iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

The person who made a claim used to be the person who could answer for it, because making it was expensive. AI broke that. Where nobody can afford to check the work, we're back to trusting the name on it. kylesaunders.substack.com/p/anyone-can...

kylesaunders.substack.com

Anyone Can Make Knowledge Now, but Who Can Answer for It? (Part 1 of 3)

AI made producing knowledge cheap. Where nobody can afford to vet it, people go back to trusting names and records?

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

We know from Voteview data that Members of Congress barely change positions over a career, so the parties pulled apart through turnover--that makes elections the moment this chart moves. Have fun! Every member since 1789: youtu.be/B84qoAkjrZE Scrape your way through it: kylesaunders.com/voteview/

youtu.be

Ideology in Congress -- 1789 to 2026

YouTube video by profgoose

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

For about a century, higher ed could call a degree good and be believed. Fewer people take our word for it now, so we're going to have to show our work, over and over. Essay: kylesaunders.substack.com/p/higher-ed-... (I built the map to do that for 1,557 colleges: kylesaunders.com/university-m...)

kylesaunders.substack.com

Higher Ed, We Have to Realize That Fewer People Take Our Word for It Anymore

Verification from above, verification from below, and a rising AI floor

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Republicans spent years in court for the right to spend unlimited money with their candidates. Through August, the NRSC spent $48M with nine Senate candidates and none with Ken Paxton. Senate leadership's super PAC is funding his rescue. Why? kylesaunders.substack.com/p/scp-19-who...

kylesaunders.substack.com

SCP 19: Who’s Paying to Save Ken Paxton?

The NRSC reported $48 million in coordinated spending for nine Senate candidates through August, and none for Ken Paxton. Senate leadership’s super PAC is paying for his rescue instead.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Please spread these ads widely in your networks—much appreciated! Judicial: csusystem.wd12.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/fortco... Pol Behavior/Psych: csusystem.wd12.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/fortco...

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Happy to announce that our department is looking to hire two new colleagues at the Asst Professor level, one in American politics, specializing in public law, legal studies, administrative law and/or law and courts, the second in political behavior and/or political psychology. Ad links in reply.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

A college can be in trouble because it has no cushion, or because its graduates struggle. Different problems, and they don't always hit the same schools. The newly updated university map scores 1,557 four-year colleges on both, on the newest federal data. kylesaunders.com/university-m...

kylesaunders.com

Mapping the Structural Divide

1,557 U.S. colleges and universities mapped on Institutional Resilience, Post-College Market Position, and AI Exposure.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

The NRSC spent years in court for the right to spend without limit alongside its candidates. Through August it spent $48M with nine Senate candidates and none with Ken Paxton. Senate leadership's super PAC carries Texas. Why? kylesaunders.substack.com/p/scp-19-who...

kylesaunders.substack.com

SCP 19: Who’s Paying to Save Ken Paxton?

The NRSC reported $48 million in coordinated spending for nine Senate candidates through August, and none for Ken Paxton. Senate leadership’s super PAC is paying for his rescue instead.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Where does your college stand? The university map covers 1,557 four-year schools on how well each could absorb a hit to enrollment or revenue, and how its graduates do. Refreshed this week with the newest IPEDS and College Scorecard data. kylesaunders.com/university-m...

kylesaunders.com

Mapping the Structural Divide

1,557 U.S. colleges and universities mapped on Institutional Resilience, Post-College Market Position, and AI Exposure.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The updated version (finally, with the latest IPEDS data) of "Mapping the Structural Divide: Institutional Resilience, Post-College Market Position, and Artificial Intelligence Exposure Across 1,557 U.S. Colleges and Universities" is up! kylesaunders.com/university-m...

kylesaunders.com

Mapping the Structural Divide

1,557 U.S. colleges and universities mapped on Institutional Resilience, Post-College Market Position, and AI Exposure.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Fewer take academia's word on things now, and as of this week fewer are sure the degree matters much at all: Gallup has a record-low 31% calling a college education "very important" down from 70% in 2013. My take on what we must do to get that trust back. kylesaunders.substack.com/p/higher-ed-...

