Sign in

Alexandra Mateescu

@cariatida.bsky.social
384 followers 346 following 67 posts

RIP Social Media. Researcher @ Data & Society, living in Boston | labor, technology, care | tetrapyloctomy | Labor & Tech newsletter: bit.ly/2Fv5xfX | acmateescu.com

PostsRepliesMedia
Alexandra Mateescu @cariatida.bsky.social · 5h
"The inescapable conclusion is that AI could kill us all, but also might not, with a combined probability we estimate at approximately 100%. The estimated number of deaths due to AI could range from zero to more than 8 billion." alignmentalignment.ai/caaac/blog/p...
alignmentalignment.ai
Prediction: AI will kill every human by next year, or not
Our latest prediction model uses cutting-edge binary methodology to forecast potential AI futures
000
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
NYC Policy Forum @nycpolicyforum.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
How can NYC protect New Yorkers as AI reshapes the economy? Reserve your seat for our talk with @hellodcwp.bsky.social, Commissioner @saalevine.bsky.social, and writer @edwardongwesojr.com Sept. 30 3:30–5 PM Co-sponsored by the CUNY Law Burns Program, @cplusc.bsky.social, @rooseveltinstitute.org
governing-ai-for-nyc-workers-and-consumers.eventbrite.com
Governing AI for Workers and Consumers: NYC's Public Approach
Dive into what NYC can do to advance affordability for working families during the rise of AI and corporate consolidation.
096
Alexandra Mateescu @cariatida.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
A 1934 black and white photograph of the Palazzo Braschi, headquarters of the Fascist Party, Rome, Italy, with the word "si" ("yes") and Benito Mussolini's face.
012
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
rigo @chicanocyborg.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
This event is the culmination of 6 months of work in partnership with the @pulitzercenter.org team leading up to #ClimateWeekNYC
153
Alexandra Mateescu @cariatida.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
"What event is so small that it sits outside of time, irrelevant to the currents of its age? For much of Ginzburg’s work, the sheer weirdness and singularity of his subjects is fundamental. It's their unease with their historic moments, not their value as a holotype, that illuminates their context."
000
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Joshua Earle, Ph.D. @cyborgapologist.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
The purpose of a system is what it does.
216682
Alexandra Mateescu @cariatida.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
As a US-born Romanian who's spent most of my life between those countries, yea water is wet. Much of Anglo-American culture is full of flaky, transactional, therapy-speaking hyper-individualists. That said, this essay is sooo "diaspora adult conjures up wildly romanticized fantasy of the homeland."
100
Alexandra Mateescu @cariatida.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I've been saying it, AI is coming for home healthcare and nursing homes: www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
nbcnews.com
OpenAI’s chief economist sees ‘care economy’ jobs growing in AI age
Ronnie Chatterji says AI is already reshaping job duties, but its broader effects may take another 18 to 24 months to show up in productivity statistics.
010
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Melissa Gira Grant @melissagiragrant.com · 09/09/2026
“In addition to monitoring activists in the vicinity of Anthropic executives and keeping tabs on protests near physical Anthropic assets, the firm is also implementing a ‘pre-crime’ approach… In some cases, that also means reporting suspects to police before a crime occurs.” @drboguslaw.bsky.social:
prospect.org
Anthropic Is Building a Predictive Surveillance System to Monitor Activists - The American Prospect
New hires and comments in interviews show that the AI giant is using its capabilities against dissenters.
314997
Alexandra Mateescu @cariatida.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Unfortunately, I doubt Romania will pursue extradition given how hard Nicușor Dan has been kissing the ring of the Trump admin lately, but one can hope...
030
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
s. e. smith @sesmith.lol · 03/09/2026
Gazans who need access to critical lifesaving care along with management of chronic illnesses are not being allowed to leave to get it while at the same time their medical infrastructure is in shambles. People are dying or experiencing unnecesary complications.
newlinesmag.com
The Patients Israel Won't Let Leave Gaza
For many Palestinians in the territory, survival depends on a chain of administrative decisions over which they have no control
11414
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Mechanical Turk may be shutting down, but AI will always depend on data workers whose knowledge trains and tunes models. AI runs on extracted cultural skills and knowledge, and culture is always changing. Less the end of an era, but the end of an early prototype.
215461
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Julia Métraux @juliametraux.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
An ICE agent directed Emilio, a Venezuelan Deaf man, to get onto a bus. He asked for an interpreter and didn’t get one. When he saw a Mexican flag, he realized he was being deported to Mexico, sans passport. My latest for @motherjones.com. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
How Trump’s deportation machine deprives Deaf people of their humanity
An extra layer of cruelty is added by limiting communication access for Deaf people.
101074666
Alexandra Mateescu @cariatida.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
I know the "I want AI to do my laundry so that I can do art and writing, not the other way around" quote resonated with a lot of people, but I feel like most haven't fully thought through the degree of surveillance, alienation, and abjection that future also may lead towards...
