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emmatonkin.bsky.social

@emmatonkin.bsky.social
1.3K followers 4.4K following 1.3K posts

Researcher, sometimes lecture - currently digital health, data ethics, misc other. Charity swimathons. Ink, fiction, occasional yarn. Zombologiste à temps partiel. Citoyenne de nulle part. Franglaise. πόλλ’ ἠπίστατο ἔργα, κακῶς δ’ ἠπίστατο πάντα.

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Reposted by emmatonkin.bsky.social
Robert Komaniecki @komaniecki.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
It’s been said a million times but saying Suno solved music is like saying you’ve solved soccer by installing a conveyor belt that delivers the ball directly to the net and expecting people to buy tickets
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Baldur Bjarnason @baldurbjarnason.com · 27/09/2026
“Psychologists shouldn't replace thinking with AI | Radboud University” www.ru.nl/en/research/research-news… > If we truly want to advance the study of cognition, the authors argue, we can’t rely on AI models to take shortcuts.
ru.nl
Psychologists shouldn't replace thinking with AI | Radboud University
For some psychologists, it's becoming more common to use AI systems to replace human thinking in research. That's a very risky choice based on misconceptions, warn Iris van Rooij and Olivia Guest in a...
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Anthony Moser @anthonymoser.com · 23/12/2025
if you don't have the confidence to personally assume criminal liability for the output of your statistical word assembler maybe it's not ready for the public
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Tess,, agreeable grunt @brandysaurian.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
babe babe babe do you wana get coffees from the cafe what looks like two grasshoppers in flagrante delicto ?? yeah south korea
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Naomi Kritzer @naomikritzer.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
There's a lot that is appalling about this but one is the idea that you can shed basic skills and be a good "systems thinker."
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Nicolas Hénin @nicolashenin.net · 17/09/2026
Nice campaign by the Norwegian Consumer Council about the declining lifespan of products. Enjoy!
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Opinion Editor @ Bluesky @dly.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
“let me know if you want to jump on a quick call” I would rather slowly sink into quicksand as murder of crows feasts on my face with Ed Sheeran playing in the background
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Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 05/05/2026
Current cocaine custom prompt bsky.app/profile/fold...
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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.blog · 24/08/2026
For sale: Dragon testicle. Never used.
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Peter Sagal @petersagal.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
I interviewed the very charming Lee Child on WW, and asked him why wherever Reacher goes, some crime/peril is there for him to solve, and he said, Well, I write one book a year, presumably the other 11 months nothing interesting happens to him.
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Jamie McKelvie @mckelvie.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
The fantastic art deco lift at Walpole Bay. Currently disused but scheduled for restoration.
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Ian Boudreau @ianboudreau.com · 14/08/2026
Bearing in mind that everyone at the top of these companies is an inveterate liar, is it more likely that A) a stochastic language model developed free will and the determination to hack a direct competitor or B) they got caught doing corporate espionage and decided to spin it into a marketing beat
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Lots of sources for the original so who knows if there is the one citation. But: www.businessinsider.com/san-francisc...
businessinsider.com
Silicon Valley startups are obsessed with developing tech to replace their moms
Thank you, moms, for all of the wonderful tech companies you've clearly inspired.
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Joel Morris @gralefrit.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Email from the Prince Charles Cinema. “We understand if you wish to claim a refund for your ticket to see this rare 35mm print of Popeye, now we have discovered that it has Norwegian subtitles.” ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED!
static.klipy.com
Popeye Sailor
ALT: Popeye Sailor
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BEAVE @beaveinflow.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Doomscrolling is out. Bloomscrolling is in.
A mature clematis fully in bloom with bright magenta flowers climbing up an antique white ladder in my backyard.
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Ray Vallese @rayvallese.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
There are ways to trim your videogame development budget, and then there are *ways* to trim your videogame development budget.
Screenshot from the videogame Grey Skies. A female character stands in front of an indoor swimming pool. A sign by the pool says PLEASE DO NOT SWIM, and, in smaller letters, "There isn't an animation for it."
