant for schools, should worry us. Law professor Eric Muller’s back-and-forth with SchoolAI’s “Anne Frank” character showed his “helluva time trying to get her to say a bad word about Nazis.” In this er…

Argument: “AI won’t replace teachers, but it will save them time and improve their effectiveness.” Adding edtech does not necessarily save teachers time. A recent study found that learning management systems sold to schools over the past decade-plus as time-savers aren’t delivering on making teaching easier. Instead, they found this tech (e.g. Google Classroom, Canvas) is often burdensome and contributes to burnout. As one teacher put it, it “just adds layers to tasks.” “Extra time” is rarely returned to teachers. AI proponents argue that if teachers use AI tools to grade, prepare lessons, or differentiate materials, they’ll have more time to work with students. But there are always new initiatives, duties, or committee assignments—the unpaid work districts rely on—to suck up that time. In a culture of austerity and with a USDOE that is cutting spending, teachers are likely to be assigned more students. When class sizes grow, students get less attention, and positions can be cut. AI can’t replace what teachers do, but that doesn’t mean teachers won’t be replaced. Schools are already doing it: Arizona approved a charter school in which students spend mornings working with AI and the role of teacher is reduced to “guide.” Ed tech expert Neil Selwyn argues those in “industry and policy circles…hostile to the idea of expensively trained expert professional educators who have [tenure], pension rights and union protection… [welcome] AI replacement as a way of undermining the status of the professional teacher.” Tech firms have been selling schools on untested products for years. Technophilia has led to students being on screens for hours in school each week even when their phones are banned. Writer Jess Grose explains, “Companies never had to prove that devices or software, broadly speaking, helped students learn before those devices had wormed their way into America’s public schools.” AI products appear to be no different. Efficiency is not effectiveness. “Speed a…

Argument: “AI won’t replace teachers, but it will save them time and improve their effectiveness.” Adding edtech does not necessarily save teachers time. A recent study found that learning management systems sold to schools over the past decade-plus as time-savers aren’t delivering on making teaching easier. Instead, they found this tech (e.g. Google Classroom, Canvas) is often burdensome and contributes to burnout. As one teacher put it, it “just adds layers to tasks.” “Extra time” is rarely returned to teachers. AI proponents argue that if teachers use AI tools to grade, prepare lessons, or differentiate materials, they’ll have more time to work with students. But there are always new initiatives, duties, or committee assignments—the unpaid work districts rely on—to suck up that time. In a culture of austerity and with a USDOE that is cutting spending, teachers are likely to be assigned more students. When class sizes grow, students get less attention, and positions can be cut. AI can’t replace what teachers do, but that doesn’t mean teachers won’t be replaced. Schools are already doing it: Arizona approved a charter school in which students spend mornings working with AI and the role of teacher is reduced to “guide.” Ed tech expert Neil Selwyn argues those in “industry and policy circles…hostile to the idea of expensively trained expert professional educators who have [tenure], pension rights and union protection… [welcome] AI replacement as a way of undermining the status of the professional teacher.” Tech firms have been selling schools on untested products for years. Technophilia has led to students being on screens for hours in school each week even when their phones are banned. Writer Jess Grose explains, “Companies never had to prove that devices or software, broadly speaking, helped students learn before those devices had wormed their way into America’s public schools.” AI products appear to be no different. Efficiency is not effectiveness. “Speed a…

Argument: “Students are already using AI, so we have to teach them ethical use. If schools want ethical students, teach ethics. More students are using AI tools to cheat, an age-old problem they make much easier. This won’t be addressed by showing students how to use this minute’s AI, an argument implying students don’t know what plagiarism is (solved by teaching about plagiarism) or understand academic integrity (solved by teaching and enforcing its bounds)—or that teachers create weak assignments or don’t convey purpose. The latter aren’t solved by attempting to redirect students motivated and able to cheat. Students can be educated on the ethics of AI without encouraging use of AI tools. They can be taught, as part of media literacy and social media safety programs, about AI’s potential and applications as well as how it can enable predation, perpetuate bias, and spread disinformation. They should be taught about the risks of AI and its various social, economic, and environmental costs. Giving a nod to these issues while integrating AI throughout schools sends a strong message: the schools don’t really care and neither should students. Children can’t be expected to use AI responsibly when adults aren’t. Many pushing schools to embrace AI don’t know much about it. One example: Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who said kindergartners should be taught A1 (a steak sauce). The LA Times introduced a biased and likely politically-motivated AI feature. The Chicago Sun-Times published a summer reading list including nonexistent books—yet teachers are told to use the same tools to do similar work. Educators using AI to cut corners can strike students as hypocritical. The many costs of AI call into question the possibility of ethical AI use. These include: Energy - AI data centers need huge amounts of water as coolant as well as electricity, pulling these resources from their communities—which tend to be lower-income—straining the grid, and raising household costs. Thi…