Screenshot of an Instagram ad from company Taskverseglobal featuring the caption "Chre-Cam: Earn As You Clean. Turn your household chores into quick cash. Earn $14/hr." The ad features a picture of a young white woman with a smartphone strapped to her forehead as she does laundry. Additional text says "We are looking fro participants in the US to record short, first-person (POV) videos of their normal household routines. No acting, no script---just real life from your" The rest of the text is cut off because I could not fit it in my screenshot.
012
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
The American Prospect @prospect.org · 11/08/2026
Amazon’s chief lobbyist fighting a delivery worker protection bill in New York City endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani is Jessica Schumer, the daughter of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, according to public lobbying records and three sources with knowledge of the situation. buff.ly/nUbHf64
prospect.org
Mamdani’s Taking On Amazon. His Opponent? Chuck Schumer’s Daughter. - The American Prospect
Legislation before the New York City Council would end Amazon’s subcontracting of delivery drivers. Jessica Schumer is the lead lobbyist against it.
119453
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Dr. Black's Medieval Remedies @winstonblack.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
My god, what an image. Dead kings in a plastic box, carried off as the world burns.
11287942731
Alexandra Mateescu @cariatida.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Oh my god
Facebook post from Brooklyn Community Board 11: "On or about Monday, July 27th, 2026, through Friday, August 21st, 2026, the NYCDOT Division of Bridges will begin the installation of the Shoring Tower as part of the replacement of the 17th Avenue Pedestrian Bridge project. Weekday single lane closure will be required on westbound and eastbound direction from 10AM -2PM." The post features a flyer from NYC DOT with the same information and an illustration of the construction work that will be done.
000
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Jamila Michener @povertyscholar.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
It's Medicaid's 61st birthday! I wrote a piece lifting up the perspectives of people who rely on it. Here's what they told me: cuts hurt people, paperwork requirements burden families, fraud is a red herring, & elected leaders are out of touch. Read more here: www.syracuse.com/opinion/2026...
syracuse.com
Historic Medicaid cuts are a body blow to vulnerable Americans (Guest Opinion by Jamila Michener)
Cornell researcher's team interviewed dozens of enrollees. They said H.R. 1 will create impossible burdens and reflect a double standard between how rich and poor are treated.
211052
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Given that we are all upset today about Anthropic-shredding-books, I’ll add that I address this here, and it’s part of the same infrastructure threatening the preservation and profession of history but people don’t want to talk about that if the same industry is paying for their research.
It may be tempting to see value in projects
such as the Schmidt Foundation - that's
Eric Schmidt of Google - funding a fellowship in Al at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or the Musk Foundation's support of the Scroll Prize to use Al in reconstructing ancient texts in the burnt scrolls of
Herculaneum. But these projects are simply two among countless others that have been seeding Al into museums and historical research for well over a decade. Even more egregious is the case of Al companies buying and destroying rare books en masse in the process of scanning them for data. In the context of the dire austerity we are witnessing, the juggernaut of tech money seems impossible to resist. But the public should know the dangers of ceding the
precious work of peering into the past to those whose chief aims are to exploit it for data and build visions of our collective history
to their own liking.
17527
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
More Perfect Union @moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
ICE shared Medicaid data it wasn't supposed to have in the first place with Palantir. First Medicaid officials shared data about millions of people with ICE. ICE then shared that data with Palantir, according to a new court filing reported on by @NPR. /1
npr.org
ICE shared Medicaid data it wasn't supposed to have with Palantir
The revelations came out in a federal court case brought by Democratic states challenging ICE's access to Medicaid data to aid in deportation efforts.
8622310
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 17/07/2026
“…AI cannot account for consent. For women and other marginalized communities, what matters is not the content of the image, but the lack of consent, the harm experienced, and the intention with which the abuse is perpetrated.”
restofworld.org
The problem AI content moderation cannot solve
Meta and other big tech companies are increasingly using AI for content moderation, but as the backlash to Muse Image shows, it cannot protect users because it does not account for consent.
14318
Alexandra Mateescu @cariatida.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
“Journalists could be reduced to mere raw-material suppliers for this new information ecosystem.” www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
washingtonpost.com
A Peter Thiel-backed startup makes a surprising bet: Putting reporters in statehouses
State Affairs combines media and technology at a time when tensions between the two industries are at a fever pitch.
010
Alexandra Mateescu @cariatida.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
"Functionally, there is no difference between not being able to microwave a burrito at 3 a.m. because an in-person watchman prevented you from doing so, or because an AI tool warned your family members about it and they then chastised you from afar." www.disabilityculturelab.org/posts/from-i...
disabilityculturelab.org
From Inside The House: How Surveillance Tech Further Threatens Independent Living — Disability Culture Lab
Independent living is facing a threat from a less obvious source: tech tools often marketed explicitly as facilitating the ability of aging and disabled people to stay at home. The use and proliferati...
