Richard

So are they mad in part because CFIA's action would mean they couldn't use the ostriches for meat product?

As it happens, I didn't have to recompose myself while teaching "An Important Failure": kept it together until "Pub Food." On to the last chapter this week, "The Cathedral Arboreal," which I found an even more emotional read this time around, so wish me luck! #booksky #climate #scifi

Update: they've stopped coming again.

The maximum day July 7-Aug 21 was 889 visitors (except Aug 20: 3378); the low day Aug 22-Sept 30 was 687, and it never fell below 3000 between Sept 2-27. Since Oct 1, the max day has been 687.

All such stats are faked, because Google, but. #againstAI

Exactly!

a large explosion with the words ka-boom written in white Alt: An entirely decorative GIF that's basically pointless. It's a large explosion with the words ka-boom written in white across it (because my kimchi is exploding out of its container while fermenting)

I've made #kimchi several times over the last few years, but this batch is vegan and kosher (for a particular friend). It took a while to get going, but suddenly I'm having to tamp it back into the jar twice a day! I guess replacing the brined shrimp with a dense kelp broth worked. #fermentation

People need to read more novellas, and they should start with the ones by @rebeccacampbell.bsky.social and @fishgottaswim.bsky.social, and honestly time is only the tiniest of the reasons why.

Update: I'll be one of the speakers. Currently, my faculty bio compares AI to spray cheese, so it's anyone's guess what I'll say #againstAI

The AI Safety Debate Needs AI Skeptics | TechPolicy.Press The language used by AI risk communities to describe the technology may contribute to the very problems it aims to curb, Eryk Salvaggio writes.

Any organization considering the risks of AI should make room for those who believe the greatest risk is believing in it. In my latest for @techpolicypress.bsky.social, I propose that AI skeptics play a crucial role in discussing “AI safety.” www.techpolicy.press/the-ai-safet...

It shouldn't be controversial to say that borrowing or repurposing a racist term cheapens the discourse on all sides.

Let the existing rebuke stand, of whatever racist structure you're tempted to say is just like [whatever]. Find your own suite of attacks, insults, rebukes.

This whole "AI is a person" thing: nope, magical thinking at best, not how the tech works.

Also, I'm hearing of alleged insults today for AI and its users that I've never heard before (and that I'd never use), and I've been reading A LOT about this. It's a Very Online thing, yes?

Front and back cover of the Zine sitting among Japanese maple leaves. Front cover has the title "Human Perspectives on the Latest AI Hype Cycle" with subtitle "AI Sucks and You Should Not Use It, Volume 2" along with the date of October 2025 and author Lauren Woolsey. Back cover has the text "References available on the back of this unfolded sheet and at padlet.com/laurenUU/antiAI" along with a QR code to that link. Then it has the text "Share with a friend, light the world! Connect w/ me: @cgsunit.bsky.social"

Pages 2 and 3 of the Zine, open among tree leaves. Page 2 starts with handwritten "First...some backstory!" and then the text reads as follows: "Version Volume 1 of this zine, (June 2025), is called “Why GenAI Sucks and you should not use it.” I gave copies to my friends, did swaps at Grand Rapids Zine Fest, and shared the digital scan with hundreds of folks. It’s been great to connect with a community of humans who also think AI sucks! Since June, more great folks have added to the conversation. Let me introduce a few here..." Page 3 is titled Anthony Moser and has the following text: "“I am an AI hater. This is considered rude, but I do not care, because I am a hater.” So opens this most excellent essay (posted August 2025). You absolutely need to read it. Also, it has 24 linked resources, if my Zine v1.1 list wasn’t enough to get you started being a hater."

Pages 4 and 5 of the Zine, open among tree leaves. Page 4 is titled Olivia Guest and has the text: "1. Look at Guest’s incredible collection promoting Critical AI Literacy (CAIL): olivia.science/ai . 2. Discover a framework to define AI in “What Does 'Human-Centred AI' Mean?” (July 2025). 3. Share with educator friends Guest et al: “Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia” (September 2025). Such a helpful paper for advocacy!" Page 5 is titled Ali Alkhatib and has the following text: "“AI is an ideological project to shift authority and autonomy away from individuals, towards centralized structures of power.” -from his essay Defining AI. Ali is on my recent radar because he’s starting “AI Skeptics Reading Group” the same month that this Zine launches (October 2025)! If you're a reader, check out the book list on p. 7 here!"