Argument: “Students are already using AI, so we have to teach them ethical use. If schools want ethical students, teach ethics. More students are using AI tools to cheat, an age-old problem they make much easier. This won’t be addressed by showing students how to use this minute’s AI, an argument implying students don’t know what plagiarism is (solved by teaching about plagiarism) or understand academic integrity (solved by teaching and enforcing its bounds)—or that teachers create weak assignments or don’t convey purpose. The latter aren’t solved by attempting to redirect students motivated and able to cheat. Students can be educated on the ethics of AI without encouraging use of AI tools. They can be taught, as part of media literacy and social media safety programs, about AI’s potential and applications as well as how it can enable predation, perpetuate bias, and spread disinformation. They should be taught about the risks of AI and its various social, economic, and environmental costs. Giving a nod to these issues while integrating AI throughout schools sends a strong message: the schools don’t really care and neither should students. Children can’t be expected to use AI responsibly when adults aren’t. Many pushing schools to embrace AI don’t know much about it. One example: Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who said kindergartners should be taught A1 (a steak sauce). The LA Times introduced a biased and likely politically-motivated AI feature. The Chicago Sun-Times published a summer reading list including nonexistent books—yet teachers are told to use the same tools to do similar work. Educators using AI to cut corners can strike students as hypocritical. The many costs of AI call into question the possibility of ethical AI use. These include: Energy - AI data centers need huge amounts of water as coolant as well as electricity, pulling these resources from their communities—which tend to be lower-income—straining the grid, and raising household costs. Thi…

I put together a short document for those wary of the AI mania in schools. Four of the main arguments for teachers using AI tools and introducing kids to AI as early as kindergarten are addressed--with thoughts and rebuttals and links to sources. Hope it's helpful.

drive.google.com/file/d/1urCM...

24.06.2025 22:37 — 👍 161    🔁 71    💬 11    📌 3

Short news reports like, "President announces ceasefire" with a screenshot of a Truth Social post and little else only serve to amplify his platform, encourage bypassing of critical questioning and allow the shaping of the message to be entirely dictated by a political leader. Citizens gain nothing.

24.06.2025 11:48 — 👍 16    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 1

An elected official is publicly mocking a student for wearing a kufiyeh, having purple hair, and using they/them pronouns. Not because it affects governance, not because it harms anyone.
But because, in the age of culture war politics, symbolic identity is the battleground.

22.05.2025 17:32 — 👍 2078    🔁 240    💬 6    📌 4

Prima Facie is soooo good! I saw the streamed version and wow it is powerful stuff! I'm sure you will thoroughly enjoy it! :)

27.03.2025 17:53 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

We now have a Bluesky account for the Public Discourses of Dementia project! Check out what we're doing, and what we've been up to, below! 👇 #dementia #appliedlinguistics #discourse #corpuslinguistics

26.03.2025 16:21 — 👍 27    🔁 9    💬 0    📌 0
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M&S Hit by Customer Boycott Over GB News Adverts After Presenter Labels LGBTQ+ People 'Paedos' Thousands of customers are threatening to stop using the supposedly LGBTQ+ inclusive retail giant

Great piece just out from @bylinetimes.bsky.social featuring the #StopFundingHate petition for M&S to drop their ads with GB News - now approaching 11,000 signatures! 👏👏👏 bylinetimes.com/2025/02/24/m...

24.02.2025 18:03 — 👍 146    🔁 53    💬 4    📌 2
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To spare you all from Twitter, here’s @shashj.bsky.social’s great rebuttal.

21.02.2025 19:55 — 👍 1000    🔁 235    💬 15    📌 13

Great Visualisation in this graph of how the fact clarification does not get the views, and the impact of a viral post.

