Tom Mullaney

The Supreme Court doesn't care if you want to copyright your AI-generated art The highest court in the US declined to review a case about copyrighting artwork created with the help of AI.

Phew 😮‍💨

And yes, it's weird posting about my new website the day after this terrible war was launched.

Tom Mullaney Hello! I am Tom Mullaney. Teacher • 12-plus years in the classroom • he/him/his Certified by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to teach: Social Studies (7-12) Citizenship (7-12) Environmental Educat...

I gave my website a badly needed update. I want it to communicate that I am a teacher, and if you want someone to inject critical thinking into using edtech, you can call me for that too. www.tommullaney.com

Fingers crossed for Allam. Her defeating Foushee would be so sweet.

Hamentashen is the only apricot-flavored thing I like.

Where can I get some vegan hamentashen in the Philly area?

Fingers crossed for Phil.

Dear Mr. Mullaney Thank you so much for being such an awesome teacher. You've helped us learn so much, and in so many engaging ways. We love hearing about the past and the present, like the historic inauguration of George Washington, and the Knicks' record-breaking win over the Nets (120-66). Unlike the Triangle-Shirt Waist factory, we won't crash and burn on the AP exam thanks to your help. We wish you success at your next teaching gig (if that's what you choose) and we know from experience that those students will be lucky to have you! Once again, thanks for everything! -Period 7APUSH

Dear Mr. Mullaney, Thank you! Throughout this school year, I have learned so much from you and the class. It must have been really hard to jump-in in the middle of the year and teach, but honestly, you did such an amazing job and I couldn't have asked for a better teacher! I appreciate the time and effort you have put into our classes our classes and you made APUSH a fun and enjoyable class. We will miss you a lot and thank you for being our teacher!

This is my last post like this, but I'm beaming with pride, so I'm sharing. Sure, my 7th period could have shown more sensitivity to the victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. That said, I am so proud to have returned to the classroom and hope to do so again soon!

i’m tired of every paper (even critical ones) on societal impact of AI starting by both-siding the “benefits” and risks/harms of AI

in academia, i would like us to arrive at a collective reckoning that we don’t need to play both sides. it's totally legit to clearly state just the harms. period

google could just give that money to schools to improve infrastructure, curriculum, and salaries

Excellent point.

Exclusive: New Google Partnership a ‘Sizable Investment’ in AI for Teachers Tech giant won’t attach a price tag to 3-year agreement with ISTE+ASCD.

We're all aware that there is no evidence that any of this will help students, right? The little we have suggests otherwise. #EduSky www.the74million.org/article/excl...

Sam Altman Is Losing His Grip on Humanity You don’t “train a human”

Did you "train a human" today?

www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

Sam Altman Is Losing His Grip on Humanity You don’t “train a human.”

"[T]o liken raising a child — or, for that matter, the evolution of Homo sapiens — to developing algorithmic products makes very clear that the [AI] industry has lost touch, if it ever had any, with what it means to be human," @matteowong.bsky.social writes. www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

We Need to Talk About How We Talk About 'AI' We share a responsibility to create and use empowering metaphors rather than misleading language, write Emily M. Bender and Nanna Inie.

With this associated op-ed:

www.techpolicy.press/we-need-to-t...

On anthropomorphizing language about AI, I'm pleased to say that this paper with @nannainie.bsky.social and Peter Zukerman is finally out in the world!

firstmonday.org/ojs/index.ph...

>>

A blue New York Knicks jersey with number 11. There is also a homemade card with "Thanks" drawn as the Knicks logo on the cover.

After four months, my time as a long-term sub APUSH teacher is coming to an end. My 8th-period got me a Brunson jersey as a going-away present. I will never be more honored by anything.

