Starling Centre

This event is being co-hosted with the FIMS Rogers Chair of Studies in Journalism and New Information Technology. For more info, visit our website: www.starlingcentre.ca

‪
Only four more days until @oddletters.bsky.social comes to @westernu.ca to speak @westernufims.bsky.social on the right wing history of venture capital!

Register here: uwo.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

if you will be in london, ontario next week, i will also be in london, ontario next week!

By: Daniel Arauz Nuñez The internet was closely associated with two promises for its users and for the future it would bring: the free flow of information, and the ability to facilitate communication and social connection across the world. Though far from unrealized, the current landscape of digital world complicates this. Misinformation, division, and extremism […]

This event is being co-hosted with the @westernufims.bsky.social Rogers Chair of Studies in Journalism and New Information Technology. For more information, DM or visit our website, starlingcentre.ca

We're delighted to announce that we're co-hosting M.R. Sauter @oddletters.bsky.social, who will speak @westernu.ca next week on the right wing origins of venture capital. If you're interested in the the political economy of innovation, financial law, & democratic governance -- this one's for you!

AI companies are playing a game wherein these computer programs are presented to the public as autonomous individuals capable of issuing a meaningful apology. The machine is just a machine. Human beings owe the apology for building the machine irresponsibly and unleashing it on the world.

The only New Year's Eve countdown that matters!

(Re)introducing the "Homework Machine," a 1981 poem by Shel Silverstein that turned out to be strikingly prescient about AI

‘Opposing the inevitability of AI at universities is possible and necessary’ | Radboud University Since the widespread release of ChatGPT in December of 2022, AI has taken over much of the world by storm – including academia. Most of this happened with very little pushback, despite a myriad of iss...

"...universities are not tech companies. Our role is to foster critical thinking, not to follow industry trends uncritically"

www.ru.nl/en/research/...

You've got this! Exhausted means you gave it everything 🙌

We Let AI Run Our Office Vending Machine. It Lost Hundreds of Dollars. An AI agent ran a snack operation in the WSJ newsroom. It gave away a free PlayStation, ordered a live fish—and taught us lessons about the future of AI.

The AI Bubble in a nutshell: WSJ installed an AI-powered vending machine in their office and journalists, via Slack, convinced it to start ordering and giving away anything and everything, including a PS5, wine, cigarettes, and a live fish.

www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anth...

Increasingly, I've been interested in understanding the ideas and beliefs that have shaped Silicon Valley and its technologies. "Engagement" is one of them. Far from merely a base economic impulse, the concept did--and continues to do--important ideological work for the high-tech industry

The Things Young Kids Are Using AI for Are Absolutely Horrifying A large number of very young users are engaging with violent — and often sexually violent — interactions with unregulated companion chatbots.

This is deeply distressing.

futurism.com/future-socie...

Public Domain Day 2026 | Duke University School of Law January 1, 2026 is Public Domain Day: Works from 1930 are open to all, as are sound recordings from 1925! By Jennifer Jenkins and James Boyle[1] CC BY 4.0 Please note that this site is only about US l...

Only two more weeks to go 👀

web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicd...

Promotional graphic for an online book talk about “The Public Domain” by James Boyle. The image includes the book cover.

Planning your week? Add this #booktalk to your list! 📖

THE PUBLIC DOMAIN explores how we can protect the “commons of the mind” & why it’s as vital as intellectual property.

📆 Thurs Dec 18
🕙 10 AM – 11 AM PT
📍 Online
🎟️ www.eventbrite.com/e/1839697527...

@dukelaw.bsky.social @mollysvh.bsky.social

The University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public is looking to bring on new postdoctoral scholars to join our research community starting in 2026-2027. Come collaborate w/ our amazing, interdisciplinary team working to understand & help people navigate our complex information ecosystem!

Enshittification has reached academia.

Analysis | Supersized data centers are coming. See how they will transform America. These AI campuses consume more power than major U.S. cities. Their footprints are measured in miles, not feet.

Analysis: New supersized data centers sprouting across the country are starting to transform landscapes and communities, sparking debates about what our energy systems and environment can sustain.

Oilwell - Meditate through the meltdown A wellness app to help you embrace climate chaos, created by Edelman, Oil and Gas PR. From Smog Breathing Exercises, to Lifeless Rock Visualizations, to Wildfire ASMR.

This is so well done. Hilarious, if it weren't so devastating.

“1,705,947 seconds meditated. Together we’re making no difference."

oilwell.app

Okay #AcademicSky, #HistorySky, etc:

There's a lot of chatter abt how we're moving forward with assignments in the "Age of AI." Especially for those of us in writing disciplines.

I also want to hear what YOU'RE doing. Let's create a master resource thread-list here!

Given: Australia's bold experiment to keep young people safe online After months of anticipation and debate, Australia’s social media ban for youth is now in force

Australia has banned under-16s from major social platforms in a world-first move to curb algorithmic harm. Can blunt restrictions really fix a system designed for addiction?

lfpress.com/opinion/colu...

There isn't a single problem "solved" by edtech that couldn't be fixed with smaller classes led by well-paid teachers given real academic freedom

The disinformation wars are here How Joe Biden’s administration caved to the right in the battle for truth.

The war on disinformation is being dismantled on purpose. This piece from @theverge.com shows how fact-checking and accountability are reframed as “censorship,” then systematically targeted until the guardrails crack. A must read.

www.theverge.com/features/839...