08.02.2025 16:39 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
Programme for HSC SIG event March 2025

Programme for HSC SIG event March 2025

We are delighted to confirm our #2025 Workshop series: Inequalities, inclusion and innovation. In person @lancslinguistics.bsky.social on 21/03/25 and online on 25/03/25. Plenaries @elenasemino.bsky.social & @fmfederici.bsky.social All welcome: register via website - baalhealthsci.wordpress.com

07.02.2025 14:56 — 👍 10    🔁 6    💬 0    📌 7
Screenshot from GB News. The image shows a presenter wearing a suit and tie, with union jack colours in the background. To the right is an image of an NHS logo over rainbow flag colours. Above that logo is the text "NHS DIVERSITY OBSESSION KILLING PATIENTS".

Screenshot from GB News. The image shows a presenter wearing a suit and tie, with union jack colours in the background. To the right is an image of an NHS logo over rainbow flag colours. Above that logo is the text "NHS DIVERSITY OBSESSION KILLING PATIENTS".

Now GB News has started pushing a toxic suggestion that the NHS has a "diversity obsession" which is "killing patients".

This is what Sky, Trailfinders and Trivago are enabling by supporting GB News

It will only add to concerns about efforts by GB News to bring Trump's playbook to the UK.

02.02.2025 20:15 — 👍 182    🔁 75    💬 15    📌 8
An advertisement for the polio vaccine which reads: "they all got vaccine except dad...don't take a chance...take your polio shots!" It depicts a photo of a family gathered around a father who is in an iron lung.

An advertisement for the polio vaccine which reads: "they all got vaccine except dad...don't take a chance...take your polio shots!" It depicts a photo of a family gathered around a father who is in an iron lung.

With science falling under increasing attack, this medical historian is here to remind people of the power of #vaccines. THREAD🧵

Hard-hitting polio advert from 1958. In the first half of the 20th century, polio was the leading cause of death in children and young adults. 1/7

01.02.2025 15:29 — 👍 8669    🔁 2781    💬 185    📌 106

Reform UK is a far-right party, but that doesn’t mean their voters are. Reform are bringing together a coalition united by two things: a distrust of mainstream politics and pessimism about the state of the country.

02.02.2025 08:02 — 👍 42    🔁 5    💬 6    📌 2
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Linking LGBTQ+ inclusion to paedophilia is a toxic and dangerous trope.

Please take action to urge Sky to pull their ads from GB News: actionstorm.org/petitions/cu...

30.01.2025 14:07 — 👍 511    🔁 201    💬 39    📌 45
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Cryptocurrency Might be a Path to Authoritarianism Extreme libertarians built blockchain to decentralize government and corporate power. It could consolidate their control instead.

That time when I wrote this seven and one half years ago

23.01.2025 23:34 — 👍 8903    🔁 2005    💬 285    📌 100

Also UK here with #democrat and #Jan6th banned, I seem to be able to get around it by sending someone the hashtag in Instagram chat then clicking on it there.
I am on PC, not sure if the same is true for mobile.

21.01.2025 14:55 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Meta's policy is that group-based harassment is generally bad and forbidden *except for this one particular group*

08.01.2025 04:30 — 👍 584    🔁 173    💬 15    📌 5

“A line has been crossed”: PM Keir Starmer has responded after days of attacks from Elon Musk on himself and Jess Phillips.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Starmer speak in this way before - such so that it’s worth posting his comments in full.

🧵with the PM’s response to Sky’s @bethrigby.bsky.social.

06.01.2025 11:38 — 👍 190    🔁 67    💬 8    📌 5
Biscuitland | Comedy Blap | Channel 4 Comedy
YouTube video by Channel 4 Comedy Biscuitland | Comedy Blap | Channel 4 Comedy

If you want an authentic & joyful presentation of #SocialCare then check out our
Channel4, BAFTA nominated short #Biscuitland m.youtube.com/watch?v=hLsW... like my life social care’s at the centre. A lot less holding hands than in traditional depictions. Also check out @socialcarefuture.bsky.social

03.01.2025 12:54 — 👍 5    🔁 5    💬 1    📌 0

Congrats! What a massive achievement! 🥳🥳

22.12.2024 13:28 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

@sandersonchrisj is following 20 prominent accounts