Sign in

Ben Files

@bentfiles.bsky.social
103 followers 187 following 40 posts

Uncertainty communication, human-ai interaction, spatial computing, Army Research Lab, Los Angeles

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Ben Files
Mark Riedl @markriedl.bsky.social · 1h
Michael I. Jordan doesn't pull any punches, even when it comes to Hinton.
172
Reposted by Ben Files
Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 07/10/2026
you don’t hold "AI" accountable; you hold AI developers, vendors, and corporations that profit off it accountable holding "AI accountable" is like holding a toaster accountable. it's an inanimate object. it doesn't have wishes, feelings, or desires
321690522
Reposted by Ben Files
literallywhonobody.bsky.social @literallywhonobody.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Joke about JK Rowling being an anti-trans psychopath.
31198131
Reposted by Ben Files
United Wizards of the Coast - CWA @uwotc-official.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
This morning, the D&D team and Magic's Studio X informed our leadership of our intent to unionize. We love the games we make and the work we do, and unionizing is how we protect that work. unitedwizardsofthecoast.com/news/dnd-stu...
unitedwizardsofthecoast.com
Dungeons & Dragons and Studio X Join United Wizards of the Coast - CWA
Today, October 6, 2026, the designers, artists, writers, producers, and workers behind Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Duel Masters, D&D Beyond, and countless other games are uniting in soli...
10875702765
Reposted by Ben Files
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 06/10/2026
This is why AI bosses are so violently allergic to the idea of hybridizing AI with symbolic systems that operate on models of the world. These models of the world must be constructed by experts, and the power of expertise cannot be reliably commanded by the power of wealth.
1409
Reposted by Ben Files
🦇Harper 🔜 ANE 🦇 @2manystripes.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
52074634
Ben Files @bentfiles.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The irony of being part of a data breach where some organization that should have known better mismanaged my sensitive personal information is that the next step is always to go give all my sensitive personal information to some other organization so they can monitor it for me.
000
Reposted by Ben Files
Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Oops you did it again
1572953
Ben Files @bentfiles.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I’m reviewing a proposal. How do I avoid the phrase, “the proposal proposes [to do something]”
100
Reposted by Ben Files
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
swearing aside, the strategy of just making the right stand by the things they say to each other seems pretty good. that was the secret sauce behind the "weird" messaging way back when (that they abandoned for whatever reason)
311061157
Reposted by Ben Files
Science Magazine @science.org · 28/09/2026
"For a long time, I thought becoming a scientist meant learning how to appear certain, composed, and knowledgeable. But the people I came to admire have held on to their willingness to ask questions and to be excited by what they did not yet know." #ScienceWorkingLife scim.ag/4rsIztb
An illustration of a man taking off a mask that looks like his own face. The headline reads: I thought ‘I don’t know’ signaled scientific incompetence. Now, I know different
56918
Reposted by Ben Files
Anthony Moser @anthonymoser.com · 28/09/2026
See also:
1103
Ben Files @bentfiles.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I suspect a lot of disagreement about the value of so-called AI comes down to opinions about point 9 here, along with willingness to dig into the difference between “looks like” and “is”.
010
Reposted by Ben Files
Jeffrey P. Bigham @jeffreybigham.com · 27/09/2026
do you know what I never want -- the university template page for a faculty member.
1101
Reposted by Ben Files
Berna Devezer @devezer.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
THIS IS SO WEIRD