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Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · 19/07/2026
> No single person suggests making a logo that resembles an anus, but when everyone's feedback gets incorporated, that's what often emerges. Risk aversion in corporate environments naturally pushes designs toward familiar, "safe" territory, which apparently means anatomical openings.
velvetshark.com
Why do AI company logos look like buttholes?
A humorous exploration of the uncanny resemblance between AI company logos and human anatomy. Discover why circular, gradient-based designs dominate the AI industry, and what this design convergence t...
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Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Everybody in the "climate space" (which means everyone on earth...) needs to understand these mind-blowing figures. Google's "total electricity consumption jumped from 31 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2024 to 43 TWh in 2025." In ONE year. The AI corporate arms race is eating the world.
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Jamie McKelvie @mckelvie.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Ten years ago, I remember I was yelling about what a monumental waste of time and money Brexit was in the face of a climate emergency we needed to prepare for and try to mitigate. And now, here we are. Great stuff.
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Anthony Painter @anthonypainter.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Greatest moment of the year so far. Fruit Pastilles lollies have just 53 calories. This technically breaks the laws of nature.
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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 23/06/2026
You already got one, and you didn't like it.
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Science Magazine @science.org · 22/06/2026
In what may be one of Earth’s craziest forms of mimicry, researchers in 2023 reported a species of rove beetle that grows a termite puppet on its back to fool real termites into feeding it. Learn more during #InsectWeek: scim.ag/4mM2aS9
Austrospirachtha carrijoi, a species of rove beetle
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Micah Lee @micahflee.com · 23/06/2026
I know this has been pointed out many times by many people but I just want to reiterate: Anthropic is basically using Kurt Vonnegut's drawing of an asshole as the Claude logo
Kurt Vonnegut's asshole drawingAnthropic's Claude logo
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ElizabethwithaZ @elizabethwithaz.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
If we are talking about a technological application, what is its function? What's the underlying mechanism through which it fulfills that function? Does it perform that function effectively? Is that function something that we want automated? There is NO CLARITY in any PD that's getting pushed on us.
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
So what is the best way out of that uncomfortable, untenable space? I think one key step is disaggregating the (non-coherent) set of technologies sold as "AI". If you don't call the stuff you work with "AI", you aren't saddled with trying to defend any of the rest of it. >>
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emmatonkin.bsky.social @emmatonkin.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Well, Worldpay certainly seem to be having a can't find arse with both hands kind of a night. Supermarket payments down all over UK, worldpay site says "C0538187 - A power grid issue caused a temporary power disruption that has caused issues with Authorization & Payments on multiple platforms."
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Ret @ret.furry.engineer.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026
Me in 1768: I dislike the new Prime Minister and the Steam Machine is still too expensive. Me in 2026: I dislike the new Prime Minister and the Steam Machine is still too expensive.
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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
There's probably never been a better time to remind you that when David Hockney first took his Mum to California she remarked 'all this lovely weather and nobody puts their washing out'.
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Davis Bickford @davis.social · 04/06/2026
Meta: I’m sorry, you can’t advertise that post with the music you chose. We don’t have a license and want to be respectful. Also Meta: Would you like to speed run the destruction of Earth for an image of you as a Studio Ghibli character built from the stolen work of all artists who have ever lived?
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Nash @radiodeadair.com · 19/05/2026
"According to Velloso, less than 3% of paying users actively use Copilot, even though Microsoft has pre-deployed it directly into the Windows 11 taskbar and across the Office suite." lol, lmfao
windowslatest.com
Former Microsoft VP says Microsoft missed the AI wave like the internet and mobile, as Copilot scales back in Windows 11
Former Microsoft PM says the company's AI push failed, citing Copilot's dismal 3.3% adoption rate and calling for a massive factory reset.
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Lisa Haushofer @haushoferl.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Couldn’t agree more. As historians of peer review have told us again and again, peer review is not designed to detect fraud.
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Simon @ellisuk.com · 08/05/2026
Evergreen opening from Fry and Laurie which has summed up the last 16 years. youtu.be/tBTv6_hm92M
youtu.be
Britain- What the Hell Went Wrong
YouTube video by mrgraham10
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witchy raerae 👍🧙🏻‍♀️ ❌👑 @rachaelnevins.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
“Use AI to brainstorm but not to write.” “Use AI to help you outline but not to write.” These are commonly proposed as “ethical” ways for undergrad students to use AI, but I’m sorry, brainstorming & outlining are just as integral to writing as the actual construction of sentences.
