iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

We can build new institutions. This institute will have community appointees on the board helping decide, alongside scientists and academic workers, what science gets prioritized for funding.

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University of California Faculty Associations @cucfa.org · 03/10/2026

Thanks to the advocacy of hundreds of faculty who joined the fight through their Faculty Associations, the $7.5B California Research Fund (SB 895) is now headed to the 2028 ballot where this funding decision will be in the hands of California voters. cucfa.org/ca-research-...

A win for research! Governor Newsom Signs SB 895 California Science and Health Research Bond Act

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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

As we're back to school in the university quarter system, I'm grateful to the AAUP for gathering AI syllabus language: www.aaup.org/sites/defaul... and this article on LLM impacts on cognitive development: www.media.mit.edu/publications...

media.mit.edu

Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task – MIT Media Lab

This study explores the neural and behavioral consequences of LLM-assisted essay writing. Participants were divided into three groups: LLM, Search Engine, and …

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ohpipedown.bsky.social @ohpipedown.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

"When we prioritize private autonomous fleets over human-led transit, we aren’t just changing how we get around; we are allowing corporate interests to undermine the livelihoods of our neighbors." archive.ph/hSzJD

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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Especially excited about this because the author drafted this op ed last year in my Comm 106i Internet Industries course. Now that Waymo hit the streets, her take is as relevant as ever.

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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Robotaxis as "so so tech" "[It] is just good enough to replace human workers but not good enough to significantly improve quality of life or create broad social benefits...[it moves] power away from local public institutions toward private corporations" www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/09/25/o...

sandiegouniontribune.com

Opinion: Who will robotaxis actually serve in San Diego?

Waymo needs real local oversight.

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Claes de Vreese @claesdevreese.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

The key word here is “US-led”…

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Katie Phang @katiephang.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Concessions don’t work. That’s why the State AGs need to take their case to trial. They've got the Ellisons on the ropes. Protect consumers and workers. Block the Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. Sign the Petition! noparamountconcessions.com

noparamountconcessions.com

#BlockTheMerger

Twelve state attorneys general sued to block Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros. Concessions don’t protect workers, consumers or creators. Tell the AGs to hold strong and take it to trial. SIGN THE P...

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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Oakland tonight! If you're against oligarchic power producing surveillance or ideology, you don't want this Paramount WB merger. Media consolidation is a disaster for our information and narrative ecologies. Let CA @agrobbonta.oag.ca.gov know not to cave.

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Shannon Vallor @shannonvallor.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

The very first line is a lie, and we all know it. *None* of this was ever designed to help us, which is why it hurts us and we hate it. It really is that simple, but the media simply cannot bring themselves to say it.

cnn.com

The humans are rejecting the machines that were supposed to help them | CNN Business

Touchscreens and self-checkout machines were designed to help customers. But restaurants and retailers are ditching them to humanize stores and attract workers.

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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Why did @developer.chrome.com get rid of read aloud for web pages again? I can't help but feel you're trying to force me to use Gemini and Gemini will not read aloud.

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the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Yo. This is the union calling for a boycott. Here in America people like to say "Well I was already boycotting Starbucks!" No you were not. You were just choosing not to buy their stuff. That is not a boycott. A boycott is an organized, collective activity. "I" don't boycott: we do.

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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I was at the event. Inescapable themes included how Islamophobia and racial animus shaped security law and practices. That Pearl is offended that CAIR is speaking at this event is deeply puzzling to me, and that the Chancellor has nothing to say about Islamophobia is an additional form of ignorance.

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Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

When future President John Adams walked into court to defend the British soldiers who committed the Boston Massacre, he knew he was laying down a marker for future generations about what the rule of law is. Julio Frenk, chancellor of my university, unfortunately missed that lesson and a few more.

latimes.com

UCLA chancellor rebukes law school event with 9/11 'mastermind' attorney; organizers push back

After a UCLA law school symposium on 9/11 that featured an attorney who represented alleged 9/11 'mastermind' Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk issued a rare message distancing the u...