001
Alexandra Mateescu @cariatida.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Amazing sentence: “D’Souza is concerned about what he views as the affliction of journalism on the powerful. ('I’ll accept that I’m powerful-adjacent,' he told TechCrunch in April.)" www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
hollywoodreporter.com
A Peter Thiel-Backed Tribunal Is Putting Journalists on Trial. I’m Its First Target
The billionaire has reteamed with the legal strategist who helped him bring down Gawker to start an AI-powered appeals court for the rich and aggrieved.
000
Alexandra Mateescu @cariatida.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Encountered Romania's last functioning Jacquard loom in Brașov's ethnography museum. Somehow I hadn't known that the Romanian word for war (război) is also the word for loom, probably from Slavic verbs related to "striking/beating."
Photograph of a Jacquard loom. In front of the loom, the photographer is holding up a paper punch card used to reproduce a textile pattern.
000
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
ashley fairbanks @ziibiing.com · 01/06/2026
People have been asking me if I know of a resource like StandWithMinnesota for New Jersey, and I haven't found something comprehensive. So, for the moment, I have put together all the links to NJ orgs, crowdfunding links, events, and stuck them on a page of SWM. standwithminnesota.org/jersey
standwithminnesota.org
New Jersey — Stand With Minnesota
15874627
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Dr. Damien P. Williams, dread portent down from a mountain cave @wolven.blacksky.app · 22/05/2026
Today is the last day to comment to the FCC that LGBTQIA2S+ names, stories, identities don't need a warning label. This new potential rulemaking is an attempt at criminalizing the mere fact of being trans or otherwise queer, in the name of discrimination, bigotry, and persecution. Tell them no, now.
glaad.org
Tell the FCC that LGBTQ Stories Don’t Need a Warning Label | GLAAD
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is targeting LGBTQ stories. They are trying to control what you see on television. This government overreach is dangerous...
1511511330
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Julia Carrie Wong @joolia.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
“His actions without a doubt delayed, distracted and ultimately deterred these two individuals from gaining access to the greater areas of the mosque where as many as 140 kids were within 15ft of these suspects”
229489
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Alvaro M. Bedoya @bedoyausa.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
The strongest protections against AI at work have not come from Congress, nor have they come from lawsuits - no. They've come from collective bargaining by organized labor. My new essay for @washingtonmonthly.bsky.social (feat. Hanumankind & Elf-on-a-Shelf) washingtonmonthly.com/2026/05/20/a...
washingtonmonthly.com
The Workers Who Defy Gravity
AI companies want to monetize what makes us human. Organized labor may be the only force strong enough to stop them.
03013
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Ingrid Burrington @lifewinning.com · 14/05/2026
Anthropic partnering with the Gates Foundation on health and economic mobility while also making a deal to use the Memphis xAI data center polluting Boxtown, every day is a winding road
23912
Alexandra Mateescu @cariatida.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
It feels a bit on the nose to be reading a WaPo article about ProPublica employees going on strike for, among other things, guardrails on AI in journalism, and seeing a little button telling me to “dive deeper” into this story using AI. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Screenshot of text: "In an emailed statement, ProPublica spokesperson Alexis Stephens said the news outlet has never had layoffs in its 18-year history and that it is “committed to reaching a fair and sustainable first contract.” Stephens added that the union’s complaints about ProPublica’s AI policy were “unfounded.”" At the end of the paragraph, there is a button with a sparkle emoji that says "Dive deeper".
010
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis @kendrawrites.com · 03/04/2026
The obvious question is to ask what is the point of the article. And the answer is means testing. By saying the rich don't deserve public goods it makes it easier to say someone just above the poverty line doesn't either. They want public goods to be shit.
19688186
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Data & Society @datasociety.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
📣 New! @cariatida.bsky.social, @aihathing.bsky.social & Sanjay Pinto argue for understanding the sprint to create the "AI-first economy" not as the logical march of progress, but as a series of deliberate economic decisions that risk harming workers in ways old & new. datasociety.net/library/last...
22115
Alexandra Mateescu @cariatida.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Endlessly grotesque the way he's talking like some feudal lord invoking droit du seigneur over one of his female vassals...
000
Alexandra Mateescu @cariatida.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
A while back I saw an AI-generated "anti-woke comedian" Insta account advertising itself as "uncancellable." Which, I feel like, is probably a more direct endgame of these AI personas in cultural production; more so than job displacement, it's just the ambition of crafting an unaccountable cipher.
010
Alexandra Mateescu @cariatida.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
"But as sex work has become an increasingly digital field, their major concern is the contract’s threat to their ability to protect their image and likeness, especially from potential AI uses." www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
Nevada brothel workers are unionizing to protect their digital rights
Management's new contract demands “everything”—and could hand their likenesses over to AI porn and sex bots.
