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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Oh, and p.s. Will isn't brave enough to engage directly, but rather screenshotted my post instead: bsky.app/profile/whst...

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

But I guess by picking an example that is a) too obviously bad and b) actually also associated with "AI" I managed to distract everyone.

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I'm just pointing out the logical flaw in Will's ignorance flaunting post, that you can't be critical of something if you don't use it. >>

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Almost amused to see how many people are misinterpreting this as me saying that any use of any tech sold as "AI" is the moral equivalent of CSAM. (NB: Some use of "AI" is literally for producing CSAM, which is tragic.) >>

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Anthony Moser @anthonymoser.com · 13/10/2026

i think a lot of folks who are tuned in to the many harms of ai/surveillance tech struggle with how to talk about it without getting stuck on the details of particular devices or platforms, and imo this is the core frame: the future is up for grabs. it doesn't have to be this way. let's change it

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

What I mean is: Fuck off with the mansplaining.

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Or maybe not -- I guess I don't have any sense of recall, just precision. Perhaps he flaunts his ignorance on this topic even more frequently and I don't see all of it.

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I don't actually follow Stancil, but I do follow the phrase "stochastic parrots" and that seems to be a pretty reliable way to get notified when he's on here flaunting his ignorance (about "AI" specifically). >>

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Yes, because it is really important to smoke, try heroin, download CSAM (!!!), or burn plastic, etc etc to be able to discuss the dangers and harms of those activities.

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

"It's already here, what do you mean you think you can refuse?" is just another variation of the agency-stealing inevitability narrative. The future is not yet written, and we can shape it, starting with rejecting inevitability and claiming our agency. /fin

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

But the TESCREAList/tech bro future is not one I want any part in and in fact one that I actively resist --- and I hope others will too. >>

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I jumped in with the first response and said, "It's a cult." Everyone laughed, and then I said, "I'm serious. It's actually a cult." and elaborated some on TESCEALists, their shared mythology, and how bananas it all is. >>

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Did an event last night that was a discussion format with a moderator + one other panelist, with whom I had some points of agreement and some of disagreement. Turns out, the disagreement was useful: >>

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

... perhaps you are unfamiliar with my work ...

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I think it's fair to read "normalize" here as "make normative", i.e. a pretty oppressive notion of "normal" and one to resist.

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

So I've got a couple of trolls muted, and would be blissfully unaware of their replies to my posts except then other people push back on those replies. At a certain point, I guess blocking is the better option, though I hesitate to give the trolls the satisfaction.

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Not accepting it means not normalizing it, refusing everywhere I can refuse, pushing for holding the companies producing this accountable with existing & new regulation, working to protect the environment & important social infrastruture. >>

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

To the second, I say not accepting it isn't the same as denying that people are using the janky tech sold as "AI", some by choice, others because it is forced on them in their job. >>

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

But the TESCREAList/tech bro future is not one I want any part in and in fact one that I actively resist --- and I hope others will too. >>

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

To the first, I say: Fine, I don't want to go where that bandwagon is headed. "Left behind" is an interesting phrase, it indexes a notion of a race towards a desirable/shining "future" that only some can access, and which we should all hope to participate in. >>

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

One of the key messages I carry is that we don't have to accept any of this. Sometimes I see opposition in the form of "Get in loser, you'll be left behind" and other times it's in the form of "It's all over the place, what do you mean you think you can opt out?" >>

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I'm grateful to the organizers for not pairing me with someone who in fact is an adherent (though that population is less dense outside the US & UK, I think) and also to my co-panelist for also being willing to speak clearly on this point.

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

My co-panelist then picked up their mic and said, "It's a cult." ... and elaborated further. It was actually very satisfying & I think effective to have our clear points of disagreement in the background when both pushing back so clearly on the TESCREAList nonsense. >>

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

The asker elaborated to say he was wondering what was behind all of the Doomers, not just the CEOs who obviously profit from the existential risk narrative (as already discussed in the panel) but in particular the employees & self-styled "whistle-blowers" w/o the same apparent incentives. >>

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

The topic of the discussion was "AI", narratives and the future of truth, and we hit on the themes you might expect. The last ~15min were for audience questions, of which the last question was: "What's up with California?" >>

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

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tante @tante.cc · 13/10/2026

This looks fucked up (AND IT IS!). But those kinds of Effective Altruist people are dominating the AI policy and lobbying space.