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Shobita Parthasarathy @shobitap.org · 13/09/2026

Focusing the media and policymakers on the existential risks of AI isn't just about distracting us from today's AI harms. It also reinforces the idea that tech CEO should guide policy, while diminishing the *experiential expertise* of everyone else who understands how AI is harming society.

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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Morales and the city council progressive sweep won because of a decade of sustained organizing You can hear about Reclaim Rhode Island on The Dig: pca.st/episode/7e73... Now go join an org and get organized!

pca.st

Dan Denvir’s Theory of Power and Organization

This one is different: an episode cross-posted from the new podcast Fighting Fascism, where Dig host Daniel Denvir gets behind the guest mic to discuss his political work beyond the pod. Speaking at…

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Lindsey Powell @lindseypowell.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

UCSD Psychology is hiring!! We’re seeking a new assistant professor colleague who studies high-level human cognition, broadly construed. Please share and/or apply! apol-recruit.ucsd.edu/JPF04646

apol-recruit.ucsd.edu

Assistant Professor in High-level Human Cognition

University of California, San Diego is hiring. Apply now!

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Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Researchers across the country are turning to side hustles to fund their work. Behind the cuts sits a bigger shift: whether American science can still sustain durable research capacity. @lindseydcameron.bsky.social and I examine the stakes in a new piece @science.org: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.org

The wrong platform for science

Daniel Blumstein recently sat in a Colorado meadow waiting for yellow-bellied marmots to appear, as the ecologist and evolutionary biologist had done many times before, the New York Times reported. Bu...

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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I'm on the bus. The driver sees the woman in front of me duck down and asks her, ma'am are you good? She looks up, and then says yes. Drivers do more than drive. Things a #waymo can never do because the AI support workers got too many cars, too far away, watching thru cams. Local care work, y'all

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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

As if people don't give or get gifts, borrow, or steal.

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Turkopticon @turkopticon.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

While we all process this, Turkopticon would like to remind everyone, we are still here and we will go where our workers go. Stay tuned as we figure out where some of our favorite requesters are heading.

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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I agree. He should be taxed instead so we can democratically decide what to do with the money.

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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Despite 700 shops of workers voting to unionize, Starbucks refuses to finalize a fair contract. Starbucks workers are calling on us to boycott. Read more, consider signing the pledge, and find union coffee. www.boycottstarbucks.net In San Diego, Better Buzz shops are union UFCW!

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the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

this is really beautiful

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Stacey Burns @wentrogue.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

“While Picasso was living in Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II, one German officer allegedly asked him, upon seeing a photo of Guernica in his apartment, ‘Did you do that?’ Picasso responded, ‘No, you did.’” via pablopicasso.org The horse (loon) represents the people of Guernica (Minnesota)

Photo of the 1937 original of Picasso’s Guernica

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Stacey Burns @wentrogue.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Jennifer Nelson’s entry to this year’s Minnesota State Fair crop art

A localized version of Guernica with a loon at the center and a person holding an ICE OUT sign

“My piece was inspired by Picasso's Guernica, a work that was his response to the Nazi's bombing of the Basque town. I thought there was a fitting parallel between these incidents about the high price paid by ordinary people when aggressive regimes try out new tactics of war, as well as a fitting juxtaposition of the darkness of living such an experience and the light we shone through it in our own resistance and care for one another. The patterns near Renee Good and Alex Pretti’s mouths are actually their last words in Morse code: ‘I’m not mad at you,’ and ‘Are you okay?’”

Jennifer Nelson

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Kristina Halvorson @halvorson.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I will have this open for the next twelve days. Probably longer. It's just a big ol' tome of joy and pride. Collection of crop art tributes to the Minnesota resistance: www.cropart.com/Resist.pdf

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Jonathan Stegall @jonathanstegall.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

It’s a good read. “We have always made art during these times.” Also a good reference from the state fair crop art, presumably via the great @halvorson.bsky.social.