Pages 6 and 7 of the Zine, in partial shadow from tree leaves and surrounded by Japanese maple leaves. Page 6 is titled Distributed AI Research (DAIR) Institute and has the text: "Great projects DAIR supports: Data Workers Inquiry (work led by Dr. Milagros Miceli), Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 (by E. Bender and A. Hanna), Possible Futures workshop and Zine series. Timnit Gebru is founder and executive director of DAIR and co-author of the “TESCREAL Bundle” research paper. (Read it!) Page 7 is titled Further Reading and has a drawn stack of books with the following titles and publication months: Resisting AI (08/22), Blood in the Machine (09/23), The AI Mirror (06/24), Taming Silicon Valley (09/24), Why We Fear AI (03/25), More Everything Forever (04/25), The AI Con (05/25), Empire of AI (05/25). There are notes for The AI Con that the authors run the podcast mentioned on page 6 and that it is the book that the Reading Group from page 5 started on 10/13/25. The page ends with the text "Authors and full titles in reference list!" and a signature from Lauren "Double U."

Today's the day for my anti-AI zine volume 2: "Human Perspectives on the Latest AI Hype Cycle" 🎉

Enjoy the fruits of my focus these past few months and learn from many great people!

Scanned zine to print your own and the full text and references are available at padlet.com/laurenUU/antiAI

Welcome and thanks for listening to us. 🌿

It was better than I feared; they said they'd emailed in haste rather than with care.

Also they were fine with my pedantry: eg, don't use it for "brainstorming," since that term implies the existence of a brain, and also we want students to be able to think for themselves.

But yes, screaming!

It's feeling like some of us long-time colleagues maybe have never actually known each other. Very strange.

I'll be at a meeting later today to help plan a pedagogy talk on AI etc. The lead organizer emailed the rest of us, "I don’t think it’s wise to invite a speaker who is entirely anti-GenAI, since this technology is here to stay and we need to learn practical ways to deal with it." Fun! #againstAI

We have some ongoing combat at my school, so it'll be useful for just this purpose!

Thanks for posting: finally read it, and LOVED so much of it!

The plan is everything good is going to be indie now. News. Video games. Comics. Movies. TV. Animation. All the real stuff is being made by a team of ten people or fewer. Half are dating each other and the other half are trying to be cool about it. Everyone is broke as a joke but has their soul.

'ai' isn't inevitable, it's not 'here to stay', and those who haven't let their skills rot will clean up the huge mess it leaves behind

Heard of the Dead Internet Theory? Find Out Why People Think the Internet Died in 2016 Heard the rumors that the internet has been replaced with bots and AI content? Here's the dead internet theory explained, including possible motives.

I don't want to come around to the dead internet theory, but give me another explanation! www.greenmatters.com/news/the-dea...

book addiction Book reviews (commentaries? notes?), with distracted remarks on Other Topics of Interest.

Ain't nothing at boughtbooks.blogspot.com that should attract those sites. It dates back to around August 20, since which date Blogger claims I've rarely seen under 3000 visits per day. I'm assuming that it's AI scraping, but who knows. #againstAI #noAI

A list of websites that Blogger.com inexplicably thinks are my top referring sites: Lowe's, Walmart, Binance, Science Mag, etc

Blogger's stats have always been suspect and weird, but the last while is another level. I write a humble book blog, and other than Google, these are alleged to be the top referring pages:

Andrew Struthers, The Last Voyage of the Loch Ryan Long story short, because the story (blog post) did get long: I enjoyed Andrew Struthers' The Last Voyage of the Loch Ryan  a lot, particula...

Finally managed to write about another book, this one seriously west coast: Andrew Struthers, Last Voyage of the Loch Ryan. Good read for anyone missing the Tofino of 20 years ago, or who appreciates the chaos of dock life! #booksky boughtbooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/andr...

Ragtag group employment hijinks of many kinds, probably? But *everything* rang true about the perpetual boat repairs by someone who doesn't know what he's doing, surrounded by cranks who randomly help and obstruct

Andrew Struthers, The Last Voyage of the Loch Ryan Long story short, because the story (blog post) did get long: I enjoyed Andrew Struthers' The Last Voyage of the Loch Ryan  a lot, particula...

Finally managed to write about another book, this one seriously west coast: Andrew Struthers, Last Voyage of the Loch Ryan. Good read for anyone missing the Tofino of 20 years ago, or who appreciates the chaos of dock life! #booksky boughtbooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/andr...

Of course not lmao Generative AI is entirely built on the of stealing art and prose you did not create and throwing it in a blender to make something that vaguely resembles what you want. That's literally the type of user base you've cultivated. You want thieves to pay to steal? Are you serious?

Not really, no. All these indicators are things that humans do, too (including me). They make sense only in context, through intuition and experience, and their frequencies are guaranteed to change over time. It's an interesting read, but ultimately not helpful.

Yeah, I've been watching the development of this story a bit, when I can bear to.

Wow, do I ever hate this sort of stuff.

A useful thread, that also flags the various stages at which resistance is essential, everywhere. #noAI #againstAI (Yes, not all AI, whatever.)