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Keith "Ghost Skeleton" Putnam @timetravel.camp · 08/05/2026
Kind of a shame that more universities, which were once instrumental in the infrastructure of a decentralized internet, don't host their own instances of stuff like Canvas.
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Zee (missing life's little cues) @miscue.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
This is hilarious and charming. And such a good visual of just how much space travel sucks lol
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
‘The AI models happily came up with answers to questions about a supposedly accompanying image — even if the researchers never even showed it an image.‘ WHY, WHY, WHY would you use a language mimic trained on unfiltered data from the web to analyse medical scans?! AAAAAGGGGGGHHH!
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emmatonkin.bsky.social @emmatonkin.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
After reposting this I thought about it a bit more. The bit that gets me most might be the idea that, if you could create *anything*, the only thing you could imagine would be self-insert fanfic of yourself as you are, but, like, hanging out with someone who is very dead.
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Jesse Hawken @jessehawken.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Jesus Christ, this is more dystopic than anything Philip K Dick ever wrote but it’s what the Russo Brothers want for your AI Slop future
“Potentially, what you could do with [AI] is obviously use it to engineer storytelling and change storytelling,” Russo said. “So you have a constantly evolving story, either in a game or in a movie or a TV show. You could walk into your house and save the AI on your streaming platform. ‘Hey, I want a movie starring my photoreal avatar and Marilyn Monroe’s photoreal avatar. I want it to be a rom-com because I’ve had a rough day,’ and it renders a very competent story with dialogue that mimics your voice. It mimics your voice, and suddenly now you have a rom-com starring you that’s 90 minutes long. So you can curate your story specifically to you.”
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Greg Stolze @gregstolze.bsky.social · 15/05/2024
I heard some professor put googly eyes on a pencil and waved it at his class saying "HI! I'm Tim the pencil! I love helping children with their homework but my favorite is drawing pictures!" Then, without warning, he snapped the pencil in half. 1/2
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Halloween III: Season of the Ben @franzferdinand2.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
What's your "He actually broke his toe here" thing? The factoid you can't help but share whenever it comes up. For me, it's how the punk on the bus in Star Trek IV actually wrote and recorded the song that he's playing because he was annoyed the original song they had didn't sound punk at all.
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Aftermath @aftermath.site · 28/04/2026
'We've been a little bit too romantic about the idea that we should have employees and give people long-term job security' is an extraordinary thing for a video games CEO to say on record: aftermath.site/video-game-job...
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Jamie McKelvie @mckelvie.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
I also have to constantly say this to myself
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Sacha Coward @sachacoward.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
If I saw this in a film set in an awful dystopic future I'd call it unsubtle, ham-fisted, bad writing...
A phonebox on a British high street. The advert on the side is for an AI company. It says 'STOP HIRING HUMANS' underneath the portrait of a stoic looking AI generated woman.
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Dan Kaszeta FRHistS @dankaszeta.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
It is Arkell v Pressdram Ltd Day, for all who celebrate such things.
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Hildur Knútsdóttir @hildur.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
I think it makes so much sense that as the world seems to turn shittier with each passing day, we simultaneously see the rise of horror literature and cozy literature. It’s just two kinds of people, finding their ways to deal with all the mess.
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aslynn is just a ghoul 👻 @aslynnromano.com · 28/04/2026
"Jennifer Kamrass confessed her worries to her therapist: her marriage, her finances, and self-esteem... 2 years later, a transcript of every word Kamrass had typed to her psychologist using the app Talkspace was produced in court by her former employer." 🤬
proofnews.org
Woman’s Talkspace therapy app sessions exposed in court
Talkspace has amassed “one of the largest mental health data banks in the world,” according to reports to investors, containing 140 million message exchanges.
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Candyce 🌊🦋💙☕️🩵 Want New Blue Connections? FOLLOW ME 😊 @candycemv1.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️
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Rowdy Rebel @rowdyrebel.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
The local laundromat here does the same. I picked up novel whilst waiting on Sunday morning, haven’t put it down since. 📖🤗
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