kylesaunders.substack.com

Higher Ed, We Have to Realize That Fewer People Take Our Word for It Anymore

Verification from above, verification from below, and a rising AI floor

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Another data point that reinforces the case I was making in my long piece this morning (if anyone is interested, link to my piece follows in reply): news.gallup.com/poll/715133/...

news.gallup.com

Record-Low 31% Say College Education Is 'Very Important'

A record-low 31% of Americans say a college education is very important, while 29% now say it is not too important.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Higher ed is under pressure from above (Washington grading programs on IRS earnings data) and from below (faculty who can't cheaply verify student work). The first could reverse with an election. The second won't. kylesaunders.substack.com/p/higher-ed-...

kylesaunders.substack.com

Higher Ed, We Have to Realize That Fewer People Take Our Word for It Anymore

Verification from above, verification from below, and a rising AI floor

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The college sports bill passed the Senate 77–22, and I'm lowering my odds it becomes law this Congress to 25–35%. House GOP leaders doubt it clears Rules, and a Democratic staffer calls it dead. kylesaunders.substack.com/p/protect-co...

kylesaunders.substack.com

Protect College Sports Act Passed the Senate. Why I’m Lowering My Odds a Bit

77–22 was the easy part. House leaders doubt it clears Rules, so the line moves from a 6-point dog to an 8.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

And Congress means the lame duck: House back Nov 9, funding deadline Dec 11, Congress over Jan 3. House Republicans want an employment ban, the CBC wants something else entirely, and my PCSA passage number stays 30–40% for this Congress.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Per Dellenger, conference leaders are drafting a Plan B that copies the bill's $48.8M cap. Steve Berman, for the House plaintiffs, says a conference-made cap is "not possible without our permission." A hard cap runs through the settlement or through Congress.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Tonight's college sports bill vote: the number to compare against is Thursday's 74–25. Democratic noes grew from 20 to 22 over the week, and Whitehouse and Wyden backed the substitute before opposing cloture an hour later. Could get weird... kylesaunders.substack.com/p/protect-co...

kylesaunders.substack.com

Protect College Sports Act: Why the Lame Duck Is Now the Whole Game

Where the college sports bill stands, why the House is the hard part, and every post in the series.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

GAO: 94% of Division I programs spent more than they generated in 2023–24, before revenue sharing started. The college sports bill's broadest spending limit falls on athlete pay. There's no general cap on coaches. kylesaunders.substack.com/p/protect-co...

kylesaunders.substack.com

Protect College Sports Act: Why the Lame Duck Is Now the Whole Game

Where the college sports bill stands, why the House is the hard part, and every post in the series.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The Pentagon says the EA receipts crowd is a death cult. The receipts crowd, for once, kept a receipt: a four-month tournament on AI extinction, scored in 2025. Nobody in the fight has claimed it or really talked about it--and it's interesting. kylesaunders.substack.com/p/effective-...

kylesaunders.substack.com

Effective Altruism Tested AI Doom and the Pentagon Called It a Death Cult

Tetlock’s superforecasters said 0.38%. AI experts said 3%. Four months of argument didn’t close the gap

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I really would like to hear what @teorth.bsky.social thinks about this one...

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Making the human that can tell whether a math proof is any good takes years of costly, slow work. Universities paid for that space and time with teaching and/or research grants. AI has repriced that pairing in ways the university and academics must face. kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-mathem...

kylesaunders.substack.com

The Mathematicians Are the AI Higher Ed Canary (and Did They Just Find Out They’re Humanists?)

Twenty-five Fields Medalists say the AI labs are optimizing for the wrong thing. The rest of the university should read the letter as a preview.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Thune may fill the amendment tree on the college sports bill. Then no amendment gets a vote unless leadership agrees, and cover for a switch gets bargained in beforehand. Fewer flips, earlier deals. There's even a @timnokken.bsky.social cite. kylesaunders.substack.com/p/yes-the-ho...

kylesaunders.substack.com

Yes, the House Left, but What Does That Do to the Senate PCSA Votes?