022
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Heba Gowayed هبة جويد @hebagowayed.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Abolish ICE is not enough. It's not about training -- Ross who killed Renee Good was a TRAINER. It's not about body cams -- we saw Alex Pretti killed with our own eyes. We have to abolish the idea that violence ever made us safer, before it's too late. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Abolishing ICE isn’t enough – it’s time to center people’s humanity | Heba Gowayed and Victor Ray
It’s far from radical to reject a system predicated on violence – despite what thinktanks might claim
4235107
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Asher Wolf @asherwolf.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
AI use for progress notes is causing serious privacy and clinical risks in aged care. Professional bodies need to act. AI shouldnt be used for client notes and reports hellocare.com.au/ai-use-for-p...
hellocare.com.au
AI use for progress notes is causing serious privacy and clinical risks in aged care - Hellocare
Workforce pressure is pushing aged care staff towards AI for clinical documentation, but public tools come with hidden dangers. From Privacy Act breaches to misleading progress notes, poorly governed ...
514967
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Workshops4Gaza @workshops4gaza.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Donation link to the Sameer Project's "Give Warmth to Gaza" campaign is here: chuffed.org/project/1491...
chuffed.org
RETURN HOME x The Sameer Project
"GIVE WARMTH TO GAZA" this Winter season...
01111
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
hannah gais @hannahgais.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
ICE agents shot a woman yesterday, but that wasn't enough cruelty, so Border Patrol went to a school and attacked people.
2351113
Alexandra Mateescu @cariatida.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
If he fixes the 17th Ave pedestrian footbridge over the Belt Parkway in Bath Beach that's been """"under construction"""" since 2021, I will truly believe in miracles.
030
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Aditya Mukerjee 🦦 🏳️‍🌈 @chimeracoder.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
Featuring a trans woman so prominently at his inauguration like this was an absolutely baller move by Zohran
82961711
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Groundwork Collaborative @groundwork.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Our study, using over 400 volunteer shoppers, found that Instacart offered different prices to different shoppers on 74% of the grocery items tested.
1199
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Gabe Ortíz @tusk81.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
One Haitian woman “showed up as scheduled, and when she arrived, officers were asking everyone what country they were from, and if they said a certain country, they were told to step out of line and that their oath ceremonies were canceled,” her attorney said.
57448
Alexandra Mateescu @cariatida.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
A disaster in the making for millions of care workers and the people they support: "[The Trump administration proposal] reopens a loophole allowing employers to broadly classify care workers as “companions” who can be paid less than minimum wage and are not eligible for overtime pay."
011
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
dr. thrasher, an american writer in ex(archia)(xile) @thrasherxy.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
"Remembering Alice Wong: Writer, Advocate, Friend" Steven W. Thrasher on Meeting and Collaborating with the Outspoken Founder of the Disability Visibility Project published by @literaryhub.bsky.social | art by @mollycrabapple.bsky.social lithub.com/remembering-...
lithub.com
Remembering Alice Wong: Writer, Advocate, Friend
Though we were in frequent conversation for a decade, I only got to meet my friend Alice Wong in person just once. And when I did, I  was a bundle of nerves—and that was before she cussed me out wi…
19674255
Alexandra Mateescu @cariatida.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
"...she used the same phrasing ChatGPT had given back to her: precise, clinical, flattened language...Her deep fears were now encased in borrowed phrases, translated into a format she thought I would recognize as legitimate medical concerns..." www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
theguardian.com
What we lose when we surrender care to algorithms | Eric Reinhart
A dangerous faith in AI is sweeping American healthcare – with consequences for the basis of society itself
010
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Weizenbaum-Institut @weizenbauminstitut.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
⚠️ How are workers led movements against AI shaping climate action in the tech industry? Join us for a book presentation on worker led movements by Tamara Kneese (Data & Society) with Sana Ahmad (Weizenbaum-Institute). Register now: buff.ly/SnAZkHi @tamigraoh.bsky.social, @datasociety.bsky.social
Discussion: Worker Led Movements against AI. With Tamara Kneese (Data & Society) and Sana Ahmad (Weizenbaum-Institute). November 17, 2025, 18h-20h, Online Event. Book Cover of Tamaras Book co-authored book  „Notes Toward a Digital Workers’ Inquiry”
02313
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 05/11/2025
Turns out a lot of Americans understand that trans people aren’t the reason shit is expensive and people are being starved
4972220
Reposted by Alexandra Mateescu
rigo @chicanocyborg.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
The basic takeaway from Wong and Warzel's Atlantic piece last week: big tech is financing data-centers at break neck speed by packaging securitized debt on hypothetical gains from super intelligence. Great. 🙃
011