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

"part" not "past" (I blame jetlag, but then I make typos even when not jetlagged)

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Yes, that is what journalists and policymakers should be saying to Anthropic and the other TESCREALists. When the journalists come to me, though, I need something more to say. But thanks for mansplaining.

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

"part" not "past" (I blame jetlag, but then I make typos even when not jetlagged)

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Indeed. The normalization of the use of these products is alarming.

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

No -- in CEST, but for other events.

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

I still think it's counter-productive to proclaim "nothing wrong with that".

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

It seems to me that there is space between "I understand the externalities and downsides of this but I do it anyway" and "There's nothing wrong with that". I mean, I just flew across the Atlantic...

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

There are many well-known things wrong with that. Your equanimity is surprising.

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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 12/10/2026

If you are wondering why Anthropic aren't coming out and opposing statements like this, it's because they very genuinely do not care about climate responsibility and will burn absolutely whatever they can get their hands on to keep the grift going. www.capitalbrief.com/article/anth...

Anthropic’s $32b Queensland data centre to run on coal and gas power until renewables are built

I frontier lab Anthropic’s first Australian data centre at Zerra DC’s proposed $32 billion project in regional Queensland will be powered by coal and gas as a bridge until renewables to support the facility are built.

Wambo Cattle Company managing director Max Winders, the owner of the land Zerra plans to build on, told Capital Brief he expects fossil fuels to power the massive project for the foreseeable future.

“I think we’ll be using fossil fuels for quite a long time in Queensland, anyhow, certainly enough to be able to get the power to drive the data centres,” he said.

Winders said that he believed that the concessions Queensland Premier David Crisafulli negotiated “at National Cabinet was critical” for ensuring the Western Downs development has the best chance of being built.

“In all likelihood, they’ll just link up to the grid, sign a contract with the state energy provider, and then, likely draw the power from the coal plants that are already there.”

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Thanks for calling this out. It has been very annoying. "We aren't telling ourselves stories about the output of the system! We're telling ourselves stories about the numbers that correlate with our inputs to the system. That's TOTALLY different!!"

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Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

So the next time someone who is not an expert in the field concerned loses their mind over some supposedly revolutionary finding…bear this in mind. Whether this has to do with AI or not, it’s just a good rule of thumb. Don’t be someone else’s hype man if you don’t understand what you’re hyping.

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Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Unsurprisingly, four days later, mathematicians have weighed in. And the results are equivocally valuable at best. More importantly the dump has flooded the zone with shit, which is precisely in line with this industry’s weaponized agnotology. Now actual scholars have to waste their time on this.

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

I urge everyone looking at this topic bear in mind how your participation in debates serves or opposes the goals of normalizing TESCREAL claims of "AI personhood", displacing accountability from the companies involved, and regulatory capture. /fin

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

There, too, serious scientists and science communicators are STILL pouring enormous resources into putting out the fires he started. >>

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

The harms in this case are more indirect, but I see analogies to the false, ableist and hugely damaging claims of Andrew Wakefield (the fraudster who stirred up fears about life-saving childhood vaccines). >>

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Yet none of this shifts the burden of proof -- I maintain that it is a valid strategy to point out that the people making the outlandish claims are the ones who bear it and are continually failing to meet it. >>

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

And so time and resources end up getting spent dealing with the claim that could otherwise be spent doing other research. >>

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Indeed, if their sophomoric philosophizing had stayed confined to dorm rooms and the Less Wrong blog, there would be nothing to say. The trouble is, it hasn't -- it's wormed into centers of financial and political power and then it becomes everyone's problem. >>

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

This past of my thread has attracted a lot of responses of the form "Nuh-uh! You have to prove *your* claim!" and I think it's worth reiterating that the burden of proof lies with the people making the claim, not those of us refuting it. Why bother refuting it at all? >>

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Carine Fouteau @carinefouteau.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

« Ghost in the Machine », démonter le mythe de l’IA Alors que Mediapart organise le 17 octobre une journée de débats autour de la nocivité des géants de la tech, le documentaire de Valerie Veatch livre un vigoureux pamphlet appelant à dissiper les fausses promesses de l’IA.

mediapart.fr

« Ghost in the Machine », démonter le mythe de l’IA

Alors que « Mediapart » organise le 17 octobre une journée de débats autour de la nocivité des géants de la tech, le documentaire de Valerie Veatch livre un vigoureux pamphlet appelant à dissiper les…

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