Wednesday turned a Senate yes into a position instead of a law. That changes the audience, not the count.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Serving on an AI committee at your institution? You don't have to start with a blank page. Find your campus, compare other universities' recommendations, and open the reports behind them. kylesaunders.com/ai-taskforce...

kylesaunders.com

University AI Task Force Reports

Find and compare university AI task force reports: who convened each body, what it recommended, and the public documents behind it. Search your institution or explore the full inventory.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

A philosophy journal's draft AI policy states that a chief function of academic publishing is "identification and credentialing of talented researchers." The scolding was never about prose or quality and a journal just said so. kylesaunders.substack.com/p/no-one-has...

kylesaunders.substack.com

No One Has Run the AI Studies, but Everyone Has Their AI Verdict

What we know, what we don't, and why nobody is checking

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

The NRSC is shutting down the unit that made the party's own ads, on the party's own message, and becoming a coordination shop for its candidates instead. That is either a party regaining a voice or a party becoming a better-funded vendor. kylesaunders.substack.com/p/scp-18-the...

kylesaunders.substack.com

SCP 18: The Changing Campaign Finance Dynamics At Play in the 2026 Midterms

Republican candidates put Trump in seven of every ten ads through the primaries. The general election is starting differently.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Mike Johnson: AI safety is the companies' job. Same week, his leadership put the data center power-bill act on the floor. Congress already wrote the antitrust bill the labs asked for. It's in committee. kylesaunders.substack.com/p/aipolitics...

kylesaunders.substack.com

AIPolitics 29: Mike Johnson Told the AI Companies to Regulate Themselves and Scheduled a Vote on Their Power Bills

Congress already wrote the antitrust bill the labs asked for. The one getting a floor vote this week is about who pays for a substation.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Trump is at 36% approval and Republican candidates put him in 7 of 10 ads through the primaries. The Court has since made party money cheap, on one condition: the candidate's face closes the ad. Trump's money has none. kylesaunders.substack.com/p/scp-18-the...

kylesaunders.substack.com

SCP 18: The Changing Campaign Finance Dynamics At Play in the 2026 Midterms

Republican candidates put Trump in seven of every ten ads through the primaries. The general election is starting differently.

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Reposted by Kyle Saunders

Verasight @verasight.io · 10/09/2026

Congratulations to Erin Fitz and @kylesaunders.bsky.social on a new article in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, published with Verasight survey data.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

99 reports at 76 institutions. Every census row now carries the crawler's metrics, so you can see how hard each campus was to search. If you sit on one of these bodies and your report isn't there, send the public URL and the body's name. The inventory: kylesaunders.com/ai-taskforce...

kylesaunders.com

University AI Task Force Reports

Find and compare university AI task force reports: who convened each body, what it recommended, and the public documents behind it. Search your institution or explore the full inventory.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

States tax sports betting. Networks sell ads. The NCAA licenses betting data. Athletes face bettors, monitoring, and penalties. Who answers for what that arrangement does to them? kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-protec...

kylesaunders.substack.com

The Protect College Sports Act Is Headed for a Senate Vote. Gambling Addiction Isn’t in It. (Updated)

The bill explicitly addresses sports wagering through eligibility restrictions. A lawsuit I missed shows whom that authority could reach.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

2/ Fixed and measured on a frozen set of 55 known-positive institutions: 42 re-found before, 44 after. All 372 institutions re-crawled. Now 100 reports at 77 institutions. kylesaunders.com/ai-taskforce... kylesaunders.substack.com/p/what-are-u...

kylesaunders.com

University AI Task Force Reports

Find and compare university AI task force reports: who convened each body, what it recommended, and the public documents behind it. Search your institution or explore the full inventory.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

1/ Well, I learned a lesson on webcrawling. :) Within a day of the AI task force inventory going up, a reader sent Boise State: three white papers on a page the crawler had already read and rejected. Its pattern matched "report" and not "reports." Every plural, on every campus, was invisible.

kylesaunders.substack.com

What Are Universities Doing About AI?