As far as I’m concerned, there are two big takeaways here. The first is that OpenAI, Altman, and the generative AI industry more widely needs to start feeling the pressure. They’ve had a pretty easy ride these past three years, as they made big promises, caused hundreds of billions of dollars to flow in their direction, and generated a slew of social harms they haven’t had to properly account for. This technology is being pushed by people who not only disregard human life, but seek to subsume it to computers, and it’s time they’re not only reined in but seriously questioned and held to account for what they’re doing. But beyond that is to question what our governments are doing by not just welcoming the industry, but often actively pushing generative AI throughout the public sector and into the private sector too. In response to the Journal’s revelations, Canada’s AI minister said he was “deeply disturbed” and reached out to OpenAI for answers. But he’s more of an AI evangelist than someone seeking to really understand the impacts of the technologies and take action to rein them in. His response to the recent Grok deepfake scandal was little more than a secular version of “thoughts and prayers.”

Companies like OpenAI need to be held to account for the social harms caused by their products, especially when they’re run by executives who are so open about placing such little value on the wellbeing of humanity. But that also requires governments to wake up.

disconnect.blog/sam-altmans-...

“It takes like 20 years of life and all of the food you eat during that time before you get smart,” Altman asserted, talking about a typical human. “And not only that, it took the very widespread evolution of the 100 billion people that have ever lived and learned not to get eaten by predators and learned how to figure out science and whatever, to produce you.” In short, he’s saying that creating humanity and humans as they now exist required a lot of energy through human history and for each person living today — which means we cannot blame companies like OpenAI for the impacts associated with generative AI and the data centers it requires. Let’s be clear: this is an absurd line of argument. Altman is seeking to equate AI with humans once again. He’s already tried to sell the public on seeing his chatbots as companions, therapists, and assistants rapidly on their way to human-equivalent levels of cognition, if not there already — assertions that are pure fantasy — and after making those claims, he now wants the resources needed to create AGI to be judged on a human scale too.

Sitting on stage in India, Altman was asked about the energy impacts of AI. Instead of addressing them, he did a bit of whataboutism and brought up the energy use of humans. But in the process, he further revealed his thinking that humans and computers are equivalent

disconnect.blog/sam-altmans-...

This fact speaks volumes. We should consider the implications. #EduSky

So let's address those systemic issues. Technology is not going to solve the equity issues in public education.

Teachers: Whenever you hear "schools haven't changed in 100 years" or better yet, "factory model of education," turn around because you're about to hear some phony baloney.

I am pretty firmly of the mind that the refrain, "schools haven't changed in 100 years" from all across the political spectrum played a role in this cycle.

How could it not?

‘A.I. Literacy’ Is Trending in Schools. Here’s Why.

“Every few years, the tech industry introduces a new kind of product, then prods schools to teach millions of students how to use it.“

And we fall for it every time.

#GiftLink #GiftArticle

One of the biggest edtech influencers/keynoters wrote a book and maintains a website called "Ditch that Textbook."

The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets: The result is the first generation less cognitively capable than their parents | Fortune Neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath said older generations “screwed up” giving students access to so much technology: “I genuinely hope Gen Z quickly figures that out and gets mad.”

We need to take a good long look at this and be much more skeptical about technology in the classroom. #EduSky fortune.com/2026/02/21/l...

How tech turned against women As AI-generated sexualised images proliferate and app-facilitated abuse spreads, we are sleepwalking into a new age of gender inequality. It is time to regulate properly

"large language models such as ChatGPT were consistently advising women to ask for lower salaries than men in recruitment processes,... AI tools already in use by more than half of England’s councils were downplaying women’s medical conditions, potentially resulting in unequal care"

When asked to respond, AI company CEO’s said…

“Move along, move along. Nothing to see here. A hiccup on the road to ending scarcity and defeating mortality.”

The job displacement. @flipperpa.bsky.social has some worthy thoughts on that subject. technical.ly/workforce/ai...

First, that's a prediction, not a fact.

Second, the last thing I think of when I think of Gebru, Bender, et. al is deference to capitalism. They are very cognizant of the systems of oppression that generative AI amplifies.

"Stochastic Parrot" is such a good explainer for how LLMs work that Sam Altman's only rebuttal was claiming that humans are as well (which is patently false).

An informative metaphor is not "derogatory."