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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

“[What] got my family members clean were methadone services, and that’s what this opioid settlement money should be used for” ... criminalization does little to help people struggling with drug addiction...policing “would punish the poor and the working class, who are victims” of the opioid epidemic

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Jamison Foser @jamisonfoser.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

your nephew is hooked on opioids because cops took the drug prevention money and spent it on flock cameras to stalk their ex wives

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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

This feels like people unlucky enough to be targeted by Palantir risk algorithms and a state in violation of laws. Palantir like AI is about modeling and guessing, not knowing.

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J.D. Connor @jdconnor.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Still enraged that no university consortium launched a free open sources browser/office suite/lms "Our core competency is agreeing to exploitative contracts with outside vendors"

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Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · 26/08/2026

> An AI product passing an exam means nothing about the “weaknesses” of exams in the abstract. Anybody can ‘win’ a marathon if driven by car. Does that make it a weakness of the marathon race as an endurance event? Or does it reflect a deeper category error on our behalf[?]

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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

"Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia combined use 30+ intermediary companies for data work, ranging from outsourcing companies to crowdwork platforms...and **influence working conditions** thru pricing pressures, tight deadlines & by shifting contracts between vendors" Powerful thread 👇🏼

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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

"In 2025, WV's Legislature required the flagship university to establish a center on 'civics, culture and statesmanship' devoted to teaching conservative ideas and traditions. Lawmakers appropriated $3 mill for the effort. The result? Just 1 student enrolled." www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...

insidehighered.com

Who Really Politicized Higher Education? (opinion)

It wasn’t the AAUP.

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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.

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Jed Brown @jedbrown.org · 22/08/2026

It's not that we need open-source perv glasses, better-governed dragnet surveillance, or local-only ~agentic~ malware and liability-laundering devices. There are places where we need fundamentally different tech, but most of the root problems are not technical problems at all. Ridicule as praxis.

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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Same energy growing with our indivisible groups in San Diego area. It took some time for the connections between oligarchy ai and surveillance to gel. I remember the moment an older organizer realized that 9/11 sold her a bad bill of goods with security and terror justifications for surveillance.

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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Scott Galloway's proposals for programs to help young men are easily reframed as socialist universalist programs like mandatory service (job guarantees), affordable+high quality higher and trades education, and paying care workers more so the job is more attractive. Scott, fund DSA candidates!

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Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · 02/08/2026

I'm pretty much only here to remind people that fascism & AI are inexorably intertwined. Thinking for ourselves is good: it's one of the best things a human can do. There's nothing I enjoy more than not being here & doing my research, but if we don't push back, the things we enjoy are under threat.

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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Subsidy for capitalists with White House call "for a radical shift in the way that the federal government pays for science, with a massive move of $200 bill away from funding research and basic science...toward individuals and more directly applied AI projects, including...private tech companies."

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Lilly Irani @gleemie.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

@utaustin.bsky.social, where merit and peer review don't matter. "Academic freedom is not under duress—it’s being dismantled" Ivan Chaar Lopez on being denied tenure despite strong department and referee support www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty... Academic Freedom letter to sign 👇

insidehighered.com

Prof Denied Tenure: Academic Freedom at UT Being Dismantled

Border-surveillance researcher Iván Chaar López received a near-unanimous recommendation from faculty and outstanding external support letters. Still, he was denied tenure without explanation.

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Ed Markey @edmarkey.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

This is footage of ICE handcuffing a 26 year old father after murdering him in broad daylight. We cannot look away. Abolish ICE. Abolish qualified immunity. Hold these murderous thugs accountable.

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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Even if they claimed he tried to ram them with his car, we’d have clear reason to doubt them, since we’ve seen that lie before. But the fact that THEY DON’T EVEN SAY THAT, and only offer a vague “but public safety” to justify their own lethal threat to the public… This was an execution.

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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

All Robots Are Bastards includes VAR

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