as typed on a blank white screen in capital letters
092
Reposted by Ben Files
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 26/09/2026
Does my Speak-n-Spell feel pain when I type O-U-C-H? The jury is out. Philosophers and neuroscientists say that's fucking stupid, but I called a guy from the Center for Pretending that Household Electronics Are Sentient and he said there's no way to know for sure.
5843461195
Reposted by Ben Files
Gen Wojcik @genandgenes.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Everyone talks about this episode, but it’s warranted. A masterpiece. youtu.be/TxoqJ0Pmux0?...
youtu.be
Sleepytime 🌙 | S2 E26 | Full Episode | Bluey | @disneyjr
YouTube video by Disney Jr.
2245
Reposted by Ben Files
lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
this is actually good tv; i dont have any kids or anything so this was new to me. great stuff!
8373
Reposted by Ben Files
Joe Jaquette @karzon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Control Resonant is amazing. Remedy keeps making bangers. I remember being floored with the Max Paine bullet time when it was new.
001
Reposted by Ben Files
AP Stylebook @apstylebook.com · 23/09/2026
Artificial intelligence systems do not think, feel, want or understand. Avoid language that gives them human characteristics.
apnews.com
https://apnews.com/article/openai-safety-ai-framework-089e75b95bc935af092da7b79d92706d
5542421631
Reposted by Ben Files
sarah jeong @sarahjeong.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
lol my flight got diverted because of a medical emergency and they landed us in reykjavik in the middle of the night and deplaned us and sent us through passport control and then the crew vanished and then british airways sent us links to book an overnight hotel room but for a hotel at heathrow
21488331166
Reposted by Ben Files
Danielle Kurtzleben @titonka.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Hot take: Bluey had better be in the top ten.
4714
Reposted by Ben Files
Kashana @kashana.blacksky.app · 20/09/2026
Americans: oh, look, a systemic issue. I will solve it individually
11896991922
Reposted by Ben Files
David Pfau @davidpfau.com · 20/09/2026
We spent $100m building a robot that can pirouette at 5000 rpm and performs Swan Lake beginning to end in 30 seconds. Ballet is solved.
14812
Reposted by Ben Files
John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 19/09/2026
Every now and then I see myself referred to as an "AI Denier" and I want to be clear I acknowledge "AI" exists, it's just I think it's a massive energy drain, created from theft, implemented poorly for inappropriate tasks by loathsome tech executives who get hard at the idea of the rest of us dying
854126841
Reposted by Ben Files
Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
When the going gets tough, the tough get going on vacation.
14711
Reposted by Ben Files
Rollie 🤬 @architecturenerd.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
A new mural as seen in Paris, France…
824067
Reposted by Ben Files
Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Reminded of @olivia.science pointing out that we also have, say, tables that can hold things above ground longer than any human, but we do not call that a super-human ability.
113428
Reposted by Ben Files
Peter Sagal @petersagal.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
At first I was like, "I thought no jury would ever convict a --" and then, "Oh."
21221
Reposted by Ben Files
"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Unfortunately, at least in my field, we've reached a point where your academic patron cannot get you a job but they *can* blackball you in the field. Which is the worst of all possible worlds when it comes to abusive advisors.
81014121
Reposted by Ben Files
Mark Riedl @markriedl.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Yann LeCun throwing bombs at the ACM AI Leadership Summit
2020423
Reposted by Ben Files
Carlos Rodríguez - Pardo @carlosrodriguezp.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
This, again and again
0307
Ben Files @bentfiles.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
UI/UX Consultant: How likely are you to recommend this cup to friends and family on a scale of 1-10?
000
Ben Files @bentfiles.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Flying Spaghetti Monster’s new high priestess
010
Reposted by Ben Files
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
This is absolutely WILD. Here's the dashboard video posted by @fritschner.bsky.social. Fast forward to about 1 minute. An ICE officer jumps out of a van and pulls a gun on this woman immediately before lying and claiming she "almost ran us over." *profanity warning if watching in public.
35757592701
Reposted by Ben Files
Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 11/08/2026
They’ve really latched on to the idea that claiming someone was “trying to run them over” is their get-out-of-jail-free card for murdering people in their cars
321156142
Reposted by Ben Files
Sarah Andersen @sarahseeandersen.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
The image is of a four panel comic.