I gathered 96 AI task force report records at 74 institutions into a searchable inventory. Find your campus. Compare the recommendations.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

There is a lot of variance within all these universities' AI recommendations, so have a look at who asked for them and what the committee was charged to do. Why I built the inventory, what it shows, and how to use it: kylesaunders.substack.com/p/what-are-u...

kylesaunders.substack.com

What Are Universities Doing About AI?

I gathered 96 AI task force report records at 74 institutions into a searchable inventory. Find your campus. Compare the recommendations.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

A new project to introduce today... 96 report records at 74 institutions, with a census covering 372 universities and colleges. Search your campus, compare recommendations, open the sources. Link to substack explainer in next reply. kylesaunders.com/ai-taskforce...

kylesaunders.com

University AI Task Force Reports

85 reports at 63 R1 campuses, 10 at 10 R2 campuses, 1 at a selective liberal arts college, and a census of all 326 Carnegie R1 and R2 universities plus 46 selective liberal arts colleges. Who delibera...

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

The PCSA version on the Senate calendar runs 171 pages. The word "addiction" isn't in it. Neither is "prevention," or "awareness," or even "gambling." Sports wagering shows up once, in the section about who may be declared ineligible. kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-bill-o...

kylesaunders.substack.com

The Bill on the Senate Calendar Has No Word for Addiction

It would make the college gambling ban permanent, immune, and retroactive. It doesn’t fund much of anything else...

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Yeah, I just put up a piece about it...it's a lot to digest.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

The Butlerian Jihad gulag is gonna be really lit folks. OpenAI's Astra 6 is allegedly AGI and it just got released and there are allegedly even better models already on the shelf. Released the same day Bernie proposes the gulag for anyone using or making AI. Gonna be lit indeed.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Two lines under "do grades reflect learning" in the new accreditation rule (AIM NPRM): accreditors must assess economic returns using gainful-employment earnings data. The earnings proxy Lederman warned about is now written in...higher ed's future... kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-inspec...

kylesaunders.substack.com

The Inspector Hasn’t Opened This Jar in a While (AIM NPRM)

Reading through the AIM NPRM, the statute everyone seems to misread, and the question grades can’t seem to answer. Comments close 21 SEP.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

The college sports bill the Senate votes on this month runs 171 pages. "Addiction" isn't in it. Neither is "prevention" or "gambling." Sports wagering appears once, in the clause about who may not play. kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-bill-o...

kylesaunders.substack.com

The Bill on the Senate Calendar Has No Word for Addiction

It would make the college gambling ban permanent, immune, and retroactive. It doesn’t fund much of anything else...

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Congress wrote "grading" into the accreditation statute in 1992 and never funded anyone to check. Now the new rule asks whether grades reflect learning, and Harvard runs 66% A's. Comments close Sept 21. kylesaunders.substack.com/p/the-inspec...

kylesaunders.substack.com

The Inspector Hasn’t Opened This Jar in a While (AIM NPRM)

Reading through the AIM NPRM, the statute everyone seems to misread, and the question grades can’t seem to answer. Comments close 21 SEP.

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

The AI fight in academia runs at a confidence the evidence cannot carry, in both directions. The studies that would narrow it are cheap, and unrun. Nobody in that fight benefits from an answer. kylesaunders.substack.com/p/no-one-has...

kylesaunders.substack.com

No One Has Run the AI Studies, but Everyone Has Their AI Verdict

What we know, what we don't, and why nobody is checking

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Kyle Saunders @kylesaunders.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Roy Baumeister on Evil: “Evil usually enters the world unrecognized by the people who open the door and let it in. Most people who perpetrate evil do not see what they are doing as evil. Evil exists primarily in the eye of the beholder, especially in the eye of the victim.”

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