Alyssa Columbus

Curious how others are thinking about this, especially those working at the intersection of AI, systems, and decision-making.

#msc2026 #AI #CyberSecurity #Fulbright

DEF CON Meets MCSC 2026: On Agency, AI, and the Future We Are Learning to Navigate Reflections on AI, cybersecurity, and agency from DEF CON Meets MCSC 2026 in Munich

I've shared longer reflections across AI, cybersecurity, and policy:
✉️ alyssacolumbus.substack.com/p/def-con-me...
✍️ alyssacolumbus.com/2026/02/13/d...

AI is not just accelerating action; it's also expanding the space of possible actions far faster than our ability to reason about them.

This connects closely to my own work on multiplicity in data analysis. As the space of possible paths grows, the core challenge shifts from computation to interpretation, selection, and accountability.

• We have flexibility at the interface layer, but limited control over the underlying infrastructure
• What looks like choice is often constrained by systems shaped by incentives, compute, and network effects

Across panels on AI, cybersecurity, and policy, a few tensions kept surfacing:
• We can generate exploits, analyses, and systems faster than we can truly understand them

A question that stuck with me was: "What does agency mean in a world where the cost of doing something is rapidly approaching zero, but the cost of understanding it has not?"

Spent yesterday at @defcon.bsky.social Meets Munich Cyber Security Conference (#mcsc2026) here in Munich, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. Not just about what AI can do, but how it is shifting the relationship between understanding and action.

New online! Biodiversity shapes humanity’s fight against infectious disease

❗️Our next workshop will be on July 31st, 6 pm CEST, on How to Use R with Excel by
@alycolumbus.bsky.social !
Register or sponsor a student by donating to support Ukraine!
Details: bit.ly/3wBeY4S
Please share!
#AcademicSky #EconSky #RStats

On July 31st, we will have a workshop on How to Use Excel with R by @alycolumbus.bsky.social
More info: bit.ly/42QjsFX
Please share!
#RStats #EconSky #AcademicSky

Congratulations to PhD student @alycolumbus.bsky.social who has received one of the 2025 Teaching Assistant Recognition Awards! This award honors teaching assistants who have demonstrated exceptional dedication and excellence in their role, going far beyond standard expectations.

Thank you so much! :)

Excited to curate the @weare.rladies.org account this week! 🦋👩‍💻 🎉 #RLadies #RStats

Thanks for making this! I’d love to be added if there’s still space.

I'm excited to see that @jhubiostat.bsky.social created a starter pack for members and alumni of this historical department

Help us spread the word around to get more members and alumni on it! 🙌🏽

#AcademicSky #Biostats #Biostatistics

go.bsky.app/T6DV4MQ

All - Bluesky Directory A curated collection of all things relating to the Blue Sky social media platform.

Starter packs are genius, but I was surprised there wasn't a list of them for people to find.

So I built it:
blueskydirectory.com/starter-pack...

The website monitors the packs being shared and adds the ones it finds to the database.

Missed your stater pack? Message me and I'll get it added.

My fav starter packs so far, a thread:

stats: go.bsky.app/Ki7PjpS
stats: go.bsky.app/7TBN5rX
causal inference: go.bsky.app/FdemGAZ
package devs: go.bsky.app/N1569Qh
data peeps: go.bsky.app/8TdEfdK
medical stats: go.bsky.app/ArqEz36
bioinformatics: go.bsky.app/Ha64Gmv
r-ladies: go.bsky.app/Vgxwa2F

Thank you! If there’s still room, @stephaniehicks.bsky.social and I would be great additions to the list.

Thank you! May I please join this list?