The first panel shows a bird saying, "Shall we plan our annual birt meeting? How's 7AM?"
The second panel shows two more birds, one saying "Yes!" and the other saying "Sounds good!"
The third panel shows two more birds, one saying "yep!" and the other saying "yup!"
The final panel shows an owl with an exhausted expression.
81124052584
Reposted by Ben Files
Danielle Navarro @djnavarro.net · 26/07/2026
not literally about cocaine
blog.djnavarro.net
A cocaine skeptic starts an unwise habit – Notes from a data witch
You will be shocked to learn that this is not actually a post about cocaine
45619
Reposted by Ben Files
Kameron Hurley @kameronhurley.com · 19/07/2026
But doing that requires more time, effort, and emotional intelligence that saying "this sucks." Whenever I want to yell "this sucks!" I go back to my mantra: "what is it I'm trying to achieve here? Do I want to feel emotional release of spewing my "truth" or do I want to help them grow as artist?"
1576
Reposted by Ben Files
A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
We can make a society that exists for the care and thriving and enjoyment of the actual people rather than for the enrichment of parasitical greed freaks and the comfort of creepy-minded religious bigots. All that's needed is for more people to stop fearing good things and start fighting for them.
61104265
Reposted by Ben Files
Danielle Navarro @djnavarro.net · 18/07/2026
And so after a very brief hiatus, version 0.7.0 of "learning statistics with R" exists. Full rebuild in quarto, stylistic fixes, "epilogues from 2026" to comment on how the world changed since original publication, and as an added bonus, no longer misgenders the author learningstatisticswithr.com
learningstatisticswithr.com
Learning Statistics with R
217146
Reposted by Ben Files
Daniel Burke - 🍺Innkeep @innkeep.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Le Guin on the idea that there is a secret to getting good at writing.
I will dispose of the first myth as quickly as possible. The “secret” is skill. If you haven’t learned how to do something, the people who have may seem to be magicians, possessors of mysterious secrets. In a fairly simple art, such as making pie crust, there are certain teachable “secrets” of method that lead almost infallibly to good results; but in any complex art, such as housekeeping, piano-playing, clothes-making, or story-writing, there are so many techniques, skills, choices of method, so many variables, so many “secrets,” some teachable and some not, that you can learn them only by methodical, repeated, long-continued practice — in other words, by work.
8597003013
Reposted by Ben Files
Los Angeles Times @latimes.com · 05/07/2026
Fireworks-ignited explosions and raging fires injure several across SoCal over July 4th weekend
latimes.com
Fireworks-ignited explosions and raging fires injure several across SoCal over July 4th weekend
Fourth of July fireworks sparked dangerous explosions and raging fires across Southern California, leaving several injured and displacing families.
0145
Reposted by Ben Files
McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 01/07/2026
"Every serious legal mind must inevitably face a fundamental choice: Read the Constitution and apply its words as the bedrock laws of the land, or transcend its tired text and interpret the super-secret invisible version that tells you exactly what you want to hear."
buff.ly
The US Constitution Is for Simple Folk Still Burdened by the Belief That Words Have Meaning
“Every serious legal mind must inevitably face a fundamental choice: Read the Constitution and apply its words as the bedrock laws of the land, or transcend ...
231697518
Reposted by Ben Files
joannes @playthroughline.com · 30/06/2026
A vicious cycle of four steps surrounding a black cat with a thousand-yard stare and a dapper little tie. The four endlessly cycling steps read:

-going forward we're gonna need more of your data to make sure it's you

-ahaha youre not gonna believe this but we had a bit of a data breach

-your data is probably for sale online now

-that means someone could easily impersonate you
23105624518
Ben Files @bentfiles.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
4x3.fun June 27, 2026 202 points • No mistakes 🌟🟪🟪 🌟🟦🟦 🌟🟩🟩 🌟🟨🟨
000
Reposted by Ben Files
Gale Sinatra @galesinatra.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
I think we just passed oops.
A timeline of climate change concern.
451173245800
Reposted by Ben Files
Elena @eleh7.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
In clinical research the replication crisis took decades to name. We're creating an eval ecosystem where findings can't be reproduced because the judge was EOL'd. That's not a replication crisis. That's architectural rot.
0114
Reposted by Ben Files
Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 24/06/2026
reading AI eval papers using llm-as-a-judge is alarming for many reasons; many “scientific claims” rely on evals executed on models that are now deprecated. how are we supposed to treat “findings” that are inherently not reproducible? i despair. llms are accelerating the decay of scientific rigor
59432